Just The Way You Are(75)

"You weren't serious anyway. I doubt you would strip down and show me your you-know-what just like that."

"I wouldn't be so sure. Sometimes I think you need something to shock you out of this rut you've put yourself in."

"I am not in a rut," she protested. "And how would you know anyway?"

"I have eyes and a camera. And by the way, the reason I agreed to shoot a day in the life of you is because I was curious to see what your day was all about."

"Well, it certainly isn't usually about this," she said, waving her hand toward the beach. "I haven't been near the ocean since that shoot in Tahiti last year."

"And you haven't been near family since long before that."

She frowned at him. "Don't start. I've already told you far too much about me."

"What? You have a limit on the amount of information you're willing to share?"

"My personal life is private."

"Oh, so what?" he said with disgust. "You take such care to hide behind this wall of normalcy, but your cover has been blown, babe. I know you think you're in love with a married man, pretty much hate your baby sister, and are terrified that your grandmother is going to die and leave you without anyone to call family."

Her jaw dropped open at his dead-on assessment of her life. "I never told you all that."

"Your eyes did. Am I wrong?" He paused, but when she didn't say anything he moved on. "You're stuck in a rut, Tessa, a deep hole that you buried yourself in nine years ago and haven't been able to climb out of since. You can't admit that you've changed. You can't admit that Alli and Sam have changed. You see everything in this place the way it was, not the way it is. Don't you ever allow yourself to consider the possibility that moving forward isn't necessarily a bad thing?"

She opened the car door and stepped out, slamming it behind her, wanting him to shut up, wanting him to stop analyzing her, criticizing her, getting too close to her.

"You're my photographer, you're not my shrink," she said as he joined her on the edge of the bluff. "Stop trying to get into my head."#p#分页标题#e#

"Stop trying to shut me out. You need a friend, Tessa, and right now I'm pretty much your best shot at one."

"And that's what you want—to be my friend?" Adrenaline raced through her body as she looked into his somewhat startled green eyes. "I don't think so, Jimmy." She poked him in the chest. "I think you want to be more than a friend. I think your psychoanalysis is all meant to steer me in one direction—to you. Well, I'm here. And so are you. What are you going to do about it?"

She flung the challenge down like the white glove in a duel. And he picked it up just as quickly.

"Kiss you," he muttered as his mouth came down on hers with a hardness, a hunger, a passion that surprised her. Jimmy didn't kiss her with the casualness that was his trademark. No, he kissed her with intensity, like a fire consuming everything within its reach. And it was the sense of overwhelming need that made her pull away.

She looked at him, still reeling, still struggling for breath, for words, for logic, for calm.

He stared back at her, his eyes dark and unreadable.

"Well," she said finally.

"Well, well," he said somewhat mockingly.

Instantly, she could sense the change in his mood, as if he, too, was afraid of the seriousness between them, as if he, too, didn't know what to do with it. "The other girls were right. You're a very good kisser. I guess you've had a lot of practice."

"Fishing, Tessa?"

"Your reputation precedes you."

"You don't want me to judge you—don't judge me."

"I apologize."

And they were back to wary again. Thankfully, their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Sam, Alli, and Megan. Tessa's niece bounced out of the minivan with an exuberance that reminded Tessa of Alli at Megan's age. She shook the thought out of her head as she turned her attention to Sam.

In his trademark jeans and T-shirt, he looked good. He was the same Sam, she told herself, refusing to allow Jimmy's comments about being in a rut get to her. This was the man she'd loved her entire life. She saw him the way he was now. She knew she did. But still her heart questioned as Sam glanced toward Alli, as something in that one simple look seemed different from the day before.

"Hi, Aunt Tessa," Megan said, grabbing her hand. "Can I hike down with you?"

The child's hand felt warm and somewhat sticky in hers. Tessa told herself it was adorable.

"Ready?" Alli asked the group in general. "We should go before we lose the tide." She held a pile of burlap sacks in her hand. "We'll fill these up and hope for the best." Without waiting for a reply, Alli headed down the path that would lead them to the flatlands about a mile down the hill.