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She snatches her clothes and sunscreen from my arms before stuffing them into her bag. Her grumbling about the things she does for love fades as I pull Kate along beside me.
“What are you up to?”
The mischievous tilt of her lips only makes me more excited.
“You said you were an adrenaline junky.” I tip my head toward the map showing Tiger Falls half a mile from where we are now. “Prove it.”
I don’t know what’s gotten into me. Maybe it’s the guys busting my balls or the fact that my days with this woman are numbered. But when she punches my arm and laughter breaks a smile across her mouth—whatever the consequences may be, they’re going to be worth it.
Chuck’s confusion when he sees Brandi blow him a kiss before prancing toward Shaylea has us doubling over. Her target appears equally confused when she approaches.
“Shaylea, baby,” Brandi coos, yanking her around to the front of the group. “Tell me more about this ‘influencer’ business you’ve been going on about.”
We fall back from the rest of them a little at a time, until we pass another path that branches off from this one.
“This way.” I tug her toward a tree-covered dirt trail.
“Who knew you had such a wild streak, Mr. Carlisle.”
My name teasing her tongue like that has my pulse thumping. “Only when it comes to you.”
Kate ducks her chin.
There are many things I’ve come to like about her. But I especially adore the innocence of her blushing.
When she turns her attention to our connected hands, I quickly release hers.
The terms of our agreement were re-upped just days ago, and here I am, already touching her.
“Do you remember what the tour guide said about the falls?” she asks, pausing to tilt her head up as she fills her lungs with a deep breath.
I stop beside her. It’s hard not to sense some sort of spell out here. The thundering roar of Tiger Falls in the distance pulls us forward like a magnet. Tropical birds sing happily in the branches above our heads while butterflies and bees flit from flower to flower in front of us.
“Yeah, I remember.”
I admire the look of wonder softening her face. As much as I love her sheer bathing suit cover, I kind of miss the way my shirts dwarf her.
“Do you believe her? You know, about the healing properties of the falls and the magic stuff?”
We pick up pace again along the dirt trail, walking as far as possible before hitting a massive road block lying across the path. A long moss-covered tree trunk completely bisects the trail, leaving climbing over it the only option of getting to the other side.
“I think at the beginning of this trip I would have said no.” I grab hold of a section of knobby bark, careful not to scratch my chest, and hoist myself up.
Once I’m straddling the body of the tree, I reach down, securing her hand in mine. My thighs flex as I pull. Dead bark loosens beneath her sandals, but we finally manage to get her up.
Breathless, she tucks her cover-up under her ass and mirrors my straddling position. “What’s changed?”
I study the tips of Kate’s fluttering brown hair, wishing I could fight this perpetual attraction I have to her. I’ve never felt such an undeniable need like this before. It’s unquenchable, voracious, and made all the worse by the fact that I can’t have her.
A knot builds in my throat, and I swallow it quickly.
I wish my desire ended with the physical aspects of her. Then I wouldn’t be forced to face the truth of what I really crave and what my mess of a divorce proved I was lacking.
Intimacy.
That quiet voice in the back of my mind—the one that roared to life as she came undone in my arms—whispers a deep, rumbling,mine.
“Hard to say,” I mutter lamely.
