Page 13 of Booked for Summer

He slammed his eyes shut and heaved out a breath. This evening wasn’t going anywhere near how he’d imagined it when he’d invited her onto the boat. He’d thought they’d have a bit of a laugh, something he’d almost forgotten he was capable of. And yeah, okay, he’d hoped to make out with her, tempt her into sex.

Aware he’d not replied, he rolled over onto his side to face her. She looked fucking perfect, lying on his boat, beguiling blue eyes, blonde hair draped across the pad of his sundeck, her dress moulded against her curves.

Maybe he could put up with answering a few more questions if it meant he kept her here a little longer.

ChapterSix

Jade stared back at Liam, wondering what he was thinking. He’d hoped for sex, that much was obvious, yet here he was, talking about stars and now, clearly with great reluctance, his childhood. She’d withdraw her question, but he fascinated her. She wanted to peel back that defensive layer, get to know as much as she could about him. ‘You don’t have to tell me.’

‘I’m aware.’

His guard was up, but she’d never been one to give up easily. ‘I did admit that I’m jealous of my sister, though, which has to be way more embarrassing than anything you have to say, so you kind of owe me.’

He gave a shake of his head, but his mouth, the one it was impossible not to keep staring at, not to imagine pressing sensuous kisses down her body… twitched with amusement. ‘Ten-year-old me wished he didn’t have to go to boarding school.’

Warmth spread through her at his tacit agreement to continue a conversation he clearly would rather not be having. ‘I hated school, too, but at least I could get away from it at the end of the day. What about twelve-year-old you?’

He hesitated, and she could imagine him carefully selecting his words to reveal as little of himself as possible. Unlike her explosion of the first words that came into her head. ‘Twelve-year-old me wanted to fit in with his classmates. Be part of the gang.’ He exhaled sharply. ‘I don’t know what I’m doing, telling you all this. I don’t talk to people.’

‘Well you seem to be managing just fine.’ Finding his hand, she wrapped her fingers around it, feeling a zing down her spine at the contact. ‘We’re strangers, remember? No judgement, no repeating anything we say tonight to anyone else. Girl Guide honour.’

He eyed her sceptically. ‘You don’t look like you were in the Guides.’

She smirked. ‘I was, for a few weeks. Until I was kicked out for spending too much time with the Scouts. And before you ask, it was because they did cooler stuff. So anyway, what did fourteen-year-old Liam wish for?’

He inhaled, letting the air out in a long, slow breath. ‘To buy his grandma a house.’

And this was why she’d wanted to keep talking. To find these precious nuggets of information that set him apart from any other man she’d met. ‘Are you sure you’re not just saying that to get one over on me?’

‘You want me to phone her and prove it?’

She sat up, swivelling to look at him, and felt something shift in her chest. Guarded, cool at times, but when he allowed her a peep beneath that aloof mask he wore? ‘Did anyone ever tell you, you’re dead sweet?’ Laughter peeled out of her at his expression. ‘I figured that wasn’t what you were aiming for.’

His jaw tightened. ‘Fourteen-year-old me also wished for power. And revenge. Neither of which are sweet.’ He stared directly at her, eyes a flinty grey. ‘I still do.’

And there was the hint of ruthlessness that made him so compelling. ‘Maybe sweet is the wrong word, but I think behind the brooding front you put up, there’s a warm human trying to get out. And I’m not just saying that because you wanted to buy your grandma a house. I gave you plenty of chances to make me feel stupid tonight, but you didn’t.’

‘We all spill drinks from time to time.’

‘What about mistaking a luxury yacht for a resort transfer?’

‘Some might say that was cunning.’

She eyed him curiously. ‘I bet you get women trying to pick you up all the time. Which I wasn’t trying to do, by the way.’

‘I know.’

She gave him a playful smile. ‘At least not then.’

His long, powerful body stilled. ‘And now?’

Her pulse jumped, a sharp thrill arrowing through her at the deep gravel to his voice. ‘I’m crazy attracted to you, that much should be obvious, but I’ve only just got here and I don’t want to make a mistake. Not when I’m jet-lagged and sloshing with cocktails.’ She gave him a wry grin. ‘Inside and out.’

He nodded, but his eyes didn’t leave hers. ‘What about if we kissed again? Would that be a mistake?’

A shiver skated down her spine. ‘No. Definitely not.’

His hand reached to clasp her face and her belly did a long swoop as she stared into eyes that had darkened with desire. Then his mouth descended on hers and she couldn’t hold in her moan of pleasure. This time he was less gentle, giving her a taste of his hunger, his need. On a groan his tongue pushed past her lips and plunged inside her, licking, tasting, firing heat through her blood. The weight of him pressed her onto the sunpad, his hands sliding from her face, down her arms, then across to her chest.

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