Page 14 of Dirty Desires
Rounding the corner, I caught Nina running her hand over the petals of a white rose. I stood there for a moment, just looking at her. She’d put on a white sundress, her hair pulled back into a high ponytail, and she didn’t have any makeup on at all.
And she’d never looked more beautiful to me.
When her eyes left the rose, they moved to me. “I see you’ve decided to join us.” She came straight to me, her hand gently running over my cheek.
“I know, it’s horrible.” I shoved one hand into my pocket as I looked away. “I’m a wreck.”
“I wasn’t going to say that at all.” She ran her hand down my arm, leaving a trail of tingles in her wake. “I was going to say that you’re already looking much better.”
“Ah, so you’ve decided to lie to me about it, then. I see the route you’re taking. Classy, Nina. Very classy.” I took a drink of the beer as I eyed her.
“I wouldn’t call it lying, Ashton.” She blinked her long, thick lashes at me.
“Being polite is probably what you would call it.” I recalled what I had said to her and thought it might be the right time to bring that up. “I’m sorry I said that to you when we were heading up the stairs. I put you on the spot, and I wanted you to know that I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable or anything.”
Her expression turned awkward. “Oh, that. No problem. I mean, I should apologize for my lack of words. I just didn’t know what to say.”
I chuckled. “I bet you wanted to say that I was a hideous beast at that moment and it wasn’t the right time to be making any moves on anyone. I don’t want you to worry. I’ve put myself in check, now that I’m disfigured.”
She laced her arm through mine and began to walk through the garden. “You’re much more than just a pretty face, Ashton. You’ve got a sparkling personality too, you know.”
“Sparkling?” I laughed. “I had no idea.” I was thankful she’d moved to my left side.
She took a deep sniff of a yellow flower. “Oh, that one smells nice.” Then she looked up at me with her cheeks going red. “God, I’m sorry, Ashton.”
“Why?” I had to ask her, as I had no idea why she would be sorry.
“Because you probably can’t smell anything since I smashed you in the nose with that ball and here I am talking about how things smell. It’s rude of me.” She looked around at all the flowers as I laughed at her. “Come on, let’s go see what’s going on with everyone else.”
But I didn’t want to go be around everyone else. I liked being with her and just her. So I found something else we could do alone. Pointing to the path I saw leading into the woods, I asked, “Want to see where that trail leads?”
Her narrow shoulders moved with a shrug. “Why not?”
We headed in that direction, and I was happy to have her to myself for a little while longer.
Nina and I went to lunch together a lot, but there were usually other people with us. As much time as we’d spent together in the past couple years, we hadn’t spent much of it alone. And suddenly, all I wanted was for us to be alone.
I pulled a tree branch back at the beginning of the trail and let her go in front of me. “Ladies first.”
She stepped ahead. “Good. I’ve always heard that if there’s a snake on a trail, it’ll bite the second person, not the first.” She looked back at me with a grin. “So, watch out.” When she turned back around, I noticed that she shivered. “It’s dark in here.”
“It is.” I looked around at the thick foliage surrounding us. “Do you think there’re bats in here?”
She stopped and turned to look at me. “Are you kidding? Do they even have bats in the Hamptons, Ashton?”
“I was kidding, Nina.” I was just trying to scare her, but I didn’t think that would really do the trick. “Are you a big chicken?”
“No,” came her quick reply. “Just cautious is all.” She stopped abruptly and pointed at a black stick on the ground ahead of us. “Is that a snake?” She moved back until her back hit my front—and my front was suddenly very happy about her skittishness.
I put my arms around her, holding her. “I’m not sure.” The smell of her hair was intoxicating—honey and lemons would forever be etched into my brain with her image. “Should I take the lead?”
She scrambled around behind me, then pushed at my lower back. “Yes. Please do.”
I loved the way she held onto my waist, peeking around me. “I’m pretty sure it’s just a stick, Nina. Nothing to be afraid of.”
“It looked like it moved to me.” Her hands clamped my sides harder. “Just be careful, okay?”
When we got to the stick, I stopped, leaned over to pick it up, and showed it to her. “See, just a stick.”
