In the doorway to the lobby, he pressed her up against the wall where he had been standing when she first laid eyes on him. Just like she had imagined.
His tongue searched hers insistently, claiming her one last time.
She could still feel the heat where he had taken her in the pool. There was no doubt about whom she belonged to for those final hours of the night.
“I guess this is goodnight,” she whispered reluctantly, carrying her sandals so as not to make noise when she crept back into her room, everyone else long asleep. “I hope you’re able to catch a few hours of sleep.” Before your bus, she wanted to add, but didn’t.
“Goodnight, darling,” he murmured, holding her chin to lift her lips to his once again. “Something tells me I’m not going to have any more trouble sleeping tonight.”
“I’ll see you,” she said softly, knowing that she wouldn’t. He was leaving for Buenos Aires in the morning, and if the thought sent a pang shooting straight through her heart, she just had to remind herself that the fleetingness of their encounter was the reason it had happened at all.
“I’ll see you,” he promised, and as she slipped down the darkened hallway, she appreciated the lie.
Chapter Five
Tuesday
Blake had every intention of getting up early and going to the bus station. He was packed. He’d paid for his stay at the hostel. He should have been ready to go.
But when then sun came up and spread its warm fingers over the garden, he lingered in bed a little longer as Jamie and the other guys in the room got ready for the day.
He told himself he was just tired from the late night before. But thinking about why he’d been up so late made him think about Julia and the miracle of her soft, lithe body writhing against his, and he had to roll over before anyone in the communal room saw the tent pitched halfway down his sheets.
It would be shitty to sneak out without at least saying good-bye. And there were more busses during the day. He might as well start the day off with breakfast. It wouldn’t hurt to see her one last time.
When the room cleared, he rolled out of bed and pulled on a gray T-shirt and a pair of navy cargo shorts. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to tame his curls, and slid his feet into his comfortable leather sandals. He didn’t bother shaving, but that was to save time while he grabbed a quick breakfast before the bus—not because he was eager to see if Julia was awake. Or because he happened to know that a bit of light stubble around his jawline had never hurt him when it came to women.
It was a brilliant day, the kind of clear blue promise he had come to associate with southern Brazil. Outside he scanned the tables by the pool, glad to see Chris and Jamie weren’t out yet. He only wanted to talk to one person there.
She was sitting on the far end of the patio at a table by herself, and she hadn’t seen him yet. On her table was a bowl of granola with yogurt and fruit and a steaming mug of coffee. Her long hair rustled in the breeze as she looked down, intent on a book. She certainly didn’t look like someone who’d been up half the night. He figured she was used to being an early riser, even during her holiday.
Blake took advantage of Julia’s oblivion to watch her. She was even more beautiful in the morning light, wearing a pale blue sundress that showed off her long arms and legs. To anyone else she might be another pretty face, but he knew what was so ravishing about her—and it wasn’t only that gorgeous just-fucked glow radiating off her skin. She looked absorbed by what she was doing, attentive and fully alive. He remembered how she had been so present with him and he wanted her again, right then and there.
But he had to calm himself. They no longer had the whole garden to themselves.
Chris and Jamie came out, carrying mugs of coffee and a basket of toast with jam. He felt a flash of possessiveness rise in him as Lukas ambled out after them. The one unattached guy at the hostel who wasn’t taking off that morning had better not get any ideas about talking to the woman sitting by herself.
Thankfully Lukas made a beeline over to Chris. But before the rest of the group could move to join Julia or invite her to a larger table, Blake strode over to the empty seat across from her. She was turning the page and reaching for the mug of coffee when she caught sight of him coming her way. She looked startled, then quickly smothered her surprise with an unreadable face he already felt like he knew. She’d said she didn’t regret what they’d done together, but did she still feel that way in the morning?
Then she smiled and he had a sudden panic that sticking around to see her again had been a mistake. He should have cut loose while he could. She’d been holding back in the cab, but now she might think there were feelings involved or expect something from him today. He couldn’t stand the thought of dealing with her disappointment.
But instead he saw her eyes flick over from him to the pool. He couldn’t help it—he was looking that way, too. When he looked at her again, she blushed a bright crimson that made him recall the feel of her lips upon his. She cast her eyes down in a gesture reminiscent of her stance by the front desk when he’d first caught her staring, and once again her sudden nervousness awakened an appetite in him. He was afraid things were going to be awkward, but that inviting look at the pool was anything but. He had to admit it—her bashful teasing got under his skin. That mix of innocence and naughtiness made him want to find out just how far she’d go.
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” he asked with a wink, resting his hand on the back of the chair. In her eyes he could see a lightness dancing, a quick happiness that he hoped had something to do with him—before he reminded himself that it didn’t matter because after breakfast he’d be gone.
She slid a bookmark into her book and closed the cover, motioning for him to sit down. “I didn’t expect to see you this morning,” she said as he took a seat.
There she was—blunt and practical even with that coy, teasing look in her eye. Blake tried to shrug like it was nothing. “Can’t start the day on an empty stomach.”
She flashed him a lopsided grin but was kind enough not to call him out for not catching his early bus. “Have you eaten?”
“Not yet.”
“Care to join me?”
“Sure,” he said, like it wasn’t obvious that was exactly what he wanted. Like she was the one doing him a favor by letting him say hello the next morning, and not the other way around.
Her dark hair was striking against her skin. The dress had thin straps over her shoulders that brought him back to the pool and the string of her bikini—and what he knew was hidden underneath. It took everything in him to sit there with his hands to himself when he wanted nothing more than to graze his lips across her bare shoulders and whisper her name in her ear.
He ordered scrambled eggs, toast, and fresh pineapple juice, plus more coffee for both of them. When André left to put in the order, Blake leaned in close.
“Still no regrets?” he asked, keeping his voice low so no one could hear and glancing over at the pool so she’d know he was still thinking about their night, too.
The heat in her face mirrored his own. “It would be hard to regret a night like that.”
“That’s just what I was thinking.”
André came over with a fresh pot of coffee and the juice. Blake leaned back again, casually. As though they hadn’t spent half the night fucking mere steps from where everyone now lounged around eating toast and gossiping. Julia suppressed a giggle as André filled their mugs, and Blake had to try to keep from laughing, too.
“I guess we should try to compose ourselves,” he teased when André left. But even when Julia tried—and failed—to stop smiling, her eyes gave everything away.
“Wouldn’t want to get in trouble with the management,” she said.
Blake threw up his hands. “Well if they’d only let us into each other’s rooms—”
“We wouldn’t have to go defiling public property,” she finished his thought.
“So really, it’s everyone else’
s fault.”
“Then I’ll be sure to thank them all personally.” Julia raised an eyebrow at him as she ate a spoonful of granola.
“Don’t get too close,” Blake said. “I’m not willing to share.”
“Oh, so it’s like that now?”
“Maybe,” Blake squirmed, not wanting to be called out as the jealous one when he’d started off so clear on where things stood.
“I see how it is,” Julia said, but her eyes were light, and he knew she was joking.
“Why on earth don’t you have any juice this morning?” Blake asked suddenly, changing the subject before he had to dig himself out of that hole.
Julia made a face. “I’m not really a juice person. Just coffee, black.”
“Trust me, you’ve got to try this.” He passed the tall glass of pineapple juice across the table.
“Really, no thanks.”
“This is not your mom’s Tropicana. One sip, you’ll be in heaven.”
“I think I’ve already been there,” she smirked, but she reached for the glass. Her eyes widened as the liquid passed up the straw and hit her tongue.
“See?” Blake said, satisfied that he’d been right.
“That. Is. Amazing,” she said as she passed the glass back.
“Would I steer you wrong?”
She shook her head.
“Here, we can share.” He set the glass in the middle of the table. “I credit myself with exposing you to yet another fabulous aspect of this country.”
“What, amazing fruit and Australian men?”
He held up a finger in warning. “Man. Just one.” The thought of her going to bed with anyone else while she was in Brazil sent a stabbing pain through his guts. He didn’t know anything about her life in Chicago, but he knew that he wanted to be the best thing she remembered from her trip.
She laughed and reached for another sip. “Okay, amazing fruit and an amazing man. Better?”
“Yeah, as long as we’re talking about me.”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll have to wait until the week’s up and I see what the competition is like.”
He grabbed her wrist as she put the glass down, then softly traced the pad of his thumb along the tender skin of her forearm. “No competition,” he whispered.
“Trust me.” She shifted forward. “I don’t beg like that for just anyone.”
When André arrived with Blake’s breakfast, their arms were locked together over the table. They pulled back suddenly, Julia obviously flushed to have been caught touching, Blake equally surprised to find himself acting so intimately so fast.
To scale it back, he asked what she’d been reading as he added salt and pepper to his eggs.
“That?” She looked toward the paperback she’d set on the ground. “Oh, it’s nothing. About curriculum development and a new program for teaching algebra.”
“A little light beach reading?” He thought of himself as a voracious reader, but taking a break from writing had also turned into a break from books, movies, television…a break from pretty much all of his life. Except maybe for women and sunshine. Those he seemed to have in more doses than he ever could have imagined.
“It’s nice to have some time to read. Normally I’m so busy I only get to a few pages each night before I fall asleep.”
“Yeah, I can see why that would conk you out.”
“It’s an interesting book!” She put her hand on the cover protectively.
“I’m not saying it isn’t.”
“Tell me about you. What do you do?” she suddenly asked.
Shit. That question. See? he told himself. This is why you should have gotten up and left this morning like you planned. No more contact, no more questions.
No more seeing Julia brush the hair out of her eyes as she crossed and uncrossed her legs under the table. No sharing drinks with her, transfixed by her lips on the straw, imagining he could taste her through the sweetness of the juice. No opportunity to picture her lying in bed at home with a book in her lap and then turning out the light…
He shook the image from his mind. Falling asleep together, waking up together—those were things he didn’t do. Not since Kelley, and never again. At least not for a damn long time.
“A little of this, a little of that.” He grinned absently.
Julia crossed her arms. “That’s no answer.”
“I’m in television.”
“Acting? Production?” she prodded.
“I’m a writer,” he said reluctantly, hoping that would be an end to the questions.
But of course it wasn’t.
“Anything I would know?” she asked.
“Not unless you’re up on your Australian networks.”
“Unfortunately I’m a little behind.”
He shook his head. Not unfortunately—it was good for him that she had no idea. “I work on a show. Nothing major.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You get this funny frown when you’re lying.”
Blake roared with laughter, so loud he could see Chris and Jamie turn and look at him, no doubt wondering what was going on since—as far as they knew—he and Julia had gone their separate ways last night without speaking. “I’m not lying!” he protested.
“See? Frowning. Lying again.”
He composed his face, trying to force his mouth into a smile. “Totally. Not. Lying.”
“Lying like when you said you were taking the bus this morning,” she teased. “So from your non-answer, should I assume that you’re ridiculously famous, or that you work on something so embarrassing you’d die if I knew?”
Blake shook his head, his mind racing to come up with an answer. She was sharp and witty, and he couldn’t keep up. Suddenly her eyes widened.
“Shit, that’s why—” She realized they were being loud enough to draw the attention of the other tables and dropped her voice to a whisper, leaning forward over their half-eaten plates. “That’s why you were so amazing last night.”
“Because I’m a writer?” Blake was glad to be called amazing, but he wasn’t sure where she was going with this.
“You’re in porn.”
Blake nearly choked on his eggs.
“C’mon it’s okay, you can admit it. We hardly know each other. I promise not to give you a hard time.”
“I’m not—” he took a long sip of juice to clear his windpipe. “In porn.” He swallowed and tried again. “I’m not in porn.”
Julia raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Hot Australian TV ‘writer,’” she put the word in air quotes, “is total dynamite and won’t tell me what he writes?”
Did she just call him hot and dynamite? Blake couldn’t keep from grinning.
“As much as I would love for you to go around thinking I’m some stud writer, I actually write and produce a historical drama series called The Everlastings. You can, I don’t know, Google it or whatever. Except don’t,” he added quickly. “It’s kind of boring.”
“There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“Why do you believe me now?”
“No frowns, no lies.” She sat back in her chair with a smug little smile.
“On the other hand, maybe I should be a porn writer,” he mused, leaning in close.
“Why’s that?”
“Just think of the material I could test out on you.”
There, he had it again. That blush. He grinned, satisfied. He was back in charge, even if he knew he wouldn’t hold onto the reins for long—at least not while he stuck around to see what she’d surprise him with next.
He didn’t have to wait long.
“So, Blake, are you coming?” Chris strode over to their table, fanning herself with a wide-brimmed sun hat. “Catching the first bus out—isn’t that what you said?”
“I slept in—no real plans, you know how it is.” Blake mentally begged her to keep his cover, but Chris had a big mouth and no reason to protect him.
“You, with no plans? You’re the most scheduled Aussie I’ve ever
met!” She turned toward Julia. “I mean, have you ever seen anyone like him? He’s got all the timetables and the map planned out like if he quits moving for a single day the world will stop turning or something.”
Julia laughed uncomfortably. “Um, I didn’t know,” she said, and Blake felt a funny pang at realizing how much more Chris knew about him, even though he and Julia had shared something so intimate. He willed Chris to put the pieces together. And then go away.
“Having a good time so far?” Chris asked, still fanning herself, and Blake realized from her smirk that she’d definitely heard Julia sneak out last night.
“It’s been nice,” Julia said slowly. Blake tried not to snort into his pineapple juice. “Nice” was putting it mildly.
“Well, if you’re sticking around, a bunch of us are heading over to the Argentine side of the falls. Blake’s already been, but they’re beautiful, and we thought if we got a car together it’d be plenty cheap and easier than figuring out the bus.”
“That’d be great,” Julia said, not even looking at Blake to see what his plans were. He had no idea what to think. Did she want him to be on his way?
“You’re invited, too, Blake,” Chris said. “But I figured you wouldn’t be coming?”
Blake shrugged slowly, trying to appear casual without answering the implied question she was asking. “Well, I don’t really—”
“Yeah, I thought you had plans.” Blake looked up to meet Julia’s eyes and saw that she was laughing, teasing him now that he was irrefutably caught changing his schedule to spend time with her. It wasn’t the laugh of someone looking to be rid of him, though.
He threw up his palms. “What can I say? I’m on vacation. Plans change.” Chris tousled his hair like he was her little brother—despite the fact that he was twice her size—and went to collect everyone who’d be going with them. He and Julia quickly finished their breakfast together, trying to stop looking at each other the whole time. It was hard to get ready to go when they kept grinning like that.
“Last night,” he whispered in her ear before she could slide into her room to pick up her things for the day trip.
“Yes?” Julia asked, spinning around at his sudden touch. He’d been trying to be good at breakfast—just friend stuff, no touching, even if the flirting drove him mad—but he couldn’t help brushing the small of her back with his palm. The dress was cut low and then tied at the top, exposing all that skin.
How to Fall Page 6
