“Well Madame, we have a selection of sliced turkey, cranberry, and cheese, along with cold quinoa salad with artichoke, cherry tomatoes and pesto, followed by fresh mango and banana with yogurt.”
“Boy, that’s pretty fancy,” Julianna said, impressed. “And here I thought it was just going to be salami, cheese and crackers.”
“Would that have worked?” he asked.
“Depends on what you were going for…” she replied coyly. Oh boy, she shouldn’t be flirting but she couldn’t quite help herself. He was so cute and he’d gone to so much effort for a knocked up girl he’d only just met…what could she say? It was sweet. And right now…she could use a little sweet in her life.
-5-
It was one thing to know you were playing with fire but quite another to actually welcome the flame. That’s pretty much what he was doing with Julianna but he couldn’t quite help himself. Hadn’t she all but admitted that she was still in love with that jerk-off Boston? Yeah, but she was here with him and not the other guy so that was something, right?
“Mmmm, that’s so good!” Julianna exclaimed around a big bite of her sandwich. “Geez, Miles, if you weren’t a doctor you’d definitely have a shot at doing something with food. This is almost…well, let’s just say, the pregnant woman who gets sick at the drop of a hat, approves. I don’t even feel the need to vomit. That’s a good sign.”
“High praise,” he said, enjoying her enthusiasm, trying not to react too much to the fact that watching her eat was doing something to his groin area. “I will keep that under advisement in case this doctor gig doesn’t work out.”
She laughed and finished her sandwich, moving onto the mango salad. “That’s what I love about the island, everything is so fresh. I never knew how delicious fruit could be. It’s better than candy.”
“When I first arrived on the island, I think I lived on fruit smoothies for at least a month. I couldn’t get enough of them.”
“There are worse things to be addicted to,” she said, popping another bite before sighing with open contentment. “That was so good. Definitely on the top of my list for best picnic ever.”
Miles tried not to put too much value on the innocent statement but he liked her too much to let it mean nothing. “You deserve days like this all the time,” he said quietly, realizing he was risking much by making such a statement. When she didn’t immediately shut him down, he pressed a little harder. “You have to know that you deserve someone who would consider it an honor to make you smile everyday.”
“Miles…” but there was something in her voice that gave him hope. “There are things you don’t know…”
“I don’t care,” he said quickly, reaching out to gently pull her to him. She made a small sound but didn’t resist. “You’re a woman worth fighting for, Julianna…” and then he brushed his lips across hers in a gentle, tender kiss that immediately set him on fire but he wouldn’t stop for the world. She leaned into him and sweetly opened for him, her tongue hesitantly searching for his and he pushed her slowly to the blanket. He framed her face, nearly delirious with the mad rush of pleasure at having Julianna beneath him that he struggled to keep his pace slow and tender when he desperately wanted to touch every inch of her, taste every private spot and swallow every gasp that popped from her mouth. “Tell me to stop and I will,” he promised her even though the words sliced him to ribbons. He withdrew to stare into her eyes, waiting for her to push him away, but she didn’t.
“Why would you want me? I’m a mess,” she asked, wearing a mask of vulnerability that broke his heart. She swallowed and gazed into his eyes as if needing to hear his answer but afraid, too. “I mean, I don’t know what I’m feeling right now. I don’t understand what I’m going through and how I’ll end up feeling by the end of everything. I don’t want to screw you over, Miles.”
“You can’t scare me that easily,” he said, brushing the pad of his thumb over her plump bottom lip. “Most times people complicate matters simply by overthinking things. How do you feel right now?”
“Uncertain,” she admitted, then added shyly, “But I liked your kiss.”
“Good,” he said with a slow smile, his heart beating like a wild thing. “Because there’s plenty more where that came from.” He leaned in and took her mouth again, this time with more force and the tiny sound from the back of her throat was like gasoline on a flame. Within moments, he was pressed against her, his erection straining so hard he thought his skin might split but he was happier than he’d ever been. This felt right in every way. Did she feel the same? He was falling too hard, too fast for a woman who was likely going to break his heart. But he couldn’t stop. God help him, he couldn’t walk away when he should. If he were watching a friend do this very same thing, he’d shake his head and tell him he was losing his mind but none of that mattered. There was something so amazing and indefinable about Julianna that he didn’t want to examine how reckless he was being. And so he didn’t. “Julianna…” he murmured against her mouth, so ready to discover her intimate places but he didn’t want to press too hard or rush her into doing something she might regret, especially when she was so vulnerable right now, but good God, it was taking an act of Herculean strength to remember to go slowly. “You’re a treasure, you know that? You deserve the best in life and Boston isn’t going to provide it for you, it’s time to tell him to step aside so someone else can have the privilege of earning your love.”#p#分页标题#e#