“All right,” Stone said, picking up his napkin and giving a last swipe at his lips, “looks like we’re done here.” He got up and held out his hand to Indie. “Why don’t we head to the living room? There’s something I want to show you.”
“Oh. All right.” Indie took his hand and rose to stand beside him.
It took a whole lot of willpower for him not to drag her into his arms and kiss her breathless. But no, now was not the time.
Stone led Indie to the small sofa in the living room then crouched down in front of the VCR on the TV stand.
“Old movies,” Indie guessed.
“Yes, but not just any old movies. My old movies.” Stone slid the first tape in, pressed play then went to sit at the other end of the couch. “These are recordings of my earlier trips to South Africa. I made a lot of cultural mistakes and maybe you can learn from some of them. And I had a lot of fun.”
They settled back in the chair and watched shots of Stone arriving in South Africa, meeting with government officials, then his first meeting with Moekebi. The child was thin but with eyes so bright and full of life you couldn’t help but be buoyed up by his spirit. Then there was the opening of the boys’ home and the installation of the teachers. And, to Stone’s horror, there was also a clipping of him in native dress doing a traditional dance. He’d forgotten about that.
Indie howled with laughter at that one. “Oh, my Lord, what were you thinking?” She was laughing so much tears filled her eyes. “No, that was not the act of Stone Hudson. That had to be Gladstone doing that dance. There’s no way a ‘Stone’ would be doing that. You can’t even dance!” And with that she burst into peels of laughter again.
“You’d better take that back,” he growled. “Or else.”
“Or else what?” Her mouth curled in amusement and defiance.
“Or else you’ll be punished,” he said, moving closer.
“Yeah? How?” she challenged, her eyes flashing in the light.
“Like this,” he said with a groan, then he was reaching for her, unable to deny himself any longer. He dragged Indie off the sofa and onto his lap and then he dipped his head and was kissing her with all the desire he’d been holding back for so long. As his arms circled her, pulling her close, his mouth held hers captive, demanding her response, and when she gave it, kissing him back with a fervor matching his own, he moaned.
When Stone finally lifted his head and looked into Indie’s eyes they were no longer sharp but had turned misty-green with passion. She sighed and leaned against him, soft and pliable in his arms.
It was too much. He lowered his head and kissed her again, this time more softly, more sweetly, more deeply, until she was clinging to him.
“Stone,” Indie whispered, “I’ve wanted this for so long.”
Stone’s heart swelled inside him. Indie wanted him. Could it be possible that she wanted him as badly as he wanted her? He could only hope. But her whisper was enough to give him that hope.
“Oh God, Indie,” he groaned. “I want you…too much. But I’ve got to stop now or else…” He didn’t say the rest. He knew exactly where this would end if he didn’t regain control. Stone slid Indie off his lap and back onto the sofa. Then he got up and shoved his hands into his pockets. As he looked down at her he shook his head.
“It’s okay,” she said with a small smile. “I understand.” She got up and reached out to touch his arm. “Walk me to the door?”
He stared down at her, his eyes burning into hers. “See you tomorrow?
She lifted her eyebrows. “We’ll see.”
“Have dinner with me again.” He’d said that on an impulse, but he meant it.
“I’ll do better than that,” she said. “Tomorrow I’ll fix dinner for you.”
That took him by surprise. Things could not have worked out better. “I’ll be there at six.”
She went on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek then she whispered in his ear, “I look forward to it.”
******
Twenty-four days to the deadline and things were heading in the right direction. And the surprise was, she hadn’t even been the one to send them down that road.
Just like she’d planned, he’d kissed her. Because he wanted to. She hadn’t had a thing to do with it. Well, almost nothing.
She had to admit that she might have had just a tiny bit of influence on him. She’d worn that perfume she knew he’d fallen in love with that first night they’d had dinner together. She’d seen his reaction when he breathed in the fragrance. And then she’d worn her killer blouse, the one that revealed a whole lot of shoulder and just a hint of cle**age. And, to top it all off, she’d given him the ‘eye’ just like Tessa had taught her, keeping her eyes half closed and setting her lips in an inviting pout.
And then he’d kissed her, so her preening must have worked. Or he must have really, really liked her. She liked reason number two better.
The fact was, she wanted him to like her. For real. Because, for her, all of this was growing a lot more serious than just like. She was beginning to fall in love.
It was strange. Could a woman fall in love in the space of six days? According to the Psychology books she’d read it was men who would usually say they’d fallen in love at first sight. Women spent more time in getting to know the man before admitting to such feelings.
But, from that first meeting, she’d felt that connection. It was freaky but the mere sight of him had set her body blazing. Had he felt the same way? Was that the real reason he'd kissed her last night?
She drew in a deep breath, the thoughts bumping around in her head, and stared out her bedroom window at the sun rising over the plains. With all she had to do, today was going to be hectic. And she would have to fix dinner for Stone. Well, actually, she planned to ask Cook to do it. Cooking was not exactly one of her best skills. Fishing? Yes. Maybe even catching some wild game, like birds or rabbits. But cooking? Please.