“I saw this online,” Lillie murmured. “The fountain shows. Too bad we can’t hear the music.”
“Who says we can’t?” Jim’s lips touched the side of her neck. He threaded his fingers through hers and brought her with him onto the balcony. Plants of all sorts covered the low concrete terraces on the exterior wall of the suite. Trickling waterfalls fell between the greenery, all of it a lush paradise in the middle of the desert.
Jim pressed a small button. The opening strains of “Con Te Partiro” rose from the speakers mounted above them. Lillie settled onto the cushiony loveseat Jim guided her to, her eyes glued to the show flawlessly displayed below.
“You can turn on the television to hear the music as well,” Jim explained, “but since I prefer watching the real show outside, I had my own system installed. There’s a radio transmitter tucked into one of the main speakers on the ground level that relays up to my suite.”
He was pirating the signal. Lillie dragged her gaze from the show to examine him closer. “That sounds technical.”
Jim shrugged. “The guy I hired said it was pretty easy.”
Ahh. So Jim himself was not the hacker. His guy was right, if you knew what you were doing, it would be simple.
Lillie turned back to the performance, keeping her comment to herself.
The temperature was falling, but before it grew cool enough to feel a chill, Jim wrapped her in his arms, her body tight to his side as they reclined on the overstuffed cushions and enjoyed the show.
Her bear had more than woken up. With all the kerfuffle, the poor creature was no longer in its typical sleepy February frame of mind. As they sat quietly, that side of her tested the waters, wondering if Jim’s grizzly planned to do something horrifying like eat her.
Lillie held her tongue. As a human, she was shy—she got that. But her bear took being a delicate beastie to an extreme. Still, they were intimately connected, and there was no arguing with this one.
Jim had to convince both sides of Lillie he was a safe bet.
He was doing a marvelous job so far. He had laid his arm along the back of the loveseat, her shoulders resting against his biceps. He draped his hand over her arm and held her lightly, tracing circles with his thumb. A gentle sweep back and forth as if he wasn’t even aware he was doing it.
Her mouth had gone dry, and a whole lot of other places had gone wet, just from that touch.
She curled her legs up, her left knee rising slightly over his right leg. It was natural to lean her head on his chest as the music continued to serenade them. His chin brushed the top of her head, and he rubbed back and forth, matching the mesmerizing touch on her arm.
It was like a game of Operation, only he had no intention of avoiding hitting her buzzers. Every contact sent an electric pulse racing, shooting all directions until they careened together in a massive pileup directly over her clit.
Her bear was no longer afraid. Instead, the creature was sniffing around, curious why they were not pouncing upon this fascinatingly hunkalicious fellow.
Buzzz.
She jerked upright in surprise, far too slow in figuring out what was going on. She tugged her phone free and examined the text.
This is your breathing check. Please respond if you are able
A snort escaped as she turned to Jim. “Sorry, have to get this.”
He gestured her to go ahead.
Addie’s concern was cute, but her timing sucked. What if I didn’t answer?
I’d be there so fast your pointy little head would spin
What if I was BUSY?
Addie added three dots in a row before coming back with and are you likely to be “BUSY” anytime soon?
Lillie went for broke. Yes. I’m having a fling
Oh sweetie
Not good. Not good when her best friend started with “Oh sweetie…”
You’re too tenderhearted to go and fool around willy-nilly. This is a disaster waiting to happen
She screwed up her courage. It’s my last chance. I have to. I want to
K. But call if you need me
She put away her phone, not as worried as she usually would have been after Addie had offered a warning.
Beside her, Jim adjusted his position, the heat in his eyes perfect for melting her final doubts.
“Are you ready to go in?” he asked.
He stood, bringing her to her feet. One hand slid around her back, guiding her into his apartment and the sea of pale blue walls and Mediterranean accents.
“It’s so beautiful here.”
“I like it.” Jim pulled her away from examining a conch shell she’d found on the dining room table. “Lillie. I’m going to kiss you now.”
The fact he’d thought to warn her only made it that much more unbearable to wait. They stood in the middle of the room, his hands rising to cup her face. Slowly he leaned in, tilting her head so when he touched their mouths together they were perfectly lined up.