was here seeking contact with her father, nothing more. “Elizabeth.”
His hand caught her shoulder as she was about to step onto the road. They faced each other under the bright midday sun.
“I’m sorry, okay? I saw you with that guy, the way he was looking at you, and you’d told me there was no one else, and…I don’t know. It just pissed me off.”
She stared at him. Was it her imagination, or was Nathan telling her that he’d been jealous of Martin? She wasn’t an expert on casual sex by any means, but she was pretty sure that possessiveness and jealousy were not supposed to be part of the equation. Especially with a guy like Nathan, a man who lived in a single room at the back of someone else’s property and who surfed and drank all day then hung out in bars chatting up women at night.
“I think you might be the most confusing man I’ve ever met.”
He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re no walk in the park, either, your highness.”
He leaned close and she didn’t resist as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, long and slow. He tasted of beer and salt and his skin felt very hot when she slid her arms around him. He spread his hands on her back and widened his stance and they stood there kissing like fervent teenagers, their hips and bellies and chests pressed together.
Finally he broke the kiss, sliding his hand down her arm to take her hand.
“Come shower with me,” he said.
But she dug her heels in, resisting. He raised his eyebrows and she shook her head, feeling suddenly hugely out of her depth. She’d had a grand total of two lovers in her life, including him. She wasn’t stupid, but she was very definitely inexperienced when it came to matters of sex and men and dating. She had no idea what was happening between them, what he wanted from her, what she could expect from him. Nothing? Hot sex for as long as it stayed fun? One more night? A week? A month?
“What is this?” she asked quietly. Probably that was breaking some mysterious rule of the dating world she didn’t know about, but she had to know. She needed parameters, some kind of guidance, because she sensed that it would be very easy to let herself get swept away by Nathan’s sexy body and boyish charm and incredible intensity.
“It is what it is, Lizzy. Fun in the sun, for as long as it lasts.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him about his jealousy, where that fit in to his easy-breezy view of things. But then he tugged on her hand again and she allowed him to lead her inside. She told herself it was because she was hot and a shower sounded wonderful and she wasn’t ready to give up the sex yet.
It was almost the whole truth, too.
6
T HEY WASHED EACH OTHER in the shower, then they crossed the yard to his studio and spent the afternoon naked in his bed.
Elizabeth had never felt so depraved, self-indulgent and decadent all at once. When she was with him, skin to skin, the outside world ceased to exist. There was only the suck and lick and pull of his mouth on her body, the glide of his fingers on her skin, the hard planes of his chest and back and belly, the fierce power of his thighs, the thick, satisfying length of him inside her.
After the sun had gone down they showered again. He pulled on a pair of jeans and laid a fire in the brick barbecue on the back lawn. She rummaged in the fridge and managed to cobble together a salad while he cooked steaks over the coals. They sat on a picnic blanket to eat, then stretched out in the twilight afterward, their plates pushed to one side, each of them nursing a cold bottle of beer.
They talked about books and movies and travel as the heat of the day slowly faded, and when she mentioned her teaching he peppered her with questions and seemed genuinely interested in her replies. She was surprised by how well-read he was, how well thought out his opinions were. It dawned on her that he was much more than a beautiful face and a hard
His hand caught her shoulder as she was about to step onto the road. They faced each other under the bright midday sun.
“I’m sorry, okay? I saw you with that guy, the way he was looking at you, and you’d told me there was no one else, and…I don’t know. It just pissed me off.”
She stared at him. Was it her imagination, or was Nathan telling her that he’d been jealous of Martin? She wasn’t an expert on casual sex by any means, but she was pretty sure that possessiveness and jealousy were not supposed to be part of the equation. Especially with a guy like Nathan, a man who lived in a single room at the back of someone else’s property and who surfed and drank all day then hung out in bars chatting up women at night.
“I think you might be the most confusing man I’ve ever met.”
He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re no walk in the park, either, your highness.”
He leaned close and she didn’t resist as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, long and slow. He tasted of beer and salt and his skin felt very hot when she slid her arms around him. He spread his hands on her back and widened his stance and they stood there kissing like fervent teenagers, their hips and bellies and chests pressed together.
Finally he broke the kiss, sliding his hand down her arm to take her hand.
“Come shower with me,” he said.
But she dug her heels in, resisting. He raised his eyebrows and she shook her head, feeling suddenly hugely out of her depth. She’d had a grand total of two lovers in her life, including him. She wasn’t stupid, but she was very definitely inexperienced when it came to matters of sex and men and dating. She had no idea what was happening between them, what he wanted from her, what she could expect from him. Nothing? Hot sex for as long as it stayed fun? One more night? A week? A month?
“What is this?” she asked quietly. Probably that was breaking some mysterious rule of the dating world she didn’t know about, but she had to know. She needed parameters, some kind of guidance, because she sensed that it would be very easy to let herself get swept away by Nathan’s sexy body and boyish charm and incredible intensity.
“It is what it is, Lizzy. Fun in the sun, for as long as it lasts.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him about his jealousy, where that fit in to his easy-breezy view of things. But then he tugged on her hand again and she allowed him to lead her inside. She told herself it was because she was hot and a shower sounded wonderful and she wasn’t ready to give up the sex yet.
It was almost the whole truth, too.
6
T HEY WASHED EACH OTHER in the shower, then they crossed the yard to his studio and spent the afternoon naked in his bed.
Elizabeth had never felt so depraved, self-indulgent and decadent all at once. When she was with him, skin to skin, the outside world ceased to exist. There was only the suck and lick and pull of his mouth on her body, the glide of his fingers on her skin, the hard planes of his chest and back and belly, the fierce power of his thighs, the thick, satisfying length of him inside her.
After the sun had gone down they showered again. He pulled on a pair of jeans and laid a fire in the brick barbecue on the back lawn. She rummaged in the fridge and managed to cobble together a salad while he cooked steaks over the coals. They sat on a picnic blanket to eat, then stretched out in the twilight afterward, their plates pushed to one side, each of them nursing a cold bottle of beer.
They talked about books and movies and travel as the heat of the day slowly faded, and when she mentioned her teaching he peppered her with questions and seemed genuinely interested in her replies. She was surprised by how well-read he was, how well thought out his opinions were. It dawned on her that he was much more than a beautiful face and a hard
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