Miss Impractical Pants (34 page)

“How humiliating!
I’m so sorry…what a pain I’ve been! Did I cause a big scene at the airport?” She tried to thwart mortification by keeping her nose in her bag and focusing on the silent debate of whether or not to put on a fresh pair of underwear.

“No.”

His answer seemed too quick to be truthful. He smiled. “And you’ve been nothing but sheer enjoyment, I promise, since the moment we met.” He strode from the bed to the bathroom, where he exchanged his wet boxers for a dry towel. “You have no idea how much I envy you at this moment.”

“Me? Why?” She knew he couldn’t be serious; there was nothing enviable about her.

“I would give anything to have a toothbrush right now.”

He had a point. A toothbrush was a desirable commodity. She snuck on the new panties,
then
sauntered with her toiletry bag to the bathroom, where he was drying off. “You’d give
anything
?” she said, pulling two sparkly toothbrushes from her toiletry bag. “Meet Donny and Marie.” She held one in each hand triumphantly. “Which one would you like? Donny’s had a bit of use, but Marie is brand new.” She thrust Marie at him, guessing at his answer.

“I have to ask—why do you carry two toothbrushes?” he questioned amusedly.

She held a finger up, instructing him to wait while she rinsed her mouth. “You never know when you might drop one on the floor or in the toilet or something. I’m not going to put a mungy, germy toothbrush back in my mouth,” she replied, examining her polished
teeth in the mirror. “And isn’t it lucky for you that I do?” She flashed him an exaggerated smile that flaunted her pearly whites and flicked her brush in his direction, misting him with the excess water, before sashaying from the room.

She left him to his grooming as she stared out the glass doors onto the beach, lost in thought. Her hair was tossed over one shoulder, and she was mindlessly rubbing it dry with a towel.

“I’d almost give your toothbrush back to know what you’re thinking.”

Katie jumped. “Jeez! You startled me.”

Lucas stood behind her and folded his arms loosely around the base of her neck. “What’s going in that head of yours?”

There was no way she was about to share what she’d been thinking, but she couldn’t hide the furious burn in her cheeks. He returned her blush.
Is he actually embarrassed? Sooo cute!

“I was totally out of line, wasn’t I?” he worried.

She squirmed in his arms to meet his contrite expression and grinned up at him.
“Totally.”

She didn’t know why she did it—yes she did: she was still tripping from her lust overdose—but she let the blanket around her body slip to the floor and reached up on her tip-toes and kissed him.

She had only a second to register his surprise before he grabbed her up in one arm and yanked the curtains closed and tore the duvet from the sheets with the other. His warm mouth worked feverishly against hers as he brought her the short distance to the bed. He was a masterful artist, using his hands and lips to resculpt her body until it contoured to his. In the back of her incoherent mind, she knew that this—that
he
—was what she had been holding out for. No mullet,
no excessive jewelry, no deplorable table manners. The dream of something like
this
is what kept her from giving her full self to Jared.

Jared!

“We have to stop!”

Lucas was just unhitching his towel. He paused mid-motion,
then
gave a tormented groan as his body fell defeated against hers.

She shimmied out from underneath him, fully aware of his agony. “I’m so sorry…sorry…I’m sorry.”

He groaned again, pulling his knees underneath him, his face smashed into the pillow.

“What can I do to make it better?” she asked in guilty desperation.

He turned his head just enough to roll his eyes at her and shoot her a wry smile. He didn’t have to say it—the response was written all over his face.
Duh!!!

She sucked her breath in, making a backward hissing noise. “I’m sorry, really I’m sorry…soooo sooo sorry.”

He held up a silencing hand. “S’alright,” he slurred into the bedding. “Jusht give me a shecond.”

Needing to do something—anything—that could be helpful, she scrambled off the bed and made her way to her backpack. She threw on a pair of shorts, then seeing a pair of fleece pants, she threw them on, too—along with jeans, a T-shirt, a sweater, a parka, even a beanie hat. When she had donned herself in as many clothes as possible, she waddled back to sit by him and began patting his head.

From the way he looked at her when he pulled out from underneath her pats, Katie thought he was going to bite her arm off. She cowered away from him, but it was hard to cower when she was
layered to the point of looking like the Pillsbury Doughboy. Then his eyes took in the sight of her, and he laughed.

             
“Two things,” he said, the agony dissipating from his tone. “One, all the clothes in the world can’t erase your naked image from my mind. And two, why in the bloody hell did you bring all those warm things on a beach holiday?”

Great, now he’s mad that I’ve overpacked.
“I was just trying to ease the sexual tension. And you never know when you might need a sweater.”

He worked his way to a kneeling position, tightening his towel as he straightened.
“A sweater, fine—but a parka?
Isn’t that a little overkill?”

Humph.

“If you really want to be helpful,” he continued, “do you mind telling me what just happened?”

He reached over to help her shed her layers. He manhandled her like she was a bratty nine-year-old, but at least he was still willing to touch her. Once she was down to the shorts and T-shirt layer, she offered an explanation.

“I guess I…lost sight of who I am. Last night was so perfect that it seemed surreal. But then I had a reality check….”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. She repressed a shiver. If he kept being sexy, her resolve was going to crumble quicker than a dry leaf sandwich on toast.

“Does this come from Anna telling you that you need to be practical?” he asked. “Because for the record, I think that’s bollocks.”

He was actually listening when I told him that story?
“No. Yes…maybe…I don’t know.” She held her head in her hands. “It has
to do with the fact that we only met three days ago. And…I don’t want to be your rebound thing.”

He started to reply, but she put her hand over his mouth.

“Shhh, I’m still talking. And…even though I don’t
love
Jared, I’m still his girlfriend. I’m not a cheater.”

He nodded his understanding, but she wasn’t finished.

“And I’d be mortified if your Uncle Avery ever thought I was the kind of person to sleep with his recently unengaged nephew—especially after just three days.”

“Four days, but it feels like five,” he corrected.

“Okay, four, but that doesn’t make it much better.”

Lucas was silent for a long while. Katie was beginning to think the conversation was over. “You’re right, you’re absolutely right,” he said, his voice rich with penance, “except for one point.
This,
” he pointed first at himself, then at Katie, “is definitely not a rebound thing.”

It took an amazing amount of self-control, but she was able to refrain from jumping on the bed and doing the Happy Dance.

“Katie, you are amazing, and I value my time with you more than you can imagine. I don’t want to do anything that would spoil us from furthering our friendship. Will you forgive me?”

Friendship.
Of course.
“There’s nothing to forgive. We both got caught up in the moment. And it’s not like it was a bad moment.”

His smile was lecherous. “No, it was a brilliant moment.” His hand reached for her face and he stroked her cheek with his thumb. “You should get some sleep. I don’t want Bartholomew acting cranky again.” He laid a tender kiss atop Bartholomew and the savage beacon seemed to melt under his dreamy touch.

             
“So should you. I don’t want you acting cranky, either.”

There was an infinitesimal moment where something unspoken was communicated between them. At the moment he pulled her, she advanced until his arms had enveloped her. She nestled against his chest and he burrowed his face into the tangles of her hair. Neither one spoke until a heavy cloak of drowsiness had fallen over them.

She felt the movement of his lips against her head, though she was only vaguely aware.

“Maybe one day we’ll get back to this place.” His whisper was so hushed she wasn’t sure if she were meant to hear it.

She had only a second to wonder if he were speaking figuratively or literally. “I hope so,” she murmured, not knowing if her words were audible, before sleep vanquished her.

Lucas
peeked
an eye open and glanced around the room. His cell phone, still in his jeans pocket, was ringing on the veranda. Katie was still in his arms, her breaths hot against his chest.

“What am I doing?” he muttered quietly.

Katie wanted nothing more than to die. Maybe she was dead and this was Hell. She wondered how long she could get away pretending she was still asleep.
A month?

She could feel him staring down at her. She forced herself not to freak out, and continued to play asleep as if she had an Academy Award depending on it. 

He drew his finger down her cheek. His touch was so soft, she wondered if she’d imagined it. “You, my little rabbit, have made quite an impact.” His words were even softer than his touch. It was all Katie could do to make out what he was saying. “Four days ago, my life was streamlined: I had a fiancée, I was too busy in London to have even considered leaving the country, and four days ago, I never would’ve imagined I’d have an adopted cousin. And I certainly would never have ended up in bed with her! You have turned my world on its ear.”

His phone chimed again. He ignored the second call, then a third. When the fourth call sounded, Katie couldn’t take it anymore. She was going to have to face the humiliation sooner or later. She might as well get it over with. Her mind and her body were at odds, but she managed to pry her eyelids open. Her eyes, still out of focus, ran over the contours of Lucas’s upper body. Her left cheek seemed to have melted into the warmth of his skin. Slowly, like a Band-Aid, she peeled her face from his chest and prayed that she hadn’t drooled on
him. She sat up, attempting to rub away the sleep indentations from her face. She could still feel his gaze on her, and reluctantly snuck a peek up at his face. A slight five o’clock shadow enhanced his strong jaw line, while the untamed layers of his chestnut hair were tangled haphazardly, a few strands sweeping across his forehead. His bare torso was defined by a natural athleticism that had Katie self-consciously pulling the covers securely across her Little Buddha in a hurry. He was scathingly handsome, and he was smiling at her.
Why was he smiling? Oh crap. I had drooled on him. Or maybe farted? Please, anything but a fart!