It was a brilliant day, the kind of clear blue promise he had come to associate with southern Brazil. Outside he scanned the tables by the pool, glad to see Chris and Jamie weren’t out yet. He only wanted to talk to one person there.
She was sitting on the far end of the patio at a table by herself, and she hadn’t seen him yet. On her table was a bowl of granola with yogurt and fruit and a steaming mug of coffee. Her long hair rustled in the breeze as she looked down, intent on a book. She certainly didn’t look like someone who’d been up half the night. He figured she was used to being an early riser, even during her holiday.
Blake took advantage of Julia’s oblivion to watch her. She was even more beautiful in the morning light, wearing a pale blue sundress that showed off her long arms and legs. To anyone else she might be another pretty face, but he knew what was so ravishing about her—and it wasn’t only that gorgeous just-fucked glow radiating off her skin. She looked absorbed by what she was doing, attentive and fully alive. He remembered how she had been so present with him and he wanted her again, right then and there.
But he had to calm himself. They no longer had the whole garden to themselves.
Chris and Jamie came out, carrying mugs of coffee and a basket of toast with jam. He felt a flash of possessiveness rise in him as Lukas ambled out after them. The one unattached guy at the hostel who wasn’t taking off that morning had better not get any ideas about talking to the woman sitting by herself.
Thankfully Lukas made a beeline over to Chris. But before the rest of the group could move to join Julia or invite her to a larger table, Blake strode over to the empty seat across from her. She was turning the page and reaching for the mug of coffee when she caught sight of him coming her way. She looked startled, then quickly smothered her surprise with an unreadable face he already felt like he knew. She’d said she didn’t regret what they’d done together, but did she still feel that way in the morning?
Then she smiled and he had a sudden panic that sticking around to see her again had been a mistake. He should have cut loose while he could. She’d been holding back in the cab, but now she might think there were feelings involved or expect something from him today. He couldn’t stand the thought of dealing with her disappointment.
But instead he saw her eyes flick over from him to the pool. He couldn’t help it—he was looking that way, too. When he looked at her again, she blushed a bright crimson that made him recall the feel of her lips upon his. She cast her eyes down in a gesture reminiscent of her stance by the front desk when he’d first caught her staring, and once again her sudden nervousness awakened an appetite in him. He was afraid things were going to be awkward, but that inviting look at the pool was anything but. He had to admit it—her bashful teasing got under his skin. That mix of innocence and naughtiness made him want to find out just how far she’d go.
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” he asked with a wink, resting his hand on the back of the chair. In her eyes he could see a lightness dancing, a quick happiness that he hoped had something to do with him—before he reminded himself that it didn’t matter because after breakfast he’d be gone.
She slid a bookmark into her book and closed the cover, motioning for him to sit down. “I didn’t expect to see you this morning,” she said as he took a seat.
There she was—blunt and practical even with that coy, teasing look in her eye. Blake tried to shrug like it was nothing. “Can’t start the day on an empty stomach.”
She flashed him a lopsided grin but was kind enough not to call him out for not catching his early bus. “Have you eaten?”
“Not yet.”
“Care to join me?”
“Sure,” he said, like it wasn’t obvious that was exactly what he wanted. Like she was the one doing him a favor by letting him say hello the next morning, and not the other way around.
Her dark hair was striking against her skin. The dress had thin straps over her shoulders that brought him back to the pool and the string of her bikini—and what he knew was hidden underneath. It took everything in him to sit there with his hands to himself when he wanted nothing more than to graze his lips across her bare shoulders and whisper her name in her ear.
He ordered scrambled eggs, toast, and fresh pineapple juice, plus more coffee for both of them. When André left to put in the order, Blake leaned in close.
“Still no regrets?” he asked, keeping his voice low so no one could hear and glancing over at the pool so she’d know he was still thinking about their night, too.
The heat in her face mirrored his own. “It would be hard to regret a night like that.”
“That’s just what I was thinking.”
André came over with a fresh pot of coffee and the juice. Blake leaned back again, casually. As though they hadn’t spent half the night fucking mere steps from where everyone now lounged around eating toast and gossiping. Julia suppressed a giggle as André filled their mugs, and Blake had to try to keep from laughing, too.
“I guess we should try to compose ourselves,” he teased when André left. But even when Julia tried—and failed—to stop smiling, her eyes gave everything away.
“Wouldn’t want to get in trouble with the management,” she said.
Blake threw up his hands. “Well if they’d only let us into each other’s rooms—”
“We wouldn’t have to go defiling public property,” she finished his thought.
“So really, it’s everyone else’s fault.”
“Then I’ll be sure to thank them all personally.” Julia raised an eyebrow at him as she ate a spoonful of granola.
“Don’t get too close,” Blake said. “I’m not willing to share.”
“Oh, so it’s like that now?”
“Maybe,” Blake squirmed, not wanting to be called out as the jealous one when he’d started off so clear on where things stood.
“I see how it is,” Julia said, but her eyes were light, and he knew she was joking.
“Why on earth don’t you have any juice this morning?” Blake asked suddenly, changing the subject before he had to dig himself out of that hole.
Julia made a face. “I’m not really a juice person. Just coffee, black.”
“Trust me, you’ve got to try this.” He passed the tall glass of pineapple juice across the table.
“Really, no thanks.”
“This is not your mom’s Tropicana. One sip, you’ll be in heaven.”
“I think I’ve already been there,” she smirked, but she reached for the glass. Her eyes widened as the liquid passed up the straw and hit her tongue.
“See?” Blake said, satisfied that he’d been right.
“That. Is. Amazing,” she said as she passed the glass back.
“Would I steer you wrong?”
She shook her head.
“Here, we can share.” He set the glass in the middle of the table. “I credit myself with exposing you to yet another fabulous aspect of this country.”
“What, amazing fruit and Australian men?”
He held up a finger in warning. “Man. Just one.” The thought of her going to bed with anyone else while she was in Brazil sent a stabbing pain through his guts. He didn’t know anything about her life in Chicago, but he knew that he wanted to be the best thing she remembered from her trip.
She laughed and reached for another sip. “Okay, amazing fruit and an amazing man. Better?”
“Yeah, as long as we’re talking about me.”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll have to wait until the week’s up and I see what the competition is like.”
He grabbed her wrist as she put the glass down, then softly traced the pad of his thumb along the tender skin of her forearm. “No competition,” he whispered.
“Trust me.” She shifted forward. “I don’t beg like that for just anyone.”
When André arrived with Blake’s breakfast, their arms were locked together over the table. They pulled back suddenly, Julia obviously flushed to have been caught touching, Blake equally surprised to find himself acting so intimately so fast.