Kacey rolled her eyes. “What was the color of my bathing suit?”
Travis licked his lips and stalked toward her. “Pink, it was hot pink, and it was a bikini.” He pulled her into his arms and licked her ear. “It was hot.”
“Oh yeah?” Kacey whispered pulling back. “Is that why you pushed me into the pool?”
“I did say hot.” Travis nipped at her lips. “You needed to cool off… I was being a gentleman.”
“You were being an ass.” Kacey said.
“That too.” Travis ran his hands through her hair. “Damn, you’re beautiful.”
Feeling her cheeks heat, Kacey looked down. He hadn’t said that to her for a week or so, which was totally understandable since they had been all but separated by Grandma. It felt good to hear it.
“Don’t.” Travis chuckled. “Don’t get shy on me all of a sudden.”
“Not shy.” Kacey met his gaze. “Just happy to hear you say it.”
Travis’s brow furrowed. “Do I not say it enough?”
“You do.” Kacey didn’t even sound convincing to herself. “Holy crap, I’m turning high maintenance. It’s because you spoiled me!” She pinched his arm and found satisfaction in his cry of pain.
“Brat.” Travis threw her onto the bed and straddled her, holding her wrists down so she couldn’t move.
Kacey thrashed against him. Damn the man, he was strong.
A muscle ticked in his jaw as he clenched his teeth together and closed his eyes. His dark wavy hair hung over his forehead as he leaned close enough to kiss her. Instead he inhaled and did nothing.
“Um, Travis.” Kacey whispered.
“Hmm?”
“What are you doing? I thought you were dying? I thought you said you were going to go crazy without any sort of physical contact, and you’re…” She laughed breathlessly. “You’re smelling me?”
“Yup.” He continued inhaling, his nose tickling the sides of her face as he moved all the way down her neck.
Crap, he felt good; she’d forgotten how right they felt together, how just being near him made everything suddenly seem okay. The world faded into the distance; it was just them.
“I love your neck.” He murmured, his lips burning against her skin as he continued to talk. “It smells like flowers. It always has, but I don’t know if it’s your perfume or just you. It’s incredible.”
His tongue slipped beyond his lips, tasting her skin, slowly and then he kissed once, twice, pausing between each kiss as if to memorize the exact taste of each individual spot he was touching.
Travis’s lips left her neck and moved to her shoulder. “I was obsessed with this shoulder for an entire year.”
“Shut up!” Kacey laughed. “What is wrong with you?”
He held her right shoulder in his hand, moving his thumb over her delicate skin causing goose bumps to erupt down her body. “It’s true. You wore a shirt that fell just over this shoulder, your right one. I tripped walking down the hall because I was so focused on that little piece of skin. I swore to myself that one day I’d reach out and touch your shoulder, of course in my teenage years, it went beyond that. I wanted—”
“To kiss me? Have sex?”
Travis laughed, his smile doing crazy things to her stomach. He had no idea how devastating he was. “Nah, sweetheart. I just wanted to hold your hand. And that’s the truth.”
“Hold my hand? Kind of tame, don’t you think?”
“Not to me.” He swallowed, his eyes taking on a sensitive look as he licked his lips and brushed the hair from her face. “I knew you’d never kiss me, not then, so I told myself if I could just hold your hand…”
“What?” Kacey asked, breathless.
Travis reached for the hand that was still pinned above her head and entwined his fingers with hers. “That it would be enough.”