Fatal Intent - Jamie Jeffries Page 0,17

talked or by text, but she’d wanted to surprise him. When she answered, his only response was to laugh and tease her about taking a park ranger to a national park for a special outing.

“Would you rather go to the casino?” she asked, teasing him back. He’d told her he didn’t really enjoy slot machines, and table games were too rich for his blood.

“Nah, let’s go to the ruins,” he answered. “We’ll get all hot and dusty, and when we get home, we’ll need showers. But, we should save water and shower together.”

He leered at her so comically that she broke out laughing. It actually sounded like a pretty good idea to her. As soon as she’d had that thought, she blushed, the curse of her redhead’s skin, and Dylan’s eyes turned from twinkling to smoldering in half a second.

“Maybe we could actually just skip the ruins and go straight to the shower,” she murmured.

“We should get sweaty first, so we won’t be wasting water,” he answered.

Alex wasn’t sure whether he was serious. They’d never made love in the daytime, except for the times they’d woken together and done it in the early morning, before getting out of bed. It seemed wanton, wrong somehow, but at the same time exciting, to get in bed for sex in the middle of the day. Before she’d made up her mind whether he meant it, Dylan laughed, breaking the spell.

“I believe you’d have actually taken me up on that,” he said.

Now she knew he was teasing, and her course was clear. “Any time, any place,” she teased back.

It was his turn to look uncertain. Before it got uncomfortable again, she linked her arm through his. “Come on, let’s go to the deli and get a picnic lunch to take to the ruins with us. Surely we can find some shade there, even at noon.”

Dylan gave her another uncertain look, but let her lead him out to his pickup, where he helped her up on the running board and into the passenger seat. “Rain check?” he said, as he leaned in to kiss her.

“I’m pretty sure the forecast calls for rain tonight,” she answered, murmuring against his lips.

The ruins turned out to be interesting, but not as extensive as other parks Dylan had worked in. They did find a nice covered picnic area that wasn’t too crowded due to the heat. Walking along with a guided tour, they did get hot, sandy and sweaty, and the sight of Dylan’s glistening brown skin had Alex’s eyes constantly shifting to watch him, imagining what his shirt covered and more. She didn’t know about him, but she couldn’t wait for the moment they found themselves alone again, in the cool of her house.

That moment came after he maddeningly insisted on driving to the casino after all, only to declare himself not interested in it and driving back to Casa Grande. They had dinner at a Mexican restaurant where Alex tried to order a margarita only to be rebuffed by a server, who was clearly immune to the college students’ attempts to be served while underage. Dylan laughed at her and refused to order one she could taste.

“You’ll pay for that,” she threatened.

At last, the sun went down and Alex insisted they go home. She didn’t say it to Dylan, but she thought they probably should have followed through on their teasing earlier in the day. It was all she could think of, even though the sweat of the afternoon had dried and they’d brushed the sand off their skin before going into the restaurant. Maybe it was the anticipation, or maybe she was growing up. She didn’t know for sure, but tonight she felt adventurous and more forward than she’d felt with him before. She proved it the moment they closed the door behind them and she turned into his arms.

“I can’t wait another minute, Dylan,” she said. “Make love to me now.”

Dylan stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers, looking deeply into her eyes. “How about that shower?” he asked.

“As long as we’re together,” she said. This was something new, too. Except in bed, he’d never seen her nude, nor she him. In fact, she usually had her eyes closed tightly, and she didn’t know why. Maybe, like an ostrich, she thought if she couldn’t see him, then he couldn’t see her either, and she wouldn’t need to be embarrassed by her nudity. How silly it seemed now! She wanted him to see her.