run into each other?”
She shrugged. “Honestly? I’m not sure.”
“Ouch. Consider my ego wounded.”
“I’m pretty sure your ego will survive.” She turned away from the lake to glance at him. “You certainly made a lasting impression the first time we met.”
“As did you.” He made a grand show of moving the lemon meringue pie aside. “Just in case you get any ideas of topping that whipped cream effort with meringue.”
She laughed, causing several birds getting ready to bed down for the night to take flight from a nearby tree. “After the way you’ve helped me the last few days, you’re in no danger of bearing the brunt of my wrath again.”
He swiped at his forehead. “Phew.”
“But you are in danger.”
“How so?”
In response, she cleared the artichoke and ricotta tart, the pumpkin and goat’s curd mini quiches, and the mushroom frittata, and crawled toward him on the rug.
“Scared yet?”
“Should I be?”
“Yeah, because you’re in danger of being leaped upon by a woman who hasn’t had sex in over a year.”
Stunned, he opened his mouth to respond, but she pressed a finger to his lips. “You don’t need to say anything. But you do need to prove to me you’ve been worth the wait.”
In a second he had her flipped and lying on her back, his body covering hers.
“You know we’re in a public place, right?”
He gritted his teeth against the urge to ravish her all the same. “How fast can we pack up this picnic?”
“You’ve seen me dismantle my displays after styling the food. Either eat everything or throw it all into containers.”
“Containers it is,” he said, brushing his lips across hers once, twice, teasing her, driving himself nuts in the process, before straightening and offering a hand to help her sit up. “Besides, when you discover my prowess, you’re going to be very hungry afterward.”
“Promises, promises.” Her eyes twinkled, and unable to stop himself he captured her chin and kissed her again. Slower this time. Nipping her bottom lip. Sucking on it. Sweeping his tongue along it to soothe and tantalize.
She moaned, and he knew he had to stop before he lost his mind.
Oddly shy, they didn’t look at each other as they packed the picnic away in record time. Anticipation thrummed in his veins as he wondered when the last time was that everything a woman said or did seemed like extended foreplay.
He couldn’t remember, which meant Harper had snuck under his guard when he least expected it. It could be the surroundings and the rare feeling of being on vacation. What happened in New Zealand stayed in New Zealand, that kind of thing. But he knew it was more, and he was kidding himself if he thought he could walk away from her when they got back to Melbourne.
Which meant he’d have to break the news to Izzy.
Hoisting the picnic basket into his arms, he asked, “Ready?”
“And raring to go.”
She winked as she shook out the rug and folded it, joining him in a half sprint to the car.
Manny had never been so grateful for a small town, meaning they arrived back at the hotel in five minutes and were standing in the foyer with the picnic basket between them in six.
“Let’s go to my room—”
“No!” Harper blushed and said, “Sorry, I’d prefer my room. I’m fussy about beds when I sleep.”
He didn’t point out they wouldn’t be doing much sleeping. But this wasn’t the time to nitpick. He wanted this woman, any room, anytime.
“Let’s go to your room then.”
Her shoulders slumped in relief. “Sounds like a plan.”
They rode the elevator in silence, and when the doors slid open he wondered what had really made her so tense. Was she having second thoughts? If so, he’d make it easy for her, no matter how much he’d been looking forward to this night.
As they stopped outside her room, he said, “If you’re too tired, it’s okay. We can do this another time and—”
“I want this,” she murmured, eyeballing him, the depth of her desire ratcheting up his. “I want you.”
“Okay.” He exhaled a shaky breath as she slid her key card through the lock.
The green light blinked the first time, and as she pushed open the door he knew stepping over the threshold would take him into new territory.
With Harper, it was more than sex.
Damned if he was ready for it.
29
With Manny in the bathroom, Harper paced. From the door to the balcony and back again, over and over. It did little to calm her rampaging nerves.
She’d almost screwed up