I waited for a second, wondering if she would turn to look at me. When she didn’t, I stepped back from my perch against the railing and went after her. She was at the edge of the lake, watching the way the setting sun splashed colors across the light. “I’ll bet you’re wishing you had your camera right about now.”
She was startled, but only for a moment. “You’re right about that. But Bo made me promise under threat of bodily harm, so I left it at home.”
She still hadn’t turned to look at me, but I realized it wasn’t about me, this was all Janey. She was naked without her camera, unsure of herself. It was adorable. “Want to borrow my phone and snap a few shots? I promise not to tell. And if you use my phone rather than yours, Bo can’t technically blame you right?”
Janey licked her lips and sent me a grateful smile. “No, but thanks for the offer.”
“Did you eat? Bo caught plenty of fish this morning.”
“So I heard.” There was amusement in her voice and a small smile on her face as she watched the last rays of sun kiss the water before disappearing to the other side of the world. “I’ll get some food when it’s less crowded.”
I barked out a laugh. “When there are fewer people…at a party?”
“Exactly,” she said, a small smile pulling her lips up at the corner. “This is such a great view,” she said wistfully.
“The offer stands for my phone.” I smiled when she held her hand out and wiggled her fingers in the universal sign for gimme. “What do you say?”
“Hand it over. Please.” When I dropped the phone in her hand, Janey rewarded me with a beaming smile that had me stepping closer. “Thanks.” That one word came out a breathless whisper.
“Anytime.” She snapped a few shots, crouching low to capture a few more. She stood and scanned the images with a faint smile. “Can I see?” Instead of waiting for her to answer, I stepped behind Janey and stared at the phone over her shoulder. “Is that a filter?”
“It is. I think it makes the colors really pop. What do you think?”
“Pretty,” I grunted, distracted by the mix of her flowery scent with the earthy outdoor scent that surrounded us. My eyes started to close and I leaned in closer, eager to taste that strip of skin between her neck and her shoulder. “Janey,” I growled.
“I think we should keep sleeping together.” She blurted the words out so quickly, so out of the blue I took a step back to make sure I’d heard her right. “Or…not.”
“Wait, what did you say?”
Janey rolled her eyes. “You didn’t hear me?”
“I think I did, but when a woman says something like that, a man’s gotta be sure. Right?”
“I said, I think we should keep sleeping together. Only sleeping together.”
Part of me wanted to be offended by her words, while the other part called me an idiot and reminded me that no red blooded male turned down sex with a gorgeous woman, especially when he couldn’t stop thinking about said woman. But still, I had question. “Why me?”
“Fishing for compliments, Rafe?”
“Not even a little bit honey, but I want to hear why you want me.” I wasn’t in the habit of turning down what I knew would be good sex, but Janey was a virgin until recently, casual hookups seemed like they were a ways off for her.
She snorted out a laugh. “You took my virginity, why do you think?”
I turned to her, my arms folded and my expression serious because my next question was serious. The answer mattered. “That’s the only reason?”
“No.” Her cheeks turned pink and then pinker still, even under the growing duskiness of twilight.
“Well?” I took one more step forward until I could feel cool puffs of air from her shallow breaths.
“You’re really gonna make me say it?” She was so cute when she whined.
“Damn right, sweetheart.” There was no way I would let her off the hook so easily, not yet anyway. “Come on Janey, I need to hear it.”
Janey nodded more to herself than to me before she inhaled and exhaled twice, working hard to get her emotions under control. “Fine. The truth is that we have good chemistry together. Don’t you agree?”
“I do.” It was more than good chemistry, but that wasn’t the point.
“Then you get it.” There was relief in her voice and a small smile touched her lips.
“Say it Janey.”
She notched her chin up defiantly and licked her lips. “No.”
I took a step closer and leaned in so we were eye to eye. “Say it.”
“Or what?”
Another smile, a wicked one this time, touched my lips and I leaned in a little more to whisper in her ear. “Or I’ll be forced to strip you naked and torture you until I heard the words I’m waiting to hear.” I heard the gasp she let out when she looked up at me, pupils dilated.