Had a one-night hook-up... Or any hook-up at all, for that matter.
The answer seemed too compromising—and embarrassing. Would he change his mind if he knew she had no experience?
‘I’ve never done something so spontaneous,’ she said, settling for a less revealing answer which was no less true.
He chuckled, that low, husky laugh she had begun to adore.
‘Then you’re way overdue, cher.’
He lifted her hand to his mouth, spread open her fingers and bit gently into the swell of flesh beneath her thumb. The sharp nip sent sensation tearing through the last of her self-control.
Her fingertips skimmed the rough stubble on his jaw as his gaze locked on hers, dark with desire.
‘If we do it right,’ he said, ‘the only consequence will be bon temps. Good times. I swear.’ His gaze remained locked on hers. ‘And I know we’re gonna do it right.’
Before she could give herself too long to think—to plan or regret or become that dull rule-follower again—she nodded. ‘I’d love to go with you.’
‘Good,’ he said, and excitement dropped like a stealth bomb into her heart.
CHAPTER THREE
‘I’VE NEVER BEEN in a seaplane before!’ Cassie shouted into the microphone attached to her helmet above the rumble of the plane’s engines as the floats skipped over the water and the aircraft gathered speed. ‘Does that mean you owe me another first?’
Luke sent her a smile. ‘Nope—because I’ve never had a woman in this plane before either.’
She wasn’t sure she believed him, but still her heartrate bumped in her chest as the plane rose from the water.
She gasped, and awe pressed against her ribs as the aircraft lifted over the Golden Gate Bridge. The plane tipped to the right, giving her a panoramic view of Oakland and San Francisco sprawled across the hillside, and she squinted to pick out the places he’d already taken her tonight.
Her heart catapulted into her throat for about the tenth time that evening. But it wasn’t the amazing views as they headed out onto the open water, leaving the city lights scattered like stars behind them, that was taking her breath away.
The plane’s wing lights lit Luke’s frown of concentration as he handled the controls with practised efficiency.
Ashling would die of shock if she could see me now.
She choked off a slightly hysterical laugh. Luke turned, pinning her again with that intense green gaze and making her insides purr along with the plane.
‘All good?’ he asked.
‘Wonderful,’ she said.
Why had she never done anything like this before?
‘The coastline is breathtaking in daylight,’ he said. ‘Green and rugged and untamed.’
‘It looks amazing at night, too,’ she said, as captivated by the man beside her as she was by the breathtaking view. ‘How long does it take to get to your home?’ she asked, not wanting the ride to end, but at the same time eager to kiss him again and feel his hard body against hers.
If a person was going to lose her mind for a night, she couldn’t imagine a more rewarding way to do it. This was so much better than trying a contraband cigarette at boarding school, or handing in an essay three hours late, or getting your flatmate to deliver your boss’s tuxedo and then discovering the fallout far too late to do anything about it.
Cassie sighed, remembering the tsunami of text messages she’d found on her phone when she’d turned it on at the airport. Tons from Gwen, from her sickbed, because she’d obviously been harassed by Temple when his tuxedo had failed to show—and one from Temple.
The tux has finally landed. Don’t get your flatmate to run errands for me in future.
Ashling going AWOL on her was nothing new, but by the time Cassie had found out about the problem it had been two in the morning in the UK and there had been no point in ringing Temple to apologise profusely, or calling Ashling to give her hell for screwing up such a simple task.
So Cassie had sent Ash a text from the wedding—which her friend would get in the morning—and then switched off her phone.
Thank goodness Temple wasn’t the sort to hold a grudge. But it was funny to think that ever since Luke had approached her she’d completely forgotten about Ashling’s latest ditzkrieg.