Wow, frightened Stephen was definitely letting his silver-tongue slip. I would let him off because he was genuinely suffering.
‘Very rarely. I’m trying to distract you, doofus. Is it working?’
‘Obviously not.’ He shut his eyes again.
‘You want me to be quiet, then?’
‘Could you?’
‘I can but try.’
‘Great. Thank you.’
I pressed my lips together and looked out. We were nearing the top now: 150 feet up in the air. The lights down below twinkled and flashed while up here it was blissfully cool and quiet. Even the music of the arcades was faint. I didn’t mind appreciating the peace…but it was spoiled slightly by Stephen’s harsh breathing. If he hadn’t been such a wreck, it might’ve turned me on.
The problem also was, I knew we were going to stop at the top. It was going to be a bad moment, if he reacted like last time and looked out. The breeze moved my hair across my face, and I lifted my hand away from his, to tuck it behind my ear, trying not to recall the way it had felt when he’d smoothed those loose strands back earlier – the graze of his fingertips on the shell of my ear.
His eyes snapped open again at my movement, as though he thought I was going somewhere. They landed on mine, but I didn’t say anything, and he blinked a few times. ‘OK, quiet isn’t working. I’m sorry. Distract me again.’
Talking wasn’t helping. It was time to do something extreme. I put my hand to his cheek, the short hairs of his beard cool against my palm, probably because he was clammy with fear. I leaned in towards him.
‘What are you—?’
‘Shh, distracting you,’ I murmured as my nose aligned with his. ‘Just close your eyes and think of England.’
He didn’t close his eyes, though. Not right away. My lips found his and they were surprisingly soft for all their firm appearance. I pressed against them gently. I didn’t want to move too much and unbalance the cage. Which left the kiss chaste and sweet; the kind I probably would’ve had with a teenage boy on this wheel, if any teen boy had ever actually asked me.
The kind of kiss unlikely to interest an experienced man like Stephen, now I thought about it.
But then he did close his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose, his mouth relaxing under mine. Just that little yield made my tummy flutter and a touch of guilt assailed me. Was I taking advantage of him here under the guise of helping him? Probably a bit. Maybe a lot.
His lips parted and he tilted his head ever so slightly. I figured if I could get him to take his death grip away from the side of the car and transfer it to me, that would prove he was getting something from this. That it was working to distract him.
I brushed my mouth over his again, and he caught at my bottom lip gently. My tummy flutter twisted and grew, anticipation and warmth shimmering through me. I slid my hand down his neck and inside his collar, fingers shaping to his firm muscles. I completely forgot I wasn’t meant to be moving much.
He stilled. I sneaked my eyes open a fraction and saw that we’d moved past the top. We were almost a quarter of the way down.
‘Stay with me. We’re nearly there,’ I whispered and something wild inside, a temptation I couldn’t deny, made me stroke my tongue slowly across his top lip. He shuddered and I really hoped it was a good shudder. I planted one more, full-on kiss firmly against his wonderful mouth and forced myself to move away. We were nearly at the bottom. ‘You can open your eyes now. We have to get off in a minute.’
He opened his eyes and the look he speared me with was so full of raw emotion it made me breathless.
I lifted his hand in mine and peeled his fingers free. He glanced away and when he saw we were nearly at the bottom, dared to straighten up in his seat.
We exited the ride in silence. I’m not normally at a loss for words – as he so graciously pointed out before – but I was stumped if I knew where to go from here.
‘Sooo…I’m going to visit the little girls’ room.’ I took a few steps backwards. His face gave nothing away as he looked at me. He was still so pasty, but I could see a hard edge creeping into his expression that had me worried. Was he mad? Had I taken advantage and he was going to call sexual assault on me? ‘Meet you by the margarita hut again before we leave? I bet you could use a drink.’
And then I fled, like a coward.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Elle
Icouldn’t avoid him for the rest of the evening. As soon as I was finished in the ladies, I grabbed us a bag of hot sugary donuts as a peace offering and headed back to meet him. Hopefully he was feeling better now and not going to throw me into the sea. I was delving inside, breathing in the deliciously doughy, crisp scent and nearly screamed as someone caught my elbow.
Stephen pulled me between two of the huts and I had to clutch my donuts to my chest, despite them burning my hand through the paper bag to avoid them being spilled on the ground.
He hemmed me in, one arm either side of me, the colour back in his face finally. ‘What was that before?’
