His gaze darkened and his hand came up to cup her cheek. ‘Saying no to you wasn’t as easy as I imagined it would be.’ He leaned down and pressed a soft-as-air kiss to her lips. ‘This is all it took—one kiss.’
Aerin stroked her hand along his lean jaw, gazing into his eyes, wondering if she was a fool for thinking he was falling for her. And wasn’t she an even bigger fool for falling for him? She couldn’t hide from the truth any longer. She had fallen in love with him the moment he kissed her. How was that even possible? But then, hadn’t so many of her clients told her similar stories about their journey to happy ever after? Even her two best friends and business partners had experienced the sudden dart of Cupid’s arrow. A first glance, a first touch, a first kiss, a first date—all or any of those things had happened to other people, including her own parents and older brother.
‘It will seem strange not being able to kiss you when we get back to London. I mean, we never even pecked on the cheek before. You always seemed to keep your distance. Not like I can talk. I did too.’
Drake twirled a strand of her hair around his finger, sending shivers up and down her spine. ‘We might have to keep our distance for a while, to let things go back to normal.’
Normal? Normal was not healthy for her, Aerin knew that now. ‘I guess...’ Her teeth sank into her lower lip, her thoughts in a tangle. Her checklist flashed up in her mind and she inwardly cringed at how naïve she had been to write that stuff down. Who could ever tick every box? And just because one or even two weren’t ticked, did it mean all of the others that were didn’t count for something?
Drake’s features were set in grave lines. ‘It’d be crazy to continue this back home. We couldn’t hope to keep it a secret for long.’
Aerin forced a smile of agreement to her lips. ‘Of course. That’s what we agreed—just this weekend.’
A frown pulled at his intelligent forehead. ‘There’s one other thing we haven’t considered.’
‘What?’
‘The snow.’
‘Oh...’
Drake eased himself away from her and rose from the bed. She couldn’t take her eyes off his naked form as he strode to the windows. Her hands had caressed almost every inch of his body. How could she go back to London and pretend this hadn’t happened? Her body was so tinglingly aware of him. Of his every movement. His every glance in her direction. She would have her work cut out for her, disguising her reaction to him in future. Every nerve in her body tingled when he was near her. The sensual energy he stirred in her was not something she could so easily switch off.
Aerin slipped on her wrap and padded over to join him by the window. Not only had the snow not melted, more was falling in soft, silent flurries. ‘It’s so beautiful...’ She couldn’t disguise the sense of wonder in her voice.
Drake placed his hand on the small of her back. It was such a light touch and yet it sent a warm wave of longing straight to her core. He was still looking out at the view, his forehead creased in a frown. ‘Yes, it is. Thank God it’s not a blizzard, though.’ He turned to face her, his hand moving from her lower back to settle on her hip. ‘We might have to stay a couple of extra days. Is that going to be a problem for you and your work?’
Another couple of days...snowbound with Drake Cawthorn.
It was a problem, but not in the way he probably thought. It could snow for a month, two or three even and she would be happy here with him. Shut off from the rest of the world in their own little bubble of physical bliss.
‘It’s not a busy time for us just now, so it will be okay. I do have a wedding the weekend after next, though. But what about you?’
He gave a shrug of one broad shoulder. ‘I’ll get my secretary to reschedule my commitments.’
There was a beat or two of silence.
Drake glanced at her mouth and his hand on her hip gently nudged her closer to his body. A delicious shudder went through her as his other hand cupped the back of her head. ‘I’m aware that if I hadn’t brought you here away from the reunion hotel, you wouldn’t be stuck here with me now.’
Aerin lifted her hand to his face and stroked the jagged scar on his left eyebrow with her finger. ‘I don’t feel stuck with you, in fact, quite the opposite. I feel free in a way I’ve never felt before.’ Her finger came down to trace around his mouth. ‘I didn’t realise making love could be so...so amazing. I mean, I’ve talked to friends and so on, but I didn’t realise the sheer power of it. The way it takes over your body and your mind and makes you feel so euphoric.’ She lowered her hand to place it back on his chest. ‘I’m glad I got to experience it first with you.’
Drake captured her hand and held it up to his mouth, within kissing reach of her fingertips, his eyes holding hers. ‘I sensed you were uncomfortable pretending to be in love with me in front of your friends. I thought it’d be easier to be up here on our own.’ His mouth twisted along rueful lines. ‘But then I couldn’t stop myself from wanting you.’
Oh, the irony.
Aerin had hated lying to her school friends, she had hated the thought of being caught out and found to be an imposter. But had she truly been pretending to be in love with Drake? Or had the real thing, the real emotion hit her the first time he kissed her? It certainly felt like it. Something had happened as soon as his mouth pressed against hers. Something she had no words to explain other than it was almost other-worldly. A magical sense of rightness that his mouth was the first to kiss hers.
Aerin leaned into his embrace, her free hand going up to play with his thick dark hair. ‘I couldn’t stop myself wanting you either. You’re rather hard to resist when you kiss me so thoroughly.’
His eyes glinted and he drew her closer to the hot, hard heat of his body. ‘Is that a hint to kiss you again?’
She gave him a coy smile. ‘Only if you want to kiss me.’
He brought his mouth down to just above hers. ‘I do.’
Some hours later, Drake was lingering over a second coffee in the kitchen while Aerin examined the contents of the pantry and fridge in order to plan dinner in a few hours’ time. They had had a snatch-and-grab breakfast, which had been closer to lunchtime after they had made love.
Made love.