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for
perhaps thirty seconds, her deep blue eyes plumbing the depths of his, until
she nodded, apparently satisfied.
    "Okay, then." She leaned closer to give him a
smacking kiss on the lips. "I love you. I love Mia. And I'm really, really
happy for you guys. Now I'm going to pick me out a boy-toy from the meat
section over there and head home. Go get her, tiger."
    And with that, Allison rose gracefully to her feet,
stretching luxuriously. Derrick swore he heard synapses misfire in male bodies
all across the beach. Evidently oblivious, she gathered her things and stepped
off the blanket. She'd gone maybe four paces before three muscle-bound guys
shoved their way to her side and offered to carry her belongings, practically
panting at her feet.
    Derrick sized them up, determined she could handle them,
and, catching the wink she tossed him over her shoulder, shook his head. Maybe
she carried some sort of whistle only a certain type of guy could hear.
    But with Allison occupied, that meant he and Mia had the
house, and the evening, to themselves. He could commence the wooing unimpeded.
    He'd take it slow. No matter how big an ass Barry had proven
to be, she'd need some time to get past the breakup. He knew that. And he had
no problem with her no-sex rule, if she chose to impose it between them. He
wouldn't be happy about it, but he'd waited this long. Another few months
wouldn't kill him. He had the long view clearly in mind. If she still needed
convincing, that was okay.
    Derrick knew exactly what he would say.
     
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
     
    Beyond the crash of waves pounding toward shore, Mia floated
on gentle swells. Her fingers brushed lazily through the water while her mind
worried the problem of Derrick, turning it this way and that for examination.
The shouts of the swimmers, the surfer dudes' jocular insults, the cries of the
seagulls overhead all faded away, muted by distance and the hushing of the
ocean. She could almost imagine herself alone in the vast, peaceful sea.
    But she felt anything but peaceful. Her body had freaked
out, no question, and was still—every time she thought of her hands on
Derrick's flesh, a new zing rippled down her spine. The folds of her sex,
barely hidden beneath the tiny scraps of bikini fabric, were plumped and
sensitized, begging for his touch. Even, dare she think it, his mouth.
    God.
    Her whole body quaked at the vision of Derrick's
sun-streaked head between her thighs.
    Where had that come
from? She'd never experienced anything like these sensations pelting over her
skin and down deep in her center. Clearly, twenty-five years of waiting for her
first sexual experience had finally come to a head, and poor Derrick had been
the handiest victim.
    But her body. . .
    Despite everything, including the September-cool temperature
of the water, her body's demands for release were growing, not abating. She
might have reached twenty-five, technically a virgin, but she knew what to do
to take care of herself. She'd gone to college, after all. And with Allison for
a best friend, she probably knew more about the mechanics of pleasure than even
some extremely experienced women.
    Steamy books and movies, girls' nights out—they'd
helped to fill in the blanks. She had her little toy—and a vivid
imagination—when she got desperate.
    It wasn't the same.
    No man had ever grazed his knuckles across her bare breasts
or twirled her nipple to peak with his tongue. No man had slipped his hands
inside her panties to fondle her to climax.
    She'd never allowed anyone access. But now. . .
    Oh, God, she wanted Derrick's hands on her right now. Not
just any man's. Derrick's. His topaz eyes burning into hers, his mouth and
hands claiming her. His body plunging into hers, making her his, driving her
past endurance.
    It was wrong, she knew it. He was her friend. Off limits.
    Friend, friend, friend ,
her mind chanted.
    Now, now, now! her
body screamed.
    Would anyone notice if she slid her fingers beneath the edge
of her