As Zara pulled into the circular drive, Laila replayed seemingly for the thousandth time how he’d touched her so surely last night. He’d known what she needed, even when she’d been ignorant. She recalled how she’d combusted after only a few strokes, and again experienced that wave of mixed mortification and pure excitement.
Zara parked. Almost immediately, the front door opened. Asher stepped out, wearing a pair of black swim trunks. He’d thrown on a white button-down shirt and was in the process of buttoning it while he walked toward them. Laila caught a glimpse of his chest and ridged, tanned abdomen. She pressed her fingertips to her hot cheeks.
“Yum. Eee,” Tahi said succinctly.
“Down, girl,” Zara said amusedly. She glanced back at Laila, hazel eyes sparkling. “I don’t know how you did it, but you did it, little girl. He is smoking.”
“I’m not a little girl,” Laila muttered, most of her focus on Asher coming alongside the car. He opened Zara’s door first, and then Laila’s.
He bent and smiled at her before he reached out for her hand. “Hi,” he greeted her.
“Hi,” she responded breathlessly, getting out of the car. He didn’t let go when she stood in front of him on the drive. His eyes looked sharp and brilliantly blue in the bright afternoon sunlight. They trailed down over her, his expression appreciative. Her heart seemed to lodge at the base of her throat. She knew she looked better
than usual. Tahi had insisted she borrow a dress of hers: a simple, natural-looking ivory dress that showed off both her figure and tan well. With it, she wore sandals, a gold bracelet and earrings. Zara had done the traditional pullover into a parking lot a few miles after they’d left the cottages in order to make alterations on their wardrobes and put on makeup. Laila had uncharacteristically applied mascara and lip gloss.
“You look amazing,” Asher said, squeezing her hand. His head dipped forward. “And you smell fantastic.”
“Thanks.”
“But you look too nice to go swimming.”
“I brought a suit,” she said, patting her bag.
“Brilliant.” His head dipped even further, his mouth brushing hers. Electricity tingled just beneath her skin. Someone made an impatient sound.
“Can we just go in, Asher? It looks like you two might be at it for a while,” Zara said drolly.
“Sure,” Asher said, lifting his head. Still holding Laila’s hand, he led them inside.
“Look at this,” Zara muttered when they walked into a large entryway. Her stunned tone matched Laila’s reaction. They walked into what would have corresponded to the second floor of the house onto an elevated balcony. In front of and below them was an enormous, airy great room. The lake side of the house was almost entirely floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking the sun-gilded lake and a terrace with a pool. The sheer hugeness of the house, the wide-open space was what struck Laila the most, even more than the luxury of it. What would it be like, to have so much freedom to move in, so much glorious space?
“I’m bartending. What’s your pleasure, ladies?” someone called out. Rudy stood behind a bar that stretched outside the kitchen area, near the terrace doors.
“This way,” Asher said, pulling gently on her hand. He led them down some stairs. Through the terrace doors, Laila saw Eric and Jim lounging by the pool. Jim turned and waved, and she waved back. Tahi and Zara walked up to the bar and started talking to Rudy.
“This place is amazing,” Laila said when she and Asher paused several feet away. “You must have loved coming here, when you were a kid.”
“Most of the time, I did.”
“Most of the time?” she asked curiously.
He shrugged. “Mostly when I was here alone. With just my nanny,” he added when she gave him a puzzled glance. “Which was really just the same as being alone.”
“You weren’t lonely?” she asked quietly. As much as she admired all the open space, she knew she would have been lonely as a kid there. She couldn’t imagine not having someone from her close-knit family around. Her family was always there, like some kind of protective blanket. Lately, she’d been feeling a little suffocated by that blanket, but family was still elemental to her . . . part of the weave of her life.
He paused, as if considering. “Maybe once in a while I was lonely. I usually like being alone, though.”
“So do I. Mostly because I hardly ever am.” He returned her smile.
“Do you want something to drink?”
“Oh . . . I’ll have a Coke or something.”
“Nothing harder?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t drink, really.”
“Do you mind if I do?”