A moment later she was in his arms.
For once, Natalie was entirely willing to just give herself up to the moment. She had been careful and sensible and practical and deliberate all her life—and look where it had gotten her. She was sure she would return to her old ways soon enough, but she was basically on vacation now. What else were vacations for, if not to get away from the stress of real life?
It was a rationalization she would never even have entertained only a few months earlier. But that was before her whole world had been turned upside down.
She’d been admiring Casey’s appearance for days now. Since the first moment she’d seen him, actually. She’d thought his slightly shaggy, light brown hair was beautiful, with its rich texture and gleaming gold streaks. She appreciated it even more when she was able to bury her hands in it, feeling the softness, the thickness, the slight waviness of the strands surrounding her fingers.
She’d always been drawn to his eyes. So bright, such a compelling mixture of greens and blues. Gazing into them, she trailed a fingertip lightly over his lashes, envying him their length and thickness. It took two coats of mascara to get hers to look that long, she mused with a private smile.
Tracing the structure of his cheekbones and jawline, she decided that “clean” and “well-balanced” were the two terms that best described the lines of his face. If she’d had any artistic talent, she’d have loved to sculpt him, to try to recreate those lovely angles with clay or marble.
His shoulders were firm and straight, his abs well-developed, though not to the overworked, bodybuilder stage. He was slim and fit, but she suspected he maintained his condition through sports and other activities rather than regimented workouts at a gym.
He conducted his own explorations as they kissed and caressed on the couch. His hands slid down her back, around her ribcage, up to her breasts. The kisses grew hotter, deeper, hungrier. Their breathing accelerated, roughened, and their movements grew more frenzied.
They were rapidly getting to the point of no return. Natalie’s entire body was aching by the time Casey lifted his head to look down at her. She saw the question in his eyes even before he said huskily, “Natalie, I—”
A loud, shattering crash from the back of the cabin made both of them jump. Buddy jumped to his feet and barked toward the bedroom. After staring at Natalie for a blank moment, Casey pushed himself to his feet and ran toward the back. She followed a bit more slowly, still trying to clear her passion-dazed mind enough to understand what was going on.
The scene in the master bathroom made her stop abruptly in her tracks. Casey stood in the doorway, cursing angrily in a low voice. The large, new, beveled mirror that he had hung above the sink had fallen from the wall, smashing against the sink and countertop, raining shards of silvery glass everywhere in the bathroom.
The toiletry items she’d left sitting on the counter beside the sink were scattered, some of them broken from the impact. One of the bottles had held an expensive perfume. Now the bathroom reeked of what should have been a subtle floral scent.
“What on earth happened?” she asked, taking an instinctive step back from the overly aromatic mess.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked irritably. “The mirror I hung last week fell off the wall. I guess I didn’t use enough mastic or something. Whatever, I screwed it up.”
She didn’t take offense at his tone, since she realized he was angry with himself, not her. “Everyone makes mistakes, Casey.”
“Yeah. I just make more than my share.” Shaking his head in self-disgust, he said, “This is going to take a while to clean up. I’ll have to go out to the truck to get my gloves. Don’t go in, there’s glass everywhere. Slivers as sharp as razors.”
She nodded. “I’ll get the broom and dustpan. And the large trash can to put the glass in.”
“There’s no need for you to help clean. This is my fault.”
“It would take you hours by yourself. I’ll help. I’ll get my gloves.”
“No. This glass would go right through those leather gloves you wear. Mine are thicker. I’ll do the picking up. You can sweep, if you want, but you’d better put on thicker-soled shoes than those sneakers you’re wearing now.”
He was wearing sneakers, too, but the soles on his were thicker than hers. Nodding, she moved to the bedroom closet to pull out a pair of boots while Casey went out for his gloves.
He returned quickly, and was back in the bathroom doorway before she had gathered the cleaning supplies. His expression was grim when he looked over his shoulder at her. “You could have been standing there,” he said, motioning toward the sink. “You could have been badly hurt, if not—”
“I wasn’t standing there,” she reminded him in a firmly calming voice. “There’s no need to waste energy with what-ifs. It was an accident, that’s all.”
“It was incompetence,” he disputed flatly. “I never should have tried to install that mirror on my own. I thought it was a simple job and I didn’t realize—I’m no handyman, Natalie. I’m a—”
“Buddy, no.” Natalie put a hand on the dog’s head as he tried to crowd past her to see what Casey was up to. “You’ll get glass in your feet in there. I’d better get him out of here before he gets hurt,” she added to Casey.
Casey nodded and turned to start picking up the larger pieces of glass and dump them in the big plastic trash can she’d emptied and wheeled in for the job.
She ushered the dog back into the other room, slipped him a little meat from the fridge to bribe him into staying behind and went back into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
The smell of the spilled perfume hit her as soon as she walked into the room. It must be giving Casey quite a headache, she thought.
She had already decided she would be sleeping on the couch that night. Considering the aromas wafting from the bathroom, she would likely dream of being lost in a botanical garden if she slept in the bedroom.
As for inviting Casey to stay with her…well, that moment had passed in a crash of glass and reality.