Skin (14 page)

And then she recognized something else – her arms were wrapped around his neck and she no longer sat on his knee. Instead, she was curled sideways in his lap.

She shifted slightly to look up into his face as he lowered his head and dropped a soul-stealing kiss on her.

She melted.

“You are lethal,” she whispered when she could.

“Not me, you. Us. Together. Soooo…good.”

He lowered his head again.

And she met him halfway. In fact, she was dying to taste him. After a lifetime of doing without and living with the fear of never getting to experience this and having someone here with her, having someone who was willing to let her experiment and had the advantage of being seriously hot felt so very good – she was a dying woman lost in a cloud of sensuality.

She wished it could go on forever.

He pulled back slightly. She whimpered and tried to tug him back down toward her. When he didn’t budge, she opened her eyes slowly, loving the look in his eyes, like he was enjoying himself with someone he cared about. Such an addictive look.

“Hey,” she whispered. Not wanting to move, she rested her head against his shoulder.

“Hey, yourself.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “How are you doing?”

“Better than okay. Good thing I didn’t discover kissing when I was in high school – I’d never have shown up for class.”

Laughter rumbled through his chest. “I had that exact same problem.”

“Ha! I’m surprised anyone goes at all if they understand this is an option.”

“Which is why mothers don’t want their daughters to find out too early.”

“And why guys can’t get enough?” She grinned, her bones relaxed, her mind empty, just enjoying the moment. And she wished she could stay like this.

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close. She froze at the unexpected movement then relaxed.

“Okay?”

“Okay, but I think that might have been a hug. Not sure as I haven’t experienced a lot of them in my life.” And she hadn’t in many years. Her mother and sisters weren’t demonstrative, not cold, just not the touchy feely kind of people. She was now wondering if Kane was. She’d loved her father dearly, but she hadn’t been able to be around him for a long time. The strain had destroyed her parents’ marriage. He’d stayed close for a long time but had been transferred back East years ago. She’d told him to go. It was better this way, knowing he was hoping for more and she had no more to give…

She hadn’t finished speaking when she was engulfed in another hug, but there was no fear.

He eased his arms back. “There, a hug. Although they are even better when standing up.”

At his comment, her eyes popped open and she was already bouncing to her feet.

Laughing, he stood and wrapped his arms around her in a gentle hug.

And they stayed like that for a long time.

Until Tania’s phone went off.

*

Kane hated when
technology intruded. Tania reached for her phone, saw she had a text, and gasped. “Oh, no. We’re late for dinner.”

“Really?” Kane reached for his own phone and whistled long and low. “Okay, I had no idea it was so late.” In fact, hours appeared to have disappeared on them. “Let’s go before we miss out entirely.”

He walked toward the door only to realize she wasn’t following. “Tania?”

“I’m coming. I just…” Tania sighed. “I just don’t want them all to know.”

“Know what?” He glanced at his watch, ushered her out the door, and locked it behind him. “We’re supposed to be working on our project. So we worked a little late. No one is going to know anything unless you say so.”

“I’ve never been any good at lying,” she muttered.

“No need to lie. We haven’t been doing anything wrong.” He opened the stairway doors. “Act natural. No one is staring at us. No one cares. Remember that.”

When she didn’t answer, he turned to look behind him to make sure she was following. She was, but a worried look had taken over her features. “Okay.”

He grinned. “If you walk in like that, it’s going to look like we’re guilty of something.”

She smirked. “I guess we are, in a way.”

At the next landing, he opened the door and stepped into the main floor where the restaurant was. “And in what way is that?”

“We didn’t do our homework.”

They walked into the restaurant laughing and smiling. The others noticed, but no one made a comment.

Just like he’d expected.

D
inner was simple,
fast, and silent, at least on Tania’s part. She smiled brightly at everyone, and when her food arrived, she tucked into it with a ravenous hunger.

“You must have worked up an appetite.” Robin poked fun at her as she finished her own pasta.

Tania nodded as she forked up another mouthful of salad to avoid having to answer. Before she was halfway done, several of the other members of the group were getting up and drifting away. Good.

She settled back to enjoy the rest of her meal. By the time she was done, the table had mostly emptied. She smiled and ordered coffee.

“Tania, how was your day?” Jenna shifted from her seat at the far end of the table to one across from Tania. Robin chose that moment to excuse herself, leaving Jenna and Tania essentially alone. Kane was finishing his meal on the opposite side of the table.

The coffee arrived just then, giving Tania a moment to collect her thoughts.

“So, was it a good day?”

“Absolutely.” She sat back and rubbed her tummy. “That filled a hole.” Forestalling any attempt on Jenna’s part to get too personal, she asked, “What’s on the schedule for tomorrow?”

Jenna smiled at the change in topic and launched into the plans for the middle of the seminar. Realizing she’d skated by, Tania devoted the next half hour to discussing the rest of the seminar. Jenna had lots of work for them. In fact, as Jenna handed over a few sheets, Tania realized they’d missed the handout she’d given out before the group had ordered dinner. It looked like there was homework tonight.

Damn. She’d been hoping to spend time with Kane. Speaking of which, she lifted her head from her papers and looked around the room, but there was no sign of him. She did not notice when he’d left, but she’d studiously kept her focus off him so as to not draw attention to their relationship.

She wondered if he had the homework. The thought of having an excuse to see him again tonight made her toes curl. She tried hard to keep a straight face. The last thing she wanted was for Jenna to pick up on the attraction. Then she caught Jenna’s eye and recognized it was too damn late. Jenna already knew.

Lifting her cup to her lips, she drained her mug then pushed her chair back. “I’ll say good night then, see if Robin wants to work on this together.” With a quick smile at Jenna, she walked away.

And damned if she didn’t feel Jenna’s concerned gaze as she escaped.

She texted Robin out in the lobby and asked if she wanted to work on the homework together, only to find out that Robin had done hers.

Double damn. Stay alone in her room or go somewhere to do it? She chose the pub attached to the hotel. She could grab a beer, sit down at a table, and work her way through the information.

How hard could it be?

Ten minutes later, she was sitting at a window table watching the sun’s rays march across the horizon. Vancouver was a beautiful city, and the university campus was even more stunning. Sipping her beer, she started on the homework.

And cringed. The homework was a worksheet on their yet-to-be-seriously-started project. There was a place to list the theme, objective, and process. The project sheet was starting to read like a damn lab report.

Crap. This was definitely an assignment to do together. She brightened. A great excuse to see him again.

Which brought her full circle. Should she be spending so much time with him? Was it a good idea? She knew falling for him probably wasn’t, but it was a little too late for that.

The man was hot, kissed like a dream, and photographed even better.

Where could she go wrong with such a choice?

While she sat there grinning, someone stepped up beside her. “Hey lady, want some company?”

And before she had a chance to answer, a young male slid into the seat across from her at the table.

“No, thanks,” she said politely. “I’m working.”

“No, you’re not.” He snagged the paper from her hand and tossed it beside him. “You’re too pretty to care about stuff like that. Why don’t we go find a room and see if we can’t find something more fun to do together?”

Tania hated drunks and aggressive males, and worse, she hated being in a position where she had to deal with them. She had over half a beer left. She glanced around the room, wondering if there was a spot up by the bar. At least there, the bartender was likely to chase off anyone bothering her. She hadn’t made it through this many years of university without seeing her fair share of drunken guys. But the man sitting across from her wasn’t drunk enough to be at the pass-out stage. He looked to be just in the rosy glow of a couple of beers. Not too bad yet, depending on what kind of drunk he was.

She gave him a firm “No, thanks,” and stood up.

He stood up, too, and leaned forward. “What’s the matter, beauty queen? Am I not good enough for you? Well, I got news for you. I’m better than you, you fucking bitch.” By now, his voice had risen to the point of attracting attention. Just why did it never bring help?

Bitterness clogged her throat. She’d learned a long time ago that people preferred to stay out of things rather than get into trouble helping someone else.

“Look, I just want to have a beer in peace and do my homework.”

“Ha. Homework. You’re nothing but a stuck-up bitch that thinks you’re better than everyone else. Another of the uni bitches who hand it out to everyone but the working man.”

She glanced around to find some guys watching with big grins on their faces. A few frowned into their beers but were trying to ignore the scenario. A couple of women standing by the door got up and left, and that was about the only avenue left to her.

She picked up her glass, guzzled back the beer, placed it on the table, snatched up her homework, and turned to leave.

He grabbed her arm. Inside, her nerves knotted and her pulse started to race. She jerked her arm back. “Don’t touch me.”

“Don’t touch you or what?” he sneered. “I’ve seen stuck-up bitches like you before. You’re all prissy-white on the outside but you’re just another fucking cunt looking for a man between your legs.”

She could feel his words like small darts hitting her on some visceral level. She hated it when guys did this, used a few beers to loosen their mouths so they could say whatever the hell they wanted. She backed up and tried to navigate a way through the full room. She just wanted to get to her room safely and alone. So much for the quiet drink idea.

She’d almost reached the exit of the pub when she heard something behind her. She spun around, and instinct and training had her immediately shifting to a slight crouch to assess the danger.

And damn if it wasn’t the same guy. He stumbled forward. Another guy shoved him into an empty seat. “Leave her alone.”

“What the fuck.” Arms flailing, the drunk managed to stand up and resume his way to the exit. “I just want to go home.”

Tania slipped through the door into the hotel lobby and waited off to one side.

The drunk came out and stopped. He straightened and looked around. He wasn’t as drunk as she’d hoped. He’d had the presence of mind to fake it with the other man.

Sitting in the lobby, she was relatively safe. Hotel security would help her if the man got out of line. Better a minor drunk than a full-scale attack. She wasn’t twelve anymore walking home from school, innocent in the way of the world and men. The man made his way to the front door of the hotel, and she relaxed. He was leaving, so there was nothing to worry about after all. Except the incident had left a bad taste in her mouth. She wanted to rest in the security of her room, maybe have a bath, and get through her homework. And a decent night’s sleep would be good.

She walked to the wall of elevators and pushed the button to bring one to the lobby.