Glancing from one suspiciously innocent face to the other around the table, Shannon had to stifle a grin. If they managed to keep this a secret for six days, it would be a miracle. But she was rather pleased with herself for coming up with the idea that had been so well received by James’s friends.
Even if she and James never connected again after he left for Seattle, he would always remember that she had organized his first birthday party.
Leaning on one elbow, James propped his face in his hand and smiled down at Shannon. “You and the other girls seemed to hit it off tonight.”
She shifted her weight against her pillow, trailing a hand down his bare arm as he leaned over her. Both of them had just recovered enough breath to hold a conversation. Her limbs felt deliciously heavy and her mind was still a little clouded from passion, but she managed to answer coherently, “I liked your friends very much.”
“They liked you, too. I could tell.”
“I had a very nice time tonight.” She giggled softly. “Oh, and the party was fun, too.”
Chuckling, he kissed the end of her nose. “What were you all talking about while the other guys and I were fetching snacks? I’ve never seen such guilty expressions on Anne’s and Mia’s faces. And Haley looked suspiciously angelic.”
She walked her fingers up his smooth, nicely sculpted chest. “We might have talked a little about you. How cute you are. What pretty eyes you have. What a very nice backside you have. Has anyone ever told you you have a very sexy walk?”
He grinned. With his dark hair ruffled around his face, and a bit of a flush still lingering on his cheeks from their earlier activities, he looked more relaxed and happier than she’d ever seen him. It warmed her heart that she’d been the one to put this look on his face. She thought she’d distracted him neatly enough from his questions.
But he wasn’t quite so easily diverted, even with blatant flattery. “You talked about me, huh? What did they really say?”
“They all love you,” she answered candidly. “They’re going to miss you when you all go your separate ways next year.”
“I’ll miss them, too.”
“I know.”
He reached up to wind a strand of her tousled red hair around one finger. “Have you ever been to Seattle?”
“No, have you?”
“No, my rotation next month will be my first visit there.”
“I’ve heard it’s beautiful. I hope you get a chance to see some of the area while you’re there.”
“I’d like that. Um—”
She tilted her head against the pillow, studying his face. “What?”
He met her eyes in the shadows created by the dimmed light on her nightstand. “Would there be any chance you could fly out to join me there for a few days next month?”
She moistened her suddenly dry lips. “That’s very nice of you, James, but I can’t.”
“If it’s a matter of airfare…”
“No, it isn’t that,” she assured him, though airline tickets to Washington were hardly in her October budget. “I’ve got a full calendar next month. I don’t have any vacation time left from the toy store and I’ve got several parties scheduled, including two Halloween parties. I can’t just take off on a Seattle vacation, no matter how much I’d like to do so.”
“I understand.”
His expression was shuttered again, so that she couldn’t tell exactly how he felt about her response. Disappointed? Irritated? Resigned? Indifferent?
It bothered her that he could still hide his thoughts from her so quickly and so easily. Every time she thought they were getting closer, he pulled away.
He’d asked her to join him in Seattle, which meant that he didn’t want to say goodbye to her in a week and a half, either, right? Or was he simply affected for the moment by the pleasant evening they’d shared, followed by spectacular lovemaking? Maybe later he’d be relieved she’d turned him down. Maybe he already was—who could tell with him?
He glanced past her, toward the clock on the far nightstand. “It’s getting late. Guess I’d better go.”
“Do you have to work tomorrow?”
“No. It’s just…well, your roommate—”