“They’re not expecting anything from you.”
“I know.” Caroline snuggled against his side. “But I’m enjoying the hospitality of their home and I’d like to get something for everyone. Please, Simon, let me do this.”
“If it’s important to you, then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll have lunch and then you can shop to your heart’s content.”
“Thank you.”
They arrived at the tree and Caroline stared at it in awe. Although she’d seen little of the gracious city—except what she’d glimpsed from the car—she already felt a kinship with the soil. The stately live oaks and trailing Spanish moss filled the city square, creating an intimate setting that invited people to picnic and play. She was looking forward to tomorrow because she knew she would love walking the streets lined with historic mansions that dated back to the middle of the nineteenth century.
Being focused on day-to-day survival, Caroline hadn’t pondered her future beyond graduation and taking the bar. But now, captured in Savannah’s spell, she started thinking seriously about starting her new life here.
Still, once she and Simon broke off their “engagement” and disappointed his parents, would Savannah be big enough for her to go unnoticed?
She shivered as a chill surrounded her heart. Simon’s arms came around her and pulled her against his strong body.
“Cold?” he questioned, rubbing her back in an invigorating caress.
His touch was more brotherly than lover-like, but that didn’t stop heat from blooming inside her.
“Just a little.” Getting lost in his embrace was one part peaceful and three parts intoxicating. For that reason she stepped away and sunk her hands into her coat pockets. “Maybe I’ll warm up if we keep walking.”
“Sure.”
She ignored the question in his tone. He was probably wondering why she was acting so skittish when all he’d done was hug her.
They struck off again, this time not touching. Caroline searched for words, but found her earlier fantasies about him had resurfaced and left her scrambling for a safe topic.
Simon broke the silence first. “Look, I’m sorry about what happened earlier tonight. I shouldn’t have gone off on you like that.”
“Don’t worry about it. Obviously you’ve suppressed the emotions about what happened between you, Dane and Francine. And since I’m the first girl you’ve brought home since it happened, it’s no wonder you jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
“Is that what happened?” He gave her a lopsided smile. “That’s funny. I wasn’t thinking about Dane stealing Francine away.” His voice became a husky murmur that rasped along her nerve endings. “I was only worried about losing you.”
He watched for her reaction in a way that stirred her appetite for another sample of his rousing kisses. Worse, in his eyes, she saw a corresponding hunger. She stared at the trees, the sidewalk, anything to escape the pull of his charisma.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to tell your parents about why we broke up?” she asked, desperate to banish the warm fuzzy feeling sneaking through her.
Reminding herself that she w
as participating in a pretend engagement didn’t bring her the relief she’d hoped for. In fact, it depressed her. She was already infatuated with Simon’s fun-loving family, and she hadn’t even met his sister yet. Not to mention how the man himself had trampled her common sense with his irresistible charm and wry humor.
“Oh, I’m going to blame the whole thing on you,” he said, his eyes dancing with mischief.
“And say what exactly?”
“Well, usually when I break it off with someone, I say that things just didn’t work out between us.”
“That’s pretty vague,” she retorted, her tone dry. “After meeting your mother, I can’t see her letting you get away without a better explanation.”
“Which is when I pull out the excuse that the woman in question grew tired of all my traveling.”
How many women had he used this excuse with? “Your mom would buy that since you’re gone a lot.” Caroline didn’t voice her doubts that no woman would let a catch like him slip through their fingers because he wasn’t in town as much as she’d like. “But since we’ve been dating for six months and are engaged, I think we would have dealt with that issue. Besides, I’m busy with school and work. You’re probably the one who’s unsatisfied with how little time we spend together.”
His eyes narrowed. “That makes me sound needy. I assure you, I’ve never been that way in a relationship. Ever.” And why should he? Women probably threw themselves at him all the time, drawn by his irresistible charm to drop their panties at the first glimpse of his sexy grin.
“But you’ve never been engaged before either.” For some reason she wanted to stand out from all the women he’d dated. To be the one clear image in the blur of faces and bodies that raced through his life. “Maybe with me, it’s different. Maybe with me you don’t mind feeling tied down. Or maybe you dump me because being in a committed relationship involves too much hard work.”
“Is that what you think? That I’m afraid of hard work? Because I’m not.”