Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Not wanting to hear her reprimand, Burgess strode for the empty ATV and got on, his attention split between the control panel and Tallulah. Was she going to come after his over-the-top display of protectiveness?
When she appeared at his elbow, sliding her leg over the back seat of the ATV and wrapping her arms around his middle, he tipped his head forward and let out a pent-up breath, relief flowing down to his fingers, toes, even as her bare thighs around his hips made the laces of his board shorts feel uncomfortable.
“Ready,” she murmured against his back.
That made one of them.
If he got through the rest of this morning, it would be a miracle.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The cliff was a lot higher than Tallulah had anticipated.
But she wasn’t scared.
Nothing seemed scary, anymore . . . except for maybe the possibility that she’d pushed Burgess away before she was sure it was the right thing to do. He’d helped her off the ATV with all the caution of a baker carrying a wedding cake to his van and now? Now he stood looking out over the lagoon, visibly assessing the danger with his arms crossed, those powerful muscles captured in sunlight, his dark hair with the smattering of gray being picked up and tossed every which way by the wind, jaw tight.
Burgess was the most beautiful man in the world, full stop.
He’d always been a certified stud—hello Mean Daddy—but her attraction to him had reached a point that was almost . . . unendurable. Like she’d had to restrain herself from licking his sun-heated back on the ride to the cliff. Or dropping her hand into his lap to feel the shape of his penis against her palm. Stroke it stiff. And the surge of horniness wasn’t only physical in nature. She was . . . emotionally horny. Was that even a thing?
Could be.
No, it was. Because as soon as he’d withdrawn from her, the desperation to feel their connection again came on like a magnitude ten earthquake. She’d soaked up his protectiveness like a greedy sponge, because it seemed . . . that’s all there was left. That’s all he was allowing her now that she’d made the potentially premature mistake of ending things.
So what was stopping her from turning to Burgess right now and asking him if they could just rewind? Back up to earlier this morning when she’d been venting and scared and unsteady. Panicked at the thought of being burned again. Maybe if she knew he’d take such immediate action to end things, she’d have kept her mouth shut . . . but keeping her feelings to herself wasn’t right, either. Was it?
“Listen, folks,” Apollo said, “When you get down there, don’t forget to explore. There are various shorelines and mini beaches. There is a cave behind that waterfall—”
“I’m going down first again, Tallulah,” Burgess said, pressing his tongue to the inside of his cheek. “I have to judge the depth for myself before you jump.”
Ozzie and Apollo both threw up their hands. “Mister Abraham,” Apollo said. “You are the most distrustful person I’ve ever met in my life.”
“So be it. I don’t—”
“You don’t take chances with her. We know.” Ozzie sighed and started to kick off his flip-flops, muttering to himself about how hundreds of tourists leap from that exact spot every single day. “I’ll jump first so you can see how safe it is.”
Before Burgess or Tallulah could protest, Ozzie backed up several steps, let out a yell, and did a pencil jump that kept him in the air one, two, three seconds before he plunged into the aquamarine water below. Tallulah held her breath until he surfaced a moment later, waving his hand—and possibly his middle finger.
“And you’re sure we can’t jump together,” Burgess said to Apollo.
“No. Now that is unsafe.”
Burgess nodded, that line bobbing and weaving in his cheek. “Okay.”
He closed his eyes. Didn’t move.
A full twenty seconds passed.
“Burgess,” she prompted. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m trying to remember what you said that night I took you skinny dipping.”
“The pond was ice cold. I’m pretty sure I was just chanting oh God over and over again.”
His lips tugged. “Before that.”
Tallulah thought back, letting the rich velvet memories of that night sail into her mind like unfurling ribbons. A moment stopped like a freeze-frame, and she zoomed in, hearing her own voice drift back from weeks earlier. “Forever is composed of nows,” she said. “Dickinson. I told you it was the one time English Lit piqued my interest.”
“That’s it. Yeah.”
“Why are you thinking of that now?”
“Probably because I’m about to jump off a cliff.”
Tallulah laughed.
“I don’t know, I’m trying to enjoy this, not just get through it alive. The quote . . . it’s just making more sense now. If you live merely to get through everything, what parts are you enjoying, right?”