Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [85]
"Tyler, I can't breathe," she gasped.
"I'll have to give you mouth-to-mouth," he said, moving his weight off of her at the same time his mouth came down on hers.
So much for burning off the tension. It was back with a vengeance, and now he was acutely aware of her legs and her thighs and her hips moving beneath his. He wanted to get closer. He wanted to touch her bare skin. He wanted --
"Oh, my God!" he yelled as a blast of cold water hit his legs. He rolled to the side abruptly, realizing his pants were now soaking wet.
Kate laughed. "That's what we call a rogue wave."
"That's what I call bad timing."
"Better than a cold shower."
"You can say that again." The water had definitely cooled off a very important part of his body.
Kate got to her feet. "We'll dry off as we walk. The cave is just up ahead."
He followed her down the beach, now very much aware of how cold and wet he was. But Kate didn't seem bothered at all -- probably due to all those years of living on a boat. The cold and wet were second nature to her. A moment later they rounded a curve, and he followed her pointed finger to a cave set into the rocks.
"There it is," she said. "When the tide comes all the way in, it fills completely with water. My mother used to warn me over and over again not to get caught here."
"Did you listen to her warnings?"
"Absolutely. I'm the cautious one, remember?" She walked over to the rocks. "It's still here." She traced the carving of two names.
"Kate and Jeremy," he murmured. "Hard to compete with that."
She looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Jeremy is still very much a presence in your life. You go to his grave. You can see your names carved into rocks, probably all over this island. How can anyone compete with that?"
"Do you want to?"
He should say no. His life wasn't going to take place on this island, that was for sure. Once he found Amelia's mother, he'd be gone. Kate would be just a memory. He'd probably forget her in a week. And she'd forget him, too. It wouldn't be like their names would be carved into a rock anywhere.
"Never mind," she said quickly. "I don't know why I asked you that. Anyway, this is the only place that we carved our names." She walked farther down the rocks. "There are lots of other names, as you can see."
"Sean and Ashley, Mark and Connie, Paul and Rita," he murmured. "I guess this was kind of lover's lane, huh?"
"It was a good place to get a kiss. And once you'd gotten one, you carved your name into the rock." She put her hand up as he started to speak. "But we're not going to do that. That kind of permanence probably terrifies you. Let's go back to our picnic. I've worked up another appetite."
So had he, but it wasn't for food. And it wasn't even for a kiss. He cast a somewhat wistful look at the names and hearts scratched into the rocks next to him. For some damn stupid reason, he wanted to put his name there, too. His name right next to Kate's. Something that would last forever.
*
"That was fun," Kate said as Tyler took her bike and handed it back to the manager of Bill's Bicycles. "I can't remember when I've spent such a lazy Monday. I feel guilty."
"It's good to play hooky once in a while."
"But now it's back to reality. Unless ..."
"Yes?" he asked with a raise of his eyebrow.
"The world's best ice cream parlor is just down the street."
"You can't possibly still be hungry."
"You've found out my biggest secret. I'm a pig."
He laughed. "I'd love some ice cream from the world's best ice cream parlor. Although I think that might be an exaggeration."
"Wait until you taste it. You'll see I'm right." She didn't resist when he took her hand. In fact, she liked it. She liked it all, the kissing, the touching, the laughing. She hadn't had such a good time in years. And, with Tyler, she felt free