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Cal laughed as he drew back and laid a gentle hand over her stomach. “If we head over to Paso Robles now, we’ll have plenty of time to get some dinner before the light show begins.”
Though she nodded, they stood for a few moments longer as the glow of the setting sun frosted the elephant seals in shades of pink and purple and gold. The wind against her face was sharp and elemental. But with Cal’s arm around her and his breath sweet against her face, she felt warm all over.
* * *
“This has to be one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen,” Lyssa said as they gazed at the field of multicolored lights installed by artist Bruce Munro, who was renowned all over the world, from the U.K. to Australia to South Korea to the U.S., for his nature-based light shows.
It was crisp and cold in Paso Robles, and they stood hand in hand as the blues and purples and pinks and reds, all the colors of the spectrum, seemed to dance across the wide-open space. This was how Cal wanted things to be—Lyssa by his side, her hand in his.
Not only was she beautiful and sexy as hell, she was also someone with whom he could drive in the car for hours and listen to music, saying nothing at all and being completely comfortable with it. She was a woman with whom he could gaze at elephant seals and watch the sunset, wait in line at a fish shack, and hold hands with on a beach.
When it was over, they drove back along the two-lane road to Cambria, not even listening to music, simply reveling in the wonder of what they’d experienced in the open field of lights.
She turned to him. “Thank you. It was beautiful.”
“I agree.” Even though she was the most beautiful thing of all. “Your parents would love it, wouldn’t they?”
She nodded. “We should bring them down here.”
It was the we that burrowed deep inside him, as though they were bonded now in a way they hadn’t been before.
He’d previously believed that women in their twenties were always on their cell phones or social media, that they needed to be plugged in, that they were always angling to attract outside attention.
But Lyssa was like no one else.
He lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her skin, breathing her in.
And waited with breathless anticipation for the moment he could hold her in his arms again and make her his.
* * *
The field of lights had been dazzling.
We should bring them down here.
The words had slipped out of her mouth before she’d realized they were coming. It felt right, but it was also scary. It meant she was already making plans for the future, though neither of them had said the L-word yet, or even made a formal commitment to one another.
That was what this trip was about, of course. By the end of it, they’d both need to make a big decision about what they were going to be to each other…and then tell her family.
But for right now, for a few hours longer, she wanted to exist only in the moment. With Cal. And as he closed the door to their adorable cottage with the soft rug and crackling fire, she didn’t want to think at all. Didn’t want to wonder if he could make her fall in love. Or if she could get him to love her. Or if their amazing physical connection could lead to a future.
“Let’s sit by the fire,” Cal suggested, crossing to the bed for a couple of pillows and throwing them on the rug.
She took his hand, and together they lay down, her back nestled to his chest, the warmth of the fire on her face, the heat of him melting her on the inside. Resting her head on his arm, she watched the flickering flames. Though she could feel that he was hard against her, there was no clothes-tearing. Simply a sense of contentment and peace and the knowledge that they had all night to love each other with their bodies.
He slipped his hand to her belly, and she instinctively placed her hand over his. And, with a smile on her lips, she closed her eyes.
* * *
She didn’t know who woke whom, whether she kissed him first, or he kissed her awake. All she knew was that it was perfect.
Deep darkness lay outside, and she had no idea how long she’d slept, or if he’d slept with her. But time ceased to matter as his hand caressed her slowly, rising up to her breasts, palming her, then squeezing lightly. He teased her through the lace bra until the peaks hardened into sensitive nubs. He moved his lips from her mouth to her ear and blew a warm breath until she shivered inside.
