Taryn Belle - In Too Deep / Matched

Alex was in front of her again, pushing a strand of hair off her face as he stroked her cheek. “You okay?”

Nicola gave herself a shake. “Yeah, just… I don’t know.” She shook her head. “This is crazy. I don’t do this sort of thing.”

Alex placed a finger under her chin. “Neither do I,” he replied.

“Really?”

“Really.” Nicola was relieved when, as if sensing exactly what she needed, Alex ran a hand lightly down her back instead of kissing her. “Talk to me,” he said softly.

Nicola took a deep breath and locked her hands around his waist. “I’m having an amazing time. But…do you know me?”

He blinked at her. “Not nearly well enough. But I sure like what I know of you so far.”

“So you don’t…” recognize me?

But she couldn’t say the words—too dramatic, too vain-sounding. And if his answer was no she’d have a lot of explaining to do, which was the last thing she wanted to do right now.

He tilted his head at her. “Don’t what?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Hey.” Alex ran his hands down her shoulders to grip her upper arms lightly. “If this is feeling weird to you, I totally get it. We don’t have to do anything. But even if that’s the case, I still want to spend time with you. I think you’re amazing—in so many ways.”

His eyes were pulling her in, making all her fears melt away. He was perfect…too perfect.

He swept his arm out toward the room. “There are more ways than one to enjoy a beautiful hotel room. I see a bottle of champagne over there with our name on it. Can I tempt you?”

Nicola relaxed a bit. “Sure.” After following him over to the bed, she sat down on the edge while he connected his phone to the speaker system on the nightstand. The smooth sound of R&B filled the space.

“This okay?” he asked.

She smiled. “My favorite.”

Alex popped the cork on the bottle and poured them two glasses. “To underwater rescues,” he said with a self-deprecating grin, holding his glass up. “May I never put you through that hell again.”

Nicola laughed and took a small sip. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“So you’ve seen worse?”

“I didn’t say that . But you’re not the first person I’ve had to…lend a hand to.”

“So kindly put. Well, I’m glad I went through with it. There were some incredible creatures down there, and the fish weren’t bad, either.”

Nicola smiled, drawing a leg up on the bed so she could face him. Even though the sexual tension between them had eased a bit since their time together on the beach, she could still feel an electric jolt shoot through her body every time their eyes met.

“Have you always taught diving?” Alex asked her.

She shook her head. “No. I was a real teacher in my previous life. First and second grade.”

“Previous life? That sounds—”

“Just an expression,” she said quickly. “I became a scuba instructor when I was nineteen and used it to put myself through college. I first went snorkeling when I was ten, after a teacher got me enrolled in a summer camp. I loved it right away. We lived fairly close to the beach, so I used to go off and escape to my underwater world every chance I got.” She smiled at the memory. “It’s still my go-to stress release. And then a few years later I discovered diving—a whole new world. My family couldn’t afford the equipment, but I found a program that allowed teenagers to borrow it free of charge.”

“Sounds like you were very self-motivated.”

“I had to be.” She took a quick sip of her drink as Ariana Grande started singing. The tone of Nicola’s response, sharper than she’d meant for it to come out, echoed regrettably in her head. She’d never been a big fan of talking about herself, but since the scandal it had become almost unbearable. “Will your brother be wondering where you are?” she asked to change the subject.

“I doubt it,” Alex replied. “He keeps himself pretty well occupied.”

Nicola nodded. “I gather you’re not that close.”

Alex placed his glass on the bedside table and leaned back against the mountain of pillows behind him. “You could say that. We were when we were younger, I guess, but…it got harder later. When his first album went platinum, it was kind of like I lost both him and my parents. He was away touring all the time, and suddenly my parents were completely wrapped up in his success. Nothing I did seemed to matter to them anymore. And now…” He shrugged. “I stopped trying to have a real relationship with him a long time ago. It’s like he just stopped trying. Like his fame made him into something so great that it validates every part of who he is, and that’s all he needs to define himself. He talks about wanting to live a normal life sometimes, but I don’t think he could actually handle it. Being adored by the world puts you in a position that’s terrifying to step away from. I get that.”

Nicola squirmed a little under Alex’s intense gaze. His words made her slightly uncomfortable, because though she’d never have admitted it, there was a tiny, ugly part of herself that hadn’t hated being in the spotlight for those six months. Having the power to attract such attention from the press and public, to have the world looking at her and wondering what it was that was so special about her , Nicola Metcalfe, to snag such a shining star—part of that had been intoxicating, even if she hated what it was doing to all of the lives involved and ultimately made the decision to escape it. “The ego is a powerful thing,” she said. “Can you imagine how different the world would be without it? No war, no corrupt politicians. No Kanye West.”

Alex laughed.

Hesitantly, Nicola reached out and placed a hand on Alex’s shin. “You’re here, though, right? That must mean something to him—that you made the trip to see him.”

Alex looked slightly sheepish. “I actually came here for business reasons. My brother living here—well, I couldn’t put off seeing him forever.” Placing his hand over Nicola’s, he slowly entangled his fingers with hers. “But I never imagined what else was lying in wait for me.”

Nicola’s breath caught in her throat. She wasn’t new to the language and subtle games of courtship—she knew better than to place any weight in casually uttered words this early on. But she’d never met a man she wanted to get to know so completely after such a short time. She thought about the many things she didn’t know about Alex—what he liked for breakfast, what he did for fun, even what he did for a living—and the history he carried with him that she knew nothing about. She wanted to immerse herself in him, to learn every nuance of what made him who he was. Maybe this would be something, or maybe it would just be tonight—but she wanted it, whatever it was. Very badly.

The song changed to Ellie Goulding’s latest hit.

“Are you hungry?” Alex asked her.

“Extremely,” Nicola said softly. She moved toward him slowly until she was between his legs, and then lying on his chest. She looked down at him, and he stared up at her with an expression that could only be described as amazement.

“You are so beautiful,” he said softly.

She brought her lips to his and kissed him passionately. He kissed her back, but she felt restraint behind it.

“It’s okay,” she whispered when they broke apart. His eyes fixed on her face as she licked her lower lip, watching her every move like he wanted to pounce on her. “I want you. I’m ready.”

“Are you—”

She cut him off with her lips, and this time he kissed her back with everything he had, a small groan escaping the back of his throat. Then he gripped her arms and rolled her onto her back, pressing the full length of his body against hers. She could already feel the heat building inside her, her heartbeat quickening—oh, God, she wanted him so badly. “Yes, I’m sure.” She reached for his phone and tapped the stop button on the music. “I want to see you, taste you, hear you. Undress me,” she commanded breathlessly. “And then you. I want to see all of you.”