Crossing the Line(32)

Not the most eloquent declaration but I liked how he couched things in his own way, spoken directly from the heart.

A tad overwhelmed by the feelings he elicited, I aimed for levity. "Come back to my villa and I guarantee to make you feel real good."

"Stop. Date night now. Down and dirty later." He tweaked my nose and I marveled at how far we'd come.

"Okay, Romeo, what's next?"

"Fairy floss," he said, with an emphatic nod.

"You mean cotton candy?"

"Semantics. Spun sugar tastes the same regardless of name."

"Aussie."

"Yank."

"Hot."

"Hotter." He pressed himself against me to prove it. "You're by far the hottest woman I've ever met."

I snorted, secretly thrilled he found me attractive. "Considering you hang out with tennis jocks twenty-four-seven, that's faint praise."

He slid his arms around my waist and I love how we fit together. "What do you want me to say? That your eyes remind me of melted chocolate mixed with caramel? That your skin glows like you’re lit from within? That your hair is like silk?"

He laughed as my eyes narrowed. "Many of the girls who worked at the club read romance novels in their spare time. I'd hear them quote stuff like that."

"And you remembered it?" I patted his cheek. "Here I was, thinking you're a macho Aussie when you're actually a marshmallow."

"Soft center. Hard everywhere else." He pressed his pelvis against me to prove it. "On second thoughts, let's skip the fairy floss and head back to your villa."

I'd love nothing better but if this was to be one of few dates we shared, I wanted to make the most of it.

"Want to hear something corny?" I rested my palms on his chest. "I don't date much and I really want to make this one last."

Understanding sparked in those incredible blue eyes I could lose myself in forever. "Ditto."

Probably not the best time to ask, but curiosity had been eating away at me. "You don't do relationships?"

He made a cute little scoffing sound. "You're kidding? Girls at high school didn't come near me because their parents would kill them for hanging around a kid from a strip club. And later at the academy, the focus was tennis, not dating."

A faint pink stained his cheeks as he glanced over my shoulder, before meeting my gaze again. "You're a first for me."

His honesty warmed me. "How so?"

"I've dated casually over the years. Had quite a few one night stands." His eyes softened. "But the way we've hung out? How we've talked?" He shook his head. "I've never done that before."

"Same here," I said, wondering if I had the guts to reveal my non-existent dating life. "No relationships. Minimal dates." I kept the fact I'd only ever slept with two guys before him to myself.

"Why?" He captured my chin in one hand and tilted my face slightly, studying me. "You're sweet and smart and gorgeous."

Heat flushed my cheeks. "Thanks."

Silence stretched between us and he kept studying me. "You didn't answer my question?"

That's because I had no idea if I was ready to reveal so much of myself to a guy I had no future with.

I wasn't a fool. In a few weeks I'd be heading back to Denver and Kye would stay here, being groomed by my dad before taking the fast-tracked route to tennis stardom. He was that good. My dad knew it. I'd overheard him talking to some of the coaches after Kye's win today. Kye was the one they'd selected to push to the next level ASAP. I was happy for him. He deserved it. But I'd soon become a distant memory, the vacation fling he had when he first arrived in the States, and I didn't want him to realize he meant so much more to me than that.

Because he did. I'd admitted it—albeit to myself—earlier tonight, sometime between the nachos and fajitas we'd shared at my favorite Mexican restaurant, that I'd fallen a little bit in love with Kye.

Not that I knew what loving a guy felt like. But if it was this hollow, tummy-tumbling feeling I constantly had whether I was with him or not, and the amazing warm feeling of being safe and cherished whenever I was with him, then yeah, I think I loved him, just a tad. Because falling any more than that? Lunacy.

I didn't want to head back to Denver with a broken heart.

I tried to ignore the tiny voice inside my head that insisted 'what if it was too late?'

Shadows clouded Kye's eyes and he released my chin. I knew what he was thinking. He'd opened up to me and told me so much of his past, and I couldn't answer a simple question.

"I don't date much because I'm not good with emotions," I said, wondering if it sounded as weak to his ears as it did to mine. "The only guy I've ever loved is my dad. How pathetic is that?"