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‘What?’ She flung her napkin towards him. ‘I do not snore.’ Then she stopped to think for a second and leaned forward. How would she know? ‘At least, I don’t think I do. Do I?’
The thought of Reuben listening to her snoring for the last ten nights filled her with complete dread.
He laughed and tossed her napkin back. ‘Of course you don’t.’ He winked. ‘I would have woken you up if you did.’
She tilted her head to the side. ‘You talk in your sleep, you know.’
His eyes widened. He actually looked shocked. ‘What?’
She smiled. ‘Yeah, you do. Quite a lot, actually. Sometimes you have full conversations as if you’re really talking to someone.’
He shifted in his seat and she couldn’t help but feel amused at Reuben looking a little sheepish. ‘What do I say?’
She gave a wicked smile and lifted her wine glass. ‘Lots of things you probably shouldn’t.’
He shifted again. ‘I’m not sure I like the sound of that.’ There was a rasp in his voice. It sent tiny tremors down her spine. Her imagination was working overtime.
She looked at him carefully. She didn’t want to do anything to spoil the chemistry between them—but it was time to get it out there.
‘You mutter mainly. Sometimes about your mum and dad, sometimes about Caleb.’
It was as if he froze. His hand was midway to his glass and it just stopped.
‘Oh.’
‘Oh? Is that all I’m going to get?’
His eyes were fixed on the table. For the first time all night he wasn’t looking at her. It didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel natural. Eventually he ran his hand through his hair with a sigh.
He lifted his brown eyes to meet hers. ‘I might not have been entirely truthful about why Addison doesn’t like me much.’
It was like a little cool breeze over her skin. She set down her wine glass. ‘Tell me.’
He stared out of the window at the gorgeous view. ‘Addison came in at the wrong moment. Caleb had just called me on my behaviour.’
‘What kind of behaviour?’
‘He knew my parents. He knew what they were like. I was being childish. He’d told me he loved Addison and was going to marry her and I told him that love didn’t exist and he was wasting his time on some fantasy.’
She wasn’t sure where this was going. ‘And?’
He sighed again. ‘And, then he told me to grow up. He told me every kind of relationship wasn’t like my mum and dad’s. The world was full of people who loved each other just as much as he loved Addison and not to judge their relationship by the warped one my parents had.’
She pressed her lips together. ‘Tough words.’
He gave the slightest shake of his head. ‘Not really. They were all true. But I lashed out—I punched him—just as Addison walked through the door.’
Her hand went up automatically her mouth. ‘Oh, no.’
He gave a sorry kind of smile. ‘Oh, yes. Bad boy through and through. No wonder she doesn’t like me. I think she can’t believe Caleb and I are still friends ten years later.’
Lara shook her head. There was something about the way he’d said the words. ‘You’re not all bad,’ she said quietly, as she reached across the table and squeezed his hand.
His brown eyes fixed on hers. She lifted up her other hand. ‘Look what you’ve done. Look what you’ve done for me.’ She gave him a little smile. ‘You’ve broken my run of loser boyfriends.’ She laughed. ‘And that’s been going for my entire life. That’s quite a feat, you know.’
He turned her hand over and started to trace little circles in her palm. ‘I’m sorry, Lara. You’ve no idea how much I like you. I’ve never told anyone about my parents before—I’ve never told anyone about my fight with Caleb before. But with you? It’s just easy. It’s just as if it’s meant to happen.’
Their gazes connected again. It was like a little zing in the air.
It’s meant to happen.
She took a deep breath. ‘You’ve given me confidence again, Reuben. Confidence I haven’t had since I was a fifteen-year-old girl. You’ve made me question myself. You’ve made me question my potential and whether I’m doing what I really want to. I needed that. I needed that so badly. So thank you.’
His fingers stopped tracing the circles. ‘What happens now?’
She licked her lips. ‘Now we do what we’re supposed to.’
He signalled to the waiter that they were finished and stood up. It was kind of hard not to stare at the part of his body that was right in front of her. But he seemed to be reading her mind, because he caught her hand and pulled her close to him.
Close enough to get the full effect.
She gulped. There was no chance of misunderstanding.
One hand splayed across her back, the other stroked a finger down her cheek. ‘Want to go see the show?’
She shook her head. ‘I think we should make our own show,’ she whispered.
Her heart was clamouring inside her chest. She was conscious of the fact that every time she inhaled her breasts brushed against him. Conscious of the fact his eyes were fixed entirely on hers.
A tiny little part of her brain was
screaming, If you wanted to capture the bad boy, you’ve got him.
She ignored every red flag that tried to raise itself above the parapet. For the first time in the last few weeks she felt entirely in control.
She felt confident in herself and her actions.
She didn’t expect this to go anywhere. She had no expectations except for the here and now. She’d never thought like that before. But if she put up walls around herself then when Reuben walked away she’d be protected.
She slid her hand around his waist and grabbed his bum. This power thing was intoxicating. ‘Shall we?’
The walk to the cabin had never felt so short. When she fumbled with the card Reuben’s hand closed over hers, his breath at the back of her neck.
His voice was low, throaty. ‘Lara, are you sure about this?’
The door clicked open and she spun to face him.
He’d never looked more handsome. Those dark brown eyes were pulling her into a warm chocolate oblivion. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, tugging him towards her.
‘I’ve never been surer.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
REUBEN WAS DRUNK. Drunk entirely on Lara Callaway. She was like an infectious disease. A drug. And at some point he would tell her how he actually felt.
Just not right now.
Right now he’d just watch her sleep and wonder how on earth to play things when she woke up.
Because he should say something—shouldn’t he?
