The Little Teashop in Tokyo by Julie Caplin Page 0,80
was going through her mind, he just stood there.
She glared at him, snatched up her bag and marched three steps into the room before she heard the door shut. She turned around and there was Gabe who must have moved with some kind of preternatural vampire hero speed because he was right in front of her, his hand reaching to cup her face.
‘You’re adorable. Confused and dorky. I like it.’
And with that series of charming compliments, he laid his lips on hers and kissed her soundly until her knees started to wobble and the bag slid out of her hands with a thud that echoed the kick to her heart.
‘Oh my.’ She finally managed to breathe when they both pulled away.
‘Oh my indeed. Kissing you is becoming kind of addictive.’
‘Mmm,’ she said, her eyes immediately going to his lips.
‘And you’re going to have to stop doing that.’
‘Doing what?’ Her eyes lifted to his, full of innocence even though inside she savoured a distinct thrill of feminine satisfaction and she deliberately dropped them again.
‘That. When you look at me as if … It turns me on.’
Eek. Straight talking. Warrior-princess time. She lifted her chin and stared straight into his eyes. ‘Me too.’
There. The gloves were off and she couldn’t help a sultry smile.
Gabe lifted an eyebrow. The charged silence hummed through the room. They were still standing in the corridor area next to a run of wardrobes.
‘You haven’t even seen the view yet,’ he said, gazing over her shoulder.
An imp of mischief took up residence. ‘I’m quite happy with this one,’ she said suddenly empowered, all female and, for the first time in her life, sexy. She lifted up on her tiptoes and gently kissed him back.
‘You’re killing me here. I was giving you the chance to go slow.’
‘Who says I want to go slow? Ten years, remember?’
‘Sometimes there’s a lot of pleasure in the build-up,’ he raised those sinfully sexy eyebrows and her insides turned to mush. How the hell could eyebrows be sexy? But they were.
He grasped her shoulders and gently spun her round.
‘Oh!’ she said. ‘Oh. Wow. That’s …’
He stepped behind her and put his arms around her, pulling her back against his chest, and then propelled her forward to the huge plate-glass doors leading out to a balcony. ‘Some view, eh?’ He nuzzled her neck, before sliding his way up until they stood cheek to cheek, and for once she was glad she was tall and could stand like this with him. Okay, he had to duck a little but it felt solid and nice standing there together gazing at the perfect snow-capped mountain.
‘I guess that’s part of its allure,’ said Fiona after they’d been standing in silent contemplation for a while. ‘It’s the exact pointy peak a child would draw of a mountain. You know, like how houses are always square with a door in the middle. It’s a proper mountain shape. With the snow cap on the top.’
Gabe pulled her tighter against him and let out a light laugh. ‘You have the most wonderful habit of making me see things differently. I’ve seen Fuji hundreds of times and I’ve never seen it in that way.’
‘I think I’m going to have to settle for a fairly unoriginal shot of the mountain,’ sighed Fiona. That was the problem with iconic landscapes; it was hard to find a new angle.
‘Don’t give up yet. We’ve got a couple of days here. What do you fancy doing? I thought this evening we could for dinner in an izakaya.’
‘What’s an izzy …?’
‘Izakaya,’ he said slowly. ‘It’s basically a Japanese pub where they serve food, a bit like a tapas bar.’
‘Okay. That sounds good.’
‘Why don’t I go and unpack and then we could go out, stretch our legs, do a bit of exploring?’
‘Sounds like a plan,’ she agreed, a touch relieved that they could be normal with each other and that the sexual heat had tamped down.
He kissed her and headed for the door. ‘And tomorrow I think I’ll arrange a surprise for you.’ Those beautiful eyes darkened with mischief and something else that made her heart clench.
‘Oh, will I like it?’
‘Definitely.’ He smiled and left.
Once the door had closed behind him, she sank onto the bed. She brushed the end of her plait across her palm, relishing the flutter of excitement that danced low in her belly.
Crossing to the window she stared out at the sleeping volcano. It had been there for thousands of years while puny humans came and went.