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Not even the cupcakes for dessert can distract me.
As I’m peeling the last of the paper casing from the cocoa cake, Becky leans into me. ‘Is everything okay?’ she asks softly.
Is everything okay? Besides the fact I’m falling head over heels for a woman I shouldn’t want and can’t have? Besides the fact she just said she’ll be going back to the UK? Besides the fact I have no idea why she left the UK in a hurry in the first place and that there are so many things I’m still dying to discover about this mysterious and exceptionally beautiful woman?
‘Perfect. You?’
She nods quickly. ‘Great.’
That’s the last thing we say to each other before it’s time to call it a night.
* * *
When I come to the bedroom for sheets and a pillow after brushing my teeth, Becky’s standing by the window in a short nightie, the room lit only by moonlight that shines against the silk. Her slender hourglass figure is kissed by the fabric, every curve shown in her silhouette. Her hair flows down her back in waves.
She turns when she hears me come into the room. ‘Are you sure you won’t take the bed? It’s your room.’
‘No, you’re a guest. I’m just going to grab some sheets.’
There’s no need to go to her, but it’s as if an invisible force is drawing me nearer. Knowing what I would do to any other woman wearing something like that, standing in my bedroom, looking and smelling the height of temptation. Me half naked in only boxers and practically feeling the heat radiating between us when we’re inches apart.
‘You’re quite a hit with my family.’
She lifts her chin to look at me. The moon’s blue shine dances across the ocean view behind her. She’s a vision. A portrait. Everything about what I’m looking at is truly incredible.
I feel her slow breath and smell the fresh mint. I want to reach out and touch her face. I want to hold her cheeks and taste her lips, to wrap my tongue around hers.
Maybe. Just maybe.
She turns away from me to look back out of the window, pressing her fingertips to her lips and her other hand to her stomach. ‘They’re great, Drew.’
I know my own reluctance. I know she wants to be single at the moment. But I don’t know how she has the strength to fight this. God, I would like to have the same strength. I step closer to her, far enough away not to be touching her, close enough to feel the charge between us.
I plug for something more. More information to understand this woman. ‘Does it make you miss your family?’ I ask.
At first, she’s still. I wait. Then she shakes her head. ‘No. We aren’t all close like your family. I guess that’s part of the reason I could never…’
‘Go on.’
‘Never mind.’ She sighs and folds her arms across her chest. ‘This view is beautiful.’
I cast my eyes over her again, greedily taking her in. ‘It really is. Thanks for coming this weekend. I probably wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for you.’
‘Thank you for bringing me.’
‘Another thing ticked off your list. When the list is completed, will you go back to the UK?’
She turns to face me, perhaps not realizing how close I’m standing to her. Her chest lightly grazes mine. The feel of her against my bare skin shoots electricity through my veins. She looks up at me through lowered lids.
‘There’s still a lot left on my list.’ She digs her teeth into her bottom lip, and I have to have it. I have to kiss those lips and run my hands over that silk nightie. I lift my palm toward her cheek.
It’s as if something snaps inside her. She grabs my hand. ‘Well, you know how to make all these experiences better. You’re the best friend I’ve found in New York, Drew.’
Ouch. Friend zone. Right where I’m supposed to be, in fact.
I swallow the out-of-control hormones that have my throat feeling like it’s been grated. ‘Well, goodnight, Becky.’
‘Yep, sleep well.’
