Chapter 6
Calvin
Iwalked side by side with Amanda in the starlight, along the trail back to the hotel. It was good to be back on terra firma after that choppy ride on the lake—filled with potential sea-monsters, such as that newlywed game.
“Good bullet-dodge with your on the lips answer to the question about our first kiss,” I said. Brilliant, actually. I should’ve thought of it. Instead, I said in the elevator—which was where I’d first seriously wanted to.
There’d been times before the elevator moment, of course. Times when I’d seen Amanda Starkey slaving away in her cubicle at SolutionX, that no-nonsense bun in her hair looking so sexy and serious at the same time. She’d looked exquisitely kissable those days. Fine, every time I’d seen her. Including now, as a warm, night breeze caught the fluttering folds of her dress.
“I can’t believe you wrote that my favorite food was shrimp.” Amanda made a gagging noise. “Hello, chocolate?”
“It’s not a food.” I reached for her hand. I mean, we had to make a showing, right? “It’s a dessert.”
“Depends on how you eat it.”
There was no way she ate chocolate as a meal and looked the way she did. “You’re the one who wrote that my favorite movie was Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.”
“At least we got a laugh.”
True, they’d laughed—which, I’ll admit, was a pretty good tactic.
We paused on a little footbridge. Amanda tipped her head upward and looked at the night sky, exposing her alabaster throat. “The sky is huge here. More stars than I’ve ever seen outside the glitter on my popcorn ceiling.” Her creamy soft neck drew me like a lure.
“I hate to inform you, those shards of metal on your ceiling aren’t stars.”
“That depends on your imagination.”
My imagination was taking me to a lot of places right now. We started walking again and crossed the gravel of the hotel parking lot, our feet crunching. “I never knew you spent a semester in Paris. What was that like?”
Amanda turned to me with one of those broad smiles. “It was amazing.” She described the food, the walks in the arrondissements, Notre Dame, the Right Bank of the Seine River. “Basically, it was my own la vie en rose.”
“I thought you were obsessed with all things Middle Earth. How does hobbit-free France fit?”
“I’m a woman of many passions.” Somehow she made the word passion seem seductive, even in that context. Every minute I spent with her, I was drawn to her more and more.
Parley and Ellen caught up to us, jogging.
“Wasn’t it cool to be on Lake Wakatipu? They filmed several scenes there in the movies you love,” Ellen said.
“Really?” Amanda dropped her sultry look and turned to him, brightening. “So cool!”
Oh, yeah. I squinted at her. “See? I promised you I’d show you one filming site. I already made good on it.”
She smirked back. “You’re a cheater.”
“You guys had better rest up for tomorrow. You lost that quiz battle hardcore.” Parley flicked an invisible speck off my shoulder. “Made me wonder for a second whether you were a real couple.”
My scalp went hot.
“Parley.” Amanda clung closer to my side. She’d better be selling us. “How could you doubt?” Suddenly, she rose up on tiptoe, her face close—and then she was kissing me. I didn’t even have time to inhale. The world tipped on its side faster than a human hamster sphere hitting a bump.
Of course, my hesitation didn’t last. I got up to speed with her strawberry-laced lips in no time and pulled her against me. Her whole frame was supple, nothing icy about it, and I was the one who melted into her warmth. A soft sigh escaped her mouth, turning me momentarily into her slave. When we pulled apart, our gazes remained locked, and I swam in her eyes’ emerald depths.
“Whoa, now.” Ellen cleared her throat. “We didn’t mean to set off a firestorm of desire there.”
“Yeah.” Parley smacked my back. “I’d say get a room, but you’ve already got one.” He chuckled and Ellen and Parley left us in the silver moonlight.
When they were out of earshot, I was still blinking at Amanda. “What was that?”