“Best job in the world, I broke my leg falling out of the first tree I ever tried to climb and not for a million dollars.”
She laughed and her back quivered against his torso nicely. “Two million? It’s weird that I’ve slept with you but don’t know your name.”
And there was a very good reason for that.
“Trust me, there is nothing more mood killing than my first name. If you hope for a round two at any point tonight, I’ll stay mum on that one.” He let his finger trail down her throat, tracing a line in a lazy pattern. Would he ever get tired of touching her? “Tell me why photography.”
“When I’m behind the lens, it’s another world,” she said slowly, testing out the words, maybe to be sure she meant them. Or waiting for his hammer of judgment to fall, which was not going to happen. Either way, he had no plans to interrupt her. “One where I don’t have to struggle to express myself verbally. It all comes out in the photograph. Sometimes. When I get it right. But the chase is part of it.”
“I want to see the pictures you took tonight,” he said.
A window into her mind? Yes, please. How many other people got an opportunity to learn more about the fascinating woman they were sleeping with in such a visual, memorable way?
“I… don’t know how they’ll turn out,” she hedged. “I’ve never done anything like that before.”
“So you said. But neither have I,” he reminded her. “How will I know if you did it wrong? I just want to see how you expressed yourself when taking pictures of me.”
God, what was that all about? All the emotional talk had wrung him out obviously. What good would come of an examination of that? A clue as to whether she was thinking about what it would feel like to be in love while she took pictures of a guy she’d just met? That was crap.
“I have to get them processed. I print them myself in my darkroom. Digital is so cold, you know? Maybe I’ll mail you one of the better ones,” she offered generously after just having said she felt a little vulnerable about the result. Brave. And a whole lot sexy. He’d have his own private memento of this jaunt to the Caribbean.
Mail. It was a quick douse of cold water. Of course she’d have to mail it; after this trip, they’d never see each other again. That was how vacation flings worked. Which kind of sucked all at once.
“Sure, sounds great. You know, if you want to,” he commented offhand like it didn’t matter, because it didn’t. Or rather, it shouldn’t.
He was afraid it did matter, but hell if he could figure out why.
“I do. I want you to have something since we’re not going to win the race.”
“I really don’t even care about the race. Honestly.” He waved that off. “This wasn’t my circus. All Jack’s idea.”
“Why did you decide to finish it with me then?” she asked quietly. “You didn’t have to.”
“Yeah, and that turned out so terrible.” He laughed and kissed her shoulder. Somehow she’d gotten the impression that he’d wanted to keep going because the finish line beckoned. “Let’s just say I had a feeling it was the right thing to do, and I’m pretty sure that’s still true.”
He’d done it expressly to give her an adventure, to help her out of her rut, never dreaming she’d wind him up inside so much. As adventures went, he could find little to complain about.
Except she’d done so much more than figure out how to talk to him. She’d dug under his skin a bit too. Unexpectedly. He fished around for a sheet to cover them both. The sense of exposure had returned full force, and he didn’t like it all at once.
Whatever his name was, Fitz might be the best thing that had ever happened to her.
Lilah watched the fire for a minute or twelve, weighing what to say, how to manage all the things bursting through her mind. The crackle mesmerized her, flames dancing, lulling her into believing they could talk about anything and everything.
Or at least that was her excuse for why she blurted out, “You’re so patient and kind. I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“I’m no angel,” he countered, and his hand stilled on her neck where he’d been lightly caressing her for the longest time in a shiver-inducing experience that she was not ready for him stop.
She bit her lip. Should’ve kept her mouth shut.
No. That had been her default for so long. She should be able to say what she felt. Wasn’t that what he’d been pushing her to do? This adventure wasn’t about winning a game but about learning to live.
“You’re a nice person. You didn’t have to do this race with me. You didn’t have to pose for me or try to help me through my ridiculous inability to be a normal, functioning human being. But you did because… I don’t know why.”