“Even when she’d fantasized, what she’d come up with hadn’t ever matched this reality. She’d never envisioned a sexy, borderline grouchy guy with a glint in his eye and an erection this tempting.”

“He didn’t reply but by then she’d found something else to occupy her attention. His eyes.Though she’d expected them to be as serviceable as the rest of him, they were a smoky blue-gray fringed in dark lashes. Pretty eyes. Even when he stared her down like a cop might a perp. And not just any perp. One who was heavily armed and an imminent flight risk.”

“… You were summer and freedom and everything I hadn’t had in so long. Everything I hadn’t allowed myself. I’m going to allow myself tonight.” He tossed his shirt aside and she glimpsed his broad chest in the flickering light from the portable woodstove she’d noticed out of the corner of her eye. “You’re going to be my ocean and I’m going to drown myself in you.”

“Karyn reached out to graze his jaw with her thumb, savoring the beginnings of stubble. She’d never seen her ex with stubble. Or with his mouth as deliciously soft and used as Jeff’s.“How’d we end up here?” she asked softly, not expecting an answer.“Luck,” he said, turning his head to kiss her palm. “Blind f#cking luck.”

“It's been a while and God, you're so sexy I can't even breathe." His voice shook to match the rest of him. "If I f#ck this up, I'll get it right, Ror. I promise. Just bear with me, okay?”

“He tugged her over the threshold with his good arm, barely cognizant of her startled squeak before his mouth swooped down to cover hers. She tasted pepperminty, as if she’d been sucking on a candy cane again. He swept his tongue between her lips to taste more of her while her arms locked around his neck.”

“At first it was the complete antithesis of the kiss she’d shared with Matthew. That one had been crazy, emotional. Uncontrolled. This was a gentle mating of lips. Soft, sweet, and easy. He didn’t press for her to grant him access, but she gave it, opening for him with a low moan.”