THEO
The rest of the day was nice and slow and exactly what I’d needed.
After lunch, Miles and Ky dragged me into tossing a football around. And even though I hadn’t played much since high school, I managed not to completely humiliate myself. Which felt like a win.
And the whole time she was throwing herself at me like a banshee, I couldn’t stop smiling.
It was fun to be physical with her in a way that wasn’t loaded. Fun to roughhouse a little, to get competitive, to not feel like the washed-up single-dad version of myself.
Later that evening, we drove into Montauk for dinner at a tapas place that was colorful and loud in the best way. Plates kept appearing in the middle of the table. People kept talking over each other. Nora sat close enough that our knees bumped under the table.
After dinner, we ended up at the Hastings’s beach house two doors down with a stack of board games.
And even though the weekend had started with a plan to sell a story, as the day went on, it didn’t feel like a performance anymore.
It simply felt like I was getting to know Nora in all the little ways.
The way she teased. The way she listened.
The way she fit beside me like she’d always been there.
We held hands without thinking about it. Shared a few small kisses when no one was looking, and once or twice when they were. Nothing wild. Just enough to keep the truth humming between us.
I was careful with it, though.
Not because I didn’t want more. I did.
But since I didn’t want her to think this was the only reason I’d offered to be her “boyfriend,” I didn’t want our story to become nothing but heat.
By the time we finally headed back to Ky’s place and went upstairs, we were both sun-tired and happy.
But even though we’d kept things lighthearted and flirty most of the day, the second we stepped into our room and closed the door, Nora slid her palms up my chest, her fingers curling into my shirt, before kissing me like she’d been waiting all day just to get me alone.
And since I’d been counting down the hours until bedtime myself, I backed her up against the wall and kissed her like I’d been starving.
She made a small, pleased sound against my lips, and when her fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of my neck, her nails grazing my scalp, the last of my self-control cracked.
We kissed deeply, mouths open, tongues meeting, the kind of kiss that made the room fall away.
But when the height difference started working against us, I hooked my hands under her thighs and lifted her.
Nora’s breath hitched as she wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me in tight.
“Just so you know,” she breathed against my mouth. “I’ve been thinking about doing this very thing all day.”
Which only did me in more.
Her nails scraped lightly at the back of my head, and my knees almost gave out.
“That feels too good,” I said, my mouth still on hers.
When she did it again, dragging her fingers down the back of my neck and across my shoulders, a low groan tore out of me.
And while I probably should’ve felt self-conscious for being so open with my reactions, somehow, I didn’t. Because I was with her.
I tightened my grip and carried her a few steps, still kissing her as I set her down on the edge of the dresser.
And after that, the room and time blurred.
We kissed, with her on the dresser. Then on the bench at the edge of the bed. Every kiss growing deeper and deeper. Our mouths hungry, our hands roaming like we needed to learn everything there was to know.
When we finally came up for air, we were tangled on the bed. My shirt was long gone at that point, and her swimsuit was the only thing left between my hands and the skin I’d been trying not to think about touching all day.
I looked at her, at the yellow top with the little blue flowers stretched over her, the matching bottoms riding low on her hips, her stomach toned and sun-warmed. She was so beautiful. Amazingly so.
My palm slid up her torso, slow enough that I could pretend I was still in control. When my fingers skimmed her hipbone and she shifted to invite me closer, my heartbeat ramped up even harder.
Was she really okay with the direction we were headed?
I lifted my gaze to hers, half a question sitting on my tongue.
But instead of answering with her words, she answered with her eyes, bright and heated, like she was handing me the steering wheel.
So I lowered my mouth to her stomach.
I kissed her once. Then twice—heat pooling low as I kissed my way down. And when she arched into my touch with a sound that went straight through me, I lost whatever thread of caution I’d been clinging to.
Nora caught my face and pulled me back to her, and the second our mouths met again, my head went silent.
Her tongue slid against mine.
Unhurried.
Like a promise.
And when her hands drifted down my chest, over my stomach, and to the waistband of my swim shorts, I knew we were just one kiss away from crossing the line we hadn’t crossed yet.
“Okay,” I murmured, chest rising as I tried to remember how to be a responsible adult. “If we keep going like this, you’re going to think I only offered to be your fake boyfriend because I’m only interested in one thing.”
“That you’re interested in my money?” she asked, teasing.
I let out a quiet laugh, relief and hunger twisting together. “How’d you guess?”
“I mean,” she said, eyes bright, “you’ve seen my paychecks. You know that nannying for cute little three-year-olds is where it’s at.”
“Sounds like I might need to reconsider my profession.”
“Possibly,” she said, tilting her head. “Though I think I just got really lucky with this one.”
“You think?”
She nodded. “You see, the girl’s dad is, like… super hot.”
“He is?” I grinned, loving this conversation.
When she responded with an emphatic nod, I leaned closer and whispered, “Well, it sounds like you’re a pretty good match then, since you’re also super hot.”
I kissed her again, and she kissed me back like she had all the time in the world. Like she wasn’t thinking about sleeping. Like she wasn’t thinking about everything else.
When we finally broke apart, she took a breath and said, “We should probably get ready for bed now, huh?”
“I guess,” I said, even though my hands were still braced on either side of her.
“Or…” Nora lifted a brow. “I guess we can keep kissing and see how it goes.”
I laughed, leaning my forehead against hers, closing my eyes for half a second like I needed the strength. “I’m trying to be a gentleman.”
“Something you’re much too good at,” she whispered.
I laughed. “Except, it feels like I’m just barely hanging on.”
“Being a gentleman is overrated sometimes.”
I dropped my forehead to her chest with a groan. “You really aren’t going to make this easy on me, are you?”
“Not at all.” She lifted my face, pulled me in, and kissed me again.
I allowed myself to get lost in her lips for a moment before huffing out a quiet laugh and saying, “If only your brother hadn’t pulled me aside this afternoon to remind me that his bedroom is right next door and the walls aren’t as thick as some people like to pretend.”
“He said that?” she squeaked, her jaw dropping.
I nodded, completely serious. “Pretty sure he’s just waiting for an excuse to come over here and kick down the door if he thinks I’m getting too carried away with his sister.”
“He would do that.” Nora groaned, annoyed. “Ruin all my fun.”
I kissed her forehead. Then her nose. Then her mouth one more time, softer now. A promise, not a takeover.
“Okay,” she said, pulling herself away with a dramatic sigh. “Fine. I’ll go change into my pajamas, and then we’ll get some sleep.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” I said, even though watching her walk to the bathroom, hips swaying, felt like its own form of torture.