They left the bar when shutters rattled.
“Guess we should try to get some sleep,” he said as they moved into the concourse, though sleep was the last thing on his racing mind. “Welcome to the latest in innovative hotels. We have a wide selection of extremely spacious open-plan accommodations available tonight. Bedrooms with and without views. I’m afraid the beds are a little firm and only a few have en suite facilities. On the plus side, they’re economical.”
Summer shivered. “Think there’s anywhere warm?”
He looked at her long, tanned bare legs, her skimpy dress, the metal at her nipples, then at the snow plastering itself against the windows.
“I know,” she said. “I’m not dressed for winter, but I left eighty-degree heat and assumed I’d get straight off one plane and onto another. I intended to change into my jeans when I arrived in London. I’ve a coat in my…suitcase, which is probably languishing under three feet of snow because the guys who are supposed to unload went home while they still could.”
“Want a sweater?” He took one from his carry-on and handed it to her.
“Thank you so much.” She pulled it on.
The dark-blue sweater swamped her but she looked so cute, his cock flickered back to life. Give it up. There’s no point. She shouldn’t have looked sexy in a guy’s sweater, though he’d prefer her in nothing but those piercings. He wanted to suck them, rub the head of his dick over them. Blood flowed south. Damn it. Stop thinking.
They wandered through the airport, looking for somewhere to settle. All the more comfortable-looking spots were already taken.
“Nowhere is warmer than anywhere else,” Summer said. “Here will be fine.”
She dropped onto the floor next to the wall and lay on her back with her head resting on her bag. Oh god, her legs go on forever.
“You are approaching the end of the walkway,” intoned a voice.
Summer sat up and groaned. “Not here. That’ll go on all night.”
They headed away into the gate area.
“I’ll just use the restroom,” she said.
“Good idea. I’ll join you. Well, not join you.” Though the idea appealed.
He took out his last two temazepam and then stuffed them back in the bag. Maybe he didn’t need them. After he’d splashed water into his mouth and on his face, he accidentally looked up into the mirror. He hated what he saw—dark shadows under his eyes, a wary look on his face, a tense jaw, yet under all that, a guy women seemed to find irresistible. All those years he’d thought he was something special and now he longed to be nothing special at all.
When he emerged, Summer was already lying on the floor with her head on her backpack. He unzipped his carry-on to take out a pair of chinos and folded them to put under his head. His stomach fluttered as he settled next to her, his face inches from hers.
“Are you sleeping on the side of the bed you prefer?” he asked. Does anyone usually share your bed? Are you married, engaged, have a boyfriend?
“I’m fine unless your side of the bed is more comfortable, in which case I hope you’d be a gentleman and swap.”
“Sadly not.” I’m no gentleman. You could lay on me except we’d get arrested.
She was so close he could almost count her eyelashes. Her eyes were the strong blue of the sky on a cold winter’s day, the irises ringed with a darker hue. She had a couple of freckles on her tanned cheeks and he wanted to kiss them, kiss her lips, kiss her cute nose, kiss her nipples, kiss her all over. His cock twitched.
“Are you going to close your eyes?” he asked.
“Eventually. Are you?”
“Eventually. I like the view too much at the moment.”
“Very smooth, Mr. Winter.”
“Thank you, Miss Summer. Are your nipples pierced?” The question slipped out before he could stop it.
“Yes.”
No, you can’t come out and take a look, he yelled at his cock. There’s nothing to see at the moment. The stupid thing still tried, pressing against his zipper.
“Why did you have it done?”
“Why do you think I had it done?”
Oh Christ, don’t splutter, don’t tell her what you think, what nearly every guy would think. “Somewhere to hang your car keys?”
She grinned. “Damn, I never thought you’d get that.”
“Anything else pierced?” Cut out my tongue now.
“Maybe.”
Ask her what, said his cock.
“Tattoos?” he choked out.
“Maybe.”
A low growl burst from his lips and she giggled.
“What an interesting young lady you are.”
He moved a fraction closer and could feel her breath hitting his face.
Do it, do it, do it, yelled his cock.
Do what? he yelled back. If I kiss her, where’s it going to go? We’re lying in a public place and you know what you’re like. This won’t stop at kissing. You’ll embarrass me.
Had she moved closer? Yes. Oh god.
“Hi there, folks.”
The voice jolted them both and they clashed heads as they jerked upright.
“Ouch,” Summer yelped and rubbed her forehead.
“Sorry,” he blurted.
“No, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
He rubbed his head. “Yep.”
He’d hoped their first touch would be less painful.
Two female airport employees stood in front of them.
The thought police? He hadn’t done anything—yet.
“Sorry to disturb you,” one of the women said. “We’re giving out blankets, pillows and a few essentials to help you spend an easier night.”
They were each handed a bag.
“Thank you,” Summer said. “That’s brilliant. Is there an inflatable bed in here?”
“Sadly not. You two have a good night.” The women wandered off again.
Define “good”.
Apart from pillows and emergency blankets, the bags also contained bottles of water and snacks.
“No condoms either,” Summer said and clapped a hand to her mouth. “Shit.”
He laughed. Don’t worry. I’ve plenty.
Thank god I didn’t say that.
Chapter Four
Summer kicked off her shoes where she sat and unfolded the emergency blanket. The tiny rectangular package opened up into a large, shiny silver sheet and she pulled it over her head. I want to die.
“Pretending to be a Hershey’s Kiss?” he asked.
“Oh damn. Can you see me?” She emerged and dropped back to rest her head on the pillow. “Can you pretend I didn’t say that?”
“Say what? Shit?”
She glared as he toed off his deck shoes. “No, the other bit.”
His feet were bare like hers. Damn, even his feet are gorgeous. Perfect nails. Long, beautiful toes.
“What other bit?”
He slid his belt out of the loops of his pants and dropped it onto his shoes.
“Going to take your belt off?” he asked. “We better keep them apart this time. Don’t want any shenanigans.”
“You’re no fun.”
He turned his dark gaze on her. “Oh I can be.”
A strangled gurgle of suppressed lust slithered out of her mouth before she could rein it in.
“What the hell was that?” He gaped at her.
“Wind.” Arrghh. “No, not really. Just a couple of organs that fancied some fun.” Oh god, did I actually say that? Shoot me now.
“Which ones?”
“My little toe and my kneecap.”
“They’re not organs.”
“I’m an expert on the weather, not body parts.”
He laughed as he unwrapped his blanket then settled down facing her.
“I hope no one thinks we’re oven-ready turkeys and whips us off to be roasted while we’re asleep,” Summer said.
“You don’t look anything like a turkey. More like a little chicken. Are you a little chi
cken?” His voice had dropped for that last question.
Under the cover of her blanket, he touched one of her fingers with his. The breath caught in her throat and she made that damn noise again, but didn’t move her hand.
“Add middle finger to the list with little toe and kneecap,” she whispered and then thought, Shit, maybe he hadn’t meant to touch me.
But the comment about being chicken… Wasn’t that—
He stroked over her knuckles, and her mind turned to mush.
“Oh god, add knuckles too,” she whispered.
And was rewarded with a smile.
That curve of his lips caused fires to burst into life in all her erogenous zones, but inexplicably, she wanted to cry. Well, it wasn’t inexplicable. She’d not been this close to wanting sex with a guy for nearly two years. Her love life had been as arid as the Atacama Desert, though that had been her choice and this wasn’t even close to sex, but she suspected one more touch from him and she’d unravel.
Anyway, nothing was going to happen because they lay under bright light on an airport floor, but beneath the cover of the blanket, she couldn’t help sliding her hand over his until their fingers were entwined. He raked his thumb across her palm, and the muscles of her sex went into spasm. She snapped her eyes shut, biting her lip as a mini orgasm bulldozed over her.
How the hell did that happen? Abstinence makes the orgasm stronger? At least he doesn’t know.
She opened her eyes to find him staring at her.
“You’re one of those demons, aren’t you?” she whispered. “It’s not a screenplay at all. It’s true. You could have bloody warned me.”
“And you must be an angel, tempting me like that. Did you just—?”
“Back twinge,” she blurted.
He kept smiling. “From where your wings were removed?”
“Very funny.”
“Can’t you let me be smug for just a couple of seconds? One touch of my fingers and only across your palm? I feel like Superman.”
“Don’t go trying to lift up any planes.”
“I’m not moving from here. You did come, didn’t you?”
“How can you possibly know?” Her cheeks were red hot, sizzling. She was probably visible from outer space.
“You’ve nearly broken my hand.”
“Oh god.” She tried to let him go but he wouldn’t let her.
“That has to be one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen,” he whispered. “You are one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m not cute. I’m five foot nine of awkward female who doesn’t think before she speaks.”
“But five-foot-nine awkward females do it for me every time.”
She groaned. “Before I fly completely out of control and throw myself at you, are you married? Engaged? In a relationship? Darn it, I don’t think I’m going to believe you if you say no. You’re too clever, funny and gorgeous not to be attached to some equally clever, funny and gorgeous female. Probably the one who’s going to be walking down the red carpet with you at the Oscars with perfect hair, perfect breasts and wearing some dress slit to her armpits.”
When she tried to pull back her hand, he held her tighter. “I’m currently attached at the hand to a clever, funny and gorgeous female. But since I know that’s not what you mean, no, I’ve never been married. Never been engaged. I’m not in a relationship except for an unfortunate one with my agent. What about you?”
“Never been married, but I’ve been engaged.” Why had she told him that? She could have lied. He wouldn’t have known. “I’m not in a relationship,” she blurted.
“Did you leave a trail of broken hearts all over South America?”
“Only the hearts of a couple of llamas. Paco and Pico really loved me. Probably because of the slices of apple I used to slip them. I expect they’ve already transferred their affections now I’ve gone. Fickle beasts.” Are you a fickle beast?
“There was an apple in that bag they gave us. I rather like apples.”
“Are we flirting?”
He laughed. “If you have to ask, I’ve lost my touch.”
Summer smiled and snagged the apple from her bag. She put it against his lips and he bit into it. Heart pounding, she brought it to her mouth and took a bite overlapping the one he’d taken. Lust tightened its hold on her body. Jai took another bite. They watched each other as they chewed and swallowed. Summer was amazed she could swallow at all.
Jai opened his mouth for another bite.
“Wow, you have a big mouth,” she said without thinking.
“And a long tongue.”
She groaned. “You want me to catch fire? You’ll go up as well. Anyway, I’m not sure about long tongues. Llamas have very short tongues but prehensile lips, which they use to pull food into their mouth. They also spit. Stop me talking now.”
“I love listening to you. Tell me something else.”
“My brother told me that if I ate an apple pip it’d grow into a tree in my stomach and that one day, it would burst up my throat and out of my mouth.” She gave him a rueful grin. “He said he’d sell the apples so I was useful for something.”
He nodded. “What a great guy, worrying about you like that. I’m always careful not to eat a pip.”
Oh damn, I could fall for you and break every bone in my body. She took another bite and chewed slowly.
“Now you’ve gone quiet, I want to know what’s going on in your head.” He took a last bite and threw the core in a bag.
“I was…just wondering how many bones it was possible to break and still live.” Mouth meet foot. Again.
He smiled. “Do you know the answer?”
“No, but Evel Knievel broke four hundred and thirty-three bones in his lifetime. I once broke my leg.” If you don’t shut up now, he’s going to run away screaming.
“If you’re into bones, I have two hundred and seven and I haven’t broken any of them.”
“There are only two hundred and six bones in the human body, oh unless you have an extra rib.”
“Nope. Not a rib.” He stared straight at her.
Her face went even hotter. No problem for her to survive another ice age. “You do know that’s not a bone.”
“But it’s like a bone. Hard and long and…”
“And good for chewing?”
He gave a loud laugh. “You’re crazy.”
Not the first to have said that. “I have a very competitive family. They like to play games and I’m not especially good at games so I remember a lot of crap to distract them while I cheat.”
“I’m not good at games either. My brothers are a lot brighter than me.”
“We have something in common.”
“We’ve a lot more than that in common.”
He sighed and even the sound of that sent her pulse racing.
“There is…something here, isn’t there?” he asked. Beneath the foil blanket, he stroked her palm with his thumb and tingles raced up her arm and down her body to meet the ones scurrying up her legs. “It’s not just my opportunist bone dictating to the rest and overwhelming my common sense. Not that I have much common sense to overwhelm. I rarely look before I leap. Though I’ve looked plenty tonight and I really like what I see.”
Oh god. “So do I.”
“You smell—”
“Of airport soap. Have you any idea how hard it is to wash anything other than your hands under those automatic taps? Feet for example? Good thing no one was in there watching me tie myself in knots.”
He laughed. “Can you?”
“Oh yeah, I’m pretty flexible. Legs behind neck, that sort of thing…which I probably shouldn’t have told you.”
His eyes darkened and he swallowed. “You smell like sunshine.”
“Oh.” She gulped. “I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
His other hand appeared at the top of the blanket and he ran his thumb along the line of her chin. Her heart thumped faster and her nipples tight
ened. She was torn between wanting him to know how much she wanted him and hoping he didn’t find out.
“I think our belts knew something we didn’t,” he whispered. “They wanted us tangled together.”
“We don’t really know one another,” she whispered back.
“Easily sorted. Favorite food?”
“Strawberry jam.”
He chuckled. “Let me guess. Eighteen months without strawberry jam?”
She nodded. “It’s become this holy grail in my head. The first thing I have to buy when I get back. Robertson’s Strawberry Jam. The strange thing is I didn’t love it before I left. It’s just that I was feeling bad one day and decided strawberry jam was the only thing that would make me feel better. An excuse to wallow in misery.”
“You’re very strange.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled. “My favorite food is beans on toast. When I’ve eaten nothing but gourmet food for days that’s what I fancy. Favorite beverage?”
“Black coffee. No, mojito. No, margarita. No, champagne. Arrgghh. Or maybe a cheeky little number with a hint of caramelized blackberries, cappuccino and sunflower seeds and no hard edges. Don’t make me choose. What about you?”
“Vodka.”
“I can’t see the point in drinking that. It doesn’t taste of anything, does it?”
“It can. Favorite activity?”
“Kite surfing.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
“Yes, I learned in Chile. Before I tried it, I’d have said reading. How sad am I? What’s yours?”
“Sleeping.”
“That’s not an activity.”
“Yeah, well it comes after my favorite activity.” He gave her a cheeky grin and Summer’s lungs locked. There was a buzzing inside her as if a bee had managed to get into her bloodstream.
“Any more brothers or sisters?” he asked.
“Two older sisters, just the one older brother.” At the thought of her family, her heart cramped as though it had been squeezed in a fist.
“Ah you’re the baby. I have one older brother and a twin. Richard and I aren’t identical, fortunately. He’s a complete dickhead and I’m only a partial dickhead.”
She smiled. “How old are you?”
Summer Girl, Winter Boy Page 5