“Then that’s what she’ll get,” Ashton called back. He finally took his arm off her back, but offered her no freedom. The arm went around her waist and tugged her to his side. “Let’s go watch it. I have a perfect place in mind.”
Savvy bit her tongue until they were out of hearing range of the crowd. Then she yanked against Ashton’s determined hold on her. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He wasn’t letting go. That was for sure.
“It’s a beautiful night. The sun is setting and I’m with a spectacular woman. Do I need to put a definition on what it is?”
“That’s not what I mean. Why are you acting this way? Why are you mauling me? We aren’t a couple, and I don’t want your family to start thinking we are.”
He led her up a small hill, where a private bench was set back from the beach, offering privacy while still giving a great view of the water and the colors splashing across the sky.
“Maybe I’ve decided I’d like for us to be a couple,” he said, shocking her. He helped her to sit down — all this touching! — and sat right next to her.
“You have a fiancée,” she growled.
“I’m rethinking that situation,” he told her.
“But right now, right at this moment, you’re engaged to be married. I’m no poacher.” She was at her starchiest, and was sitting there stiffly beside him. “I’ll add that even if you were single, I wouldn’t accept a date with you after all your uncouth behavior.”
“Aw, come on, Savvy, I was just poking some fun.”
“I wasn’t amused,” she told him. “I’m still not.”
“Then I’ll just have to find other ways to enthrall you,” he said.
What was the point of even talking? He wasn’t listening. So she stayed silent for several heartbeats as the sun continued to set in the sky, but for once the colors weren’t inspiring any peace inside her. She had to speak again.
“We have nothing in common, Ashton. Besides that, you are my boss, making this completely inappropriate. And, as if we need another reason not to date, I start back up at school in about two months. Even if you were going to be free, I’m not looking at getting into a relationship right now.”
But his hand was resting on her thigh and damn if she didn’t like having it there.
“Ah, Savvy, those are all just excuses and ways to hide from the world. If a person wants to be with somebody, he — or she — won’t let anything get in the way.”
“Maybe I want those things in my way, Mr. Storm.” And maybe using his last name would send a clearer message.
“And sometimes these obstacles are what make us stronger, braver, and more able to see all possibilities.”
“Ha. You’re not looking for anything more than a good time in the sack.” She wasn’t born yesterday.
“You don’t know what I’m looking for — unless you can suddenly read minds,” he said.
Savannah reached for his hand, which was still on her thigh, and she dug her nails in. She had to drive him away — his touch was too confusing. But her tactic didn’t work. He simply flipped his hand over and gripped her palm before lifting it to his lips and kissing it, sending tingles throughout her body.
“I know you once had a reputation for being a playboy, for changing women as often as you changed clothes. And that still seems to be the case, because you keep forgetting about the woman with your ring on her finger. I have no interest in being with a man who can dump his fiancée because he suddenly grows bored.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Hmm. You’ve been checking up on me. I like that,” he said, making her want to scream in frustration.
“Ugh. I’m trying to tell you that we would never be a good couple. We are much too different for that ever to happen!”
“I disagree, Savvy. As I’ve said before, I think we’re surprisingly alike. But besides that, isn’t the reason behind dating to get to know each other? Then if two people find they don’t like what the other has to offer, they go their separate ways. My take? I have a feeling we’re not going to find things about each other that we don’t like.”
How couldn’t she be exasperated? “You don’t know me!”
“I know what I want to know. You’re smart and funny, a hard worker, and sexy as hell. Your smile is the brightest thing I’ve ever witnessed, and your touch — hmm, your touch takes my breath away.”
“Ashton…,” she began with a sigh and then stopped talking. She didn’t know what to say next.