“Are we done?”
He raised his eyebrows at her scandalized tone, but long lashes hid the expression in his gaze. The roughness in his voice, however, gave him away as he breathed, “I hope not.”
“Then kiss me again and let’s take this thing horizontal.”
He put his arm around her, hand sliding to cup her butt while he rubbed his erection against her hip. She savored the hard length of him poking at her and shimmied to add even more friction. The taste of herself on his lips made her eager to have her way with him in turn. Even though she hadn’t yet gotten her hands on the bulge behind his zipper, she could tell he was well built.
A staccato horn beeped nearby as someone locked a car. At the interruption of their thoroughly hot and promising embrace, Paul tore his mouth from hers. Female voices intruded on the sensual fog Lia had gotten caught up in. Paul’s hands fell away from her body as he abruptly stepped back. His physical withdrawal left her shivering as if doused with cold water. Her eyes flew open in time to see shutters slam down over his expression. Only his heightened color and his unwillingness to look at her hinted at the passion he’d recently demonstrated.
A second later a knock sounded on the carriage house door and Lia almost whimpered in disappointment as she recognized Poppy’s voice.
“Hey, Paul, are you there?”
A muscle jumped in his jaw as he shot a hard look at the door. “I have to answer that.”
“Of course.” She drew in a shaky breath as his gaze raked over her. Feeling exposed and raw in the aftermath of such all-consuming desire, Lia craved some privacy to recover her wits before facing the twins. “Can I borrow your bathroom?”
“In there.” He pointed down the hallway and headed for the front door.
To her dismay, as soon as she met her gaze in the mirror, Lia found herself blinking back a rush of unexpected tears. She braced her hands on the sink and rode the wave of emotions until her breath steadied and she could smile without grimacing.
Although he’d been clear that lying to his family bothered him, Lia recognized that sneaking around added spice to their encounters. And she couldn’t imagine Paul being susceptible to such a thing—doubtless he’d never allowed himself to be in a situation like theirs before. And he wasn’t the only one.
During her years on the road, she’d had many men look at her lifestyle and view her as a short-term thing. Unlike her mother, who took frequent lovers, Lia needed some sort of a connection and rarely found it. What she’d just had with Paul was worth more than all her experiences combined and it left her wondering—if she’d found this before, would she have stayed put?
Lia loved her life on the road. Traveling around the country satisfied her restless nature and offered her the opportunity to experience places that people often missed because they either flew to their destinations or only visited tourist locations.
Her time stranded in Charleston had given Lia an opportunity to think about what she wanted for the future. Was she going to roam aimlessly for the rest of her life or should she put down roots somewhere? And what was her criteria for staying? She’d found much to like in Charleston, but did it feel like home? Was she drawn to the place or the people or both? Lia’s inability to answer told her to move on.
She cracked the door to hear the conversation just in time to recall that she’d committed to spending the afternoon with the twins.
“She’s going to tell our fortunes,” Poppy was saying to Paul, referring to Lia’s promise to bring out her tarot deck and read for them. “You have to come and have your cards read, too.”
“It’s all foolishness,” Paul said, sounding exasperated.
“Come on,” Dallas insisted. “I’m trying out some new recipes for Zoe and Ryan’s wedding and there will be cocktails. It’ll be fun.”
“Please,” Poppy wheedled. “You never hang out with us anymore.”
“Fine. I’ll be there.”
“Awesome,” Dallas said. “Half an hour.”
“And leave your skepticism at the door,” Poppy said. “The universe might have an important message for you.”
Once Paul had ushered out his cousins and shut the door, Lia returned to the great room, a brave smile plastered on her face to hide her disappointment at the change in plans.
“She’s right,” Lia said, striding toward him. From his closed expression and rigid posture, she guessed the intimacy they’d shared five minutes earlier had been shattered by the twins’ visit. “You should come with an open mind. The cards have a way of getting to the truth.”
Paul stood with his hand on the doorknob and gazed down his nose at her. “Fortune-telling is all just educated guesses and made-up stuff.”
“It can be,” Lia agreed, thinking their differences couldn’t be any clearer. “But sometimes if you open your heart, the answers will shine like the midday sun.”
“Except I don’t ask those sorts of questions.”
Questions that might encourage him to lead with his heart and not his head. Lia knew nothing she could say would convince him otherwise so she pushed down her disappointment and vowed to only ask of him what she knew he could give.
Six