Madeline stared into his dreamy eyes and knew better than to let him go again. The angry words were an overreaction more than anything. How could she be angry when she'd fantasized about running into him again? Fantasized about his tongue between her thighs. She'd been foolish to turn him away the first time and had beat herself up over it ever since. Madeline loosened her fists and softened her voice.
"You know, I have to admit, I would never have thought of riding on the Mississippi in a riverboat. I'm thrilled, actually. It goes to show you still know me after all this time. Maybe even better than I know myself."
"So you forgive me?"
His smile was hard to deny. Hell, everything about him was hard to deny. Discreetly her eyes swept over his body, lingered below his waist and returned to his firm jaw. In that moment it didn't seem any time had passed between them. It took her a few minutes to realize how warm she'd become standing near him and knew it had nothing to do with the weather. Still, the dream could never be real. They were different people now.
"You'd like it to be that easy, wouldn't you? This isn't some movie of the week. I won't run into your arms and play pretend."
Reinaldo stuck out his lower lip and gave her the sad eyes. Beautiful brown puppy dog eyes, an expression she cherished. "Would it help for me to say I didn't even picture you naked until I turned around and saw you in a bikini?"
"I'd say you thought of me naked long before you sent the invitation."
He hung his head and shuffled his feet. "Guilty."
Madeline smiled. Some things never changed. "So where'd you stow all the other passengers?"
"You're the only one."
Madeline blinked and cocked her head. "I'm the only one what?"
"Passenger."
"I can't be."
"You are."
She shuddered. How did she wind up alone for the most part with a man who rendered her body into a ball of putty?
Reinaldo cleared his throat. "While I'm baring my soul I should probably let you know one other little teeny tiny detail."
She crossed her arms and groaned. "Yes?"
He playfully covered his head. "Don't hit me. Okay, here goes. I remember how much you enjoyed a little pain with your pleasure so I thought of some exciting, shall we say, activities."
"Wait, I don't understand. The invitation didn't say anything about that."
"Would you have come if I'd added BDSM in place of RSVP?" |
