6

This is crazy, Amanda thought as the two of them walked down a paved path leading to the cabins.

When Lucas first came to sit with her, she had been sane enough to block any sort of sexual thought about him.

Half way through dinner and two glasses of wine later, the part of her that thought rebound sex was a great idea was winning the debate in her mind.

Here was a guy, gorgeous in every way, and well mannered. She was single and nothing was wrong with wanting to sleep with him. She felt she was more likely to regret not sleeping with him than doing it. How could she be with such a good looking, thoughtful guy and regret it?

She stopped drinking when she started feeling excited and realised another glass would do her in. If she was going to make a move, she didn't want him to turn her down on account of her inebriation.

When he asked to escort her to her cabin, she wanted to say no. Saying no would mean they would go separate ways, and she wouldn't get a chance to act upon her attraction. Given the location of their cabins, maybe she would never see him again. That way, she would be safe from doing something thoughtless like kissing his plump pink lips and asking him to touch her everywhere.

But she had said yes.

Maybe it didn't matter.

Perhaps nothing would happen, and he would go back after seeing her to her cabin.

Besides, why did she think he was ready to jump into bed with her? So, yeah, he had flirted a few times, but that didn't mean anything. With his looks, he was undoubtedly popular with women. Flirting was probably something he did casually.

"Amanda?"

His voice brought her out of her reverie. She turned to look at him. "Yeah?"

"What's with the sudden silence? You look solemn."

Holy, was thinking about not being able to sleep with him making her sad? She quickly plastered a smile on her face and shook her head. "I'm fine."

They walked a few more steps in silence. Then he said, "I know you said not to talk about yourself, but is there one thing you can tell me about yourself that's okay with you?"

She smiled, eyes focused on the ground in front of her. "Maybe. Ask one question. If it's not too much, you’ll get an answer."

Without losing a beat, Lucas asked, "Are you single?"

A short burst of laughter slipped past Amanda's lips. She pressed her fingers to her lips and gave him a look. "How long have you been waiting to ask that? It's as if it was on the tip of your tongue."

That dimple-revealing smile appeared. "I don't know, maybe since I saw you from across the room back at the lobby?"

Amanda chuckled, shaking her head. A few weeks ago, if someone had asked her that question, she would have happily told them she was engaged without feeling a twinge of longing. A few weeks ago, she never would have thought she would be single today, her face slightly heating up at the attention from some stranger.

"I am," she replied.

It felt like a declaration of freedom. It felt nice.

So bloody nice.

"Great," Lucas replied.

She lifted an eyebrow. "Great?"

He nodded, catching her gaze. "Great."

Amanda took his question as a signal that no, she wasn't the only one who was thinking about the other in a non-platonic way. But…

"To be clear, I'm not searching…or pursuing."

Not a relationship, anyway.

"Neither am I," he replied.

Good. That was the perfect set up for a no strings attached roll between the sheets.

"But I wouldn't mind if I was pursued by you," Lucas added.

Amanda have him a sideways look and slightly shoved him with her shoulder. He was unapologetically charming, wasn't he?

Her phone rang at that moment, breaking into their little world. She reached into her handbag and retrieved it. Her smile disappeared when she recognized the number on the screen.

She had deleted his contact, but his number was burned into her brain.

She should have blocked it. But he hadn't called once since that day, so she never thought that would be necessary.

Why was he calling now? What could he possibly have to tell her?

But it didn't matter. What mattered was that she didn't want to hear anything from him. She wasn't going to let him ruin the progress she had made these two weeks.

She cut the call quickly and pressed the button that allowed her to block his number. After doing that, she slipped her phone back into her bag.

Exhaling deeply, she focused on the path ahead of her as if the call had never happened.

But it wasn't the same.

That call ruined her mood. A few seconds ago, she was getting flustered by Lucas's charming ways. Now, her mind was fighting not to go back into the past.

Into her pain.

"Watch out!" Lucas called out a warning, but it was too late as she felt herself lose her footing and lurch forward.

She yelped, but a strong arm wrapped around her waist fast enough to keep her from hurtling towards the ground. Instinctively, her hand came up to grab Lucas's shoulders as he steadied her.

"That's one big pothole," he muttered, looking down at the hole in the pavement that she had stepped into.

But she wasn't paying attention to that.

How could she, when she could feel his purely masculine body against hers? Her eyes were literal inches away from his lips. His perfect, cupid bow lips with the ridiculously inviting pink shade.

And his cologne. She had gotten a whiff of it before, but now, this close to him, the scent hit her senses fully. Subtle, spicy hints that screamed expensive. It made her want to get closer. To bury her face in his shirt and take a long, deep breath.

"You should look—" Lucas trailed off as he brought his attention back to her and caught her staring at his lips.

Amanda came to her senses and averted her eyes. She cleared her throat, then tried to leave his grasp.

He didn't loosen his hold on her.

"Thanks," she mumbled, looking anywhere but at him. "I'll be more careful."

Lucas focused his eyes on her. She was avoiding his gaze and trying to get away.

"What else?" he asked.

"What?"

"What else do you want to say, Amanda?"

The feeling of having Amanda in his arms was nothing short of heavenly.

Lucas didn't want to let her go.

This close, she looked more beautiful.

The light was dim since the street lamps were far between, but instead of hiding her face from him, the limited light gave it a glow that entranced him further.

Her soft lips parted slightly, and he got the strongest urge to kiss her.

"Nothing," she mumbled, avoiding his gaze.

"Sure?"

She nodded.

It was fine. He would make her say it sooner or later. There wasn't any other explanation to her staring at his lips that way besides her wanting to kiss him.

He wanted to hear her admit it.

But for now, he would admit his own intentions.

"I'm going to kiss you," he said.

Finally, her dark eyes flew to him. They were wide with surprise. Her lips parted further. "What?"

He leaned towards her, closing the distance between their lips with every second. "I'm going to kiss you, Amanda."

"I…uh…"

"Don't want to?"

"No!" she replied quickly. "I mean yes… Wait, Lucas."

He stopped his approach, fighting a smile.

He watched in amusement as she closed her eyes and appeared to take several calming breaths.

"Let go of me," she requested.

He relaxed his hold on her. She didn't move an inch.

Her eyes slid open. "Let me go," she repeated.

"You're the one holding on tightly to me," he stated.

She appeared confused for a few seconds before it dawned on her that she was the one who needed to let go of him. Looking mortified, she released his shoulder and stepped back quickly.

Right back into the pothole.

Lucas reached for her once again, successfully saving her from a fall and bringing her back to her initial position.

"It looks like you belong here, Amanda," he said, one side of his mouth quirking in a smile. "You can get comfortable."

This time round, her arms were pressed in between their bodies. He lifted his free hand to her face and ran his knuckles down her soft skin.

"May I proceed?"

This time, she didn't give a hasty assent followed by a denial. Instead, she closed her eyes and stood on her shoes' tips.

Before their lips could meet, voices from down the path carried to them.

Amanda sprung from his hold and before he knew it, she was standing at least four feet from him. A group of four people appeared on the path, walking in their direction.

Grasping her bag with both hands, Amanda cleared her throat and turned around. "We better get going," she said, resuming the walk towards her cabin.

Lucas bit back a curse and followed after her. He had been so close. He wondered whether the interruption would give her a chance to change her mind.

The rest of the walk was silent, mostly because the other group was walking close to them all the while. Finally, however, the group arrived at their cabin and he was alone again with Amanda.

They had been walking for a while now. Her cabin was deep in the woods, far away from the majority. It was clear now just how hard it would be to randomly run into her.

"Here we are," she said eventually when they came to a small wooden cabin with a raised front porch.

"You just had to hide deep in the woods, didn't you?" he teased, looking around. It had been about a minute's walk since they came across the last cabin.

She nodded. "Yep, that was my idea."

She hopped onto the porch, a key card in hand. She swiped it and the door came unlocked.

She looked back at him.

"Want to come inside for a sec?"

Nah, that was not a good idea.

Which was probably why he accepted her invitation without so much as a hint of hesitance.

She waited on him to get to the door before stepping in. He went after her, taking off his shoes just inside the door same as she did. She pushed the door shut behind them.

He had two options.

Act like that almost-kiss never happened, make a few comments about the interior of her cabin, then make the long, lonely walk back to his cabin.

Or…

He turned around and trapped her into the door behind her. Her back pressed against the wood, her eyes rising to his. There was no hesitation in her eyes or her body language.

That was punctuated by the sound of her bag hitting the floor.

Wasting no time, he closed the distance between them and claimed her lips.

The first touch was magical. Her lips fit perfectly into his, soft skin against soft skin. He tasted a hint of berry from her lip balm. The feeling sent a shiver down his spine. He had known it would be nice, but he hadn't expected his body's reaction to be so profound.

Their lips meshed together in paced, hot kisses that laid bare the truth of their attraction to each other.

His hands grasped her waist, while Amanda's arms went around his neck. A few moments later, she let them roam downwards, her palms resting against each side of his chest. His heart was beating wildly, and he was glad she could feel its every beat.

They took a break from the kiss, each breathing heavily. They didn't pull away, however.

Not that he was planning to.

Especially not after her hands fisted around his shirt's fabric and her eyes rose to his. Then, voice oozing of confidence and an insane amount of sexy, she said,

"I want to have sex with you, Lucas."