Born at Midnight (Shadow Falls #1)(72)

"There." He pointed her to the edge of the creek.

She moved over there, slowly. Staring down at the prints, she pretended an interest in them. He suddenly stood beside her, casting a long shadow. When she looked up, she caught him staring at her chest.

She glanced down and saw that the water had made both her satin bra and white tank top practical y invisible. Her nipples, stil tight and tingling, pushed against the fabric.

She crossed her arms.

"You should wear my shirt." He tugged his wet blue T-shirt up. Kylie watched as his shirttail shifted upward, exposing a very hard abdomen. The hem of his shirt inched higher, and she took in the cutest inny bel y button she'd ever seen. And then his chest. Solid. Hard. A few drops of water glistened against his skin. Her heart beat to the sound of passion again.

Realizing she stared, she turned away. "Maybe you should just promise not to look and keep your shirt on."

"I might be able to do that. But the six guys that are about to arrive in less than thirty seconds might not be so cooperative. Then I'l have to teach each of them a lesson."

"I thought they weren't coming this way?"

"They turned around." He started putting the shirt over her head. She raised her hands and helped him. With the shirt in place, he offered her half a smile. His gaze lowered to her chest.

"Much better." He reached out and brushed a wet strand of hair off her cheek. "You have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?"

The voices were at the bank of the creek now. Not that Kylie cared. Every instinct she had was zeroed in on the man standing in front of her and the compliment he'd just given her.

He made her feel beautiful. He made her feel sexy.

"You ready to head back?" Lucas asked.

She nodded, but right before she turned, she heard her name.

"Kylie?"

Damn if she didn't recognize the voice, too.

She looked back to the bank and found herself staring at a very puzzled-looking Trey.

Chapter Thirty-two

"Do you know him?" Lucas asked, his bare arm brushing against hers in a protective manner.

Too stunned to speak, Kylie managed to nod. And then Trey started over, splashing through the water.

"Everything okay?" Trey asked.

He didn't look at her. Instead, he kept his gaze riveted on Lucas. Or rather, on Lucas's bare chest.

"Yes," she said, final y finding her voice. "We ... we were just looking at the dinosaur fossils."

"Is this Derek?" Trey's tone was ful of accusation. Not that he had a right to accuse her of anything, considering everything that had happened between them. But the hurt in his eyes was genuine and it tugged at her heart.

"Trey, this is my friend, Lucas. Lucas, this is Trey."

Both boys stared at each other. Instead of exchanging handshakes, they offered each other cold, unfriendly nods.

"We should go," Kylie said to Lucas, and nodded a good-bye to Trey.

She started walking across the stream. Lucas fel in step beside her. She almost slipped again, but Lucas caught her, bringing her ful y against his chest as Trey watched from the other side of the stream.

"Boyfriend?" he asked, releasing his clasp on her waist.

"Ex." She got to the other side and sat down to put on her shoes, but she could stil feel Trey watching her. She knew al too wel how he felt. The same way she'd felt seeing him and that girl at the party. Poetic justice, just dues, turnabout was fair play-a bunch of emotional qualifiers skipped around her head, but truth was, she felt none of them.

"Why did he ask if I was Derek?" Lucas asked.

"It's a long story." And one she didn't want to share right now. As she tied her shoes, guilt tied knots in her chest. She shouldn't feel guilty. But she did.

Shoes on, she stood up and started walking, never looking back. Her emotions ran like wild horses in her mind. Lucas held out the fence again and she slipped through-without brushing up against him this time. As soon as she knew Trey couldn't see her anymore, she stopping thinking about him and started thinking about the kiss. Needing to feel grounded, she started putting it into perspective. Yes, it had been a good kiss, but it hadn't been more than a kiss. Right?

They hardly spoke on the walk back. And she hardly looked at him, because seeing him without his shirt was ... making it hard to think. When they had almost gotten to the camp trail, Kylie realized she hadn't gotten the one answer she wanted from him. Did Lucas remember her?

She tried to find a way to ask without it sounding as if she wanted him to remember her. As if she thought what they'd shared as children had connected them. It didn't.

How could it, when he'd even suggested she forget the kiss? Her chest began to tighten just a little. God, why did his saying that have to hurt so much?

She took a deep breath. Just add that question to the growing list she'd started since coming to Shadow Fal s. While the rest could probably wait, this one couldn't.

She wanted to know-needed to know-if he remembered her.

Just blurt it out. Just blurt it out. She saw the clearing in the woods ahead and knew her time with him was short. She might not talk to him again before she left.

"You know, you kind of remind me of someone," she said.

"Do I?" He didn't look at her.

"Yeah." She waited for him to ask who.