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He’d possibly intended the conversation to end there, but he heard the light creaking of the tree and could imagine she was flipping onto her side on her hammock. When she spoke, her sweet, gentle voice seemed that little bit closer.
Or perhaps that was just his wishful thinking.
‘It’s up to you, Jake. You can be as close as you want to. The question of whether you bring him into the jungle or not is more about the symptom than the cure. If you want that connection, then yes, you just need to approach Brady like he’s more than a seven-year-old kid. And yes, you need to talk to him, ask him what he wants. But more than that, I should imagine, you need to talk to him about his mother. Because you’re the only connection he has left to her now.’
‘Maybe you’re right—when we get back to the city, I’ll take him out for something to eat and we’ll talk.’
‘One more night after this one and then you talk. Really talk,’ Flávia added fiercely, the second greatest champion Brady had ever had.
As though she truly cares, Jake thought as he stared past the confines of his shelter roof, and to the vast night sky beyond.
CHAPTER TEN
FLÁVIA HURRIED INTO Maria and Luis’s pool house, and froze.
She’d intended to drop off large towels whilst Jake was filling Brady in on the two days of their short jungle expedition. Either that, or Brady would have been filling Jake in on his first ever sleepover in her sister’s mad household.
She hadn’t expected to be faced with the sheer mouthwatering sight of Jake standing in the kitchen with only a tiny towel around his waist, his dark hair still slick from the shower.
‘Where’s Brady?’ she managed, her tongue suddenly too thick for her mouth.
‘Maria took them all out for ice cream. Apparently, she’d promised them this morning and she hadn’t expected us back until much later.’
‘Oh. Right.’
‘She made a point of telling me that they wouldn’t be back for a few hours.’
‘Oh,’ Flávia repeated. Then, as the import of his words sank in, she felt the flush creep up her body. ‘Oh.’
‘She isn’t the most subtle, your sister.’ Jake grinned suddenly.
‘No. Not at all. Anyway, I... I thought you might need these,’ she offered redundantly, edging forward to slide the towels onto a bar stool before edging backwards again.
But only a few steps, her body resisting all instructions from her brain to turn around and leave.
The revelations of two nights ago had been more than she’d expected, and at times she’d even convinced herself that there was something arcing between them again. She’d even been waiting—hoping—for something to happen out there. A loaded glance, maybe. Or even a stolen kiss. But ultimately, nothing had happened.
She’d told herself it was for the best. That her...dalliance with Jake had been over after that one night together and now she was just trying to be a good friend to him. And to Brady. But right now Jake was standing metres from her, practically naked, his lightly tanned skin shimmering from the water. Worse, with a hungry gleam in his eye that seemed to perfectly match the roar inside her.
Try as she might, it was impossible to stop her eyes from skimming their way down his body. From the sharp lines of his jaw, over the impossibly contoured ridges of his abdomen and to the deep V which disappeared tantalisingly below the fluffy, white material.
She didn’t want to be his friend. She wanted more than that.
And she wanted it too much.
Flávia swallowed. Once. Twice. Dragged her eyes back up to where they ought to be. But they didn’t quite make it, and instead she found herself staring at some point around his collarbone, forcing her mouth into more mundane conversation.
‘I thought you’d still be telling Brady about your jungle adventure, as he calls it.’
‘Brady said he’d rather hear about it when you’re there.’ The wry smile was almost her undoing. ‘He thinks I might miss important fauna details.’
Flávia tried to laugh, but it came out slightly choked. Her heartbeat was frantic. Her skin felt like it was too tight for her own body, and between her legs was molten.
‘You will need to get the details right.’
‘Don’t I know it?’ He flashed her a smile which felt like it was shot through with lust, and the air thickened in the room around them.
She ought to leave. The door was right behind her. But she still couldn’t seem to get her feet moving.
