this?”
She shook her head. “No, sit up and brace your arm right there.”
He did as he was told, but she shook her head again. “It would be better if you stood next to that rock over there.”
Dermot gave her a sly look. “Maybe it would be even better if I took my clothes off.”
“You’ll use any excuse to get naked,” she said. “But I think that might be a bit distracting for the artist. You can take your shoes off. I need practice with feet.”
He kicked off his shoes, then walked over to the rock and leaned against it. “How’s this?”
She tipped her head to the side. “Nice. Put your arms up over your head. And undo the top button of your jeans.” Rachel waited for him to comply, then began to sketch, her forehead creased into a frown.
Dermot stood perfectly still until his calf began to cramp and a bee started buzzing near his crotch. When he felt something slither across his foot, he jumped back. “Jaysus, what was that? Are there snakes around here?”
“Yes,” she said as she sketched. “But they’re not poisonous.” She sat back, then shook her head. “Nope.” With that, she tore the page out of the book and crumpled it into a ball.
“Wait, let me see.”
“No,” she said, grabbing the wad of paper. “I need to stick to animals.”
He sat down next to her and held out his hand. “Come on, Rachel. You can trust me. Let me see it.”
RACHEL WAS ALWAYS rather reluctant to let anyone see a work in progress, but she sensed that she could trust Dermot. She handed him the paper and he smoothed it out on the blanket in front of him. He studied it for a long moment, then nodded. “It’s really good.”
“It’s really horrible. The drawing, not you. You looked beautiful. I think I’ll stick to bunnies and frogs.”
He reached over and wrapped his hand around her waist, then pulled her into a kiss. “I can get behind that. I’d rather you didn’t start sketching naked men.”
“You weren’t naked,” she said.
“I can remedy that.”
“No,” she said, a playful smile touching her lips. “I’ll take care of it.” She reached for the hem of her dress and pulled it over her head. “Now, you sketch me. I showed you my drawing, now you show me yours.”
“I can’t draw,” he said. “My brother Cam, now, he can draw.”
She stretched out on the blanket beside him, bracing her head in her hand. The sun filtered through the leaves in the trees and felt warm on her bare skin. She smiled to herself.
There were times when, as a teenager, Rachel would come to this spot and put aside her sketchbook. She’d turn her thoughts to boys, to the secret crushes that she developed on classmates. She’d been an awkward girl with plain clothes, not the type that got noticed. A wallflower was the most apt description.
“I had my first kiss right here in this spot,” she said.
“Tell me all about it,” Dermot urged.
“I told a boy I liked that I’d found a huge piece of gold buried beneath this tree and I’d split the money for it if he’d help me carry it out. And then, when I got him here, I tried to kiss him.”
“What happened?”
“He hit me with a stick and told me I was as ugly as a toad. And then he ran away.”
“I’m not running,” Dermot said.
“You’re paid to stay,” she countered.
He set down the sketchbook and crawled across the blanket. “I’m not planning on going anywhere,” he said. “I’m not going to hit you with a stick and I think you’re just about the most beautiful thing I’ve ever set eyes on.”
Rachel smiled and pulled him into a deep kiss. He was charming and maybe he did know exactly what to say that made her feel like the only woman in the world. But she didn’t care. She’d been alone for too long and she was going to enjoy Dermot Quinn while she could.
Rachel pulled him down on top of her, their naked bodies coming together in a way that felt so perfect. His shaft was hard and hot between them, nestled in the juncture of her thighs. And here, alone, under the late-summer sun, she’d make a memory that she’d never forget. A memory of being with a stranger who felt more like a long-lost lover.
“Are we going to do this?” he whispered.
She drew her leg up along his hip, his body fitting ever closer. “We’re alone and we’re naked. It is the next logical step.”
“I came prepared,” he said.
Rachel brushed her lips against his and he captured her mouth in a long, delicious kiss. She’d never been with a man who was able to dissolve her insecurities and inhibitions. Was it the fact that they really didn’t know each other? Did that make it all so much easier?
There were no expectations between them, no arguments or fundamental differences. She didn’t know anything about his past, about the women in his life or his plans for the future. All Rachel knew was that in six weeks he’d be gone and she’d be alone again.
His body was hard and muscular and she couldn’t keep herself from touching him. Dermot held on to her waist and rolled her over on top of him, then pulled her knees up against his hips. A lazy smile curled his lips as he cupped her breast in his palm.
“I’ve never done this,” he said.
“Had sex?”
“No. Done it outside. I mean, I have done it in a tent, but never in the great wide open. What if someone comes along?”
“They’ll get an eyeful,” she said.
“I’ll be sure to make it good.”
He began a gentle, yet deliberate exploration of her body and Rachel closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of his caress. He knew exactly what he was doing, tracing a path from her lips to her breasts to the spot between her legs.
She was already damp with desire, and when he touched her there, a current shot through her body. Goose bumps prickled her sun-warmed skin and she felt a tremble inside her. She was already so close, but she didn’t want to surrender quite yet.
Rachel reached down and touched her lips to his, teasing him with a kiss that was both playful and filled with promise. Her tongue flicked across his bottom lip, and when he groaned, she smiled.
She’d never felt in control before, never felt as if she had anything to offer a man sexually, besides her body. But with Dermot, it all seemed so natural and in balance. He wanted her as much as she wanted him.
Rachel knew everything would change once they took this last step. Though their high-speed affair had taken an unconventional path, from now on, they’d know
