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“This is my first time. We’ve been to Italy a few times. Mom and Dad’s family are still there. But that’s it for me. Bria’s sky-dived in Spain once. And Zeta spent a summer in Hawaii on a student exchange program when she was sixteen.”
“You don’t like to travel?”
“No, I mean, yes. I do.” She caught her lip with her teeth. “I just…” How did she explain how vulnerable she felt in places she didn’t know without sounding pathetic?
“Like being at home?”
There was no judgement in his voice.
“Like being home,” she confirmed.
“I get that.” He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, stopping it from lashing in her eyes. “I’m the same. Home is safe. Known.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “Known is a good word.”
“I’m sorry I grabbed you earlier,” he said, his voice almost husky.
She blinked, looking up at him. An expression she couldn’t quite decipher pulled at his features.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He turned his face toward the water, but the tension in his body told her it wasn’t relaxing him like it was her.
“You didn’t scare me,” she said.
He let out a shaky sigh. “That’s good. I’m glad. My…” He petered off, shook his head, and smiled at her. “I know the manager of the zoo. Catered her daughter’s wedding a year ago. Might make cuddling that koala a little easier to organize.”
I’m happy to cuddle you.
Once again, what she wanted to say stayed trapped inside her. Instead, she made an impressed sound. “I knew I got engaged to you for a reason.”
His laughter slipped through her, like a wave of wonderful warmth. “Oh, I’ve gotallthe contacts,” he chuckled. “If you want, I can introduce you to Henri Stefanovic.”
She wasn’t au fait with Australian celebrities. Hugh Jackman, Cate Blanchet, Chris Hemsworth, and Rebel Wilson. They were the only ones she was familiar with. Oh, and of course there was the Blackthornes. Still kind of surreal her future brother-in-law was a Blackthorne, although not one of the famous ones.
Was Henri Stefanovic an actor? A musician? She frowned, worried she wasn’t as impressed as he might expect. “Who’s Henri Stefanovic?”
“My butcher.”
She stared at him and burst out laughing.
He grinned, smoothed his arm farther around her shoulder, tucking her into his side some more, and dipped his head to hers. She met him halfway. Her lips still curled in a smile, she kissed him.
It was the most natural, the mostnormalthing to do.
Kiss him. And be kissed by him.
Parting her lips, she touched her tongue to his, feathering her fingers over his jaw as she did so. He let out a low groan, the sound part surrender, part demand, and buried his other hand into the hair at the back of her head.
The action turned her insides to liquid. Her nerve-endings sparked and charged. Her nipples hardened. She deepened the kiss. Or maybe he did. She wasn’t sure. Didn’t care. The kiss was deeper and Dio, it was incredible and amazing.
His tongue slanted over hers, his fist in her hair relaxing a tiny bit before tightening again. Again, her body reacted, as if she’d suddenly been plunged into concentrated arousal. She moaned into his mouth, pressing her thighs together even as she wanted to part them, wanted to snag his hand—the one not fisted in her hair—and press it to their junction. If she straddled his hips right now, if she buried her own hands intohishair, would he—
He pulled away, a raw groan tearing from him as he released her hair. “I’m…I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Hell, her heart was racing, her skin was on fire. Her sex…
“I didn’t mean… Your hair… I…” He let out a shaky breath. “I shouldn’t have been so aggressive.”
Her hair? Was he worried about how he’d grabbed her hair? “You weren’t. Not at all.” Why would he think he was being too rough? Aggressive? “I… I liked it.” Heat filled her cheeks and she smiled, ducking her head. “A lot.”
