Page 119 of Paparazzi Perfect
He was my rock. My summer sky. My calm in the storm.
And even through all the uncertainty, he’d never really stopped loving me.
I stepped toward him and rose onto my toes. My lips grazed his, his warm breath brushing my skin as he pulled me closer. “But you’re crazy! You know that, right?” I laughed, tipping my head back. “Crazy amazing. Crazy beautiful. You’re—”
“Perfect for you?” He pressed his forehead against mine.
“Absolutely perfect. And I’m so glad you have a boat again. I know how muchThe Canoemeant to you. All those memories we made when we first met… now we get to make even more.”
“So… when exactly can we get started making these new memories?” he chuckled, his eyes darkening.
“Firefly.”I giggled. “I love it. But you do realize that makes metheskipper, right?”
He straightened and snapped off a salute. “At your service, Skipper.”
“Right, sailor, I’m ordering you to carry out your duties—”
His lips crushed against mine as his hand slid down my back.
Breathless, I pressed a hand to his chest, reluctantly pushing him back a fraction. “At ease, sailor.”
He groaned mournfully.
“Take me aboard right now so I can get my hands all over that gorgeous body of yours. Unless, of course, you’d prefer the paparazzi to capture the whole thing right here? In which case, we can laugh about it over coffee tomorrow morning.”
“Tempting,” Karson drawled. “Very tempting. But you’re right, we should probably get out of the firing zone.” He took my hand before we stepped onto the deck.
He opened the door and stood aside as I sucked in a breath at the familiar surroundings before stepping inside.
Right above the desk sat a small photo of us standing in front of the waterfall we’d visited when we first met.
“I’ve been living in hope that you’d show up tonight. There’s something else I want to tell you.”
Concealing my delight, I crossed my arms over my chest. “It had better not be another boat!”
He grinned. “I’ve organized a crew to sail us to Sydney. So if you want to, we can have a do-over.Only this timethere’ll be nounpleasant surprises at the other end. If you’re in, we leave at dawn.”
“Hmm, let me think. YES!” I ran toward him and jumped, wrapping my legs around his waist as his arms closed around me our lips met in an urgent kiss.
Without another word, we made our way to the cabin.
31
SUMMERBEACH
IVY
I lay on the bed, staring through the catamaran’s cabin skylight at the vast blue sky—which I’d grown to love even more over the last couple of weeks—before pulling myself into a sitting position and dangling my feet off the side of the bed.
Clutching my phone, I messaged Jai, updating him about the recent developments in my love life. My eyes settled on Karson’s chiseled arms as he stirred and rolled onto his side, my phone lighting up in my hand.
JAI: Awesome, haha. I knew you guys would get it sorted. I met someone too :)
A smile crept over my face at the thought of Jai meeting someone special.
IVY: Damn, that’s so cool, Jai! xx Miss you, little bro
He’d been too busy hanging out with his surfer buddies during school to date much. I cast a glance toward Karson, still sleeping, then crept quietly out of our cabin.
