two steps behind, keeping pace with me as I rounded a small fountain of a beauty pouring water from her jug. He was even more breathtaking than I remembered. Two years had filled him out in all the right places. His hair had grown past his ears, curling slightly at the ends. I had the urge during his bold exploration of my body to return the favor. See if his hair was truly as soft as it looked.
“Why are you following me?” I asked, more out of curiosity than anything.
“I didn’t last time and you disappeared from my life for two years. Can’t let that happen again.”
“And the hope of sex has nothing to do with it?”
“Oh, that’s got a lot to do with it.”
I covered my mouth but the snort slipped out anyway. I’d give him one thing. His kind were rarely so honest.
“You had to let me disappear,” I reminded. “I had to go off, save myself, and then return to find you.”
“Seems you skipped one of those steps.” Preston bounded the final two steps and swung me around. “Should I dust off my armor now?”
“Why?” I caressed his cheek the way he did mine. “I thought your body was all you were offering.”
“It’s not all I’m offering. It’s all I think you’ll accept. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong.”
“Oh, Desai.” Snaking my arms around his shoulders, I rose on tiptoe, pausing as his nose brushed mine. He grasped my waist automatically, pulled me closer still.
Shit. Is that...?
A hard bulge pressed against my thigh undeterred by the layers of tulle between us.
Statues don’t have this going for them. But still.
“You have no idea what you’d be getting into with me,” I whispered. “I wouldn’t let you try to save me. I don’t hate anyone that much.” I stepped out of his hold. “Let’s stick to sex—which you haven’t convinced me to give you, by the way.”
I continued my walk along the path. Preston fell in step with me. “You say you want more than a name. Fair. Most people do. But then followed with a request for something I don’t give to just anyone. Does friendship count?”
Lifting my shoulders, I said, “If we wait until we’re friends, you’ll be waiting a while. The people I call my friends are also an exclusive club.”
“How long a wait are we talking? One— Maybe two hours?”
I shoved him, stifling in another laugh.
“No to that option, then.”
“How about this? You don’t need to give me something you haven’t given anyone, you have to tell me something you haven’t told anyone. Something real,” I said. “A secret that matters.”
“A secret.” Preston stepped in front of me and stopped, ending our walk under a canopy of trees. The tinkle of champagne glasses and polite mingling didn’t reach this far from the mansion. It was just us. “More than that—one that matters. That’s a big ask. You’re the one who reminded me we learned each other’s names only ten minutes ago.”
“A secret is too intimate, but sleeping together isn’t?”
“It’s not too intimate. It’s just a different kind.” His gaze traveled over my head. “My mother and father have been together for twenty-five years, and there are many things she hasn’t told him.”
The tone in his reply probed me to dig deeper. I pushed the impulse aside. After all, we barely knew each other.
“I understand,” I said instead. “But I’ve named my terms. Whether or not you meet them is up to you.”
He blew out a breath. “Not giving me much of a choice, are you?”
“You have a choice.”
“No.” Preston raked me up and down, mentally peeling off each article of clothing. “I don’t.”
My body suffused with heat. My feelings about men with pretty faces were clear. Their sweet words had little effect on me. Even so, I wasn’t dead. My lady parts were fully functional and unheeding of common sense or wisdom.
“I’ll tell you a secret I haven’t told anyone.” He held out his hand. I took it unthinkingly, letting him draw me close. “Will you share one too?”
I shook my head. “You’re trying to get in my pants, remember? Not the other way around.”
Preston threaded his fingers over the small of my back. “Hardly seems fair,” he murmured. “But okay. This stays between us... right?”
“I won’t repeat anything you tell me, Preston. I promise.”
“I don’t know why I feel I can trust you. Or maybe the self-preservation part of my brain is getting its ass kicked by my sex drive.”