But there were promises between them. And so he held his arms firm to his sides, forcing himself not to move. Not to reach out. Not to touch despite the need that curled through him, a longing so intense and pure and strong that he didn't understand how it could be wrong. More, he didn't understand how he was able to resist.
"Jane."
She looked up, but still didn't quite meet his eyes. "I know. But--" She cut herself off and her shoulders rose and fell. He held his breath, hoping she was less strong than he was, because if she capitulated, then he would, too.
He should have known better, and when she lifted her head and finally met his eyes, the awkwardness was gone. There was no uncertainty. No embarrassment. He saw only resolution. And regret.
"I had to see you," she said. What she meant was, "The most we can have is to see each other."
"I know," he said. "Before everyone gets here. I get it." One more day of classes and then it was spring break. His parents were in London, his father accompanied by his key staff members and their families. The plan was that Dallas and his mom, Lisa, would travel to Oxford. Dallas might only be fifteen, but his grades and test scores were such that he had a good chance of being admitted, and the various appointments his parents had lined up all but filled his short vacation.
While Lisa and Dallas did Oxford, Eli, his father, would stay in London and visit the new Sykes department store that had opened last year. And since Jane was doing an afterschool internship in the marketing department through her private school back in the States, she'd be in London with Eli while Dallas was in Oxford.
If they were going to see each other alone, now was the time.
Thank god she'd called. He wished to hell he'd had the nerve to call her first.
"I'm glad you came," he said. "I'm so damn glad you came."
Her smile reached her eyes, making her already beautiful face radiant. She'd always been a pretty girl, but she was fifteen now, too, just a fe
w months younger than him, and she was growing into a stunning woman. She wore her dark hair long and parted simply in the middle so that it cascaded to her shoulders, so lustrous that it shone in the moonlight. Her brown eyes were wide, and her eyebrows angled slightly, giving her an expression of permanent amusement, as if she saw how much the world was askew even if no one else did. Her pale skin was luminous and though her face was round, her stunning cheekbones added an air of runway model elegance to an otherwise girl-next-door visage.
All in all, she was perfection. But it was her mouth that caught and held his attention. Her lips that he dreamed about. That he wanted to touch. That he wanted to taste. He imagined the heat of her mouth pressed against his, the softness--and he felt himself get hard in response.
He dropped his eyes, hoping she couldn't see the evidence of how much he wanted her. He was still a virgin and pretty damn inexperienced, too. But he could fantasize well enough, and right then his mind was churning with the scent of her, the feel of her, warm and naked against him, and--
Shit. Stop.
He drew in a breath and forced himself to think of non-sexual things. Calculus would be good. Or statistics.
He shuffled his feet, then looked back up at her. "So, um, did you walk from the train station?"
She shook her head, her gaze mostly on the ground, too. God, weren't they a pair? "I took a cab. I--I wanted to get here as fast as I could."
The words lit a fire inside him. "Yeah? I'm glad." He exhaled loudly. "Right. Um, what do you want to do?"
He was looking at her as he asked the question, and even in the darkness, he could see the blush rise on her cheeks. His insides twisted, and his cock that had calmed down at the thought of differential equations stiffened again.
Man, they were so screwed. They were both so damn screwed.
"I saw a flier in the common room about a midnight concert in the park," he said quickly. "It's probably totally lame, but that'll just make it more fun. Some guys doing covers of Beatles songs to celebrate the somethingth anniversary of some album or other."
She laughed. "Music is so not your thing."
"But it's yours."
Her sweet smile just about gutted him. "Yeah. It is." She dragged her teeth over her lower lip and his pants were suddenly way, way too small. "And it does sound lame." She took a step toward him, then nudged his foot gently with her toe. "And I think it'll be a blast."
"Yeah?"
She nodded, looking excited and happy, as if they were about to set out on a grand adventure.
He started to lead the way toward the park, and she fell in step beside him. The silence was comfortable, and right then there was nothing he'd rather be doing, and no one he'd rather be doing it with. So naturally, he had to go and toss cold water all over their good time. "Eli's going to shit a brick if he finds out you're here."
"He's the one who decided to bring an intern to London with him," she said lightly. But then she grimaced as she shot him a quick glance. "I don't think I've ever heard you call him Dad."
He cocked his head as he looked at her. "Do you think I should? Never mind," he said before she could answer. "It's not important. I shouldn't have even said anything."