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Clearing her throat, she deliberately relaxed her fingers and straightened. “So where’s this magical sight you promised me?”
“Be careful what you wish for.”
His deep voice rippled over her like a silken caress and her knees almost buckled.
As if on cue, the ship’s horn blasted as the massive vessel pulled away from the dock, Suva’s lights twinkling like a fairyland as the ship sailed up the channel, a gentle breeze fanning her face, a welcome relief for her fiery cheeks.
She was no good at this. Even with Zac being so nice this afternoon, even with her defences lowered, she still couldn’t throw herself into flirting unreservedly.
Introversion was a habit of a lifetime. She’d done it as a child, leaving her dad to work through his grief, then she’d done it as a teenager, flying under the radar of his countless girlfriends that waltzed in and out of a revolving door.
No prizes for guessing where her abhorrence of casual sex came from. Her folks had had the perfect relationship, their love for each other radiating out to include her, and they’d been the epitome of the happy family before that car accident had ripped their lives apart.
Her dad always assured her she’d come first in his life and she had. She’d never blamed him, because he’d mourned her mom for seven long years before dating again, but Lana never understood how those women could jump into bed so quickly when her dad made it perfectly clear he wasn’t interested in a relationship, never understood what motivated them to be so free and easy with something she considered a gift.
“Well, what do you think?”
Her gaze swept the dock, the sea, before her eyes met his, firmly fixed on her rather than the view. “You’re right. It’s magical.”
His eyes glittered in the moonlight, and a sexy smile curved his lips.
“You’re not looking at the view.”
“I prefer this one a lot better.”
She tensed as he lowered his head and his lips barely grazed hers, the feather-light kiss sabotaging her initial reaction to pull away, rendering her resolve to keep her distance useless.
He kissed her again and again and again, gently increasing the pressure with each kiss as a languorous heat stole from her lips to her fingertips, a heat she’d never experienced, a heat that stole through her body and into her heart.
He hadn’t laid a hand on her, yet every inch of her skin tingled like he’d caressed it, their lack of contact only serving to increase the pleasure of their lips locked together, tasting, sampling, searching in an endless quest for satisfaction.
But she couldn’t give him satisfaction; not the kind a virile man like him wanted, deserved, and she pulled away, wishing she had the courage to let go of her reservations all at once, throw caution to the wind, and see what happened.
“Definitely magical.” He touched her lips—still quivering from the impact of his kisses—with a reverent fingertip, gently tracing the contours, undoing her one little stroke at a time.
She needed to reassemble her wits ad say something, but her mind wouldn’t co-operate while her body reeled from the shock of his sensual onslaught.
“I take it that’s part of your plan to get to know me better?”
She sounded too sarcastic and his smile faded as if she’d tripped a silent trigger. “Plan?”
She shrugged and wrapped her arms around her middle, chilled despite the balmy breeze. She had to be bluntly honest.
“You’re trying to seduce me.”
“Am I?”
His somber expression, the way his voice tightened, the distance he established between them by taking a step back, all indicated one thing: she’d insulted him.
Tugging on the end of her ponytail matted by the wind, she met his bitter gaze head on.
“Level with me, Zac. I may be some naïve recluse who hasn’t been on a date in eighteen months but I’m not stupid. You said you like me. A guy like you has needs. So what I want to know is, why are you going through this game of charming me when there isn’t a hope in hell I’ll sleep with you?”
There, she’d said it, and while her gut churned with trepidation, her hands were surprisingly steady as she folded them in front of her before realizing she probably looked like a prim and proper nun and promptly released them.
A vein pulsed at Zac’s temple as he raked a hand through his hair, dishevelled and spiked and thoroughly tempting, before he met her gaze, his clouded with disappointment, hers wary yet relieved she’d asked what had been bugging her since they’d met.
She’d had the guts to speak her mind and he had no idea what a big deal that was for her.
