Page 82 of Earned Husband

I grimaced. “I’m doing my best.”

“Just act natural,” she joked, lowering herself to her knees on the sand in front of me and pulling funny faces while the shutter kept clicking. “Stare at the water like you’re trying to solve a problem.”

I groaned. “I am trying to solve several problems right now, actually.”

“Okay, well, in that case, stare at the stars and try to look like you’renottrying to solve a problem.”

I chuckled. “These instructions are starting to get a little confusing. None of this feels natural.”

She kept clicking for a while before she finally came over to me, lowering the camera into my lap for safekeeping while she sat down. I waited until she was sitting before I turned to look at her again.

“So, am I terribly unphotogenic?”

“See for yourself.” She reached for the camera and scooted closer, not stopping until her side was sealed to mine. As she scrolled through the photographs, she leaned against me, even kind of cuddling into my side. “Look at that. You’re perfect.”

I gave my eyes an exaggerated roll. “Thank you, but my eyes were closed in that one.”

“It makes you look thoughtful.”

“It makes me look like I’m about to sneeze.”

“Then I managed to capture you in your natural state,” she teased, scrolling to the next picture.

Thankfully, it wasn’t of me this time. I leaned in as we looked through the ones she’d taken a bit earlier, of the sunset, the jetty, and the cat, and I smiled as I nudged her shoulder. “You have a great eye. These are beautiful.”

She turned to face me, and without thinking, I reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Her gaze dropped to my lips the second my fingertips made contact with her skin. Then she leaned in and kissed me.

It was soft and quick, almost like she hadn’t quite meant to actually do it, but when she moved to pull away, I slid my fingers into her hair and brought her back, pressing my lips to hers for a much longer but still gentle kiss. When we finally pulled apart, she smiled. “We should probably head back.”

“Probably.”

Instead of moving to get up, we ended up crashing back together for another, much less gentle kiss. I wound my fingers into her hair and slid a hand to her hip, drawing her closer even though I knew it was stupid. My heart had started hammering as soon as her lips had touched mine that first time and my jeans were suddenly much tighter.

I was pretty sure I was addicted to the taste of her. I couldn’t get enough.

It was only when a dog barked somewhere further along the beach that we broke apart again, both of us breathing harder than normal. I groaned and swiped a hand across my face. Deja smiled and got to her feet reluctantly.

“We’re going to have to sneak back in,” she said when we reached the outer garden wall of the estate. “Do you think you can climb this?”

I glanced at it before looking back at her. “Can you?”

“I’ve got it,” she whispered. “Whatever you do, just don’t get caught by any of the motion sensors. They’re connected to spotlights that will flood the whole beach.”

I swallowed hard but then clasped my hands together to give her a boost. She stepped into them without hesitation, quickly hoisting herself to the top of the wall. “Are you going to be able to get up?”

“If you keep kissing me like you did earlier, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Stop!” she said with a laugh.

“I’m taller than you, so you can go ahead,” I said. “I’ll be there in a sec.”

“Show-off,” she whispered, chuckling quietly as she disappeared on the other side.

I climbed over after her, landing on a patch of grass and pausing for a beat to make sure no one had heard our entrance. No one stirred. I glanced at her. “Quiet like a panther.”

She grinned and rolled her eyes before nodding toward the kitchen. “This way, panther man.”

I followed her across the garden to the door, heart beating loudly in my ears. Anyone could be waiting in the kitchen. But we were in luck. The room was empty when we slipped inside and she turned to face me with a relieved smile on her lips.