Vanessa awoke the next morning disoriented and stiff.   When she tried to move, the ache in her neck and back caused her to grab her shoulders.  Then she realized the reason; her head lay at an odd angle on Riley’s side, very close to his hip.  She opened her eyes to see the screen of the muted TV stuck on the main menu of the last movie they watched last night.  She cautiously looked up and found Riley watching her.

“Morning,” he offered.  One of his legs was bent on the floor, but his leg closest to her was propped on the coffee table, guarding her from falling off the couch.  He had rested a throw pillow behind his head at one time, but now his head was propped in his hand, his elbow resting on the arm of the couch.  His left arm, which was rested on her back, began rubbing back and forth slowly.

“Did you sleep here like that all night?”

“Yes.  You fell asleep around midnight.  I didn’t want to leave you here.”

“You couldn’t have slept well.  I would have been fine.”

He grinned sheepishly and raised one eyebrow.  “I know.” 

She blushed.  “How long have you been awake?”

“Not long.” His right hand left his cheek and brushed her hair off her face.  “I was thinking we’d hang out by the beach today, if that’s okay with you.”

“Sounds good.”

“How’s your ankle?” he asked, gently lifting her right leg and rubbing her ankle with his thumb.

“Stiff, but it doesn’t hurt at all.”

He hesitated before asking his next question.  “What time is your flight?”  His fingers trailed lightly from her ankle up the outside to her calf, pausing briefly to circle her knee before continuing up the outside of her thigh.  Her breathing increased.

“I’m thinking of delaying the flight.”

His hand moved over her hip and up her side, fingertips barely grazing the outside of her breast before reaching up to trace her cheek.  His thumb grazed her bottom lip.  She parted her lips allowing her tongue to brush the side of his thumb lightly.  She smiled when he hitched his breath.

“For how long, Dr. Taylor?” he almost whispered, sliding his fingers down her neck and began tracing her collarbone.

“Indefinitely,” she huskily whispered.

“Good.  Are you hungry?”

She smiled slyly.  “Not for food.”  She contemplated kissing him but worried about morning breath.  “I’d really like to go to the bathroom and brush my teeth, maybe take a shower first.”

Riley’s eyes dilated and glazed over.  “The offer to help you in the shower still stands.”

She pushed herself up to a seated position, mock indignation on her face.  “If you are teasing me, that’s incredibly mean.”  She leaned in to him, placed her hand on his chest and began slowly feeling her way down.  “But if you are serious,” she whispered in his ear, pausing a second to nibble his lobe slightly, “I can think of a few things you could help me with.”  She moved to kissing his neck just below his ear.

He caught her hand as it boldly gained access under the waistband of his shorts, just shy of her destination.  He wiggled away from her and stood up.  “I’m sorry, Vanessa.  After what I said to you last night, and after what you told me about the combustion thing, I shouldn’t have teased you like that.”  He shifted awkwardly.  “Go take your shower.  I’ll start breakfast.”

She stood up, smiled evilly and stared him dead in the eye as she sashayed past him.  “It’s fine, Riley.”  As she walked away from him, she grabbed the bottom of her shirt, lifted it over her head and threw it over her shoulder.  She quickly unhooked bra over and tossed it behind her, never breaking stride or turning around.  She began heading up the stairs.  “I’ll just have to go and do those things without your help.”   

She heard him groan and smiled at herself. 

“You’re not gonna make this easy, are you, Nessa?” he yelled up the stairs. 

She threw her shorts down.  “Nope.”  Her panties were tossed down next. 

Right before she shut her door, she heard him mutter, “God, woman.  You’re killin’ me.”

She closed the door.  “Good.  Now you know how I feel.”

 

***

 

Even though her music played, Vanessa’s thoughts got away from her in the shower.  She flitted from memories of last night’s reality to fantasies of what would have happened if her dad hadn’t called.

Dammit, Daddy.  It feels just like high school.  Next time make sure the cell phone is off.

Her stomach flipped at the prospect of next time. 

How long will it take me to try to convince this guy I’m falling in love with him?  What should I do?  Say it?  Sing it?  Tattoo it on my forehead?

And I’m scheduled to leave today.  Must change my flight.  Thank God for my flight vouchers.  Helps to have a brother who works for an airline. 

Wait.  He called me Nessa.  No one has ever called me Nessa but me, and that’s in my head.  Shit, can he really read my mind?  Daddy calls me Nessie, but he can’t know that. 

Something about this guy seems too good to be true.  How come he doesn’t have a girlfriend or a wife and a dozen kids yet?  Something has to be wrong with him.  From what I had the briefest pleasure of touching the tip of last night, no problem there.  Boy. Oh. Boy. 

That thought sparked another rather wicked fantasy, one which made her turn the water colder.  She really needed to shave her delicate areas, and wicked fantasies doing dirty things to Riley’s body would make that difficult.  Since it had been a while since she had worn a bathing suit without shorts over it, grooming was a necessity.

She dried off, lotioned up, put her hair in a ponytail and got dressed in her bathing suit, tank top and shorts.  No makeup was necessary for a day at the beach, so she headed out of the bathroom.  She found that the clothes she had discarded downstairs were now on her bed, neatly folded. 

That means he was up here.  In this room.  While I was naked just past that open doorway.  I wonder if he considered getting in the shower with me.  Or if he peeked.  She flushed at that thought.  Damn him and his restraint. 

It was the first time she noticed the time.  It was only 7:30 a.m., and she had been up for about thirty minutes.  Although she was fairly certain that she should be tired, she felt oddly energized. 

Sexual frustration will do that to you, I guess.

She opened the door to Riley, poised to knock.

He smiled and grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers.  “I was coming to tell you breakfast is ready.”  

She raised her eyebrow.  “Were you, now?”  He pulled her hand to his mouth and started to kiss her fingers.  She pulled her hand back and pushed gently on his chest.  “Look, Lover Boy, we’re going to have to lay down some ground rules if you are going to insist on this waiting thing.”

“I just don’t want us to make a mistake by sleeping together too soon.”

“Yeah, I heard you the first two times.”  She brushed past him and headed down the stairs.  When she got to the bottom, she turned toward the kitchen.  “And truth be known, we, air quote, slept together last night.”

“And the night before,” he quickly added.

She turned to face him, and the look on her face made him stop in his tracks.  “What did you just say?” she asked in that tone people use when it’s more disbelief than a non-hearing issue.

He looked at her like a child who is holding a paint brush when his mom asks if he painted the couch.  He stuck his hands in the pockets of his shorts and shrugged his shoulders.  “I thought you knew that.”

“After getting in the car, I blacked out.  And I woke up alone.  How could I have known?”  He shrugged again.  She asked,  “So, what did you do to me?”

His mouth dropped open and he shook his head.  “Nothing, I swear.  I carried you in, laid you in my bed.  I slept on top of the covers.  Absolutely nothing happened.”

She smiled.  “That’s a shame.”  She turned around and moved toward the table.

He stepped toward her and turned her around, raising an eyebrow.  “So you’re telling me you would be okay with it if I did do something?” 

She looked up and answered, flirting.  “Depends on what you did.”

“Some guy you’ve barely known for a couple of days can just violate you in your sleep, and it’s okay?” 

Her tone softened and she looked down.  “Not some guy.”  She paused, looking up from under her lashes.  “Just you.”

His piercing eyes studied hers for a long moment.  His hand trailed up her arm to behind her neck, and he pulled her into an electric, knee weakening kiss.  His tongue found its way in and touched hers again, and she had to break away and walk three steps from him to catch her breath; plus, she had to avoid the urge to strip off her shorts and wrap her legs around him.

“This,” she began breathlessly, “brings me to my list of ground rules.” 

“This ought to be good,” he teased. 

She walked over to the marble counter and grabbed the plate of waffles. 

“Look, you can pretend you have some iron will or something, but I know you were in my room earlier contemplating whether or not to crash my shower.”  She gauged his reaction; judging by the guilty look on his face, she was right.  “So, rule number one, no more teasing.  Either of us.”  She sat down.  “That means no innuendo, no euphemisms, and especially no offers for helping in the shower.  And we should probably tame the flirting.”

He suppressed a laugh and positioned himself across from her.  “Okay.  Got it. No teasing.  What is number two?”

“Well, if you kiss me again, that tongue of yours needs to stay in your own mouth.  Although I really like how you don’t force it in and try to choke me with it and lick my tonsils.”  She softened her tone.  “I like the way it just teases.  Plays.  Touches, caresses mine…” She closed her eyes lost in her own thoughts.  She might have lightly moaned.

“Okay, for the record, you’re already violating rule number one.”  He said as she opened her eyes.  “And they’re your rules.”

She straightened, slightly embarrassed.  “You’re right.  I’m sorry.”  She poured syrup over her waffle.  “You’re just a very good kisser, that’s all.”

He grinned and nodded politely.  “Thank you.”

“Number three.  I don’t think you should touch me.”

He choked on his waffle a little, and his eyebrows shot up.  “No touching?  Anywhere?”

She thought about it as she chewed and swallowed.  “Alright, on the arm below the elbow.”  She paused.  “And maybe from the knee down.  But that’s it.”

He smiled, full on dimpled, totally melting all Vanessa’s resolve.  “Dr. Taylor, I think you got it bad for me.” 

“You have no idea, Mr. Tate.” 

While they ate in silence for a while, Riley watched Vanessa intently.  She occasionally found herself mesmerized by the way he looked at her, feeling as though he was deciding which part of her to devour first. 

“If you keep that up,” she purred, “I’m going to have to add not looking at me to the list.”

“I’m sorry.”  He looked down at his plate and let out a nervous laugh.  “I think this might be harder than I thought.”  He chewed his last bite and swallowed it.  “Am I going to get any more rules?”

She thought for a long moment.  “I should probably add something about sleeping arrangements, but for now, I’ll just say that I’ll have to make up the rest as we go along.”  She got up to clear the table, and he followed her lead, stopping her with his hand to her forearm.

“May I ask what will happen if I break these rules?”

“Violation on your part means that you are agreeing to proceed with our conversation from last night.”

“Ah.  But I can still kiss you, right?  As long as I don’t violate the tongue rule?”

She swallowed.  “Yeah, if you…” 

Before she finished her answer, he cradled her face and his lips were on hers, sweet and tender, goose-pimply and tingly.  Before she melted into a puddle on the floor, she pulled away and headed toward the sink.  She sucked in a long breath.  “Yeah, very good kisser.”