He followed her like a dog with a bone. Had this been real life, he’d have made that commitment right then and there. Would her trick work? After the show aired, they’d know for sure. “Well, what do you think?” he asked, adding a glare for good measure. Their argument needed to be realistic. “It’s very impressive. What do you think?” The noise level was high and she shouted to be heard.
Cool air rolled off the gushing water, taking the temperature down with it. She visibly shuddered and crossed her arms, running her hands along her chilled flesh.
He heard a shrill burst of feedback from his mic and he removed it from his ear. “I think the view from back here is even better.” He slid his arm around her neck and brought her back into his body to warm her. Enticing curves molded to him, the gentle smell of her shampoo adding another pull to his already heightened awareness of her. “Do you know the best way to keep a man’s attention?” he asked.
“Food, beer, and sex?” she asked, holding onto his wrist with both hands.
“Deny him something he wants really, really bad.” He rested his cheek against hers and watched a rainbow form on the waterfall.
“Do you want to know the best way to keep a woman’s attention?” Her words carried on the wind, faint and full of promise.
“Give her everything she wants?” If he had the power, he’d do that for Belle. Where the hell had that thought come from? A place he yearned to ignore.
“Listen to what she has to say, even if it’s not what you want to hear.”
Damn, she was reading his mind again. Or perhaps it was mere coincidence? “I listened to what you said.”
“And yet you still plan on going out on a date with Irina.” She crossed her arms and tapped her nail against her bicep before she stormed off.
He was thinking real life. She was still acting. He needed to steal a page from her book. This was a reality TV show and he’d do well to remember that at all times while under the watchful eye of the camera.
Except for him, it was becoming real. Not only did he lust after her, he was fast falling in love with her.
A place he never thought he’d be.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Tim put the SUV into park inside the garage at the lake house. He twisted in the driver’s seat of the SUV, his face pale. “I have to find the bathroom pronto.” He hopped out and ran up the steps to the inside of the house before she or Erik could comment.
“Stubborn man, he should have gone before we left or stopped on the way here,” Belle said, unfastening her seat belt. The night had turned magical at the falls and the only thing missing was a kiss. Lots of kisses. Many, many kisses. Sadly, that wasn’t in the cards because she’d put the kibosh on it. Erik had been true to his word and hadn’t even tried to kiss her.
“Hindsight,” Erik said from beside her in the back seat.
The word spoke to more than Tim and his weak bladder. “Exactly.” The old adage, be careful what you wish for, whispered across her mind. The night might have been romantic but she couldn’t allow herself to be drawn into complacency. Either she was voted off in a few days or she’d be forced to stay for the finale. She’d used every trick that had turned viewers off in the past. Time would determine the success of her ploy.
Erik clasped her wrist before she could open the door. “Hold on, I want to talk.”
“Okay.” The butterflies in her stomach that had been there all night were out again in full force.
“But not here. Let’s go somewhere a bit more private.” He pulled out his phone and tapped something into the screen. Pocketing the phone, he patted her leg. She felt his touch to the tip of her toes. He moved to the front seat and started the SUV before she could respond.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her pulse picking up at the idea of being alone with him. Could she restrain herself after such a romantic night? There were cameras everywhere, ready to catch them in the act. The act of what? She had a few ideas, none of them smart.
“Trust me.” He backed the SUV out and shut the garage door.
Trust him? She was sure she could trust him but could she trust herself?
With the lights off, he took the service road around the lake to the garage where they’d fixed the car. “The cameras are turned off here.”
“How do you know?” she asked, licking dry lips. No cameras and just the two of them. Alone. Together. Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea. It occurred to her that she could simply tell him to go back to the house. Could.
“Because I turned them off.” He parked the vehicle next to the shed. Moonlight reflected off the lake and the branches of a willow tree blew in the wind. The air was much warmer on the farm than at the falls. He moved from the driver’s seat back to the seat next to her. The large space closed in on her. Like a magnet to metal, she wanted to lean into his hardness and to feel his arms come around her.
“What did you want to talk about?” she asked, very much aware of his strong body close yet a world away.
“This.” Erik cupped her cheek, eyes dark in the blue glow of the moon. He was beyond compelling, his allure potent and raw.
“That’s not talking,” she whispered against his mouth, her eyelids closing. The last thing she cared to do in this second was talk.
