Lord, that voice. Even in darkness, when he was nothing more than a shadow, that voice reverberated through her like the plucked string of a fine instrument, its subtle, compelling vibrations radiating outward to nearly forgotten places inside her.
She took another step backward. “This isn’t like me. I can’t think why I…maybe the moon made me insane. I’ve heard it can have that effect on people in the wilderness.”
“Lily.”
“Yes?”
“This isn’t exactly the wilderness. It’s a campground.” He advanced on her; she edged away.
“It’s certainly a wilderness to me,” she said. “When I travel, I stay in hotels with swimming pools and coin laundries.”
“Ah, a first-class traveler. But Lily—”
“What?” She pulled her hands into fists to keep from grabbing him again.
“I need to tell you something.”
“Yes?” She swayed, stifled a moan, edged away. She had to get out of his force field, that was all there was to it. He was a magnet, an irresistible energy, and she was nothing but a helpless piece of scrap metal.
“If you keep heading in that direction,” he said, “you’re in for a nasty fall.”
“What? I don’t—”
The air left her in a whoosh as he grabbed her and pulled her swiftly against him, back into his arms, that hard, lean body pressing against her. Then, ever so gently, he turned her and shone the flashlight beam on the ground. The light outlined the edge of the cliff.
“See what I mean?” he said. “Call me crazy, but I’m thinking you don’t want to get away from me that bad.”
She put on her jacket. “I’m the crazy one.”
He chuckled. “Yeah? Maybe we’re crazy together. I like you like this,” he added. “Want to make out?”
“Last time I heard you say that was at Crystal’s wedding,” she said. “You were obnoxious.”
“And did you say yes?”
“You didn’t say it to me.”
“Whoa. I was obnoxious. I’m saying it now. Come on, Lily. It’s only a kiss.”
“Right. Only a kiss. Got it.” Suddenly, humiliatingly, her throat filled with tears. God. Could he feel her crying the way he could feel her blushing? She turned and stumbled away from the cliff, toward safety.
“Now what?” he asked, pursuing her.
“To you it was only a kiss,” she blurted out. “To me it was—” She stopped, forced herself to fight for control.
“It was what, Lily? I’m no mind reader. You’re going to have to tell me.”
“All right, listen. Just because kisses like that are a common occurrence in your life doesn’t mean they are in mine.”
“Then you’re in luck. We can do something about that.”
“We already did and now it’s done and we don’t have to do it anymore.”
“I don’t get you, Lily. I don’t get you at all.”
“I simply wanted to see what it was like to kiss someone like you,” she said. “That’s all.”
“Someone like me,” he repeated. “You’ll have to explain that.”
She stopped walking to face him. The moon had risen higher in the sky, and the light washed over the empty trail in the gaping chasm of the river. All right, she thought. Maybe honesty was the way to go. The way to scare him off for good.
“Someone who’s so good-looking he doesn’t even seem real to me,” she confessed in a broken whisper. “Someone whose picture is on whiskey posters in Taiwan.”
“Japan,” he said. “I did that poster in Japan.”
“Whatever,” she said impatiently. “You understand what I’m saying. You’re not the sort of man I usually find myself with, so I was curious.”
“What sort of man do you usually find yourself with?”
The kind I can walk away from anytime I want. She cleared her throat. “The last guy I dated was a gym teacher.”
“I’m an athlete,” he said, clearly baffled.
The difference between a gym teacher and Sean Maguire was the difference between a lightning bug and a lightning bolt.
“The guy before that collected model trains as a hobby. You get the idea. They’re all…ordinary. Like me.”
That silky laugh again. “You, ordinary? Give me a break.”
“My point is, you’re not my type.”
“Because your type is ordinary guys who teach gym and collect trains.”
“Exactly.” Finally he was grasping the concept.
“I know why that is.”
“Oh, so now you’re psychoanalyzing me.”
“Hey, after all the hours I’ve spent with Dr. Sachs, I’m qualified. See, those guys are safe,” he said. “Now, me, I’m the guy you could actually fall in love with, so you’re resisting me.”
Now it was her turn to laugh. “If your performance in this tournament matches up