Dream Wedding(72)
“No, Arizona, don’t!” Chloe wiggled and tried to get away, but she was pinned beneath him. She writhed. “Stop. You have to stop.”
“Not really.”
He shifted his weight all back on his legs so he could sit up and attack her with both hands. She retaliated, but he wasn’t feeling especially ticklish that night. He squirmed under her wiggling fingers, but didn’t have to pull away.
She laughed louder, then shrieked, “Stop! Please.”
He released her. “Only if you—”
But she wasn’t listening. Instead she took advantage of her freedom to lunge for his feet. Arizona scrambled to get out of her way. He knew he was definitely ticklish there.
He grabbed her around the waist and turned so he could fall backward on the bed, pulling her with him. She kicked out and tried to escape, but he held her fast. She spun in his arms so that she was on top of him, facing him.
Her long curly hair tangled around her face. They were breathing as hard as they had been a few minutes ago, but this time for an entirely different reason.
“Ready to give up and play nice?” he asked.
She blew the hair out of her face. A strand drifted up a few inches, then fell back across her nose. “I’ll never give up.”
He began tickling her sides. “If you insist.”
She shrieked again. “No, you win. I’ll be good.”
“Promise?”
She nodded.
He gently rolled them both onto their side. They were facing each other. He tucked her hair behind her ears, then rested his hand on her waist.
The position was familiar. They often ended up this way after making love. They would talk for hours before she returned to her house. They only had a couple more nights together. He wished she would spend this night with him, but he understood that she didn’t want to be seen leaving his hotel first thing in the morning. But tonight, more than any other time, he didn’t want to fall asleep without her.
He supposed he should be used to it. After all, except for the night they’d camped out, they’d never slept very long together. He realized he wanted that. He wanted to see her first thing in the morning. He wanted to shower with her, then watch her get ready for her day. He wanted to learn what she was like in all her moods—sleepy, playful, even cranky.
Despite the airline ticket in his briefcase, he didn’t want to leave her in less than seventy-two hours.
The information wasn’t a surprise, he told himself. He’d been wrestling with it for the past couple of days. The question was what was he going to do about it?
She drew her index finger down his nose and his lips to his chin. There she stroked the stubbly skin. “All kidding aside,” she said. “It’s never been like this for me, either. I didn’t know passion like this existed.”
“Come with me this summer,” he said without thinking.
Her eyes widened. “What?”
Arizona was a little stunned himself. But now that he’d asked, he didn’t want to call the words back. “I’m serious. Come with me to the island. It’s only for three months. You’ll have plenty of time to write, although they don’t have electricity, so you can’t bring your laptop. But I’ll bet you’d still get a lot done. It would be a great experience. And we’d get to be together longer.”
“I could write a book about the mating customs in a matriarchal society.”
“Exactly.”
He tried to read her expression, but he couldn’t. He didn’t know what she was thinking. Would she consider it or was this too insane?
“At the end of summer…where do you go next?” she asked.
“Siberia, I think. We’re still getting the details ironed out. I’ll probably stop in Chicago first and visit my father. But there’s always somewhere else I need to be going.”
“I’m sure.”
Chloe studied his familiar face. It would be easy to say yes. To pack up a couple of suitcases and go with him. It was just for the summer. Arizona was right—she could work, writing longhand. Maybe start a book of some kind. Even the one she suggested, on the matriarchal culture he was visiting. She could write down his stories and they could edit them together. Or…
Chloe kissed his mouth, then rested her head on the pillow. “I’m tempted,” she confessed.
“I hear a ‘but’ in your voice.”
“But—” The truth. It always came back to the truth. “That’s not my style. I would never be happy just tagging along.”
He frowned. “It wouldn’t be like that.”
Not at first, she thought. But eventually. Because she knew herself. The summer wouldn’t be enough. If he let her, she would continue to follow him around the world. She would create work so that she could be with him. But then what? She not only needed more, she deserved more. Her own life with her own purpose. In a perfect world, their two very different lives and purposes would blend together, but life was far from perfect.