She pushed up slightly and moved her leg off of Riley with the intention of setting it down on the floor, but the bench was higher than she realized, so her foot didn’t make contact with the surface below. The movement only caused her body to shift in position so that his hard-on was nestled right between her legs, pressing firmly against her sensitized center.
Damn, he felt good. Too good. Her body instantly responded to the intimate position. She felt a delicious ache between her legs which quickly progressed to a steady throbbing. Her panties were getting moister by the second.
His muscles bunched under her fingers as they grasped his shirt and she itched to touch his skin. She wanted to slowly explore every inch of his amazing body and she wanted to take her sweet time doing it. She wanted to memorize every line, every dip, every muscle – of which one in particular had her undivided attention at the moment!
His chest rose and fell rapidly under her hands. She looked up and saw that his eyes were mirroring the desire that was exploding inside of her like fireworks on the Fourth of July.
She licked her lips. That was a nervous habit that she had tried to break for years. But, this time, when she heard the deep growl it caused Riley to make and saw his eyes grow fierce with passion, she decided maybe it wasn’t such a bad habit after all.
“Chelle.” Her name sounded like a warning.
She smirked to herself. Hell, if he was trying to warn her away from him, he was barking up the wrong tree. She had wanted Riley Sloan for as long as she could remember. The only reason she hadn't tried to make something happen before this was because she knew that he was out of her league and was trying not to get burned.
But, hey - she had played it safe and still gotten burned. And, what's more, this time in San Francisco might be her one and only chance with Riley. Looking into his eyes, feeling
his body beneath her she started to think playing with fire could be fun.
She could see in his eyes and feel in his body that he was battling with something, probably trying to talk himself out of what his body was telling him he wanted. Well, no harm in helping tip the scales in her favor.
She took a deep breath and rolled her hips against him as she moved her body higher to press her lips to his. She was really going to go for it. Not like yesterday. Go big or go home!
His fingers dug into her backside as he pulled her closer to him. Their lips touched just as the boat rocked wildly again. Chelle thought for sure they were going to tumble off of the bench, but Riley quickly sat up and had them anchored and secure between the wooden benches.
When the boat violently jerked, Chelle had instinctively thrown her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. Now that they were safely seated upright she kept her face there and did not release her arms. She held onto him for dear life.
She did this, not because she really thought they were in any true danger. The only thing in danger, she feared, was her heart. Even with that knowledge she didn’t release her hold. She just loved how it felt to be this close to him, plastered against him. It was perfect.
“It’s okay.” Riley rubbed up and down her back with his free hand. His tone and gesture she was sure was meant to be soothing, but instead it was just fanning the flames of lust that were raging inside of her.
She had to know what it felt like to kiss,
really
kiss, Riley Sloan. She knew it may not be the smartest thing to do but...screw it.
She lifted her head and looked into his eyes, his grip tightened around her. She moved her lips toward him as she felt her hot breath mingling with his...
“Are you guys okay?” A young crew member raced up the steel steps, “We didn’t know anyone was up here.”
Riley barely spared him a glance, “We’re fine.”
“The waters are getting pretty rough. We're gonna need you guys to go ahead and come on down to the lower deck. For safety.”
“We’ll be down in a minute.” Riley’s authoritative tone surprised Chelle. She had never heard him speak to someone like that.
She kinda liked it.
She looked up at the nervous guy standing with a worried look on his face, probably just trying to follow orders. Poor kid, she smiled and a blush rose on his fair cheeks.
“Um, well...okay.” Crew boy quickly turned and made his way down the stairs.
Chelle looked up at Riley, “Are we going to go down?”
He quickly and efficiently moved and settled her beside him on the bench. She loved how easily he maneuvered her. It made all kinds of fun images of what he would be like in bed pop into her head. She was definitely going to file that in the mental slide-show for another time.
“We are as soon as this does.” He looked down at his lap.
“Oh.” She wanted to laugh but she didn’t think he would appreciate it. He did seem a little tense.
Although she was actually feeling pretty happy (and more than a little proud!) about the fact that he was sporting such impressive wood due to her, she did also feel a little bad. She knew that they did, indeed, need to get down to the lower deck.
“Well I think I can help with that situation.” She stated.
His expression told her that he thought the help she was offering entailed much more than what she intended. Not that she would mind helping like that, but...not here.
“Chelle.” There was that warning tone again. She was actually starting to think it was really cute the way he kept saying her name like that.
She smiled and his eyes grew even more intense, she chuckled and shook her head “I wasn’t talking about that.” She wished she was though. “I’m really gonna help.”
One of his eyebrows shot up, “How?”
“My brother called yesterday. He wants you to call him.” Riley groaned and his head fell back.
She looked down at his lap. Sure enough, mentioning her brother had done the trick.
“See? Told ya.” She patted his arm, laughing, as she got up and they made their way down to the lower deck.
People were packed into the small glass-encased room like sardines. Chelle normally didn’t like small, confined places but this time it wasn’t so bad. The difference? In this case, the overcrowding caused her to be pressed tightly to Riley, so she liked it just fine.
Riley ran his hands up and down her arms. His touch caused shivers to run through her body like a wild river. He must have mistaken this response as her being cold, because he said he was going to go and get her a cup of hot cocoa.
She smiled and nodded, mostly because she didn’t trust herself not to burst out in tears. He was just so
thoughtful
, always noticing things about her, and constantly trying to take care of her.
No one had ever done that for her. Well, no guy anyway. Katie had always been like that, but it felt a lot different coming from a man – and, hell, this was not just
any
man. This was Riley Sloan!
As he moved away she saw that there was room on a bench in the far corner of the room and she went to go snag it. Now that Riley wasn’t standing behind her for support, her legs did feel a little wobbly as the ship made its way through the choppy waters.
She asked the woman who was sitting at the end of the bench with a child asleep across her lap if the spaces were taken. She shook her head no and Chelle quickly sat down.
The dark-haired woman turned and nodded as she smiled at her, “You’re quite a lucky gal.”
Chelle eyes followed where the woman tipped her head to and saw Riley standing in line at the small beverage bar.
When he caught her looking his way he smiled and Chelle felt it down to her soul, breaking open just a little bit more of her heart.
Good lord, she was in trouble!
“When’s the wedding?” The woman asked.
Chelle returned her attention to the woman, “Excuse me?”
The woman looked down at Chelle’s left finger and Chelle realized that she was still wearing David’s ring. She had just gotten so used to having it on her finger. She hadn’t even noticed it she still had it on.
What did that say about her?
Wouldn’t the normal reaction when an engagement was broken be to take the ring off of your finger? Immediately? In a rage? And then fling it into a lake...or...sell it on eBay? Something?
Why hadn’t she done that?
Maybe it was because she wasn’t one of those girls that had always dreamt of a big diamond ring. She had never really given the ring itself much thought after she and David had gotten engaged.
But, still. How had she literally
not noticed
it on her hand these last couple of weeks?
“
Is something wrong?” The woman asked, concern lacing her voice.
Chelle nodded her head up and down. She remained silent, lacking both the will and the ability to find the words which would explain her odd behavior.
“What’s wrong?” Riley was there, standing next to her.
She glanced back at the woman who had asked about the ring and she was looking out the window watching the water, obviously not wanting to intrude.
“Chelle?” He sat down and his concerned tone made her feel the way only Riley had ever made her feel…special. She thought it was really sweet but she really didn’t want to make a big deal out of this.
“Nothing, thanks for the hot cocoa.” She smiled up at him as she took the cup from his hand.
He looked into her eyes, searching for some clue that she was not, in fact, okay. She did her best to mask any internal turmoil by leaning down and blowing on the surface of the hot drink before bringing it to her lips and sipping it.
She decided it was probably best to change the subject. She smiled brightly, “Did you want to grab a bite when we get back to the pier?”
He shook his head. “Actually, I need to go see my buddy Tommy. He and his wife just had a baby. I was originally supposed to meet up with them the night before I was scheduled to fly home, that’s why I was headed to San Francisco.”
Chelle felt her stomach drop to the ground. A wave of utter disappointment washed over her. She knew her reaction was completely ridiculous, and she did her best to get it in check before it had the chance to show in her facial expression.
He had a life. He had friends. He didn’t need to babysit her.
She also knew that if she felt this upset just because she wasn’t going to be with him for a few hours, then she really wasn’t doing a good enough job maintaining her grasp on the fact that this time they were sharing was extremely temporary.
This little development was like a blinking neon sign warning her that she was getting WAY too attached to having him around. She was forming an addiction to his presence, and if she let it go on much longer, then detoxing was going to be a real bitch! It was probably a good thing that this dinner came up when it did. It was like reality was giving her a slap in the face.
This isn’t a real thing, you and Riley, she told herself. You need to remember that THIS
ISN'T REAL!
Riley was only here because Katie was worried about Chelle, and Jason wanted to stay on his honeymoon. He was doing everyone a favor.
That thought made her feel really bad about kissing him...let's be honest, practically seducing him...on the upper deck.
She pasted on her best smile, “Oh, that’s great!”
She hoped she sounded convincing.
“Have you ever eaten Indonesian food?” He asked.
She shook her head, “Nope, I don’t think so.”
Don’t look sad. Don’t look sad. She repeated these words over and over again in her head. She was trying as hard as she could to keep her countenance upbeat, positive. She would have time to process this completely disproportionate reaction to him being gone for a couple of hours when he left to go meet his friend. Now was not the time!
“Well I know Mindy, Tommy’s wife, was planning on making Indonesian food. They asked if that was okay with us?”
“Huh?” She thought she must have heard him incorrectly due to the internal dialogue running through her head like a ticker tape. She didn’t want to make a fool of herself and assume that she was invited. Although...that
was
what it sounded like.
“I asked if Indonesian would be
alright.” He gave her a strange, somewhat concerned, look. Kind of like the one her mom would give her before touching the back of her hand to Chelle's head to check for a temperature.
She still was not 100% convinced that his question meant that she was invited, so she decided to clarify, “Did you want me to go?”
He tilted his head to the side a little, his puzzled look intensifying, “Yeah, of course I do.”
Woo Hoo (happy dance in full effect!), he wanted her to go with him!
Wait...but what if he was just asking out of obligation? What if he felt like it would be rude not to include her?
She definitely didn’t want to be some kind of pity case. She didn’t want him to feel like he
had
to invite his best friend’s little sister, who had just gotten dumped practically at the altar.
Okay, maybe she was being
slightly
dramatic. But still, she didn’t want to impose. She should let him off the hook.
“Oh no, don’t worry about me! You should go, have fun, catch up. I’ll be fine.”
He smiled a smile that she had never seen before and she thought that her panties might spontaneously combust - burst into flames right there on the Blue and Gold boat. WOW! So
that
is what a panty-melting smile was!
“I want you to come with me. Tommy’s wife Mindy is a sweetheart. I think you two would really get along. They just had a baby, who I'm sure they want to show off to as many admirers as possible. Plus...you don’t want me to feel like the odd man out, do you?”
“No,” she rushed to explain, “I just thought...well...I don’t want you to feel like you
have
to invite me.”
Chelle felt a blush creep up her cheeks.
Riley brushed aside a hair that had fallen in her face and tucked it behind her ear. His fingertips lingered below her ear, his thumb slowly traced her jawline. “I want you to go,” he said simply.
Well, damn. How could she possibly say no to that?
“Okay.” She smiled.
She heard him let out an audible breath. She saw his hazel eyes trained on her mouth, “God, I love it when you do that.”
“What?” she asked with a nervous little laugh, “Agree with you?” She didn't know where this was going but she was really enjoying the way his gaze was laser-focused on her.
“Smile. I love it when you smile.” His tone sounded rough, like he was on the ragged edge.
She smiled even wider and he groaned and leaned back in his chair.
Hmm, interesting, she thought. SO...maybe he
doesn't
just look at me as Eddie’s little sister. That discovery made her feel as giddy as a schoolgirl whose crush just asked her to prom.
She didn’t know if anything was ever going to happen between them. She didn’t know if he would get on a plane tomorrow and this little fantasy bubble they had been living in would burst. But for tonight, she was just going to enjoy the time she did have with Riley. And oh, yeah...she was
definitely
going to keep smiling.