“Of course it did,” she said, lightly bumping me in the leg with her foot.
When the waiter returned to give us our drinks, we placed our order. I wasn’t rushing by any means, but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to go to the hotel room if that’s what she wanted.
“Tell me about some of your memories here,” I said to her. “The happier ones.”
She thought about that for a moment before speaking. “I used to go to the bigger beaches and surf when I was in high school.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It was a place for me to go when things were tough at home.”
“You should show me how.”
“No way,” she’s said. “I was a novice then. I’d probably kill the both of us.”
Other than surfing, Jess wasn’t the sporty type. I, on the other hand, was an all-star in high school and college.
“Why am I not surprised?” Jess said when I told her about my championship games from school.
We were finishing up with dinner, and I asked her if she wanted dessert.
“I’m stuffed,” she said then turned in her seat. “Let’s take a walk on the beach.”
It wasn’t what I had in mind, but I nodded. I’d have to find a way to mention the hotel room. It wasn’t something to easily slip into a conversation.
After paying the check, we went outside. I signaled to the driver that we were going to be back soon.
When we reached the beach, Jess leaned against the short wooden fence to take off her heels.
“I don’t want to have a trip to the emergency room,” she said with a small laugh.
I kept my shoes on since I didn’t want to bother with my socks. We headed out onto the sand and toward the water. The sun was already gone, so the moon shone brightly across the tips of the waves.
“This is incredible,” I said.
“I’m going to miss this,” Jess said. “I never thought I’d ever say that.”
“Maybe the time away from your mom helped heal whatever issues you had.”
“We have a long way to go with that,” she said. “It’s more this place I’m going to miss. I have so many memories rooted here that I sort of forgot when I left. I wanted to leave it all behind, and somehow even the good memories got lost too.”
I took her hand in mine. It was cool against my skin. “Now that you’re here, you can make more memories.”
She turned to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. Her hands moved up into my hair as she pulled me down to her for a kiss. “You mean like this?”
I rested my hands on her waist and moved up to rub my thumb against the side of her breast. “Just like this.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jess
The feel of Noah’s hands on my body created an electrical current to flow through me and settle in the depths between my legs. We hadn’t made love in the time we were in Australia, and with a single touch, I was ready for him.
I deepened the kiss and pulled my fingers through his hair, gripping him hard. I wanted to show him how turned on I was for him. I ground my hips into his, and I knew he was just as eager.
His hands slipped around my waist.
“Unzip me,” I said against his lips.