CHAPTER 3
MORTIFIED.
Kyra was one hundred percent, fully loaded, no-holds-barred, mortified.
Over the course of twenty-six years, she’d had plenty of opportunities to do embarrassing things. But hanging upside down with her underwear fluttering in the breeze pretty much took first prize. Especially when she was baring it all in front of a gorgeous man whose whiskey-smooth voice made her blood race and her toes curl. A man who could well be the walking, talking embodiment of her fantasy.
She’d kissed his cheek without thinking—isn’t that what girls who needed rescuing did?—and that had been a big mistake. He smelled like the ocean breeze that had been teasing her all day. And the sandpaperish touch of his cheek against her mouth left her lips tingling, left her wanting more—and the realization unnerved her.
He was dark and mysterious and intriguing, and she felt like a high-school girl thrust into close quarters with the varsity quarterback.
Stop it!She’d come here wanting a fantasy, and hereit was—herehewas. She needed to pull herself together. Needed to remember how to act sexy and sophisticated—just the way all those articles inCosmolaid it out. That’s what she needed to do.
So why the heck was she so terrified? Why hadn’t she realized this would be so hard?
And what if she made an advance and he wasn’t the least bit interested in her?Thatwould certainly ratchet her mortification level up to monumental proportions. And why would he be interested? After all, since she was acting like a teenager, that’s probably just how he thought of her—a flighty airhead who needed a man around to keep her out of trouble. Of course, considering he’d just rescued her from a tree, maybe that wasn’t too absurd an assumption.
Absently, she smoothed her skirt. “I…I don’t usually do such stupid things.” She wanted him to realize she wasn’t a space cadet.
“Trying to help a cat out of a bind?”
She glanced up and saw his grin despite the darkness and shadows hiding his face. “No. Getting stuck like that. I’m usually more self-reliant. Really.”
“Nothing wrong with needing a little help every once in a while.”
“No, there’s not.” Heck, she was planning to marry Harold because she needed a little help. So she certainly wasn’t going to argue with his philosophy. “I just wasn’t really expecting—”
She clamped her mouth shut, remembering Merrilee’swords.It may be when you least expect it…Her knees went weak as she tried to get her mind around what was going on. He was her rescuer, her hero, her fantasy…and that scared her to death.
He moved closer, and his arm closed around her, warm and possessive. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, realizing only then that she was shivering.
“Hmmm.” He didn’t sound convinced. “After hanging upside down like that, I shouldn’t have let you stand up.”
The deep timbre of his voice shot straight through her, pooling somewhere between her thighs. Oh, Lord, she needed to get a grip. No matter how enticing he might be, no matter how much she wanted this fantasy, it was all happening too fast. Just five minutes ago, she’d been upside down, for crying out loud.
She needed to let her head clear. Her fingers practically itched for her notebook and pen. She wanted to step back, to analyze, to weigh the pros and the cons. To figure out what she should do next.
She never moved this quickly, and for the first time she feared that she’d made a huge mistake coming to Fantasies, Inc. She’d lived her whole life a certain way. Calm and ordered, she’d been the rock. The one everyone could trust, the one they relied on not to jump in without thinking. What demon had possessed her body when she’d filled out that application?
The same demon who was now whispering in herear, urging her to jump into his arms, to press her lips against his, to—
She shook her head, hoping to order her thoughts.
“I’m fine. Really.” She moved against his arm, trying to get free, but he held fast, his hold both unnerving and enticing.
“Let me walk you to your cabana.”
She surprised herself by not resisting, and he steered them forward along the path, moving as if they’d walked that way together a thousand times.
He seemed soright. The way they fit together, the way they moved, and with each step, a layer of fears and hesitations slipped away.
She’d left the lights on, and in the distance her cabana looked warm and inviting against the dark, damp night. Kyra sped up, drawn to the light, hoping against hope that moving away from the magical illumination of the lightning storm and into the harsh reality of incandescent bulbs would somehow bring her back to her senses.
Was she really thinking about inviting him inside?
Oh, yeah. She really was. And the realization was terrifying.
