Forbidden never felt this good

Jane’s POV

I felt like if I blinked for one second, I would miss it all. It was heat and cold altogether, embracing me. It had to be the waves and the cold it carried. I wrapped my hand around my frame, wishing I hadn’t listened to Laura and her choice of clothing.

Wishing I hadn’t come here at all.

Because, deep down, I knew all it took was one wrong move.

He looked like the night, with dark hair falling across his face, dark eyes, and an imposingly tall frame. He overshadowed everyone easily, and I had to remind myself to breathe.

When I swallowed, it went the wrong way. The cough that followed reverberated around the space. No one moved an inch. No one took as much as one breath.

“Name.”

I looked into his eyes. I hated commands. It came with the profession. Being a lawyer meant being in control. But my lips moved without restraint. “Jane.”

What the hell was wrong with me? I always introduced myself as Mrs. Jackson. It was the right thing to do, yet here, I didn’t know the difference between right and wrong. He took a step closer, a single strand dancing too close to his eyes.

I wanted to push it away, to feel his soft tresses between my fingers. I swallowed again just as his eyes darkened impossibly.

And then, he did the one thing I never expected.

He smiled.

Or maybe it couldn’t be described as a smile since it was just one part of his lips lifting, but it reached his eyes. I knew because I never stopped looking.

“She’s not a spy,” he said in a tone so low I didn’t think anyone else would hear. But they must be so attuned to his every breath because they moved. The men in suits and the lady who had grabbed me first.

Rebecca.

“Mr. Cooper,” she started, a slight uncertainty in her tone. There was something else there that I recognized all too well.

Fear.

“You don’t know that for sure. This beach was supposed to be locked up until we are…”

“Rebecca,” he sighed, angling his head. “Stop talking.”

“Mr. Cooper…”

He turned around then, facing the rest of them. “The meeting is over. We’ll reconvene at a location that Rebecca will most graciously send across. Enjoy the rest of the night.”

They nodded like robots, heading out through the path I had come in, except Rebecca. She was still standing in front of him, her goddess-like features blazing through the night. Oddly, she reminded me of Lydia, and I hated to admit, the kind of woman Shawn seemed to be into these days.

“Before you leave,” he called with the same low tone. But they stopped. And I had a feeling they always would. “Don’t forget to enjoy the night at the club. We’re in Vegas, after all. We might as well make good use of it.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“I should probably get going too,” I whispered, my tongue finally choosing to work. But he shook his head slightly.

“You came to watch the waves, right?”

I came to think. Alone.

“Yes,” I breathed instead.

“So, let’s do that.”

He walked ahead of me to the crashing waves, but stayed far enough so the water didn’t get on his shoes. I didn’t know what to do. I mean, I knew turning around was the most logical action. He was a stranger, and for all I knew, he could harm me.

But who was I kidding?

It was none of that.

It was the way my heart thudded so hard against my chest as I took slow steps towards him. The way breath felt trapped in my lungs. The way I couldn’t stop staring at his face, perfectly sculpted.

I wanted to touch it.

I had to touch it.

“Really?” Rebecca said from behind us. “Are you …”

“Goodnight, Rebecca.”

I heard her huff, the sand masking the sound of her feet as she walked away.

“You shouldn’t dismiss her that way.” I moved a step ahead of him, my feet at the edge of the water. “She was only looking out for you.”

“And how would you know that?” There was amusement in his tone.

I shrugged. “She asked if I was a spy. What was that about?”

“You should be careful about the questions you ask me, Jane,” he murmured. “You don’t know me well enough.”

My name rolled off his tongue smoothly, like the melting of butter. I closed my eyes to absorb it. I was so close to asking him to say it again.

“What if I were a spy?”

“Believe it or not,” he breathed. “Spies don’t wear black dresses that way.”

I swallowed. “What way?”

He was closer now. His warm breath teased the side of my neck. Another swallow. I needed to move away. Yet, my toes dug further into the sand.

“The kind that makes it obvious you are not used to being looked at. Yet, you want to be.” He spoke slowly, like he had all the time in the world. And every single word hit a chord in me. “The kind that makes a man want to forget every good intention he had.”

Heat crept up my spine, mixed with a certain chill that made me shiver. He hadn’t touched me, but I felt his hand hover above my skin. Just one more move…

One more.

It never came.

I thought about Shawn. The man I promised to do forever with. He had no idea I was here, and … this wasn’t right.

I needed to find Laura so we could return to the hotel where I would spend the rest of the night berating myself for even feeling this way. For wanting this stranger to call my name.

“I should leave,” I whispered, turning around. But he was right there, in my face, and the rest of the speech I had carefully thought out disappeared into thin air.

“So why aren’t you?”

My lips moved. “I…”

“Want to see something?”