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This slight gesture draws a beaming, grateful smile from her and my chest puffs out. I feel ten feet tall. That’s the thing with Cherry, she makes me feel like I’m her hero. A feeling I crave now more than ever.

“Thank you.” I watch as she opens the can and takes a long sip, my stomach tightening at her deep, appreciative groan. My eyes follow her pink tongue as she licks her lips, and I shift in my seat, uncomfortable with where my thoughts are going.

Where they seem to live now whenever I’m with her.

“So, what do you want to see today?” I ask, changing the subject.

To distract myself from my wayward thoughts, I pull out a protein bar from my bag and take a huge bite.

It’s flavourless and has the consistency of cardboard, so it will keep my mouth occupied and off her lips. At least for the next five minutes.

“Everything,” she gushes in response. From her backpack, she pulls out what looks like a list of places and things to see in Kyoto. I take it from her, frowning at the length of it. If she wants to tick all these things off her bucket list, we need to be prepared.

“I’ll call Sue and organise a tour guide.”

She grabs the list and my phone from me, her small nose scrunched up in disgust. “Absolutely not. You leave Sue alone on her day off. The best way to experience a place is to just get lost in it. ”

My gaze catches and stays on her smiling lips and once again, words leave my mouth without my permission. “You want to get lost with me?”

Her breath catches, an audible gulp and I know she’s clocked how flirty that sounded. Even if I tried, I can’t describe it any other way.

I’m flirting with Cherry Brenner. And I’m loving every minute.

“Yes, Nicky. Yes, I want to get lost with you.”

Our eyes lock and that sensation, the one where I’m falling intensifies.

The blue of her eyes holds me captive and my mouth—my suddenly dry mouth—craves a taste of hers.

In slow motion, I lower my face towards where hers is upturned, looking at me, waiting for me like she may crave the taste of me too.

“Nicky?”

We jolt apart and turn to look at James, who's smirking at me, his knowing gaze bouncing between the two of us.

“We’re here.” He points to the Kyoto station sign on the platform outside our window.

“Right.” I shake my head and clear my throat, pushing up to standing, when everything is screaming at me to sit down and just kiss her. “We’d better get going.”

Cherry remains seated, her fingers running over her lips, a wistful expression on her face.

“Cherry?” I hold out my hand and after a moment’s hesitation, she places her much smaller one in mine. “Where to first?”

She looks out the window and back at me, a ghost of a smile growing on her lips. “We’re going to the Kyoto Botanical Gardens.”

I tip my head and her grin grows wider.

“We’re going to see the cherry blossoms.”

· · · · ·

“Are you going to eat it?”

Cherry’s button nose scrunches up. “Don’t rush me.”

“You don’t have to eat it.”

Her blue eyes spit fire at me and I smother a chuckle. The woman is determined, I’ll give her that.

“Seriously, you can just leave it.”

We’ve been roaming the city of Kyoto for over three hours now.

My travel companion has been on a mission to see and do as much as her feet will allow her, and I’ve been happy to just follow along.

So far, we’ve seen the cherry blossoms in all their glory, made the trek up to Fushimi Inari Taisha, and then explored the streets of the Gion entertainment district in search of a real-life Geisha.

Cherry has been soaking in every moment with the wonder of a child in Disneyland, and I’ve been soaking in the delight that is just watching her.

I’m so screwed.

“I will not be one of those tourists who insults the locals,” she says now, looking down at the mystery meat in front of her and swallowing hard.

She’d wanted to go off the beaten track and eat outside the tourist traps.

That’s how we found ourselves here, in a restaurant with a menu only in Japanese and a smorgasbord of unknown food in front of us.

Some we can identify as salmon and tuna, but the one currently dangling from her chopsticks… it could be anything.

“I’m not sure they’ll care if you eat it or not,” I point out.

“Nope.” She pulls in a deep breath and pops the food into her mouth.

I watch her chew and chew and chew some more, clearly reluctant to swallow. I raise my brow in question as she discreetly spits her mouthful into a napkin .

“Don’t say a word.”

My hands are up in surrender. “Here, drink this.”

She grabs the bottle of Coke from my hand and finishes it in one gulp.

“Shall we go?”

We’ve demolished most of the food in front of us and I don’t want her feeling obliged to eat anything else. The last thing I want is for her to get sick.

“Yes.”

Cherry skims over the list in her hand, deciding where to go next. We established early that this day of playing tourist is all about her; given this is my third time in Kyoto, I don’t need to see or do anything while I’m here. Except, I guess, to see her happy.

“Then let’s go.”

As we leave the restaurant, Cherry is effusive with her praise.

She tells the servers who I’m not sure can understand her, how amazing the food was.

The servers in turn bow in a sign of respect.

She bows in return to show them respect and then they bow again, and I have to pull her away before we get stuck in a never-ending loop of politeness.

“I love it here,” she sighs as we walk down a small side street. “And with the cherry blossoms blooming, it adds a magical quality to it. Don’t you think?”

She stops and looks up to me and I’m once again lost in her eyes. I’ve known her most of my life, and yet all of a sudden, I’m losing my breath from a mere glimpse of her long eyelashes. Or the way her blue eyes sparkle. Or how kissable her lips are.

Matteo would kill me if he knew the thoughts crowding in my head.

“Magical? Yes, it is.”

Yes, she is .

We stare at each other for a long moment, before I pull myself together. “Where to next?”

“The Yasaka Shrine.”

We meander down the main street towards our destination, stopping every few steps for Cherry to take a photo. She must have taken a thousand photos already today, but from the way her face lights up whenever that camera is in her hand, I just know it’s what makes her the happiest.

“Hey, what do you think that is? There are billboards about it all over Japan.”

I follow her finger to where she’s pointing. “Pocari Sweat? It’s a drink.”

“Obviously.” Her tone is droll and I grin. “But what sort of drink? It kinda sounds like they’re selling sweat.”

A laugh escapes me at this observation. I’d never thought of it that way. But then, I’m closer to the drink than she is.

“It’s a sports drink. Like Gatorade or Powerade. It’s got electrolytes to help you replenish after you sweat.”

Her cheeks turn the slightest shade of pink and I shove my hands into my pockets to stop from tracing a finger over them. Turns out, I’m a sucker for a blushing Cherry.

“That makes sense. Is it nice?”

I stop in front of a vending machine and buy a few bottles of Pocari Sweat drinks for her. They come in several flavours and I want her to have options.

“Oh.” She takes a sip and licks her lips. I smother a groan. “It’s nice.”

Gulping from my bottle, I nod, momentarily lost for words by the mere sight of her small pink tongue.

What. Is. Happening. To. Me ?

She continues drinking and I scramble to get my thoughts in order. “Do you want to know a secret?”

“Yes!” She bounces on her toes and I mentally kick myself. This isn’t anywhere near getting my thoughts together. This isn’t something I ever wanted to share with…anyone.

“Tell me.”

I hesitate. Fine, I’m stuck now. Me and my stupid brain have got me in a pickle. “I was in an ad for Pocari Sweat. A few years ago.”

Her mouth drops open. “You were? How did I not know this?”

“It was only here in Japan.” I shrug. “And that is something I’m very grateful for.”

“Oh, now I have to see it.” Her eyes shine with mischief and she pauses in the middle of the footpath, causing a slight foot-traffic jam behind us.

I take her hand and pull her off to the side, ignoring the zing zapping up my arm from where my palm is touching hers.

“Don’t think you’re going to get away with not showing it to me,” she threatens, dropping my hand and shaking hers slightly.

“I’m not sure I want you to see it,” I admit.

She flashes her dimple at me and I groan. I should never have divulged how much power that smile of hers has over me.

“Fine.” I fish my phone out of my pocket, silencing James’s chuckle with a quick glare. He’s seen the ad and knows why I’ve kept it a secret.

“Gimme.” She snatches the phone from me and squints down at it. “What am I looking at?”

I stand behind her, leaning over her shoulder to scroll through my phone. From this position, my senses are assaulted by her. By her scent, by how her hair tickles my nose. By how perfectly she fits against me .

“Here.” The one word comes out strangled and I clear my throat. “But I must swear you to secrecy. No one back home can know about this. Especially your brother.”

Her head tilts back and she locks her gaze with mine. I can feel the tension in her body and wonder if what I said just now has another meaning. Because the way I’m feeling with Cherry so close to me? Yeah, her brother can never know about it.

“You can press play now.”

She shakes her head, tearing her eyes from mine. “This is so exciting.”

Embarrassed, I step away from her, not wanting to see her face as she watches the ad. It’s not that it’s a bad ad campaign; it’s just that I’m horrible in it.

“Oh my gosh, Nicky! This is so good.”

Good, as in so, so bad.

“I have to watch it again.”

Her light laughter stops me from snatching the phone from her, so I let her watch it again.

And then one more time. The video goes for twenty seconds and watching her watch it, it feels like three thousand.

In it, I’m an F1 driver (should have been a pretty easy role for me), but instead of racing on the track, I’m racing in space.

And the other drivers? They’re anime cartoons.

The Japanese public seems to love all things Manga and anime, so the ad makes sense for this audience.

I’d spent the day in the studio acting with a bunch of nothing; just a green screen.

For most of the video, I’m looking lost. The rest of the time, I’m delivering my lines poorly in Japanese.

And even though it’s obvious that I’m uncomfortable throughout, both the clients and the public loved it, and I’ve got a lifetime supply of Pocari Sweat in my garage back at home to show for it.

Still, it remains my dirty little secret .

Or I guess, it remained. Cherry and that dimple got me again.

“This is the best thing I’ve ever seen.” She is now doubled over and holding her stomach she’s laughing so hard. James the traitor has joined her, laughing a belly laugh I’d never heard from him before.

“Give me that.” I snatch the phone from her and pull my cap further down over my face. I wear it in public to help me go incognito, but right now I’m wishing it was something more substantial. Something to hide my burning cheeks.

Blushing. Another new thing Cherry has brought into my life.

“But, but,” she splutters, pointing to the phone I’ve just stashed in my back pocket. “It’s just so bad.”

“Shut up.”

She snorts and abruptly stops laughing.

“Did you just snort?”

“Shut up.”

I smirk and she launches herself at me, her small hand sneaking around my waist and into my back pocket.

My hands land on her tiny waist and I draw her into me.

We freeze. She inhales sharply, pressing her chest into mine.

From this position, I can feel the thumping of her heart racing. It’s almost as fast as my own.

“Nicky?”

My name is a soft question from her and it knocks me out of the moment. Another moment where I almost kissed her.

Clearing my throat, I drop my hands away from her body and step back. “Give it up. There’s no way you’re watching that video again.” The words are teasing, but my tone is all wrong.

“Fine.” She blows a few wayward strands from her face and stands up straighter. “But don’t think I’m not googling the crap out of that when I get back to the hotel. ”

Groaning, I walk behind her as she marches back in the direction of the Yasaka Shrine, losing the battle to keep my gaze on the shopfronts on either side of me and not on the tendrils of her red hair stuck to the back of her neck. Or the way her bum fills out her jeans.

“You’ve got it bad, man.” James sounds almost sympathetic and I ignore him.

If I don’t acknowledge how my eyes are constantly drawn to her like a heat-seeking missile, then maybe I can fool myself into not seeing her as the gorgeous woman who’s captured all my attention, and everything can go back to normal.

To the world where I’m just her brother’s best friend. And she’s not the woman who’s becoming everything to me.