“Nice shirt.” I pointed.

He laughed. “Yeah, it was a birthday gift from Nat. Alec made me swear I would wear it at least once and take a picture for her. Apparently, she thought it was funny.”

“Why?”

“Long story, movie quote thing with Alec that led to me telling him I was like James Bond. You know what? It’s not even funny. Never mind.” He pulled me into a side hug and kissed my head. “So how are you?”

“Hmm.” I slowly stepped back.

His eyebrows darted up. “Is that your answer? Hmm?”

“No.” I grinned. “This is.” I grabbed his head and kissed him on the mouth before I could chicken out. I trailed my tongue across his lower lip; he opened his mouth and then wrapped his arms around me in response. Chills ran down my arms as his tongue danced with mine. Heat spread throughout my body when his hands began to slowly run down my back.

Someone whistled. I jerked away. I only meant to give him one tiny kiss, not maul him in public.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I sure feel better.” He grinned and kissed me one more time before grabbing my hand and walking with me down the boardwalk. “Now what’s on your mind?”

“You,” I answered honestly. “Are you okay?”

He stopped walking. Crap, why did his face look like I just confessed to stealing his puppy?

“Um, sure.” He scratched his head and looked away. “I just, I had some stuff going on with our agent. They still want to do the show even though Alec and I are avidly against it. They want to launch the show this fall and push our spring back, so we can record while we shoot. Something about hitting the teen market, to up ticket sales. I don’t know though.”

“You should do it.” I shrugged. “I mean, how bad could it be? People already follow you and take pictures. Plus, don’t reality shows only run for a few weeks?”

“How do you even know a reality show schedule?” He laughed.

“I know you think I live under a rock.” I pushed him in the side. “But, I’m not totally disconnected from the world.”

He cursed. “Six weeks. It would be six weeks of filming.”

“And you’d film here?”

“Yeah.” His eyes darted from my lips to my eyes then back again. Had we stopped walking again? “But you’d be in the show too, Alyssa. I mean, anyone I talk to, anyone I’m involved with would be in the show. That’s a big decision not just for you, but for me. I would hate to ruin someone’s life.” He paled instantly and released my hand.

“Well, I mean. I…” Crap, how did I say what was on my mind? “I, um… I—”

“Cat got your tongue?” Demetri chuckled.

More like Demetri Daniels has possession of every ounce of common sense when I’m in his presence. “I like you,” I blurted.

“Hmm.” Demetri walked away from me and sat on the concrete edge on the boardwalk. “When you say like, do you mean as in, how I like ice cream?”

I rolled my eyes and moved to sit next to him. “Maybe.”

“Like as in… how much I like the way you taste?” he whispered into my ear. I shivered and tried to scoot away, but he held me trapped with his other arm. “Like as in how much I like the way your hair smells like coconut?”

I reached up to touch my hair. Demetri played with a piece of my hair and lifted it to his face, inhaling slowly. Oh my gosh, it was so hot. I squirmed, but he still wouldn’t let me go.

“Like, as in, how much I like the way your hips sway when you walk? Or the way your voice sounds on the phone? Or how about…” He paused, oh gosh I couldn’t take much more of this. He was killing me with his closeness. Why did he have to be so sexy?

“…how much I like the way my name sounds on your lips.

The way your name sounds on mine, or the way our hands fit perfectly together. How about the way you drink your hot chocolate? Damn, I could watch you drink hot chocolate all day.”

And I was going to pass out.

“Alyssa.” His eyes opened, and he held my chin with his hand and murmured across my lips. “I really like you too.”

And insert mind-altering sensations here. Without even realizing it, my hands had gripped his face and I pressed my lips against his. I needed him to be real. I wanted so badly for us to be feeling the same thing.

“I want him gone.” Demetri ended the kiss and looked out at the crashing waves. “I’m not going to ask you to choose, because I’m afraid it would be him. I’m afraid you would choose someone who can’t give you this.” He grabbed my hand and placed it against his chest. The thump of his heart slammed against my hand. “I want to be your first and your last. I want to be your everything. But I’m willing to wait until you’re ready for this. For this feeling. I want you to memorize it. Memorize life, Alyssa.

Because that’s what I want for us. I want for us to live.”

How did he always know the right thing to say? I threw my arms around his neck and held him. Tears burned at the back of my eyes. I hated that he knew me well enough to know what he was basically asking me to give up. I loved that he was willing to wait for me. And I hated myself even more that I was forcing him to, when I knew my heart was already his for the taking.

Chapter Twenty-six

Demetri

I held her shaking body for a few minutes. So many times I opened my mouth to tell her the truth. To tell her all about Brady. It would be so easy to swoop in and explain to her that she was hugging the prince, that he wasn’t dead in the ground. Brady wasn’t who she thought he was, but again it wasn’t my place.