He circled his arm around my hip and pulled me flush to his side. Then he tugged my hand so it palmed his chest. His heart slammed into it from behind a stone wall of muscle. Every beat stirred a sense of hyperawareness - at how his body fit against mine, his crisp ocean smell, how fast his heart tapped my fingers.

I looked up into his face to see if he was having some kind of medical emergency, but he stared straight ahead, expression stoic while his rough hand slipped to my ...