by Sarah Morgan
The breeze was a balmy caress on her skin, the sun a benediction. In the distance the lush mountains—active volcanoes, Luke had told her—were dark, verdant humps against a hazy sky. Aurelie leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.
When had she last felt this relaxed, this happy?
It was too long ago to remember. Smiling, she let her thoughts drift as the sunlight washed over her.
‘We’re here.’
She opened her eyes and saw that Luke had pulled into a rectangle of gravel and dirt that was, apparently, a car park. Their Jeep was the only car.
She rubbed her eyes. ‘I must have dozed.’
‘Just a little.’ There was something intimate about the way he said it, and Aurelie imagined him watching her sleep. Had she rested her head on his shoulder? Had she drooled? More blushing.
‘So where is here exactly?’
‘Well, nowhere, really.’ Luke slid out of the Jeep and reached for their basket. ‘But we can follow a path through the jungle to the Tuwasan Falls. It’s about a mile.’
‘A mile in the jungle?’ She glanced down at her leather sandals dubiously. ‘You should have told me we were enacting Survivor.’
He made a face. ‘Sorry. But it’s mostly wooden walkways, so I think you’ll be okay.’
‘If you say so.’
She followed him away from the car park and onto exactly what he’d said—a wooden walkway on stilts over the dense jungle floor. Within just a few metres of going down the walkway she felt the air close around her, hot, humid and dense. Birds chirped and cicadas chirrupped—at least she thought they were cicadas—and she could feel the jungle like a living, breathing entity all around her. A bright green lizard scampered across the walkway, and in the distance some animal—Aurelie had no idea what—gave a lonely, mournful cry.
‘Wow.’ She stopped, her hands resting on the cane railings, her heart thumping. ‘This is...intense.’
Luke glanced back at her. ‘You okay?’
‘Yes, I guess I just thought, you know, first date, maybe a movie?’
He smiled wryly. ‘I know you think I’m boring, but Jeez. A movie? I think I can do better than that.’
‘I don’t think you’re boring.’
‘You think I’m the human equivalent of vanilla ice cream.’
She gazed at him, the railings slick under her palms. Her heart was still thumping. ‘I do,’ she admitted quietly, and it felt like the most honest thing she’d ever said. ‘Completely trustworthy.’
Luke’s eyes darkened and the moment spun out between them, a thread of silence that bound them together, and tighter still. ‘Don’t speak too soon,’ he finally said, and turned away from her to walk further down the path.
‘You mean you’re not?’
‘I mean you don’t trust me yet, and why should you? It’s something I have to earn.’
Despite the damp heat all around them her mouth felt dry. She swallowed. ‘And you want to earn it?’
He glanced back at her, and his eyes were darker than ever. ‘Yes.’
Her mind spun with this revelation. She wanted to tell him that he’d already earned it, that she trusted him now, but somehow the words wouldn’t come.
They didn’t talk for a little while after that, because the wooden walkway became decidedly rickety, and then it stopped altogether at the bank of a rushing stream.
Aurelie raised her eyebrows. ‘What now, Tarzan?’
‘We cross it.’
‘Did I mention my leather sandals?’
‘You might have.’
‘And?’
‘I didn’t think you were the type to care about shoes.’
She wasn’t. ‘No, but I’m the type to care about getting my big toe eaten by a giant barracuda.’
He laughed then, a great big rumbling laugh that had a silly grin spreading wide across her face. She liked the sound of his laughter. ‘I don’t think there are any giant barracudas.’
‘No?’
‘Only medium-sized ones.’
She pursed her lips, hands firmly planted on her hips. ‘Is that your sense of humour appearing on this rare occasion?’
‘Oops, it darted away again.’ He stepped onto a flattish rock in the stream, the water flowing all around him, and stretched out his hand. ‘Come here.’
Cautiously she reached out and put her hand in his. His clasp was dry, warm and firm, and with his other hand on her arm he helped her onto the rock. Their hips bumped. Heat flared.
‘This is cosy,’ she murmured and he gave a tiny smile.
‘That’s the idea. Next rock.’
He stepped backwards onto another rock, sure and agile, and Aurelie followed him. She could hear the water rushing past them, felt the warm spray of it against her ankles. In the middle of the stream she looked down and saw a bright blue fish darting very near her toes. She slipped and Luke slid an arm around her waist, balanced her. Easily.
‘The secret is not to look down.’
‘Now you tell me.’
Another rock, and then another, and then they were on the other side. Luke smiled at her rather smugly, and Aurelie shook her head.
‘This is all a big lesson, isn’t it? How to Trust 101.’
‘Is it working?’
‘A little,’ she admitted. ‘What if I’d fallen?’
‘But you didn’t.’
‘But what if I had? What if you’d slipped?’
‘Me? Slip?’ He shook his head, then gazed at her, his head tilted to one side. ‘Do you think it would have ruined everything?’
Her lips curved. She liked being with this man. ‘Not everything. But after the lanzone...’
‘It was delicious.’
‘The second one.’
‘Exactly.’
He hadn’t let go of her hand, and now he led her alongside the stream, the ground soft and loamy beneath them. Aurelie found she quite liked the feel of his fingers threaded through hers. They walked along the bank, winding their way up through the dense foliage, until Luke stopped suddenly.
‘Close your eyes.’
More trust. ‘Okay.’ She closed her eyes and felt Luke tug on her hand. She took a step. Another.
‘Open them,’ he said softly, and she did. And gasped in wonder.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘WOW.’
‘Definitely worth it, huh?’
She turned from the stunning view of the falls to Luke’s rather smug smile. ‘I wouldn’t say definitely. I think my sandals are ruined.’
‘Leather dries.’
‘It is amazing,’ she admitted and his smile widened. Not so smug, she decided. More like...satisfied. Happy.
‘Let’s find a place for a picnic.’ He tugged on her hand again and they picked their way along the rocks until they found a large flat one, warm from the sun and perfect for a picnic.
Aurelie stretched out on top of it as Luke unpacked their lunch, her gaze on the waterfall once more. It truly was a spectacular sight, a crystalline fountain flowing from the fern-covered rocks, falling in a sparkling stream to a tranquil pool fifty feet or more below.
She turned to watch Luke peel a lanzone with a knife. He glanced up, smiling, a decidedly wicked glint in his eyes. ‘Care to try another?’
‘I don’t know if I dare.’
‘This one’s sweet, I promise.’ And with that wicked glint still in his eyes he fed her a chunk of the sweet, moist fruit, his fingers brushing her lips as she ate it. The barest touch of his fingers against her mouth sent little pulses of awareness firing through her, flaring deep down. Desire. It seemed amazing that she could feel it. Want it—and him. She’d never wanted anyone before, not like that. Not since Pete.
‘Ta
sty,’ she managed, and swiped at the droplets of juice on her lips. Her heart rate was skittering all over the place, and all from that simple touch and the feelings and thoughts it had triggered, a maelstrom swirling through her.
‘You know,’ she said as Luke arranged the rest of their picnic items onto two paper plates, ‘I don’t really know anything about you.’
‘What do you want to know?’
‘Something. Anything. Where did you grow up?’
‘New York City and Long Island.’
‘The Hamptons?’ He nodded, and she hugged her knees to her chest. ‘I guess you grew up pretty privileged, huh? Bryant Enterprises and all that?’ She didn’t know much about the Bryant family, but she knew they were rich. Featured in the society pages rather than the trashy tabloids like her. ‘And you have a brother, you mentioned?’
‘Two.’
‘Are you close?’
‘No.’ Luke spoke mildly enough, but Aurelie sensed a dark current of emotion swirling underneath the words, a tension and repressiveness. She was getting to know this man, and now she wanted to understand him.
‘Why aren’t you?’
He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. ‘The short answer? Because Aaron’s an ass and Chase checked out a long time ago.’
‘Those are rather nice alliterations, but what does that really mean?’
Luke sighed and sat back, his arms braced on the rock behind him. ‘It means my older brother, Aaron, loves to be the boss. I can’t really blame him, because my father encouraged it, told him he was going to be CEO of Bryant Enterprises when he was older, and he needed to be responsible, authoritative, et cetera. Let’s just say Aaron got the message.’
Aurelie observed the tightening of Luke’s mouth, his eyes narrowed as he gazed out at the falls, the sunlight catching the spray and causing it to glitter.
‘And Chase?’
‘Chase is my younger brother. He was always a rebel, got in trouble loads of times, expelled from boarding school, the whole bit. My father disinherited him when he was in college.’
‘Ouch.’
‘I don’t know if Chase even cared. He made his own fortune as an architect and he hardly ever gets in touch.’
Aurelie hugged her knees. ‘That’s sad.’
‘Is it?’ He glanced at her, eyebrows raised. ‘Maybe he’s better off. When I do see him, he always seems happy. Joking around.’
‘Maybe that’s his schtick.’
‘Maybe.’
‘And what about you?’ Aurelie asked quietly, because that was what she really wanted to know. ‘Where did you fit into that picture?’ Luke hesitated, and she knew she was getting closer to understanding. ‘Or didn’t you?’
‘I suppose I was the classic middle child.’
‘Which is?’
‘Caught between two larger personalities. As we got older we all drifted apart and that seemed easier.’
‘It doesn’t sound like a very comfortable place.’
‘No, I don’t suppose it was.’ Luke turned to her with a faint smile, although Aurelie could still sense that dark emotion swirling underneath. ‘I don’t miss my childhood, at any rate. I was shy, awkward, and I even had a stammer.’ He spoke lightly, but it didn’t matter. Aurelie knew it hurt. ‘My father didn’t have much time for me, to tell you the truth.’ He glanced away. ‘He didn’t have time for me at all.’
‘Sounds a bit like my childhood,’ Aurelie answered quietly.
Luke turned back to her, his gaze sharp now, eyes narrowed in concern. ‘Oh? How so?’
She swallowed past the ache that had started in her throat, an ache of sympathy and remembrance. She’d never told anyone about her childhood. In the world of celebrity, it held a touch too much pathos to be interesting. ‘Well, my mother didn’t have much time for me. And my father wasn’t in the picture.’
‘Who raised you?’ That thoughtful crease appeared between his brows. ‘Your grandmother?’
‘I wish. I only stayed a summer with her, when I was eleven, but it was the happiest time of my life.’
‘Then where did you grow up?’
‘Nowhere. Everywhere. My mom never stayed in the same place for more than a few months, sometimes a few weeks. She’d get a job in a local diner or something, enrol me in school and find a deadbeat boyfriend. When he started stealing her money or knocking her around, she’d move on, dragging me with her.’
‘That’s terrible,’ Luke said quietly, and Aurelie shrugged.
‘I got over it.’
‘Julia Schmidt,’ he said after a moment. ‘Your mother. You bought the house from her, didn’t you?’
She nodded. ‘When my grandmother died she left it to my mom. I was only seventeen, and I think she hoped it would help my mom settle down.’
‘But?’
Aurelie sighed. ‘My mom didn’t want to settle down. So I bought the house from her for far more than it was worth. I was famous by then, so I had the money.’
‘And you finally had a home.’
She blinked hard, amazed at how quickly and easily he understood her. How in this moment it felt good and right and safe, rather than scary.
‘It must have been a huge loss when your grandmother died,’ he said after a moment, and she nodded.
‘I still miss her.’
‘And your mother?’
A shrug. ‘Around. Who knows? She used to appear every so often asking for money, but now that I’m not in the spotlight any more—at least not for any good reason—she’s disappeared.’ She sighed and stretched out her legs. ‘She’ll surface one day, I’m sure.’
‘So you really are alone.’
So alone. Although she didn’t feel alone right now. She wanted to tell him that, confess just a little of the happiness in her heart that he’d helped to create, but fear held her back. Rejection was still a distinct and awful possibility. There was still so much Luke didn’t know.
‘What about your parents? Are they around?’
He shook his head. ‘Both dead.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Aurelie gazed at him, saw how he’d carefully schooled his features into a completely neutral mask. ‘How did they die?’
‘My father of a heart attack when I’d just finished college.’ A pause, a telling hesitation. ‘My mother developed breast cancer when I was thirteen.’
‘I’m sorry. That’s terrible.’
He jerked his head in a semblance of a nod, his face still so very neutral. He was holding something back, Aurelie suspected, some pain that he didn’t want to share with her. She decided not to press.
‘So you’re alone too,’ she said quietly and after a taut moment of silence Luke reached for her hand.
‘Not right now,’ he said, and as Aurelie’s heart turned right over he tugged her to her feet. ‘Let’s swim.’
‘Swim?’ Aurelie eyed the deep, tranquil pool below the falls with a dubious wariness. ‘What about the giant barracudas?’
‘You mean the medium-sized ones? They’re friendly.’
‘I didn’t bring a swimsuit.’
‘I’m sure we can improvise.’ She hesitated and Luke added quietly, ‘Unless you don’t want to.’
Was this another trust exercise? she wondered. She was so used to men seeing her as an object. A trophy. She’d encouraged it, after all. And yet she knew Luke was different, knew he saw her differently.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Let’s do it.’
Luke led her down a narrow path to the pool. Aurelie tilted her head up to watch the waterfall cascade down the rock, churning foam that emptied into a surprisingly placid pool.
‘Good thing you’re not shy any more,’ she said as Luke tugged his shirt over his head. Then her mouth dried, for the sight of his bare chest was glorious enough to s
tart her heart thumping. His shoulders were broad, his chest powerful and browned and perfectly taut. Washboard abs, trim hips. She was gaping like a fool, and realised it when Luke gave her a knowing grin and dropped his shorts.
He wore boxers, and Aurelie could not draw her gaze away from his powerful thighs. As for what was hidden beneath the boxers...
‘Look at me like that much longer and I’m going to embarrass myself,’ Luke said, a thread of humour in his voice although she caught the ragged note of desire too. And it thrilled her.
She wasn’t sure how it could feel so different from before, when she’d wielded his desire for her like a weapon. Now it felt like a joy. She glanced up and smiled right into his eyes.
‘I don’t think that would necessarily be a bad thing.’
He nodded towards her pale pink sundress. ‘Your turn.’
He’d already seen her naked. He’d seen her in her skimpy Aurelie underwear several times. Yet this felt different too, more honest, more bare. She slid the straps from her shoulders and shrugged out of the dress.
‘Sorry. I’m wearing boring underwear.’ Just a plain cotton bra and boy shorts. Really, incredibly modest. Yet she felt nearly naked, and her body responded to Luke’s heated gaze, an answering heat flaring within her, stirring up all sorts of wants. As well as just a tiny little needle of fear. No, not fear, but uncertainty. Memory.
Luke smiled and turned towards the pool. ‘Last one in,’ he called, and dived neatly into the water below. Aurelie watched him surface, sluicing the water from his face, clearly enjoying himself. He glanced up at her. ‘Is a rotten egg,’ he finished solemnly and she laughed. Still didn’t move.
‘Are you chicken?’
‘I prefer the word cautious.’ She hadn’t swum in anything but a lap pool in years.
‘Didn’t you swim in a lake or watering hole that summer you spent in Vermont?’ Luke called up to her. ‘This is no different. In fact, it’s nicer because the bottom is sand and rock rather than squishy mud.’