strayed into personal territory. It looked as if last night had well and truly changed all that.
‘Things with my folks are a little tense when I come home for flying visits. It’s awkward.’
He waited for the inevitable why but she surprised him, tilting her head to one side as if studying him. ‘I’m surprised a tough guy like you can’t handle a little awkward.’
He should have known she wouldn’t buy his trite answer. But how could he tell her the rest without having to answer a whole lot of other questions he’d rather left unsaid?
‘It’s easier this way.’ He snagged her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm, enjoying the flare of heat in her eyes. ‘And much more enjoyable with a date I actually like.’
Her nose crinkled adorably. ‘You like me? What are you? In fifth grade?’
‘You’ll be pleased to know I’m a lot more experienced than I was in fifth grade,’ he said, tugging on her hand until she almost straddled his lap. ‘I like you, Callie. You know that. And I’d like nothing more than to spend the next few days showing you how much.’
He expected her to bolt again. To revert back to business mode. To resurrect the invisible wall she’d steadfastly maintained since they’d arrived.
Instead, she surprised him.
She captured his face between her hands and gently bridged the distance, whispering against the side of his mouth, ‘Then what are we waiting for?’
* * *
Callie didn’t want time to second guess her impulse.
She wanted Archer.
Now.
‘Let’s get cleaned up, grab some dinner, then head home—’
‘No.’ It almost sounded like a desperate yell, and she laughed to cover her nervousness. ‘I—I want this to be like in Capri.’
His eyes widened at the implication.
He remembered. Remembered that hedonistic time in a sheltered alcove on a deserted beach. Remembered the frantic hands and straining mouths and incredible eroticism of it.
‘You sure?’
‘Never been surer of anything in my life.’
And then she promptly made a mockery of her brave declaration by stumbling as she tried to stand.
He steadied her, his gaze never leaving hers. ‘Cal, do we need to talk about afterwards? Because nothing will change. Our lives are separate—’
‘Since when did you talk so much?’
She silenced him with a kiss—a hot, open-mouthed kiss designed to distract and titillate and eradicate any lingering doubts they might harbour.
When they finally came up for air, he held her hand as if he’d never let go. ‘There’s a bunch of deserted dunes just over that hill.’
She liked how he didn’t spell it out, how he left the option up to her with his silent challenge.
Tilting her head to meet his heated gaze, she tried her best sexy smile and hoped it didn’t come out a grimace. ‘Lead the way.’
After making a detour to the sheds, where they struggled out of their wetsuits and Archer snagged his wallet and a throw rug, they ran, their feet squeaking on the clean sand, their soft panting in rhythm with her pounding heart.
When they crested the hill and she saw the pristine dunes stretched out before them tears stung her eyes.
It was so beautiful. A perfect place to resurrect incredible memories and to create new ones.
They didn’t speak as he led her by the hand to a secluded spot sheltered by an overhanging rock, laid out the rug, and knelt.
She’d never felt so worshipped as she did at that moment, with the guy she’d once had serious feelings for kneeling at her feet and staring up at her in blatant adoration.
When he tugged on her hand she joined him on the rug and in a flurry of whispered endearments, sensual caresses, and mind-blowing passion they came together.
Afterwards, as Archer cradled her in his arms and she stared at the seagulls wheeling overhead, Callie wondered one thing.
What the hell have I done?
‘SHOULD’VE known you two bozos couldn’t keep your big traps shut.’
Archer glared at Trav and Tom, who merely grinned and raised their beer bottles in his direction.
‘What do you mean? This barbecue’s in lieu of Trav’s rehearsal dinner. You had to come.’ Tom smirked and gave a less than subtle head-jerk in Callie’s direction. ‘And you couldn’t leave your wedding date at home. That just wouldn’t be right.’
Archer punched him on the arm. ‘I had to tolerate Mum’s interrogation on the phone for thirty minutes this arvo, and I’ve spent the last hour dodging her since we arrived, thanks to you.’
Tom raised his beer. ‘You can thank me properly when she’s presiding over your wedding.’
‘Like hell,’ Archer muttered, the thought of marriage making his chest burn like he’d scoffed a double-pepperoni pizza.
‘It happens to the best of us, bro.’ Trav nudged him and Archer frowned. ‘You lot are a poor example to bachelors the world over.’
‘Hey, I’m a bachelor.’ Tom thrust his chest out and beat it with his fists like a gorilla and they laughed.
‘With behaviour like that I’m not surprised,’ Trav said, pointing at a group of his fiancée’s friends clustered around the chocolate fountain. ‘Shelly has loads of nice single friends. Why don’t you go chat up one of them?’
Tom shrugged, his nonchalance undermined by the way his fingers gripped his beer. ‘Not interested.’
‘Not every woman’s like—’
‘Trav, Shelly’s calling you,’ Archer said, earning a grateful glance from Tom.
‘Think about it. Izzy needs a mum.’
Archer stiffened, expecting Tom to fire a broadside at Travis, but he merely muttered ‘Punk’ under his breath as Trav headed for his bride-to-be with the swagger of a young guy in love.
‘At the risk of being bashed over the head with that bottle, maybe Trav’s right.’
As expected, Tom bristled. ‘Izzy and I are doing just fine.’
‘I know you are, mate, but she’s growing up.’
He
