A Stone in the Sea(21)

He nodded, digging the toe of his shoe into the pavement while I fumbled through my bag and pulled out my phone. I shot out a quick text to my roommate and best friend, April.

Mind if I’m a little late? Going to grab something to eat.

My phone buzzed with her response. With who?

Should have known she’d ask questions. I hardly went anywhere and she knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t do it alone, especially in the middle of the night.

A guy, will fill you in later, was all I gave her.

Wow, really? No worries here. We’re fine. Just be careful.

Seemed a lot of people had been telling me that lately.

I didn’t reply, and instead tossed my phone back in my bag, tucked the strap over my shoulder, and smiled at the gorgeous guy whose eyes were tracing my face. The way my skin tingled, I was pretty sure he’d been doing it the entire time.

What was I getting myself into?

“Lead the way,” I said, and apparently his idea of leading and mine were entirely different, because he reached for me. He enfolded my hand in his, and his consuming heat gave me a jolt.

He peered over at me with an impish smile, like he felt it too, and he was just as intrigued by it as I was.

He hauled me alongside him to the end of the lot where I hadn’t seen the motorcycle that sat gleaming at the edge of the road. “Here we go,” he said, swinging our hands between us.

I gaped at him. “You expect me to get on that thing?”

The bike was black and chrome and looked almost as dangerous as the crew he’d rolled in with earlier.

“That thing?” he repeated in horror.

“Yes, that thing.” The corner of my mouth quirked up at the wounded expression that took over his entire face.

“Bite your tongue, woman. That thing would be the only girl I’ve ever loved. ”

I bit my lip instead, my words becoming playful. “Well, doesn’t that answer a lot of questions about you, Sebastian from California?”

Grey eyes danced. “I suppose it does, doesn’t it?”

Releasing me, he straddled the heavy machine, legs spread out, feet braced on the ground.

Magnificent.

He handed me the helmet hanging from the handlebars. “Trust me?”

Chuckling, I placed it on my head and fastened it. A surge of excitement engulfed me when I climbed on behind him. “No, not at all.”

But tonight that didn’t seem to matter in the least. For a few hours, I was letting myself go. Just as long as I didn’t let myself go too far.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, and that excitement shifted and transformed, a thrill of desire burning through my blood when he tucked me closer to his back. He drew my thighs around the outside of his legs and secured my hands across the flat, rigid planes of his abdomen.

Oh God, I was in trouble.

He patted my thigh, before he squeezed it tight. “Just for tonight, Shea. Just for tonight.”



I tossed a fry at him, cracking up. I might have felt embarrassed at my reaction if it weren’t for the fact we were the only two people in the old diner. That and I hadn’t had this much fun in a very long time.

“Shut up.” I probably sounded like a ditsy girl, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care because Baz looked like he hadn’t enjoyed himself so much in a long time, either. He looked relaxed, so different from the night when I first met him. Younger. Less intense.

“What?” The most perfect kind of grin was plastered over his face, full, full lips playful, teasing me nonstop over the last hour we’d been sitting here. “You have the cutest drawl I’ve ever heard.”

“I do not.”

“You have no idea, do you? I should record you just so you can hear the way you talk.”

“It sounds normal to me, crazy boy. Don’t you think you have an accent to me?”

“Hell no.”

“Yes, you do.”

He crossed his arms over his wide chest. “And what do I sound like?”

“You sound like California.”

His mouth dropped open. “I take offense to that.”

“You should,” I shot back, the force of my smile feeling like it might break my face.

He made me feel young again. In reality, I guess I was young, but I didn’t have the time to feel like it normally.

“Wow. You’re trying to rip my heart out, aren’t you?” He dipped a fry in ketchup and popped it in his mouth. “Have you even been to California to warrant such an undeserved hatred?”

“Who hasn’t been to California? And eww…all that traffic and smog? No thank you.”

He chuckled lightly. “I see your point, but you get used to it.”

“Savannah is just fine.”

“Not a big city kind of girl, huh?” Pensive eyes studied me, and his words sounded like a true question rather than another jab.