Chapter 35

She turned away, ostensibly to find her first shot, but more to steady herself again. His understanding and belief in her was a precious gift that made her even more vulnerable than his attempts at seduction.

A swallowtail on the edge of a leaf caught her focus—hers and the camera’s. She got the shot, repositioned for a better angle and took another, then another. She’d so missed having a camera as her second set of eyes.

Why had she abandoned it? Catching fire, she started working the room, watching, observing, letting the pictures come to her. Two of the same orange species side by side on the edge of a planter, one with wings out, one with wings folded. The small yellow butterfly clinging to the letter T of the word Death on a teenager’s jet-black T-shirt. The dark-eyed little girl barely containing her joy at being face-to-face with a monarch. Energy and effortless concentration, marred only by her constant awareness of a certain man watching her enjoy the immense satisfaction of creation.

She was happy. Truly and deeply happy in this moment, doing what she was doing. With Nolan.

Just call her Michelle For a Day. He came up close behind her, where she stood hoping a blue butterfly would move ju-u-ust slightly to its right. He put his hand on the curve of her hip. She felt his size, the warmth of his body, the power of the Candace-magnets. This time she didn’t resist, moved back pretending to need photographic perspective, pushing her rear gently into the fly of his jeans. Feel good in the moment. To hell with tomorrow. Nolan and his camera had freed her to do that.

A low groan came out of him. “What are you doing to me?”

“Oh, sorry, was I doing something to you?” She clicked her camera, even though she had no idea what she was shooting.

“Evil, evil woman.” He pressed hard against her and released, tugging quickly on his jeans. “Here I was just trying to stimulate your…creativity.”

“I don’t think that’s all you were—Look.” She hardly dared move. A brilliant blue butterfly had landed on her forearm. She turned her head as slowly as she could, lifted the camera and tried to frame a decent shot, taking in the visible foliage, the fleshy bar of her arm juxtaposed against the brilliant blue wings, the spidery legs clinging to her skin, delicate fuzzy antennae, buggy eyes. The camera clicked, then again; the butterfly flew away.

Candace turned impulsively and kissed Nolan on the cheek. “Thank you so much.”

“For?” His arms came around her.

How could she explain adequately? “The camera. This trip. Everything. I didn’t realize how much I missed taking pictures.”

“You’re welcome.” His hand slid under her waist-length yellow top; his palm rested against the bare skin of her back. “Candace.”

“Wait, don’t move.” A butterfly had landed in his thick hair, and was exploring the strands tentatively. “There’s one on your head.”

She stepped back, put the camera up to frame the shot. White butterfly on dark hair of gorgeous man, green branch dangling leaves close to them both. She got the shot, took another. Not surprisingly, he had a face the camera loved. Great planes, angles, good bones, and that look in his eye… She lowered the camera slowly, allowing some of the warmth of his gaze into hers.

Yes. Whatever he wanted, the answer was yes. It seemed like a silly waste of time to have avoided him for so long. Who was that uptight woman and what was her problem? To be desired and to be understood was everything a woman could want. Even a short time was better than never. “Were you going to ask me something?”

“If you were finished taking pictures?” He beckoned her toward him, put an arm around her, whispered in her ear. “Because you are desperately sexy when you work, and if I start kissing you now the way I want to, I’m afraid these little guys will be offended.”

The butterfly in his hair bolted. “See?” He didn’t follow its fluttery path, kept his eyes fixed on Candace’s. “Offended.”

“Hmm.” She pretended to consider.

“Were you planning to start this kissing soon?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Well, good,” she said simply. She followed him to the exhibit exit, shaky and giddy-nervous. She’d been kissed plenty in her life. How did the promise of a few more manage to reduce her to gelatin?

Outside the enclosed exhibit, Nolan strode ahead so fast she practically had to run to keep up. “Are we…going…home?”

“Nope.” He ducked into a small-insect exhibit, made a sound of frustration when he saw a family there. “Wait, I know.”

They went into the rain forest room, climbed the stairs into the virtual treetops and found…too many people.

“Okay. No. Here.” He led her back down the steps and into a dark, abandoned corner. When his lips were half an inch from hers, her body already sparking, two teenagers came by and started examining photographs of cells, talking loudly in half-mature cracking voices.

Nolan actually growled.

Another corner, this time a projection room where a few tired patrons could sit and watch a short movie. She followed him, pretty sure she’d come here on a school trip and watched it twice to rest her feet. “Hey, I remember this—Mmph.”

Further thought fled with her physical ability to finish the sentence. She was being kissed. And how. Backed against the wall, a long denim leg inserted between hers. She welcomed it, wrapped her left leg around it and pushed rhythmically.

“Candace.” He sounded hoarse, frustrated. She felt the same. “I want you so badly.”

“Me, too.”

“Today.”

“Yes.” She forced herself to think. “Michelle’s home, but if we sneak in quietly, I’ve got clean sheets that we can—”

“Clean sheets?” He pulled back, looked at her incredulously. “I’m ready to go right here against the wall and you want to drive home and change your sheets?”

“I…well…” She made a silly face to hide how crestfallen she was. “I’m no fun, huh?”

He laughed, rested his forehead against hers. “I think maybe it’s been too long since you let yourself have any.”

She wasn’t so sure she’d ever “let herself” do anything he was thinking of, but she wasn’t going to admit that she’d been boring all her life. Wait. Not sensible? Not rational? Boring? Really?

Dear God. This was turning out to be quite the day for destroying illusions about herself. Or maybe it was her turn to evolve.

“Come on.” He kissed her quickly, then took her hand and led her out of the rainforest. “Change of plans.”