How to Love (7 page)

“Uh-huh.” Getting naked with Jules alone in her studio…yeah that sounded pretty good. But her taking pictures of him… “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” She stared at him.

“Christ! I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” she asked again, a stubborn set to her small chin. Then she relaxed and gave her head a shake. “Oh never mind. It doesn’t matter.” Although from the shadow in her eyes he got the feeling it did matter. She smiled at him. “If you’re not comfortable with it, then we shouldn’t do it. It would totally come across in the photographs, and I don’t want images where the model looks stiff or embarrassed. Some people are more comfortable in their bodies than others.”

“I’m comfortable. Very possibly stiff, though.” She laughed, but he studied her as he lifted his beer to his mouth. Was she trying to manipulate him? Hard to know. Her smile looked guileless, but…her eyes were so seductive… “I’m just not a model.”

“I don’t use models,” she said. “I can’t afford it. Which means, yeah, you’d be doing it for free.”

“Well, I sure as hell wouldn’t be doing it for money.”

Again she chuckled.

“I’ll think about it,” he found himself saying, with a feeling of being pulled into the depths of those eyes, like he was being sucked into a slowly spinning, sexy vortex.

“Okay, thanks. So. Tell me more about your adventure company.”

Probably an excellent change of subject. And he and Carlos both liked talking about the business, so as they moved on to the patio to grill the steaks they talked about what was coming up that week.

“If you wanted to come kayaking to the Mosaic Cave on Wednesday with me to get some pictures, that would be fine,” he told Jules as they sat at the small outdoor table with their dinner. He refilled her wine glass and poured a little for himself. Carlos didn’t like wine so he didn’t bother offering him any.

She lowered her chin and looked up at him through long eyelashes. “Seriously?”

“Sure. Why not?” He grinned as he stuck his fork into a potato.

“We won’t even charge you,” Carlos said.

“Hey,” Mike said. “That’s no way to run a business.”

Jules laughed. “I would pay.”

“Nah,” Mike said. “We’re going anyway. We’ve got a group of about ten set up, it’s easy for one more person to come along. Have you ever kayaked?”

“Actually, I have. I’m not very good, though.”

“I could take the double and you could ride with me.”

She nibbled her bottom lip. “You’re serious.”

He grinned. “Yeah. I already said that. But it’s up to you. You might get some good shots. Or maybe it’s not all that interesting to you.” He paused. “Nobody will be naked.”

Her lips twitched. “Damn. Here I thought you kayaked naked.”

“Now there’s a marketing idea we haven’t thought of,” Carlos said.

Mike cut a piece of steak, a warm feeling spreading through him that was more than just the red wine. “True that. You know, on Santa Rosita Island there’s a nude beach.”

“There is?” Jules looked at him wide-eyed.

“I can’t believe you didn’t know that.”

She shook her head, her eyes narrowed. “You guys are yanking my chain, aren’t you?”

“No!” He slapped a hand to his chest. “No shit. I’ve been there. The thing is, it’s tricky to get to. You can only access it by boat.”

“Well. It’s not like I can paddle over there and start snapping pictures of people on the beach.”

“Guess that’s not allowed, huh?” Mike leaned back in his chair and picked up his wine glass.

“Uh…no.” She shook her head, smiling, and looked down at her plate. “So maybe I’ll come with you on Wednesday. It could be fun.”

“Great.”

They talked about San Amaro, and since Mike and Carlos were new there Jules recommended some good restaurants and places to shop. She gave them directions to the big new home store on the south side of the city, past the country club.

“It’s a really nice course,” she said. “If you golf.”

“I golf,” Mike said. “Not Carlos.”

“Christ, you might as well watch paint dry for fun,” Carlos said.

“He’s an adrenaline junkie,” Mike told Jules.

“I don’t deny it,” Carlos said. “You golf, Jules?”

“Um. No.”

“So I’ll be driving right on by the country club to the home store,” Carlos said with a grin. “We’ll be making lots of trips there. Lots to do on the house.”

“Like what?”

He gestured to the yard, which was minimally landscaped, the lawn patchy and weedy. “Wanna put in some shrubs and plants out here. The grass isn’t in great shape, I’ll need some seed. That palm tree needs major pruning.”

“Inside,” Mike continued, “we want to refinish the hardwood floors. Paint pretty much every room.”

“The main bathroom needs to be gutted,” Carlos added.

“You guys can do all that?” She looked back and forth between them.

Mike put on an offended look. “Of course we can. We’re men.”

“I know that. Believe me.”

And once again, he was as hard as a fence post, just at her smoky voice and sultry eyes.

Jules insisted on helping with the dishes when they’d eaten. “I’d better get home,” she said when they were done. “I’m glad I don’t have far to go, I had a few glasses of that wine.”

“I’ll walk you home,” Mike said, drying his hands on a towel.

“Don’t be silly. I live next door.”

And he was so, so glad of that. “Still,” he said. “Come on.” He held the back door open for her and let her precede him onto the patio, now dark. “We need some lights out here.”

“Mmm. I saw some really cute ones that were little garden gnomes that lit up.”

He choked on a laugh. “Oh man. I don’t think so.” He set his hand on the small of her back as he followed her around the side of the house in the dark. He leaned in a little closer and the scent of her hair rose in the cool night air, something delicate and floral and feminine. He breathed it in.

Attraction was like a punch to his gut, sucking the air out of his lungs, making his body tighten. He followed her up her front sidewalk to her door. The overhead light shone off her dark hair as she pulled her key out from the small bag she carried.

She turned and smiled up at him, an expectant, knowing smile. “Thanks for dinner.”

“It was fun.”

“Yeah.” Something passed across her eyes. “It was.”

An inexplicable emotion rose up inside him, something he couldn’t name, didn’t really understand. It felt like…tenderness. He didn’t feel sorry for her…she was in no way pitiable. If anything, she was a little intimidating in her confidence and sexy frankness. And yet, once again he had the sense of something beneath the surface that she kept hidden away. He wasn’t sure what it was…yet. But he was going to find out.

She expected him to come in. She thought that’s why he’d walked her home. He could tell.

He moved closer. Her eyes widened a little, her gaze dropping to his mouth. His body responded with a hot surge of blood through his veins. And yet…this wasn’t about sex.

Well. Not
all
about sex. Sex was definitely part of it. But not all of it.

So he bent his head, his eyelids lowered but not closed, and brushed his mouth over her petal-soft cheek. “Good night.”

He caught the flare of surprise in those amazing lavender eyes as he drew back. He smiled at her and stepped back, waiting for her to enter her house before leaving.

“Um. Yeah. Good night. Thanks again.” She let herself in then closed the door behind her.

He grinned as he jumped down her front steps to the brick sidewalk. There might be a little control battle going on between them, but he’d just had the equivalent of the last word.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to take photographs of Mosaic Cave. It did sound unique and interesting. It sounded even more interesting to go there with Mike, although having ten other people around put a little damper on that. But dammit, she’d gotten the idea in her head that she wanted to photograph
him
. She’d dreamed about
him
the last three nights in a row, since that dinner on Sunday evening. She’d seen his naked torso and had no doubt the rest of him was just as impressive. She had all kinds of ideas of how she could photograph him…

And now, watching his powerful shoulders moving the kayak through the water, muscles rippling beneath his wetsuit, the sun burnishing his hair with glints of gold and bronze, she could barely take her eyes off him.

She wanted to pull out her camera and start shooting, capturing the power and strength in his muscles as he moved. She had to make an effort to keep her mouth from falling open in awe as she watched him.

The most disturbing thing about the dreams she’d had was that not all of them were about him naked. Some of them were him teasing her, looking at her as if she fascinated him, with warm eyes and a gentle smile. So different from so many men who looked at her with lewd heat, as if all they wanted was sex.

Which confused her, because usually she was fine with that. Usually, all
she
wanted was sex.

She dug her paddle in and out of the water, in and out, even though Mike was doing most of the work. The sun warmed her face despite the cool ocean breeze as they paddled up the coast.

“Almost there,” Mike said to her over his shoulder.

“Okay.”

She’d thought he was going to come home with her Sunday night. After they’d eaten, drank and flirted all night, when he’d offered to walk her home, which was totally unnecessary, she’d been sure that was what was going to happen. And she’d been disappointed when it didn’t. Her body had been humming with sexual arousal most of the evening. She was so attracted to him she could nearly burst out of her skin with it, a pulsing ache between her legs, her nipples tingling. More than that, she’d had fun.

And if she was completely honest, which she often wasn’t with herself—a wry smile tugged her lips—it had been because of both Mike
and
Carlos. She liked them both. They were both very attractive. But where Carlos had sat back, Mike was the one who’d focused on her with heated intensity, leaning closer, his eyes warm and attentive. And that had really made her pussy clench, had really started a deep-down heat spreading through her body. Had really drawn her to him.

She sighed as Mike paddled a little harder to lead the group ashore. They’d reached their destination—a tiny patch of rough, rocky sand, surrounded by rock cliffs. She eyed the coast doubtfully as they neared it.

“We do a climbing tour here as well,” Mike told her, gesturing to the rocky wall rising up above the beach.

She eyed it skeptically. “You climb that?”

“Well, I have. But Carlos is the one who does the rock climbing gigs. Also the paragliding and the bike tours.”

“And the high ropes.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, you said he’s an adrenaline junkie.”

Mike grinned. “Yeah. He is. Mr. Extreme Sports. He also likes to snowboard and skateboard.”

She eyed his muscular, athletic body. “He’s not the only one who’s into sports, I’d say.”

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said. “Or you’ll be finding out what my favorite sport is.”

She laughed as he hauled out waterproof bags with their lunch in them then unpacked deli sandwiches, salads and drinks. “Okay,” he said. “We’ll have lunch and then explore the caves.”

During the trip along the coast he’d talked to the group about some of the sights they’d seen along the way, the San Amaro pier, the sea lions and kelp forests. She’d been impressed with his knowledge as well as the easy skill with which he handled the kayak. Now, he shared more information about the history of the caves and the nearby rock formations.

Jules wolfed down a sandwich in record time, starving but also eager to pull out her camera and start shooting. This small, secluded beach wasn’t accessible any other way than by water, and the unique rock sculptures fascinated her photographer’s eye. She began taking pictures and then followed Mike and the others into the dark cave. The floor of the cave was sand and rock, the walls a mosaic of muted shades of green and rust and gold from the lichen and algae that grew there.

It was dark, so she reset her ISO on her camera to sixty-four hundred and hoped that was enough. She made sure that her f-stop was as wide open as possible. Maybe she’d try a few test shots and then see if she needed her flash. She peered at the preview screen. Looked pretty good.

Occasionally she directed her camera at Mike. Although still fully clothed, he attracted her attention.

“Sea caves are formed primarily by erosion,” Mike told the group. “We have to be very aware of the tides when we come here. As you can see, water comes right up into the cave at high tide.”

Jules shivered at the thought of being trapped in the dark cave by water. Along with heights, darkness was another one of her little phobias.

“Anywhere there’s a weakness in the rock, the action of the waves will wear away at the rock and potentially form a cave,” Mike continued. “Water is incredibly powerful. And of course it carries along with it sand and rock which also act as an abrasive on the walls. Even the air that is forced into the spaces in the rocks by the water acts to break down the rock.”