“WE BROKE YOUR BED,” Darcy said, looking completely mortified as she sat up from where they were now tangled naked on the floor. “Evan, it’s an antique. It’s probably worth something.”
“Not anymore,” he said, then chuckled at the pained expression on her face. He took her hand and squeezed. “I swear, it’s fine. It’s an old bed, but it’s not of great value. I promise. And I’d been thinking about buying a new one anyway. Something bigger, like a king.”
“You don’t need to,” she said, her expression almost shy, which under the circumstances seemed a little strange.
“No? Why not?”
She swallowed, then met his eyes. “Because I’m totally keen on snuggling close when I come into town to see you.”
“Oh.” Her words eased through him like warm brandy, and he fought the urge to lean in and kiss her. Not because he wanted to fight it, but because he knew he had to.
“Evan?” Her voice was quick. Alarmed.
He focused on a point over her shoulder. “This was amazing, Darcy. You’re amazing. I’ve thought so for years.” He swallowed, not quite believing what he was actually about to say. “But I don’t think we should…” He trailed off, not sure of the words. But she just stared at him, her mouth hanging open and her eyes shining with the threat of tears. “Oh, God, Darcy, I’m sorry. It’s not you. It’s me.”
That earned him a crooked smile. “Never thought I’d see the day when a reporter pulled out such an old cliché.”
“It’s not a cliché when it’s true,” he said. He took a deep breath for courage. “Darcy, I’m not the man you think I am.”
Her brows rose, and she laughed. “Who do I think you are? Daniel Craig?”
He couldn’t even crack a smile. “I’m not a hero, Darcy. It’s all a lie. A stupid, foolish lie that made everyone think I was a guy that I wasn’t.”
He waited, expecting her to speak, but she didn’t.
“That newspaper article you keep in your bedroom?” he prompted. “It’s a lie. Dammit, Darcy, don’t you get it? You’ve had this fantasy of me for years, but I’m not that guy.”
“Evan—”
He held up a hand. “No. I’m not that guy,” he repeated. “I didn’t rescue Cam. Hell, I helped him get into that mess in the first place. But we couldn’t say anything because your mom would have a cow, so we made up the story about him falling off the bridge, and—” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. The point is the whole town thought I was a hero, but I hadn’t done a damn thing. I’m not that guy,” he repeated. “But what I am is a guy who has wanted you since the first time I saw you. Who thinks you’re fascinating and smart and funny. A guy who now knows that the reality of having you was even better than the fantasy.” He reached out and brushed her cheek. “But Darcy, I don’t want fantasy with you, and I damn sure don’t want to be a fantasy.”
“You’re not,” she said.
“No, I mean it.”
She laughed. “So do I.” She reached over and took his hand. “I know. I’ve known for years.”
That, he wasn’t expecting.
“How?”
“Cam, of course. He knew I had a huge crush on you. He said there was no way you’d be interested in a freshman, but after the whole river fiasco, he told me the truth. I guess even though you weren’t interested in a freshman, he figured I still wanted to know everything about you.” She shrugged. “The truth was, it made you even more of a hero to me.”
He lifted his brows. “Why on earth would you say that?”
“You kept a secret. A huge one that was important to Cam. That’s what heroes do, right? Protect their friends.”
His laugh shook through him. “Darcy, sweetheart, you’re amazing.”
She dragged her teeth over her lower lip and cast a playful glance at the crooked mattress. “Want to show me once again just how amazing you can be?”
“You only have to ask,” he said, then drew her close, his body firing again, ready to take her and claim her once and for all, the primal need to make her his almost overwhelming him as much as the heady certainty that she already was.
This time they moved more slowly, though, savoring each other, exploring and teasing, tasting and tempting. He reached blindly up with one hand and groped for a pillow that had tumbled onto the floor along with them. He put it under her head, then kissed her hard. Then he reached for another pillow and put it under her hips, lifting her to exactly where he wanted her.
“Evan.” Her voice was soft, dreamy, and he heard it despite the rustle of skin against his ears, the soft skin of her inner thigh to be exact, which pressed against him as her body arched up, her moans and cries and soft passionate noises making him even harder than the taste of her already had.
He licked her slickness, then added his finger to the mix, stretching her wide, wanting nothing more than to be inside her, and when he couldn’t stand it anymore, he eased up, kissed her with her own taste still lingering on his lips, and drove himself home.
Heaven, he thought, and she repeated the thought in words after the storm passed and she lay clinging to him. “It feels like heaven.”
“We can stay here all day,” he said. “Your brother would be happy. After all, I’m keeping you safe.”
A few hours later, he’d made her that much safer, and they both lay exhausted on the carpet. This time, her skin glowed rosy from the setting sun.
“You’d be catching dinner now with Bella,” he said.
“I like this better,” she said, speaking the absolute truth. This had been the most perfect day of her life, which pretty much disproved that whole curse thing as far as she was concerned. “Right now, the only thing I’m hungry for is you. Somehow, I just can’t get enough.”
“But you did miss the play,” he said. “I’m sorry about that. Why don’t we try to get tickets for next weekend?”
She laughed. “I’ll be right here next weekend, but we won’t be going to the theater.” She pressed a kiss to his bare chest.
The high-pitched tones of her cell phone startled them both, and she grabbed it up, then answered, listening at Bella’s rapid-fire words. “Thanks,” she said with a grin to Evan. “Feel better soon.”
“Bella?”
“She said she hopes we’re having fun, and if we’re not too worn out from our busy day, that we might want to go to the theater tonight.”
“Sorry. Not following you.”
“She remembered that she never even had the tickets,” Darcy explained. “They’re waiting for me right now at the will call window.”
She leaned forward and settled purposefully beside his naked body. “See?” she said, leaning in and brushing her lips over his. “Nothing but good luck today.” She nipped his lower lip. “But frankly, I don’t think I’m in the mood for a show after all.”