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"Getting hot in here?" he asked with a teasing smile. "I usually get cold when I eat ice cream."
"Let's talk about your for a change."
"What do you want to know?"
"Tell me about your prom date."
"I went with my girlfriend, Laurel. She was a runner. We were on the track team together. We were great pacing partners. Unfortunately, when we stopped running, we found that we didn't have a lot to talk about."
"And talking was important in a high school relationship?" she challenged.
"Maybe not so much," he admitted. "She was hot."
"I'll bet. How long were you together?"
"Until summer. She met someone else at a running camp, and I was happy to call it quits. I'd moved on from running to flying, and every spare minute I had went into flying lessons and getting enough hours so that I could get my license."
"When did you get that?"
"At sixteen. I got my driver's license and my pilot's license within three months of each other."
"Isn't it expensive to take flying lessons?"
He nodded. "Yes. I worked at the supermarket to help pay for it. But I also had a little help from my grandfather. He was a pilot, and he loved having someone to share his love of flying with. Kind of like your grandfather sharing his love of sailing."
"I thought you said your grandfather was a firefighter," she asked.
"Other grandfather. This was my biological mother's father."
"I need a family tree," she complained.
"It is a little complicated. I told you that my biological mom died when I was really young."
"I don't think you did," she said with a shake of her head.
"Oh, right. It was Megan I told."
"Why would you tell Megan that?"
"We were bonding," he said lightly. "Anyway, my mother's father was the pilot. He used to give me airplanes when I was little and talk about soaring into the sky. I loved listening to his stories."
"Do you still see him?"
"I try to stay in touch," Drew said. "There's a lot of family to keep happy."
"It sounds like it." She let out a breath, knowing she was getting too comfortable talking to Drew. "I should clean up."
"I'll help you."
"It's not a big deal. It will take me two seconds," she said, as she got to her feet. "You've done enough, and you should go home."
He stood up, blocking her way into the kitchen. "Every time I think about leaving you, I get the crazy feeling that I might never see you again, that you could disappear at any minute, without any explanation."
"That's not so crazy," she said meeting his gaze. "I have to protect Megan, Drew. And if that means I have to leave San Francisco, then that's exactly what I'll do." She paused. "But I'm not going anywhere soon. Megan couldn't possibly miss the prom."
"I want to help you, Ria," he said, a serious note in his voice. "Why don't you let me?"
His offer was tempting. She'd been carrying the burden for a long time. But she couldn't bring him into her mess. "There's nothing to do at the moment," she said, hoping the vague answer would be less challenging to him than an outright no.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now can you move out of the way, so I can wash these bowls?"
He took the bowls out of her hand and set them on the counter. Then he put his hands on her waist. A shot of desire swept through her at the purposeful look in his eyes.
"What—what are you doing?" she asked, hating the breathless note in her voice. But with Drew holding on to her, with his body calling out to hers, with the memories of how good they were together flooding through her mind, she was feeling more than a little off balance.
"I'm going to kiss you, Ria."
"No."
"Yes. I've been thinking about it all day, and I think you've been thinking about it, too. We were good together."
"For one night a long time ago, and maybe it wasn't that good," she added desperately.
"Only one way to find out."
His deep, rich voice sent more shivers down her spine. And then his mouth came down on hers in a hot, demanding kiss that made her head spin. She felt like she was going back in time. She was on the island again. The tropical air smelled like flowers, and the heat of the night mixed with the heat between them. There was no yesterday, no tomorrow, just the moment, the night.
