Page 32 of Shame the Devil
She said, “Oh. You don’t want me—us—to come,” and was surprised at the lurch of disappointment. She felt it in herstomach.“That’s fine,” she hurried on. “It was a crazy plan, buying last-minute plane tickets for even more people. We’ve paid for another night anyway, and Dyma’s loving the skiing. I’ll probably just hang out here at the lodge, honestly. You’re right, I’m going to be too sore for anything else. I’m sure you’ll be fine, now you’ve decided to go. You’re a strong guy.”
He touched a hand gently to her mouth. “Could you just … stop a second?”
“Oh.” Her face was burning again. She needed to get out of here before she had to be embarrassed forever. She’d had a very hot bath and two Irish Coffees, and all of it had gone straight to her head.
“You’re tired,” he said. “We’ll talk in the morning. But—no. I’m glad you’re coming.” Then he took a step closer, took her gently by the shoulders, bent down, and touched his mouth to hers. The softest, briefest brush of his lips over hers, but it was like she’d been shocked. She could smell the clean, woodsy scent of him, and she could feel the size of him, too. He kissed her again, taking a little longer this time, and she felt it all the way down her body. Overwhelming. Embarrassing. That was why she stood there, rooted to the ground, even though all she wanted was to put her hands on his shoulders and hold him there so he’d kiss her some more.
He lifted his head before she got up the courage, gave her a rueful smile, and said, “Don’t worry about Dyma. Owen’s a good guy. He might kiss her, because sometimes, a woman’s just too tempting. I can’t swear it won’t happen. But nothing else will.”
14
Still Lying
Harlan lookedup at the knock on his door. “Come in,” he called.
It wasn’t going to be Jennifer. He was sure she was fast asleep. Would he like it to have been, though? You bet he would. That kiss had been something. Her mouth was just as perfect as he’d imagined, and she’d drawn in her breath when he’d done it like it felt way too good.
Or maybe not, because she hadn’t done any kissing back.
He was right. It wasn’t her.
“Hey,” Owen said, dropping onto the other bed.
Harlan set down his book, which he’d found in one of the bookshelves in the lobby. “Hey.”
Owen asked, “Good book?”
“Yeah.Unbroken.This book’ll make you feel like you’ve never known tough. Athlete gets his plane shot down in World War II, ends up taken prisoner by the Japanese. I’m going to have to buy a copy so I can read the rest.”
“Motivational for tomorrow, then,” Owen said.
“Yep.” Harlan scrutinized his friend. “So how was that?”
“What, how was sitting around having about four hot ciders with the prettiest little eighteen-year-old I’ve ever seen, because I didn’t want to leave? While she flirted with me and then forgot to flirt and was just funny and cute and so damn smart, and I wanted to pick her up more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life?”
“A little frustrating?” Harlan asked.
Owen crossed his ankles on the bed and blew out a breath. “You could say that. Also, I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t know whether you’d done it yet. Tell me you did it.”
“Not yet. I’ll do it in the morning. Hey,” he protested at Owen’s sardonic look, “she was tired.”
“Or you’re scared she won’t go if you tell her the truth.”
“It’s nice, all right?” Harlan said. “Being with somebody who actually likes you for your … personality, or whatever.”
Owen grinned and took a swig of the beer he’d brought in with him. “You sure about that? She looked like she wanted to kill somebody earlier today.”
“She’s not a fan of skiing,” Harlan said. “Also, I could’ve pushed her a little hard on that. She’s tougher than she thinks, though. Wanted to cry, but didn’t. Got back up again instead and kept going. I admire that. So you didn’t kiss little Dynamite? I kind of promised you wouldn’t, so you know.”
Owen said, “Well, sort of.”
Harlan looked at him sideways. “Sort of what?”
“She put her hand on my thigh,” Owen said. “Sitting at the table. While she was making this really serious point about the future of astronautics. I asked her about getting those piercings, and she told me she had a few more, and then she looked at me all sideways and didn’t tell me where. Am I supposed to be made of stone, or what? Because I’m not. I walked her back to her room, and she …” He sighed and took another swallow of beer. “She pulled my head down and kissed me. And I kissed back. Sorry. It was an impulse.”
“I bet it was.”
“But I left,” Owen said.
