Page 29 of Walk of Shame
“Yes. Exactly.” Her hand comes up to my shoulder. “I want to believe, but I don’t know how.”
“All I can do is show you, Ashley.” Unfortunately, the night of our wild sex played into all her fears about herself, reinforcing she was the kind of girl you slept with for one night before going on to another, better woman. I can’t change that, but I can at least try to explain how I feel about her. I release my hold on her jaw, run a palm over her shoulder and pick up her hand to put it over my heart. “I wish I’d known, that I hadn’t gotten so carried away and courted you properly. All I can do is ask you this question, if this were about sex, if I only wanted you for a night, why am I here? Why am I introducing you to my friends? Spending every second I can with you?”
She sucks in a breath. “I don’t know.”
I press her palm harder into my chest and meet her eyes. “You know if I kissed you right now, you’d melt. That I could have you in my bed by the time it takes to get back to our hotel. But I’m not taking advantage of the fact that I could probably make you come right here on the beach with everyone watching. I’m letting you dictate that, and do you know why?”
She swallows hard and looks at me with those big, bright blue eyes. “Why?”
“Because it’s not about getting you into bed. I know how to get you into bed. It’s because you’re important. What you want and need, who you are, matters to me.”
Her eyes well with unshed tears and she clutches my arm. “Thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me, that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
“I know.” She relaxes, fractionally, and I think I’ve made a difference.
Over her head I see Jace waving to me. I squeeze her hand, steady and firm, over my beating heart. “They’re signaling us over, I think it’s time to snorkel.”
She nods. “Okay.”
We stand and she dashes into the sea, dunking herself under, I presume to wash the sand away and I watch her. Her hair streaming wet down her back, yellow bikini highlighting all that golden skin, and my chest squeezes.
I could love this girl someday. And I think she could love me back.
If she lets herself. If I can make her believe.