Kendall let her hand continue its southern journey until she stroked her clit. With her eyes closed and the water cascading over her sensitive skin, she could almost imagine it was Alex’s hands on her instead of her own. More. She needed more. She pressed a finger inside, but it wasn’t enough. She’d known it wouldn’t be enough even before she did it.
She opened her eyes. Somehow, the fact that she was on a time limit, that she shouldn’t be doing this for half a dozen well-documented reasons, only made it hotter. She turned off the shower, gave herself the barest wipe down, and walked naked to her suitcase. She’d packed her vibrator on a whim, telling herself it was just in case of emergencies.
Well, if this didn’t count as an emergency, she didn’t know what did.
Kendall laid on top of her comforter and spread her legs. Instantly, her memory of Alex morphed into something more. She pictured him spreading her thighs wider and pressed the vibrator to her clit, pictured him looking at her like he had last night, all shadows and temptation and desire. And then he lowered his head and kissed her between her thighs.
She came with a muffled cry, riding out the vibrations that somehow weren’t as good as she was sure Alex’s mouth would be. Kendall gasped and rolled to the side, all but flinging her vibrator away. What was she doing? She didn’t do this. Any of this. It had to be the pheromones on the ship or something they were pumping into the air ducts to ensure everyone acted as foolishly as possible.
She dressed quickly, throwing on a pair of high-waisted shorts and a button-down top that she tied around her waist, revealing a tiny sliver of skin. As she dragged a comb through her hair, she tried to tell herself that she wasn’t hoping to run into Alex.
After pulling on her sandals, she headed to Grace’s door to knock. Her friend barely let Kendall’s knuckles make contact before she hauled the door open and stepped into the hall. “Let’s go.”
“Sure.” Kendall fell into step next to her, hoping like hell that she wasn’t blushing as hard as the heat beneath her skin suggested. No way could Grace know what she’d been doing a few short minutes ago, but she felt like it was written all over her. A scarlet letter of sorts, one she couldn’t help wanting to repeat over and over again.
Alex’s words from last night echoed through her, deep and dark with a hint of growl. If you change your mind, Kendall, really change your mind, then I’m going to take you to bed.
“Kendall?”
Oh god. She was so busy focusing on her illicit attraction to a near-stranger that she wasn’t focusing on the friend in need right next to her. She shoved her hair back and tried for a smile. “I’m sorry. I guess my mind is still all preoccupied with how I’m going to make this all up to you and the others.”
Grace gave her a strange look. “We can start with finding me some clothes.”
She glanced at the clothes her friend currently wore. A sleeveless blouse and a pencil skirt. They weren’t bad, as such things went. Grace always had an impeccable sense of style, even when they were in college. She just looked…buttoned up…but then Grace always looked buttoned up. Despite her angst about her pants theft, she still looked perfectly put together today, if a little restrained.
Kendall cleared her throat. “I know Aubrey took your pants, and I agree that was kind of a dick move.” Even if she silently agreed that someone had to take intervention, she’d never been one to trample boundaries like that. Some days she wished she was that brave. “But since we’re all determined to make the best of this trip despite all the issues… Why don’t you buy shorts instead of pants?”
Grace wouldn’t quite meet her gaze. “I’ll think about it.”
She wanted to press for confirmation, but Kendall forced the words back. It wasn’t right for her to hyper focus on fixing Grace just to distract herself from her issues. Or, rather, from one issue in particular.
As they went through the shops to find clothing that Grace would be content in, Kendall found herself thinking about Alex again and again. He was so unlike the other guys she’d met over the years when she went through fits of loneliness dark enough to try the various dating apps. Some of them had been losers, for sure, but there were nice ones thrown into the mix. A few even turned into third and fourth dates before they drifted apart. She hadn’t cared enough to fight to stay close, and they obviously felt the same.
But Alex?
She really couldn’t imagine that man using a dating app, or sitting through an awkward first meeting, or sending a dick pic. He was too cool, too confident, too at home in his skin. He had to draw people to him like flies to honey.