Читать книгу Siren's Call - Debbie Herbert - Страница 12

Chapter 6

The red moon of August lay low and full, as if scorched and swollen from summer’s heat. Lily’s step skipped in time to the rhythm of her rapid pulse. It seemed like it’d been three weeks instead of three days since she’d seen Nash. She grinned at the sight of his truck and the light in the cabin. Even better, Sam Bowman’s vehicle was gone. She rapped at the door, feeling like the wolf descending on the innocent Little Red Riding Hood.

The door flung open and she was eye level to Nash’s bare chest. She looked up and stared into verdant green. He registered no surprise at finding her on his doorstep. Casually, he leaned an arm against the doorframe.

“You again,” he said, voice tinged with smoke and velvet.

The low, deep timbre of sound vibration made her gut clench. Is that what her voice did to men? It was wonderfully disturbing.

“What kind of welcome is that?” she purred, reaching up and laying a hand on the curve of his jaw.

Nash stepped away from the heat of their touch and waved her inside. He shut the door behind her, and Lily was struck by the fact they were alone and sheltered from the world. A cozy company of two. Without a word, Nash walked into the den, snatched a T-shirt from the back of a chair and pulled it over his head.

Darn it.

“Why are you here, Lily?” he asked, plopping down on the sofa.

She sat across from him and crossed her legs demurely. “To see you, of course.”

“What do you want from me? I get the feeling it’s not to resume a childhood friendship.”

She leaned into him, resting her hands on his bare knees. “Don’t you find me attractive?” Her lips curled upward, certain of his answer.

“You’ll do, I suppose,” he said drily.

Lily straightened. “Why are you so hostile? I thought after our kiss we were on more...friendly terms.”

He frowned. “You know I’ll be leaving in a few weeks. I’m not the settling-down type.”

But that’s because you haven’t known me. “So you say.”

He crossed his arms, studying her. “I’m not in the market for a permanent relationship.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Nashoba Bowman. You haven’t heard me say I want anything of the kind.”

“Then that leads back to my original question. What do you want?”

You. I want you. “While you’re here, let’s see what happens,” she answered carefully. After what had happened with his past two girlfriends, she didn’t want to push too hard and scare him away. “Look, you used to be my best friend. Can’t we at least be friends now and explore if something else is there for however long you’re here?”