Quinn. “Ready?”
“Lead on,” he said.
She picked up a pair of his smaller bags, then pointed in the direction of Finch’s cabin. “This way.”
As they walked, Lily tried to come up with something to say to him, but her mind was racing with thoughts of their first encounter and the attraction that had pulsed between them. “I hope you’re ready to live in rather primitive conditions,” she said. “There’s a sink in each cabin, but no en suite plumbing. For that, you have to go to the shower house just down the hill. Or pee in the woods, which most of the men do.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“There are screens on all the windows, but you’ll need to lower the shutters to keep the rain out. Some of the evenings can be chilly, so I hope you brought some heavy blankets.”
“I thought I’d go into town and buy whatever I needed,” he said. “Heavy blankets. I’ll put that on my list.”
When they reached the cabin, Lily pulled the door open, and stepped back to let him inside. The interior was cozy, the walls lined with windows and shabby furniture scattered about. Finch worked at a small desk by the window that he’d covered with papers and books. “You can take the empty bedroom. And we’ll find you another spot to work. One of the tree house studios is empty.”
“Tree house? That sounds like fun,” he said, setting the bags down on the floor.
“They’re not really tree houses, but...well, you’ll see.” She smoothed her hands over the front of her dress. “Is there somewhere else you’d like me to take you? I’m not sure how much Finch showed you yesterday.”
“You combed your hair,” he murmured. Quinn took a step toward her.
Lily quickly stepped back, her hand fluttering to her neck before she ran her fingers through the thick waves. “No. I—I mean, yes. I don’t always look like a—a wreck.”
He took another step, but this time, Lily held her ground. “I like your hair all messed up,” he said. Quinn took another step. He was close enough to reach out and touch a strand of hair that had curled on her temple. With gentle fingers, he tucked the curl behind her ear.
“It gets a little wild with the humidity,” she murmured.
Lily held her breath as he closed the last bit of distance between them. His gaze was fixed on hers and she knew he was about to kiss her. Every instinct told her to run away, to escape before he lured her into his trap. But she couldn’t contain her curiosity. It was just a kiss. And though she wasn’t sure who he was, Lily certainly knew who she was—and who she wasn’t.
She wasn’t the kind of girl who could be swept away by a stranger who might or might not be her enemy. She wasn’t the kind of girl who would let a simple kiss alter her judgement. She wasn’t—
His hands snaked around her waist and he pulled her against him. A few seconds later, his mouth came down on hers and she was drawn into a deep abyss of sensation. Her body felt weightless, her knees like they were ready to collapse. And when they did, she sank against the hard muscle and bone of his chest.
He drew back, his eyes scanning her face, trying to gauge her reaction. But Lily was still reeling from the aftereffects of the experience.
“I’ve been thinking about doing that since we met yesterday.”
“You have?” Her voice was breathless and she felt her cheeks warm. Fantasies of being seduced by him had been teasing her for the past twenty-four hours. But now that the reality was looking down at her with a tempting smile, Lily realized that she was in danger of getting in over her head.
“I should go,” she murmured. “And let you get settled.”
“Would you like to come into town with me?”
Lily shook her head. “No, I need to paint. You know how it is. When things are going well you don’t want to stop.”
He bent closer and dropped another kiss on her lips. “Seemed things were going very well there just a few minutes ago.”
Lily nodded. “Don’t forget to buy food in town. We all make our own meals except for Wednesday nights and Sunday afternoons. Then we have a potluck and everyone is assigned a dish. And please don’t ever kiss me again.”
With that, Lily turned and hurried to the door. Such strange sensations were running through her body, she thought as she pulled the screen door open. The temptation to stay and see what else might happen was nearly overwhelming her common sense!
She ran down the path toward her studio, but instead of climbing the steps to the loft, she turned toward the beach. Lily reached for the hem of her dress and pulled it over her head, discarding it on the small strip of sand at the water’s edge.
As she waded into the lake, the cool water hit her naked body and immediately calmed her nerves and erased all those unfamiliar sensations that his kiss had caused. She kicked her feet, diving down until she stroked the sandy bottom, then she popped up to the surface and raked her hair back as she stood.
This was what she’d have to do if she expected to cool her libido and survive the summer. She’d have to take up residence in the middle of Fence Lake.
* * *
TRISTAN STOOD AT the edge of the path, his gaze fixed on the naked woman splashing in the lake. Apparently, Lily wasn’t aware of his presence and he felt a bit guilty for watching her. But she seemed to live her life by a different set of rules—rules that didn’t include underwear...or inhibitions...or the ability to keep from saying whatever popped into her mind.
He’d never been quite so intrigued by a woman, and his lawyerly instincts wanted to delve deeper, to find out what she was all about. He’d always been adept at reading women, at navigating past what they wanted him to think in order to get to the truth. Most of the women he’d known were just illusions, a pretty web of carefully crafted lies and wishful fabrications sprinkled with an undercurrent of cool and calculating greed. Once he’d stripped away the pretty wrappings, he lost interest.
But with Lily, there were no wrappings. What she presented to the world was pure and true and he found that endlessly intriguing. She hadn’t tried to turn herself into every male’s fantasy. She wore no makeup, her hair wasn’t straightened or teased or sprayed, and from what he could tell, she hadn’t had a single surgical enhancement.
Instead, her skin was kissed a golden brown by the sun and her nose sprinkled with freckles. Her hairdresser was whatever breeze blew by that day and she chose her fashion not to flatter, but to provide the greatest amount of comfort.
His mind wandered back to the kiss they’d shared. When he kissed a woman, it was usually a prelude to seduction. But with Lily it had been more about curiosity than anything else. She had tried to create distance between them, but he sensed that there was more to her feelings than she revealed. It wasn’t just a simple flirtation that could be fed by a kiss or a caress. She was holding something back.
A glint of light flashed in the woods, drawing Tristan’s attention away from Lily. Through the brush, he saw the figure of a man, hunched down, binoculars trained on her as she swam.
Cursing softly, Tristan emerged from the bushes
