FORBIDDEN HEAT

Chapter 3

And just like that, I feel an insatiable need for ice cream. I stow my laptop below deck, grab my wallet, and give a quick check to make sure everything is secure before stepping off the boat. It’s a quick walk across the beach to Double Dipped, but by the time I get there, there’s already a crowd of people waiting in line. The owner’s frazzled, sweaty head pops out the large window. He holds his hands up in an apology.

“I’m so sorry, folks, but our ice cream machine is on the fritz. I’ve got a repairman on the way, but we’re going to have to close down for a few hours.”

When the crowd starts to grumble, he quickly pulls out a stack of coupons and holds them out. “I’d like to give you each a coupon for a free cone for the inconvenience this has caused.”

That seems to appease the hungry crowd who grab their coupons and slink back down the boardwalk in search of some other vendor to get something that will help cool them off. I don’t bother getting a coupon and instead, wait for Zoe. When she appears from the back, I worry that her boss won’t let her go. He’s looking at her like he wants to do all the things to her that I want to do, and it pisses me the f**k off. I’m the only one who gets to fantasize about her like that, damn it!

When I see her start to fidget under his lecherous stare and the uncomfortable look on her face, I walk to the window and lean against the counter. As soon as she notices me, relief washes over her face, and she gives me a huge smile that I immediately return.

“Hi, Zoe,” I say, and then give her boss a very curt nod before returning all my attention to her. “I heard the machines are down, so I wondered if you could help me out with that thing we talked about yesterday.”

She holds my gaze for a moment before quickly following along. “Oh, yeah. I guess now would be the perfect time for that since I won’t be able to work for a few hours.”

“Well now wait just a minute,” her boss says with a scowl. “I never said you could just have the afternoon off.”

I look at him and can’t manage to hide my distaste when I say, “Well, what else were you planning on doing with her all afternoon when she’s unable to work?”

His face turns as red as a boiled lobster, and his next words come out in a splutter of anger and perverted guilt. “She could clean. There’s lots of things that need to be done around here.”

I glance around at the tiny, very clean-looking stand. “Looks like there’s not much left to do to me.” I give him a tight grin. “I’ll have her back in a couple of hours.” Without even waiting for his response, I look back at Zoe and give her a wink. “Ready to go?”

I can’t help but laugh at the excited head nod she gives as she scrambles to untie her waitress apron. She tosses it on the counter and shouts a quick bye to her boss who’s still standing there trying to figure out how his afternoon alone with Zoe just turned to absolute s**t.

By the time she’s at my side, he pulls himself together enough to holler out the window, “You better be back by four, Zoe!”

“I will!” she yells over her shoulder as I guide her away from the stand and toward the beach.

Being this close to her is a mix of heaven and hell, and it takes all my willpower to not grab her and pull her body close to mine. I imagine her petite frame would fit perfectly against my much bigger one, and a very vivid image of me picking her up and f*****g her floats through my head. I have to force it out of my mind or risk her seeing exactly how much I want her.

She looks up at me with a shy grin and tucks a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. The rest is still pulled back in a ponytail, giving me an amazing view of her delicate, slender neck.

“Thanks for getting me out of there,” she finally says, looking even more bashful than before. She hooks her thumbs through the belt loops on her jean shorts as I watch a blush creep up her chest and neck before finally landing on her cheeks.

Stopping, I turn to face her. As much as it pains me to say it, I don’t want her spending time with me if she’d rather not. Maybe what I’m seeing as flirting is just her being friendly. I force myself to speak. “Zoe, if you’d rather I leave you alone, I can do that. I don’t want you to think you have to spend the afternoon with me.”

She jerks her head up at my words and is so upset by them that she reaches out to grab my arm in a surprisingly strong hold. “No!” she practically yells at me. She gives a soft, embarrassed laugh before continuing. “I mean, I don’t want you to go, Logan. I’d like to spend the afternoon with you.”

I smile down at her and laugh as her eyes widen in shock when she realizes she still has my forearm in a death grip. The embarrassed look on her face is beyond adorable, making me wonder what she’d look like if I told her everything I wanted to do to her. How would she react if I told her I’d just jerked off not that long ago while thinking about f*****g her?

With a sigh, she lets her hand slip from my arm, and I immediately miss the feel of her skin on mine. “Sorry,” she says, dropping her eyes to the sand.