Taste (Cloverleigh Farms, #7)(55)

He brought it to me, and I unwrapped it and rolled it on, knowing this was the last time we’d ever do this. Tomorrow, the sun would come up and the snow would melt and we’d leave our little oasis here at the Pineview Motel. We’d go back to our regular lives. Our real lives.

And as he moved inside me and our hands grasped and our skin grew slick and our mouths devoured and our bodies shuddered, released, and grew still, I pushed back against the one thought I absolutely could not afford to entertain, no matter what.

I don’t want this to end.





FIFTEEN





GIANNI





I hardly slept that night.

The room went from inky black dark to hazy gray as morning light filtered through the curtains.

Beside me, Ellie slept peacefully, facing me. Her thick, gingerbread-brown hair spilled onto the white pillowcase behind her head except for one wayward curl that trailed down her cheek. I brushed it back off her face, and her eyes opened. Outside in the sun, they’d be a light brown with flecks of honey, but here in the faintly violet light, they appeared dark as molasses.

“Hey,” she said softly. “Is it time to get up already?”

“You don’t have to. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s okay.” She rolled onto her back and stretched, her bare arms rising above the sheets. It was hard to believe that just two nights ago, our first night here, she’d demanded we sleep with clothes on. We’d been naked together in this bed a good portion of the hours since, including right now.

I wanted it to last a little longer.

Reaching for her, I gathered her close to me, and she put an arm over my chest and her head on my shoulder. We stayed that way for a few minutes, our bodies warm beneath the covers, our breathing synced.

“Remember when we got here and you said there would be no cuddling?” I asked her.

She laughed. “Yeah.”

“You were so wrong about that.”

“I was wrong about a lot of things.”

My heart stumbled across its next few beats. And then I blurted out something really fucking dumb.

“My car is fine.”

She looked up at me, confused. “Huh?”

Fuck! What was I doing? Why did I keep telling on myself?

But I kept going. “My car. It’s fine. It’s not dead.”

She bolted upright and stared down at me with hard, narrowed eyes. “You said yesterday morning it was dead. You said you tried to jump it, and it still wouldn’t run. Now it’s been miraculously resurrected?”

“I made it up. It was never dead.”

“Oh my God!” Ellie jumped out of bed, wincing at the pain as she hobbled over to the window and peeked out the curtain.

“Be careful on that foot,” I said weakly.

“All the cars out there yesterday morning were totally buried—how did I not see it then? The snow would have been disturbed if you’d tried to get a jump.” She whirled around to face me. “You asshole! You kept me prisoner here!”

“Ellie, let me explain.”

“I trusted you—like you said I could—and you took advantage of it!”

That one hit me like a punch in the stomach. “You can trust me.”

“No. I can’t. I don’t know why I thought I could. I must have been crazy.” She looked around and spied her sweatshirt on the floor. Scooping it up, she yanked it on. “Get out of that bed. We’re leaving.”

“But I want to talk about this. Please?”

“Not a chance, Gianni.” She spoke through clenched teeth. “All you do is lie. It’s very clear to me now what this was to you—a game, just like everything else. A big scam to get me in bed.”

“You’re wrong!” I got out of bed and went over to her, taking her by the arm.

“Am I?” She wrenched her arm free and blinked at me. “Let’s see. You hid the truth about Fiona’s offer. About your TV show. You faked a dead car to trap me here another night. Jesus, was everything you said to me in here a bunch of bullshit?”

“No! Everything I told you was true.”

“And why should I believe that?” She put her hands in her hair. “God, I’m such an idiot!”

“You’re not—will you please hear me out?” I followed her around the room as she limped around gathering her clothes and tugging them on—underwear, pants, socks. “I only lied about the car to have one more night alone with you.”

“Well, there’s something we agree on—you’re a liar.”

“But it wasn’t just to have sex! I honestly wanted you to myself for another night. Being with you was the most fun I’ve ever had with anyone!”

“Too bad it was all bullshit,” she snapped, shoving things in her bag. “Just one more example of Gianni Lupo treating the world like his playground. You probably arranged the blizzard too. Winked and smiled at Mother Nature, and she gave into you like every other girl does.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I just sent a text to God. He’s a fan of Lick My Plate.”

She stopped moving and glared at me with daggers in her eyes.

“Okay, not the right time for a joke. Sorry.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “But Ellie, I promise I didn’t do this to fuck with you. I did it because I wanted to be with you.”