Page 11 of Summer with the Mountain Man (Mountain Man Summer #16)
Chapter Eleven
Riley
My lizard is gone.
Sighing, I run my gaze over the empty railing, devoid of a reptile I’ve grown stupidly attached to.
Is this what my trip to Australia has been condensed to? Becoming attached to the unobtainable?
“Good grief,” I mutter, dropping down onto the porch’s top step and looking up at the sky. “I’m pathetic.”
A blanket of stars stretches overhead, more than any I’ve seen at night before. I would have enjoyed getting to know those stars. And the nature here. And the beaches. And the people…
One particular person.
Gritting my teeth, I return my attention to my phone.
There are two flights leaving from Sydney tomorrow that I can afford.
And by afford, I mean I won’t be eating much after the food on the plane, and I’m going to have to beg my sister—or maybe my parents—for some money when I get back to Minnesota. At least until I find a job.
Maybe I should text Hugh?
“Good grief,” I mumble again, letting my head slump forward and my phone drop to the step between my feet, ticket unbought. “Stupid Luca Cormack, not wanting me. Stupid me, falling in love so quickly. Stupid lizard, not hanging around and being my friend.”
A hot breeze flows over me, tousling my hair and tugging at my shirt.
Lifting my head, I close my eyes and turn my face into it. It truly didn’t take me long to grow used to the smell of eucalyptus on the air. It’s so different from back home.
Home. Where is home? Not with my sister. Not with Mom or Dad. So where?
With Luca. I felt at home with him. I felt cherished with him.
“Damn it.” I shove myself to my feet, skin prickling with perspiration. I need to stop thinking about him. I need to cool off.
I turn to head inside and stop. Change my mind.
It’ll be a strange kind of emotional torture, given what he and I did in it, but I’m going to go swim in the lake instead.
Arriving at the lake, my breath catches in my throat. It’s stunning, a silver expanse of still calm reflecting the moon’s glow. It’s just waiting for me to jump in it.
I walk to the water, stripping off as I go. My shorts, my shirt, my bra, my panties.
The cool water licks around my ankles, my knees, my thighs. I let out a little gasp as it kisses my pussy, followed by a soft moan as the memory of Luca’s tongue down there teases me. No, haunts me.
I am never going to be able to forget him.
When the water circles my waist, I take a deep breath, pinch my nose, and drop under the surface.
Wait. Was that someone calling my name?
Planting my feet on the silty bottom, I stand and turn to face the bank.
There, on the edge of the water, is a tall, dark shape. A silhouette.
One branding indelibly into my soul.
My heart smashes up into my throat.
“What are you doing?” Luca calls.
“Saving a lizard,” I call back.
He tilts his head. “Are you sure?”
I laugh. “No. I was actually trying to wash away the memory of an annoying Australian firefighter who I fell in love with.”
“Why wash the memory away?”
“Well, he didn’t come back. I thought he didn’t want me the way I wanted?—”
I stop shouting as Luca walks into the lake, clothes and all.
My heart thumps faster, and I lower myself down to my knees until my chin skims the surface. I watch him stride toward me, his body large and powerful, his hands creating tiny wakes behind him as his fingers trail across the water.
“The way you what?” he says, stopping in front of me, towering over me.
“The way I wanted him,” I whisper, eating him up with my eyes.
He gazes down at me, the moon’s reflection in the lake casting him in a pale, muted glow. “You want me?” A rough huskiness scratches his voice.
I nod. “Do you want me?”
Reaching out, he gently brushes the back of his knuckle across my cheek. “I love you, Riley. I think I fell in love with you the moment you worried about the lizard out in the windstorm. But I thought you regretted being with me. I thought… When I was leaving this afternoon, I heard you…”
He stops.
I frown.
“I heard you,” he repeats, that scratchiness to his voice thicker. “I heard you questioning what you’d done. Calling yourself stupid.”
A wave of relief washes through me. With a soft laugh, I straighten to my feet, wrap my dripping arms around his neck, and press my wet body to his. “For falling in love with you so quickly. How the hell can I leave Australia when I love you so much and you’re here?”
He smooths his arms around my waist, draws me closer to his hard frame, and lowers his head until our foreheads touch. “How about you don’t leave? How about you stay here with me?”
“Forever?” I whisper.
“Forever,” he says back.
“Can we get a pet lizard?” I ask, lips curling. “And a dog?”
“Absolute—”
I kiss him before he can finish. Because when your life is about to truly start, why wait even another second?