He knew her well enough now. The tick in her jaw and the way her fingers tightened in the fabric. He steeled himself for the worst.
But she didn’t freak out. She looked at him with an expression he couldn’t decipher, and then at their two friends slumped over the table. “You both look ridiculous,” she said, neutral as anything.
She crossed the room to the cabinet to pull down two glasses, then got them filled without dropping the sheet. As they all gawked, she handed one of the glasses to Adam and then marched down the hall toward his room.
Adam locked gazes with Jared and Kim in turn. Without another word, he turned on his heel, following after Jo, his heart in his throat.
Sure enough, back in his room, she’d flung the sheet off and was stepping into her underwear.
He held up his hands in front of him. “I swear, I had no idea they were up.”
“Their light was on when I came in. I should have remembered.” She let out a dry echo of a laugh and a bitten-off, “Stupid.”
She hadn’t so much as paused in her efforts to get redressed, and something in his chest went cold.
He reached out and grabbed her shirt off the floor as she dragged on her shorts. When she recognized he had her top, she moved for it, but he held it out of reach. Because he was an asshole with a death wish. “Jo. I’m sorry.”
She rocked on her heels, deflating. Then sagged to sit on the edge of the bed, dragging her hand through her hair and pushing it off her face. Her voice didn’t sound so guarded this time, so jagged. “I know. It’s fine.”
He… didn’t know what to do with that. Because she didn’t sound like she was lying. “It is?”
“Honestly?” She looked up at him, dropping her hand and bracing her elbows on her knees. “Kim guessed we were fucking even back before we were.”
Oh. Oh.
He stood there speechless for a second. Kim had known. Had everyone known?
Something inside him twisted. Then why had Jo been so opposed to the idea of staying here with him?
She held out her hand for her shirt, and this time he forked it over. He didn’t know what to do with his hands. With his whole body.
“Christ,” Jo said, shaking her head. “Come here.”
Dumbly, he joined her on the bed.
She covered his hand with hers and repeated, “Seriously, it’s fine.”
“I thought you didn’t want anyone to know.”
“I said we’d never be able to keep it a secret. I just didn’t want to be treated like everyone knew. Like I was… that girl.”
“Oh.” He’d understood that, he really had. But all that secrecy hadn’t exactly been real, had it? Now their relationship—arrangement, whatever it was—was even more out in the open than it had been. And her response to that had been to put on her clothes. Intertwining their fingers, he gazed down at where his thumb stroked over her knuckles and tried not to let his disappointment show. “You’re still not staying over, though, are you? Even now that they really know.”
“Adam…”
It was his turn to say, “It’s fine. I was just wondering. That’s all.”
After a moment, she touched his face. “You’re a terrible liar.” She said it fondly, like it was something she recognized about him and didn’t mind.
“Don’t have a lot of practice, I suppose.”
She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek, just a hair from the corner of his mouth. “Another night.”
“Sure.”
With that, she pulled away and got her shirt on. Rose to grab her socks and boots, too.
When she was dressed to go, he nodded at the door. “They’re still out there, you know?”
“Yeah. I know.” She laughed. The sound made the tension shiver in the air, parting just a little. “What the hell were they wearing anyway?”
“Swimsuits. They were, uh, getting ready for the beach trip this weekend. I think.” He considered for a second, then shrugged. “That or just being drunk. It was kind of hard to tell.”
“Yeah…” She glanced down, trailing off.
“Are you going?” They were heading to the southern coast of the island, just an hour and a half or so by car. It wouldn’t keep her from the lab for too long.
And he wanted to see her. Out in the sand and sun, swimming in the ocean. He wanted to kiss the salt from her skin.
In front of everyone.
She frowned, and his shoulders sank. “I don’t know. I don’t have a swimsuit. And all that sun.” She made a face. “I’ll burn.”
He latched on to that not-quite-no. “I have an extra pair of trunks. Tie the drawstring tight and I bet they’d fit you.”
“Only half the issue.”
“I’ve seen you go swimming in a sports bra before.”
She gave a little shiver. Because, right, she hadn’t meant for him to see that. She hadn’t meant for him to pull her out of the water she’d gotten herself into. “I’d still burn.”
“I’ll loan you sunscreen. Rub it on your back for you and everything.” He was pressing. He’d always said he wouldn’t press with her.
Still, he found himself rising to his feet. With every step he took toward her, she took a half step away until she was flush against the door and staring up at him. She didn’t look cornered, though.
He grazed his finger down her cheek, his voice going husky as he stood before her. “Come to the beach. With me.” And this was the real killer. “Let me kiss you in the ocean.” In front of our friends.
They already knew. Everyone knew.
He wanted them to know.
“Maybe?”
“Maybe you’ll come, or maybe you’ll let me kiss you?”
“Which do you care about more?”
He didn’t know. Closing the last of the distance between them, he bent down, got in her space. Let his forehead brush hers, his lips hovering close enough to feel her breath. With one hand on the door and one at her side, he asked, “Will you?”
She closed her eyes. But when she opened them again, she said, “Okay.”
Chapter Fifteen
Well. The one thing Jo could say about Adam’s spare set of swimming trunks was that they probably looked worse on him than they did on her.
They were bright red, and they came to just below the knee on her, so they must have been unflatteringly short on him. And she knew his waist was trim—she’d had her hands around it as she pushed him into a mattress before. But she didn’t realize it was this trim.
She tugged at the draw cord all the same. She’d tied it plenty tight and didn’t really think the things were going anywhere. But she couldn’t help worrying. She couldn’t stop worrying about a lot of things.
She shouldn’t have come.
The soles of her boots dug into her thighs as she tucked them underneath herself, trying to find a comfortable way to sit on the sand. Even under the shade of the umbrella one of their escorts had had the foresight to bring, it was scorching hot. Stifling enough she almost wanted to take off her shirt.
But Adam had talked her into the whole sports bra and swimming trunks thing. And she looked ridiculous.
Face burning from more than just the heat, she cast her gaze out across the glittering white expanse of beach before her. A couple of the other girls had lingered away from the water as well, but they were wearing bikinis and luxuriating in the sun. Out in the water, looking deliciously cool and comfortable, Adam and Jared were horsing around, tossing a beach ball back and forth. Pretty much everyone else was out there, too.
Letting go of the drawstring of her trunks, she fiddled with the zipper of her bag. Adam hadn’t said anything about her bringing a book with her; he’d even stayed quiet about her sneaking in her binder, too. But even she knew it was crazy to spend a day at the beach like that. It was simple instinct, though. How many lunches had she spent with her nose buried in a set of calculations? Pretending she wasn’t watching everybody else letting go and having fun?