“No, he misses losing to me and cards,” Gabriel, another pilot there, offered when he stopped beside us.
The guys lapsed into an easygoing and teasing conversation, and I wondered what it was like to have that kind of friendship. Although, I had friends where I grew up, Portland was a big city, and my struggles in school tended to leave me feeling insecure most of the time. My closest friends were from softball, and we’d all been splintered by what happened with our coach. I still stayed in touch with a few of them, but the tension from that episode lingered. Several of us shared the uneasy bond of being the target of his attention, while others didn’t. That dynamic created a strange fracture in our relationships. I hated how the situation continued to ripple through my life.
Nora, another pilot and Flynn’s sister who I’d met at yoga classes with Daphne, wandered over and cast a smile. “How is yoga going? I need to come to more classes,” she said apologetically.
“I’m actually pretty busy. I’m finding ways to cater to the tourists for the summer.”
“Oh, you should give us your flyers. We’ll hand them out to our guests. We have a running list of things that we tell them about, so if anyone wants a yoga class, we’ll send them to you.” Nora’s eyes brightened. “Would you do classes out at the resort? Maybe once a week.”
I pondered that for a moment. “I could certainly do that. We would need to make sure there’s space. Once a week would work.”
Just then, Flynn and Daphne meandered over. “Those little pastries you made are incredible,” I said.
She flashed a smile in return, smoothing her hand over her auburn hair, which was pulled back in a twist. “I’m glad you like them.”
Nora nudged Flynn in the side. “I have an idea. Why don’t we pay Gemma to come out and do a yoga class once a week for guests? Maybe one evening a week?”
Flynn glanced to me. “If you think it’s worthwhile, it’s fine with me.”
Daphne clapped her hands together. “I love this idea.” She looked between Flynn and Nora. “We should schedule it on one of the nights we don’t serve guests dinner. Gemma can stay after and have dinner with us.”
“Oh, well, it’s a done deal if you’re cooking,” I interjected.
The night passed quickly, complete with a few prizes given away in a raffle for fishing trips and the like. Nora also convinced me that I needed to go dipnetting for salmon with her. I wasn’t sure I completely understood what it was, but she promised me it would be fun and that I could watch since I hadn’t been a resident for a full year yet. Although I hadn’t been in Alaska too long, I’d quickly discovered there were strict regulations around fishing and hunting and that one wasn’t considered a resident until they’d lived here for a full year. Not that I did much of either, but there were signs aplenty warning tourists to be aware of the laws. Nora explained dipnetting was exactly as it sounded—dipping a net in the water to catch salmon.
I was acutely aware of Diego the entire evening. He wasn’t always at my side, but my eyes searched him out again and again and again. It didn’t help that he was so easy on the eyes. My girl parts also thought the view was excellent, but I managed to keep my cool. I ended up offering to help Cammi clean up afterwards.
Daphne, Nora, and the guys from the resort also helped. Daphne effectively bossed all of them around. The sun was slipping down behind the horizon by the time I walked out to the parking lot. Cammi called goodbye from the door, and I waved over my shoulder. When I got to my small car, I found Diego’s truck parked right beside it.
I even recognized the back of him now. He was leaning over to put something in the back of his truck, and I took the moment to admire his muscled ass. The man had one fine ass. Every inch of him was fine. He straightened and closed his truck cap, turning just as I stopped near my car and hit the key fob to unlock it.
We didn’t speak and simply looked at each other for a moment. The air felt lit with a charge. “Need some help,” Diego finally asked, a grin teasing at the corners of his mouth.
Startled, I looked down at the paper plate I held in my hand. Cammi had given me a few of the leftover pastries. “I think I can handle it,” I managed when I looked back up into his teasing eyes.
Opening the passenger door, I set the plate on the seat and placed my purse beside it. When I closed the door, I pressed my hands against it, as if it could somehow anchor me while this intense and inconvenient desire for Diego did cartwheels through my body.
I hadn’t noticed that he had walked between our vehicles and was standing only a foot or so away from me. My pulse rioted, and butterflies tickled my belly.
There didn’t happen to be anyone else in the parking lot at the moment, and we were shielded by Diego’s truck from the view of the coffee shop.
“I wanted to kiss you the other day,” he said, his low voice sending a hot shiver over my skin as it prickled with goosebumps.
“You did?” I squeaked.
This was shocking to me, and I didn’t know why. I was always surprised to think anyone might want me. The reasons behind that were something I didn’t like to ponder.
He nodded slowly. “I’d like to kiss you now.”
He stepped a little closer, and air was suddenly hard to come by as my pulse went absolutely wild. I could suddenly think of nothing other than kissing him.
“What do you think about that?” The mere sound of his voice sent sparks pinwheeling through me.
I realized he was giving me an out, but also pushing me to tell him what I wanted. And, oh, how I wanted to kiss him!
I took something like a breath, although it wasn’t much use with my lungs doing a poor job. “I’d like that,” I finally replied in a breathy whisper.
I wasn’t a breathy girl. I was practical and logical and carved my own path in life. I didn’t get all fluttery over a sexy guy who wanted to kiss me. Except, apparently, I did with Diego.
“Let’s test that theory then,” he murmured, taking another step until he was right there in front of me, every masculine, muscled inch of him.
Diego’s presence was a potent force. I could feel all of him, the power and strength contained inside his strong body. He moved, almost lazily. In a corner of my mind, I marveled at him, thinking he must have way more experience at this than me. It was just a kiss.
And we hadn’t even gotten to the kiss yet. The mere anticipation of it had me feeling as if I were leaning on the edge of something, about to topple over. He lifted his hand, his thumb tracing along my jaw and then around my lips. His eyes searched mine as my insides turned molten.
He said something, but my brain couldn’t absorb it, right before dipping his head and brushing his lips across mine. That subtle touch was like lightning in my body, sizzling hot and sending fire licking through my veins.
My breath was followed by a shameless moan escaping from my lips. He brushed his lips over mine once more, sending another bolt of lightning through my system. My brain cells scattered, and I curled my arms around his shoulders, flexing into him just as his hand slid around to cup my nape. He angled my head and took command of our kiss.
I felt the heated path of his palm slide down the center of my spine, coming to rest above my bottom, his fingers splaying. He emitted a soft growl right before his tongue swept into my mouth.