She sighed again, and Lance’s head lifted.
‘Are they sighs of satisfaction, exhaustion, or something else?’ he asked.
She smiled softly and reached up to comb his hair back from his forehead with her fingers. ‘What do you think?’ she said.
‘I don’t know,’ came his pensive answer. ‘That’s why I’m asking.’
Angie felt slightly flustered by the question, a nervous laugh escaping from her lips. She foresaw their having an argument if she started telling him how much she loved him, and how much she wanted to be a part of his life on an ongoing basis. If all she was ever going to have with Lance was the rest of today and tonight, she wasn’t about to do or say anything to spoil their short time together.
‘All three, I guess,’ she said. ‘I’m very satisfied, very exhausted, but also very disappointed.’ This last bit she delivered with a softly seductive pout.
It threw him. ‘Disappointed?’
‘Yes. I’d like you to be able to stay and make love to me forever too. But if you have to go back to Melbourne tomorrow then that’s that. We still have the rest of today and tonight, don’t we? Gosh, Lance, I wouldn’t have left it this long if I’d known sex was so fantastic. Though perhaps it’s the man I’m with who’s fantastic. You’re an incredible lover—do you know that?’
He was frowning down at her and she wondered what she’d said that was wrong. He muttered something under his breath, then abruptly withdrew, making her gasp. Desolation swept in at the empty feeling he left behind, not just in her body but in her soul. Her heart sank ever further when he rolled from her, stood up, then strode off into the bathroom.
Clearly she’d said something to offend him. But what?
The blackest depression descended while she listened to the bathroom sounds—the flushing of the toilet, then the turning on of taps. But when the taps remained on, she began to frown. When Lance wrenched the door open, standing there naked and glowering, she sat up. ‘What is it?’ she said. ‘What have I done? Why are you mad at me?’
‘Well you might ask,’ he growled, and stalked over to haul her unceremoniously up and over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. ‘We’re going to have a spa bath together, Angie Brown. And while we’re in there, we’re going to talk.’
‘Talk?’ she squeaked, all the breath having been knocked out of her body.
‘Yeah, talk, lover,’ he snarled as he carried her into the bathroom, both his arms clamped firmly around her thighs and buttocks. ‘What did you think? That you’d add an underwater screw to your tally of new experiences for today? Perhaps you’d like me to screw you in the shower as well, or on the floor, or up against the vanity? Mirrors can add a real dimension to sex, you know. Oh, yes, I forgot... We still have the passion-fruit-flavoured experience to go as well. Hell, I’m really looking forward to that one. Make it good and I’ll dash out for some strawberry as well!’
‘Why, you... you...’ She began to pummel his bare buttocks with balled fists. ‘I’ll have you know that—’
She broke off with a squeal when he dragged her off him and dumped her into the hot frothing bath, bubbles and water splashing up the walls and on to the floor.
‘You’ll have me know what?’ he ground out, plonking himself down in the furthest corner of the bath away from her and crossing his arms.
Angie glared at him over the expanse between them. ‘You’re a damned hypocrite, Lance Sterling,’ she stated, lifting her chin in cool outrage. ‘It’s all right for you to have sown your wild oats but I’m not even allowed one night’s wild oats without your looking down your nose at me.’
‘That’s right. Because you’re not me. You’re my sweet Angie, and I want you to stay that way.’
‘Oh, piffle!’
‘Piffle?’ he bellowed.
‘Yes, piffle!’ she repeated, just as loudly, folding her arms as well and curling her top lip at him. ‘I’ve never heard such a load of rubbish in my whole life! You were all for bringing me here and deflowering me, Lance, and now, suddenly, just because I really liked it and want a whole lot more, you’ve gone all prim and proper. What is it? Conscience getting the better of you all of a sudden? Or are you just sorry that you have to go back to Melbourne and some other man might get the benefit of your splendid initiation?’