Breast-Taking
brEAST?TAKING
Another day, another…yeah… All I could hear in my mind was the countdown to the day I could finally head home.
My eyes darted between the darkness outside the window and my watch.
It was way too early—everyone was probably still asleep.
Good, I thought. I might as well grab some coffee before anyone sees me in this…
questionable outfit . “Well, I’ll just have to be quick!
” I breathed, grabbing the robe that barely covered anything.
I opened Spotify, scrolling frantically for a song to lift the gloom. “Oh!” I paused, a grin spreading across my face. “Perfect!”
EarPods in, I was lost in the upbeat rhythm of ‘One Margarita,’ shoulders and hips swaying with each step down the stairs as I sang the words along with all the profanity that came with them.
Hands fumbling for the perfect mug until I found the one.
Pouring the coffee, the aroma momentarily filled the air.
“Oh yes…” I inhaled its scent. Dancing towards the fridge, possibly a little too enthusiastically—it might even look like I was auditioning for a nightclub.
Was I ever any good at twerking? Eyes scanning for the milk, I needed just a dash.
Carton in hand, I was about to shut the door, vivaciously repeating the lyrics and their wildly inappropriate anatomical rhymes, particularly thrilled with, you know, that lower part—
“That’s certainly an interesting line!” A smooth voice interrupted, causing me to spin around. “And the way you actually meant it.”
“Oh, fuck!” I jumped, startled. “Miles?!” Quickly wrapping the robe around me, I took out my pods.
He smirked, leaning casually against the wall. “Cute gown.”
“Um! What are you doing here?” I stared at him in shock.
“I was about to head to the beach,” Miles drawled with a tease, “but then, that little concert you just gave…I mean, whoa.”
Heat crept up my neck. “Ugh! Shut up! I had no idea there was someone else here. And—” I glanced at him sceptically. “—the beach? Really? At this hour?”
“Yeah…” He hesitated for a moment, then offered, “Come with me?”
“Now?” I asked, surprised.
“Yes, Florence, now.”
“Just the two of us?”
“Well, yeah…”
“To do what exactly?”
“I don’t know what you have in mind, Florence,” he teased, “but I thought, maybe watch the sunrise?”
“Oh…”
“Unless…” he began.
“Okay!” The word burst out without a second thought—nor was there a first one—a blush instantly flooding my cheeks. “I mean, yeah, sure, why not?” Jesus Christ, Florence, get a grip!
Miles smiled. “Wanna grab some clothes?” His eyes trailed down my legs before he quickly averted his gaze.
“Right!” I muttered, snatching Jo’s long summer cardigan from the back of a chair and slipping it on. “Yeah, I’ll just borrow this.” I looked up at him, trying to regain my composure. “What time is the sunrise?”
“We have a few minutes, don’t worry,” he murmured, handing me my forgotten mug. “Your coffee.”
Wow, I even forgot why I came here in the first place. “Thanks!” I managed.
The air carried the fresh scent of a summer morning as we walked down the beach.
The sand was cool and damp beneath my feet and I wrapped the cardigan tighter around me, sipping the warm coffee from my cup.
Gentle waves lapped at the shore, their rhythmic crash a soothing lullaby.
It wasn’t cold but refreshingly pleasant, and the sky was already beginning to blush with the colours of dawn.
Miles strolled beside me, hands buried deep in his hoodie pockets, his thoughts seemingly miles away.
“Do you come here often?” I asked, glancing at him.
He took a deep breath, savouring the salty air. “When I can’t sleep.”
“Is there something bothering you? Or if it’s the bed, I’m sure my mum could move you to another room.”
A soft chuckle escaped his lips. “Florence, is this your way of trying to get your bedroom back?”
“Hmm,” I mused, “I actually hadn’t thought of that.”
He raised an eyebrow at me, a smirk playing on his face. “Really?”
“I’m serious!” I met his gaze, a challenge in my eyes. “I’m actually dead serious!”
“Well, whether you are or you aren’t,” he teased, a sly grin tugging the corners of his mouth, “I’m not giving up this room. It’s really growing on me.”
“You are impossible,” I chuckled. Slowly, I curled my fingers around the mug, thumbs playing around its rim. “Um, where did you disappear to yesterday?”
A quick frown creased his forehead, confirming there was something else bothering him.
“I was just…” he started, then hesitated. “Just not feeling very social,” he finally added. “But did you have a great time?”
“Yeah, it was fine.”
“Did Blake manage to sweep you off your feet?”
“What?” I froze, my gaze snapping to his face.
“Oh, come on, Florence.” He nudged my shoulder playfully. And I swear if I’d tripped it wouldn’t be because of the nudge. “You can tell me.”
“What was that for?” I gaped, trying to push him back, but he only laughed and quickly dodged away. A brief silence fell between us, the only sound the gentle lapping of the waves against the shore. I stole a glance at him, his face bathed in the soft glow of the approaching dawn.
“Oh, you think I won’t—” Suddenly, my breath hitched. “My God!” I gasped. The sky, painted in hues of crimson, stretched above us. The view was so mesmerising I could just stay here and gawk at it all day. “Will you just look at that? It’s…”
“Breathtaking…” Miles finished my sentence, his eyes meeting mine for a brief moment.
“Yeah…” I whispered, my cheeks warming under his gaze. “I don’t remember the last time I saw such a beautiful sunrise.”
“The one on the day you arrived was pretty good too,” he said, his attention drifting out towards the horizon.
For a short while we both stood there, transfixed by the kaleidoscope of colours painting the sky. It was as if time had stopped, just the two of us, etching this perfect moment into our memories.
But then, taking advantage of his momentary distraction, I pushed him back. “Gotcha!” I chuckled, enjoying the victory as he stumbled back.
“Florence Grant, you’re asking for trouble,” he warned, narrowing his gaze with a challenge, slowly walking towards me.
“Come on, you started it first!” I muttered, weighing my options. Do I really want to be sand-buried alive? “No!” I squealed, laughing as he scooped me up in his arms. “Please! Please put me down!”
“Let’s see how you like a morning dip!”
“Oh, no, you wouldn’t dare!” I squealed again, the thought of cold water sending a shiver down my spine.
Sand burial suddenly didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
My arms tightened around his neck, my hands clutching the soft fabric of his hoodie.
“Miles!” I shrieked, bending my knees in a desperate attempt to avoid the waves. “Put me down! Now!”
“Well, I don’t think so,” he muttered, striding deeper into the surf.
“No, no, no!” I begged, clinging to him like a koala bear. “It must be freezing.”
“Well,” he gasped with a shiver racking his body, “it is!”
“So then go back!” I protested.
“Stop squirming, Florence, or I’ll drop you into the sea,” he said with a playful threat, but his grip remained firm.
“You wouldn’t…” My voice caught in my throat as he pretended to loosen his hold. “Oh, God! Miles!” I instinctively tightened my grip around his neck, a nervous laugh escaping my lips. “This is not funny!”
“Well, I could argue about that!” he retorted with a grin. “Admit it, it’s a little funny.”
“Damn it, Miles!” I exclaimed, half-heartedly trying to wriggle out of his grasp. But the truth was, I wouldn’t dare let go.
“Wow, this is refreshing!” he murmured softly.
“Well, when you get sick, which you probably will,” I warned him, “I’m not going to nurse you back to health!”
He chuckled. “That’s certainly not the motto in any medical practice I’ve heard of.”
“Ugh! Seriously?” I let out an exasperated laugh but I couldn’t hide the smile tugging at my lips.
“How does it go? Something like…‘To cure sometimes, to…’” He trailed off, pretending to search his memory.
“To relieve often, to comfort always,” I finished for him monotonously.
“There you go.” He beamed at me. “To comfort. Always.”
“Well—” I rolled my eyes. “—there’s also one that says, ‘Do no harm,’ and I’m telling you to get us both out of here. Now!” I glanced down at him with a challenge in my voice.
Miles lifted his chin, his grey eyes meeting mine with an intensity that momentarily coiled butterflies in my stomach. He slowly walked deeper into the sea, the refreshing water swirling around my ankles and stealing my breath. His arms tightened around my waist, pulling me flush against his chest.
Too fucking close.
Too dangerously good.
The warmth radiating from him awakened every cell in my body, causing a shiver to course through me—a delicious sensation that had nothing to do with the cold morning air, the sea, or anything else for that matter.
His hair brushing against my cheek and his intoxicating scent were distractions I didn’t want to resist. God!
With each inhale I was pulled deeper under his spell, my eyelids heavy, threatening to flutter closed any second now.
A beat of thick silence hung heavy between us.
“You okay?” he murmured, his gaze flickering to my lips, then back to my eyes.
Fuck. I was not okay, I thought. Far from it. I was in deep, deep trouble. “Yeah,” I managed, my voice barely above a whisper. My body screamed for him, for all of this, yet my mind kept repeating like a mantra: This was exactly what your mother plotted.
And so I awkwardly glanced away. And just like that, the moment was ruined. The moment that perfectly had everything—a breathtaking sunrise, the idyllic setting of the beach, a smoking hot man holding me in his arms…and me in a ridiculously sexy nightgown. And I…I just ruined it all.
“Um, shall we…?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I mumbled. We both knew he meant home.
“Sure,” he breathed, and slowly he started walking towards the shore.