JESSICA
I took off my sunglasses. Was it really him? Yep, it was. I could tell by the shape of his long, straight nose. And by the way his full lips pushed out slightly as he concentrated on the sketchbook. Those lips had kissed me, and the memory of all the places they'd touched made me shiver in the hot sun as if a single ice cube had been dropped down the back of my shirt.
"Jess, you're my first. And I'm your first and I don't want there ever to be anyone else."
It made me unsteady to recall his lazy New Orleans accent and how he'd whispered honey-sweet promises and dirty declarations in my ear all while he did wicked things to my body. Things that I'd allowed no one to do in the five years since.
Leo and his father had vacationed on Palmira and stayed at the hotel for two weeks. My mom and his dad were old friends. Old good friends, apparently, because the minute they arrived my mom miraculously became less strict. Leo and I had taken to each other quickly, talking about music and video games and movies. He'd been surprised that I liked the Iron Man franchise as much as he did.
We'd kissed on Christmas Eve, the second night they knew each other, and spent the next several days doing everything but sex. I'd been wary but so excited. Leo never once tried to push me to do more than I wanted, and soon I was ready to try it all with him.
A week later, it happened. Leo slipped into my room after the adults were asleep. We'd lost our virginity to each other—awkwardly. I remembered how I hadn't had an orgasm from sex like I had with his hands and tongue, but it was pretty wonderful nonetheless. We'd kept having sex over the rest of the vacation, seemingly every moment we could steal away. Things quickly stopped being awkward. More like explosive.
"All of you, from your head to your toes and everything in between, is mine. You're mine, Jess. And I'm yours. Always will be, babe. Forever. I love you."
How supremely unfair. I hadn't felt this kind of adrenaline rush around any guy in years. Not with the couple of dudes I'd gone out with in college, and not with Jacob, my ex-boyfriend. No, there was only one man who'd ever made me feel this crazy, and he was the one who'd disappeared after what felt like a soul mate connection. And now he was kneeling on the beach in front of me, looking hotter than any man had a right to.
Oh. My. God. Turn around and run. Fast.
I couldn't move. The sight of him riveted me in place. Instead of the cute, sinewy boy who'd stolen my teenage heart that winter five years ago, this was a man kneeling before me. He looked like he'd been sculpted from fire—and sin. What the heck was he doing here?
My eyes scanned the beach. There was no one around except for me and this newer, hotter version of my first love. Couldn't a rogue wave crash ashore and sweep me away?
He definitely hadn't had biceps like that five years ago. Or all those tattoos. His dark hair was short and severe now, no longer curly. His skin looked lickable and smooth, with only a slight sheen of sweat that made me want to glide my hands over his body and linger on every ridge and valley. Like I used to. When I knew him before, he'd looked like a sweet lead singer in a boy band. Now those high cheekbones made him look a little feline and a lot arrogant. Hard and sexy, like he was used to taking what he wanted and to hell with everything else.
Or was I imagining all that?
I stepped back, poised to turn, but a curious voice inside of me commanded me to stay. I hadn't thought of Leo in a long while, mostly because other, bigger tragedies had taken his place. And because what was the point of revisiting the past?
Slipping my sunglasses over my eyes again, I felt an uncomfortable awkwardness wash over me. What could I even say to this near stranger? I suspected that after all these years we'd have nothing in common—if we ever had. We'd just been a couple of foolish kids...with an insane amount of physical chemistry.
Tugging at the hem of my oversized T-shirt, I wished I'd worn something other than it and this old pair of jean shorts. As always, I wondered how I looked. Ugly? Fat? I was bigger than I'd been in high school. More womanly. Well, there was nothing I could do now unless I sprinted off the beach.
My heart thumped hard. With a pulsing, annoying cadence, my right eye twitched in time. Since everything had happened with Mom, my eye did that when I was stressed or anxious. It was unnerving how one tiny muscle could sense my emotions.
I had to say something to him, be polite and act like a mature adult, not a brooding, heartbroken teenager—which was what I felt like as I blinked several times as if to clear the sight of him out of my eyes. My sister was always telling me to put on my big girl panties and stop being a baby. "Woman up," Nicole always said. Well, this was the time for it. I was overreacting, anyway. Right?
I'd been staring at him for several moments. He hadn't seen me and appeared to be deep in concentration, which was fine with me; it allowed her more time to gawk at his hard body, which practically radiated testosterone. I needed to get a handle on what I'd do before he finally acknowledged her presence. I took a big breath, willing myself to stomp down the excitement of seeing him in the flesh.
It was only February, and I was determined to have a better year than the last.
But seeing Leo again almost guaranteed that life was about to get very, very complicated.