Page 12 of The Getaway

She clears her throat before breaking the silence. “Thank you for helping me.”

Dipping my chin and tucking my hands in my pockets, I turn to respond but the breath catches in my throat at the sight of her.

Between the moonlight and the glow of the lamps lining the pathway, Bri is breathtaking. Her brown eyes shine as she stares up at me and I watch as they drop to my lips. Almost instantly, her tongue darts out, wetting her own while she takes a small step toward me.

Slowly, keeping her eyes on mine the entire time, she pushes to the tips of her toes. My heart rate spikes when her hand lands gently on my chest, no doubt able to feel how heavily it pounds. I inhale deeply, trying to tame my racing heart, watching her intently as the faint scent of apple mingles with the fresh ocean air. It overrides my senses and jumbles my thoughts even more.

Bri places a kiss on my cheek, one so light that if I wasn’t watching her every move, I would doubt she had done it. When she pulls back, it takes everything in me to not hold her close. To not slip my fingers into her soft hair and claim her mouth with mine.

The kiss was a kind gesture, nothing more.

“Noah,” she whispers and it’s the only warning I get before she moves back in.

I blink, not processing that she’s kissing me. By the time my brain catches up to what’s happening, she’s breaking away.

“I’m so sor—” she starts, but I don’t let her finish.

Instead, I wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her flush against my chest while my other hand tangles into the hair at the back of her head.

This time, I kiss her.

Her soft, plump lips taste like coconut and sugar. Licking along her bottom lip, I bite back a groan when she immediately opens her mouth, allowing me to deepen the kiss.

Bri leans her weight into me, sliding her hands up my chest before wrapping one to the nape of my neck. Every inch of my body hums with the need for more.

My hand slips from her waist, trailing down to cup her ass in my palm and squeezing. A quiet moan escapes her, and I greedily swallow it. The hand with her phone in it slides down my chest to my ribs and around my back. She tugs me impossibly closer, causing my cock to press into her stomach.

There’s no stopping my groan at the contact.

Bri breaks away, gasping for breath while blinking rapidly up at me and I can’t bring myself to let her go.

Instead, I keep her wrapped up in my arms, staring down at her beautiful face and puffy lips. My heart is pounding in my chest, I resist the urge to lean in and kiss her again.

“Can I…” I pause, reminding myself to be a gentleman and reluctantly remove my hand from her ass and untangle my fingers from her hair. “Can I walk you back to your room?”

She blinks up at me, slowly nodding as she sucks in a deep breath before stepping out from my arms. Even in the Caribbean heat, I shiver at the loss.

“Yeah,” she answers breathlessly. After clearing her throat and tucking her tousled hair behind her ear, she motions to our right. “This way.”

We walk side by side in silence, and I struggle to think of anything to say. I’m not one to go around kissing strangers, or really anyone, but thoughts of what it felt like to kiss her dominate my mind, making it difficult to start a conversation.

“How long are you here for?” Bri asks, leading us away from the center of the resort and closer toward the buildings by the coast.

“Uh, next week,” I say, scratching the back of my neck and focusing on the pathway ahead of us. “I’m supposed to fly out the day after Christmas.”

“Same!” she exclaims, her smile turning sad. “This is my first holiday without my family around.”

Gently, I nudge her with my shoulder and offer her a smile. “Same.”

When we come to a fork in the sidewalk, I’m about to go one direction, assuming she’s in the suites that overlook the beach, but Bri steps in the other direction. I hesitate for a second before following her.

“You’re staying at the bungalows?” The question bubbles out and I mentally slap myself on the back of the head.

I spent the plane ride here memorizing a map of the resort. While I mostly wanted an idea of how to get around, it also provided a distraction during the flight.

“Yeah,” Bri responds, pausing to smile at me over her shoulder. “I went all out on this vacation.”

I nod, watching as she confidently steps onto the boardwalk bridge that leads out to the secluded bungalows.