[4 Seasons 01] Seducing Summer by Serenity Woods Page B

should sound as erotic as it did.
    There was a coffee shop opposite the store,
so they ordered lattes and cake and found a seat by the window so they could
watch the world go by.
    “Anything I can do to help get your mind in
gear?” Gene asked after they’d made themselves comfortable.
    Callie looked out of the window. Dunedin
was an attractive city, busy and thriving, its distinctive Edwardian
architecture pulling in many tourists. It was also a university town, so the
coffee shops were filled with students, and the city had a young, fresh air to
it.
    She could smell Gene’s aftershave. It wound
around her, gentle and subtle as a silk ribbon, drawing her toward him. She
really hadn’t thought this through. Sitting on the plane squashed into a seat
next to him, travelling in the false intimacy of a car, eating in cafés—she
wasn’t sure she’d spent that much time being so close with Jamie.
    But she was a professional, and jeez, it
was only a couple of weeks. She might not have had sex for a while, but it
wasn’t as if she were going to jump on the first guy who came along.
    She looked back at Gene. Probably not. What
was the chance of the first guy being so sexy he made her mouth water every
time she looked at him?
    His cool eyes observed her. He unnerved her
somewhat. He always seemed so in control. Callie knew she had a tendency to
flap, usually when she’d forgotten to organize something, but Gene didn’t
appear to panic at anything. She supposed that after you’d been shot and
wounded, forgetting to book a car or discovering you’d left the perfect pair of
shoes for an outfit at home didn’t seem worth worrying about.
    Anything I can do? he’d asked. She was tempted to say, Help me out with an orgasm, but
couldn’t quite pluck up the courage. What would his reply be if she did? Would
his eyebrows rise and a look of disapproval cross his features? Or would his
eyes take on that sultry look of desire, his lips curving up as his gaze slid
down her body to heat her right through?
    “Um…” she said, “not really.” She leaned
back as the waitress brought their lattes and cake over. “Thanks.” She picked
up a spoon and stirred the foam, breaking up the picture of a fern that had
been drawn on the top. “I’ll be okay when I get going. I’m a bit rusty, that’s
all.” She rested her elbows on the table and sipped her latte, then realized he
was staring at her. “What?”
    He blinked and raised his own coffee.
“Nothing.”
    “No, go on. What did I say?”
    “It doesn’t matter, really.”
    “Gene. Tell me.”
    He huffed what sounded like an irritated
sigh, although humor sparked in his eyes. “I can’t make my mind up whether your
words keep sounding suggestive on purpose or whether it’s pure accident.” He
blew on the coffee.
    Callie thought back over what she’d said. I’ll
be okay when I get going. I’m a bit rusty, that’s all. “In that case, it
was pure accident. I think it says more about your state of mind than mine at
the moment.” Liar , she thought.
    “Oh, okay.”
    Their gazes met, and they both started laughing.
    “Sorry.” He put down his cup and pulled his
piece of chocolate brownie toward him. “I’ve been single for a while. I think
it’s having an effect on my brain.”
    “I know what you mean.” She reached out her
fork and removed the corner of his brownie. “I’m having trouble thinking about
anything but sex at the moment.”
    He stared at his brownie. “Callie…”
    “What?” She wondered if he was going to
react to her comment.
    He blew out a long breath, and she had the
feeling he’d been going to remark on it but had changed his mind. “Do you
normally help yourself to other people’s food?”
    She paused with the forkful of brownie
halfway to her mouth. “All the time. Sorry, is that a problem?”
    He looked up at her, and his expression
softened. “No,” he said. “Not at all. Help yourself.”
    For a brief moment, she imagined he