Page 16 of Hot in the City
Huffing out a shaky breath, she kept her eyes on her drawing. A lock of Dan’s hair falling across his forehead. On the page, it framed his eyes to perfection.
Dan shifted, leaning forward. “You deserve more. A man who’ll love you, adore you, until the end of the world.” He brushed his hand across her fingers, until it rested on top of hers. She tensed, almost pulled away. But he encircled her wrist with his enormous hand, making a bracelet, stroking his thumb back and forth across her pulse point.
Heat rushed through her body and her heart skittered. She dropped her sketchbook and pencil with a clatter and wisp of pages fluttering.
He spoke, and even the wind quieted. “Once upon a time, there was a fairytale kingdom. A young knight visited every day for a year, in a castle filled with books instead of treasure. There was a beautiful princess, with golden curls and amazing eyes. Sometimes green, sometimes blue. Like the sea, or the sky through the treetops.”
Releasing her hand, he fell back on the blanket, gazing through the leafy canopy. “The knight didn’t belong there. Not in the castle, inside with the books. He was a peasant who belonged outside, in the fields. The princess was the only reason to stay. The kingdom was barred to people like him without a fortune. He’d climbed the gates with sheer determination, but he had to leave.”
Slowly, she lowered herself until she lay on her side. Watching. Listening. The shadowplay across his face was hypnotic. Leaves shimmered in greyscale, mottling his olive skin. Dan was in his element.
Dan’s voice dropped lower, so she shuffled closer. His body heat enveloped her like a cocoon. “I was never good enough for you, not smart or rich enough. But I never forgot the brilliant artist I fell for. One day the knight came home, older and wiser. He hoped the princess would remember him too.”
“She remembers everything.” Her gaze fixed on his lips.
He sighed, as his gaze flickered over her face, from her eyes to her mouth. “But the princess was engaged to be married.”
Natalia propped herself up on her elbow. “This is why I hate fairytales. All that woe and drama, when a proper conversation could have solved everything. Dan, I always thought you were smart. And who cares about rich? I wanted you then. I want you now. If you’d asked me when I was nineteen, I would have gone to Sydney with you in a heartbeat.” Her heart beat quicker now, out of control, blood pounded in her ears.
She wanted him, even now. She’d said it.
Dan stared down at her. His dark eyes glittered below a creased forehead. “I didn’t think you were interested. When you kissed me, I understood you were saying goodbye. Everyone knew I was leaving. The gossip was crazy, but I wasn’t going to jail or sailing solo around the world.”
Natalia blinked a few times so her eyeballs didn’t pop out of her head. “Saying goodbye? Oh, Dan. I didn’t hear any gossip. I had my head down, studying and finishing some artworks. Next thing I knew, you’d already left. I finally heard you’d gone to live with your Dad in Sydney.”
She reached for him. Somehow, her fingers threaded through the curls at the nape of his neck. “I couldn’t understand why you didn’t call or email. I missed you so much, but I thought you didn’t care.”
He touched her face, his large hand rough and warm against her cheek. “Natalia.”
Her heart pinched. He never called her Natalia, always Nat. Except one time, after their first kiss.
Dan’s warm breath brushed her cheek. “I regretted the way I left. You have to know, I cared about you. So damned much. All these years later, I had to find you. Tell me it’s not too late for us.”
She sighed. “It’s not too late.”
He leaned in, stroking his thumb over her cheekbone.
Natalia sucked in a breath. His lips touched hers, setting her whole body trembling. She tasted him again, so delicious, so familiar, like coming home.
He urged her lips to part, sliding his tongue against hers in a sensual dance, kissing her deeply. So deeply she felt it in her toes. Her heart. She wanted him, all of him.
But she had to do this right.
She pulled back, resting her head on his shoulder. “Just give me one day.”
Dan nodded, wrapping her in his arms.
Natalia stood outside Ted’s office at lunchtime and gave a small, embarrassed knock.
It was now or never. Now.
She stepped inside and shut the door behind her with a click.
Ted looked up and smiled, friendly as always. He was her friend. But nothing else. There was no thudding beat from her heart, no melting expression in his eyes. No promises that couldn’t be broken.
“We need to talk, about us.” A lame opening line. But true. “I need to call off the engagement.” Straight to the point. Ted would appreciate that.
His expression was a picture. Not sadness or anger though. Bewilderment? His greying eyebrows were raised. “Just like that? I know I haven’t spent enough time with you lately. I’m sorry.”
