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СКАЧАТЬ been apologizing to me a lot lately,” she said, her voice trembling. “You don’t need to do that.”

      He nodded. “I’m going to take a quick shower.”

      “Not going to the temple?”

      He smiled ruefully. “Still am. And you can come if you want. Provided you’ve worked the tantrum out of your system.”

      “That was your tantrum, Parsons, not mine.”

      “Maybe.” He tightened his jaw, his hands curling into fists. “Just tense I suppose. Coming with me or not?”

      She hesitated. Because she did want to go, but things weren’t … easy with him at the moment. And the scariest thing was she wasn’t sure she wanted them to be easy again. She was sort of liking this new, scary dynamic between them. The one that made him touch her like she did something to him. Like he was losing control.

      “I’ll be good. I promise,” he added.

      She laughed, a fake, tremulous sound. “I wasn’t worried.”

      Zack wasn’t the one who worried her. She hesitated because she wasn’t sure she trusted herself to behave.

      “I was,” he said, turning away from her and walking back into the house. She watched him the whole way, the muscles on his back, the dent just above the waistline of his jeans, and his perfect, tight butt.

      She let out a slow, shaky breath. Yeah, it was definitely herself she didn’t trust.

      The temple at Doi Suthep was crowded with tourists, spiritual pilgrims and locals. Clara and Zack walked up the redbrick staircase, the handrails fashioned into guardian dragons with slithering bodies and fierce faces.

      They were silent for the three-hundred-step trek up to the temple, Clara keeping a safe distance between them, in spite of the crush of people all around them. She was mad at him.

      And fair enough, he’d been a jerk earlier. That was sexual frustration. Sexual frustration combined with the desire to give in to the need to kiss her again. To do more than kiss her.

       Damn.

      He could still remember the first time he’d seen Clara. She was working behind the counter at a bakery, flour on her cheeks. She was cute. Not the kind of woman he was normally attracted to. But she’d fascinated him. Utterly and completely. It had turned out she’d made great cupcakes, too. And that she was smart and funny. That it felt good to be with her.

      The emotional connection to her, when he’d been lacking a connection with anyone for years, had been shocking, instant, and had immediately found him shoving his attraction to her away.

      A friendship with her was fine. Anything else … he didn’t have room for it. Anything else would go beyond the boundaries he’d set for himself. And he needed his boundaries. His control. He valued it above everything else.

      Just another reason he’d intended to marry Hannah. Marriage brought stability, a sort of controlled existence that attracted him. One woman in his bed, in his life.

      And now that that had gone to hell, it seemed his feelings for Clara were headed in the same direction. He’d done with her, for seven years now, what he did with everything in his life. She had a place. She was his friend. She didn’t move out of that place in his mind.

      His body was suddenly thinking differently. He’d made a mistake. He’d allowed himself too much freedom. He’d indulged his desire to look at her body. To touch her soft skin when they’d gone swimming. And that night, he’d given in to the temptation to allow her to feature in his fantasies. To find release with her image in his mind.

      He’d allowed himself to cross the line in his mind, and that was where control started. He knew better. Yet it was hard to regret. Because wanting her was such a tantalizing experience. Just feeling desire for her was a pleasure on its own.

      Her sweet, short, sundress was not helping matters. Though, thankfully she’d had to purchase a pair of silk pants to wear beneath it before they could head up toward the temple.

      Still, even with her legs covered, there was that bright, gorgeous smile that had been plastered on her face since they’d arrived. She was all breathy sighs and sounds of pleasure over the sights and sounds. It was the sweetest torture.

      “Incredible,” she breathed, her voice soft, sensual in a way. Enough to make his body ache.

      “Yes,” he agreed. Mostly, he was looking at her, and not the immense, gold-laden temple.

      He forced himself to look away from Clara. To keep his focus on the gilded statues, the bright, fragrant offerings of flowers, fresh fruit and cakes left in front of the different alters that were placed throughout the courtyard. A large, dome-shaped building covered entirely in gold reflected the sun, the air bright, thick with smoke from burning incense.

      Monks in bright orange robes wove through the crowds, talking, laughing, offering blessing.

      It was incredible. And still nowhere near as interesting as the woman next to him.

      “Have you been enjoying yourself here?” he asked.

      “More or less,” she said, looking at him from the corner of her eye, color creeping into her cheeks. Probably not the smartest question to ask. Why was he struggling with his words and actions? That never happened to him. Not anymore.

      “The less would be me being a jerk and planting my lips on you, right?” Might as well go for honesty. Clara was the only person in his life who rated that. He didn’t want to violate it.

      She blew out a breath. “Um … mostly the being a jerk. You’re a pretty good kisser, it turns out.”

      “So you didn’t mind that?”

      “Not as much as I should have.” Her words escaped in a rush.

      “Glad to know I’m not the only one,” he said, forcing the words out.

      “Not sure it helps anything.” She walked ahead of him, straying beneath the overhang of a curled roof, her eyes on the murals painted on the walls of the temple.

      “Maybe not.” He leaned in, pretending to examine the same image she was.

      “So … is there a solution?” She put her hand on the wall, tracing the painting of a white elephant with her finger.

      He covered her hands with his, his heart pounding, his hand shaking like he was a teenage virgin. “Let me see.”

      He leaned in, his mouth brushing hers. He went slow this time, asking the question, as he should have done the first time he’d kissed her. She didn’t move, not into him or away from him. He angled his head and deepened the kiss and he felt her soften beneath him, her lips parting beneath his, her breath catching, sharp and sweet when the tip of his tongue met hers.

      He pulled away, his eyes on hers.

      She released a breath. “How do you feel?”

      “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

      She СКАЧАТЬ