Red-Hot Honeymoon. Joss Wood
massive river, had killer humidity as well. They were, she’d decided, minutes after landing in Livingstone, Zambia, three hours ago, after a chartered flight from the Baobab and Buffalo, standing above the devil’s boiler house.
‘Well, in winter, when the water levels are low, you can walk along the lip of the falls. There are rock pools there, and one is called the Devil’s Pool.’
That made sense, Callie thought. After stoking the fires of hell, Satan would want to cool down.
Then Finn’s words sank in and her eyes widened. ‘You can walk across….’ she waved at the massive falls behind her ‘… that?’
‘Well, there’d be a lot less water.’
‘That’s insane! People do this?’ Callie cried, her stomach clenching at the thought.
‘Sure. You walk across the rocks, swim through some pools, and then there’s this other pool, right at the lip of the falls. The rock lip stops you from going over.’
‘And you’d do that?’ Callie asked in a squeaky voice.
Finn shrugged. ‘Sure. It would be a kick.’
Callie closed her eyes. ‘That’s insane. It’s official: I’m sleeping with a mad man.’
Finn straightened and pushed a long wet strand of hair out of her eyes, tucked it behind her ear. ‘Talking of sleeping … This morning was so rushed we haven’t had a moment alone for me to ask—are you okay?’
Callie frowned. ‘Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘You said that it had been a while, and we did it a couple of times last night. You’re not sore or tired or—?’
Callie grinned, touched by his concern. She was a little stiff, a little uncomfortable, but she wasn’t about to admit that. ‘Finn, I’m twenty-eight—not a hundred and eight.’
‘Just checkin’.’ Finn rubbed his thumb over her cheekbone. ‘I had fun.’
Hoo-boy. So had she. ‘Me too.’
‘Want to do it again?’
Callie made sure that her tone was flippant, carefree. ‘Sure—since you’re marginally good at it.’
She put her tongue in her cheek to make sure that he knew that she was teasing.
In a flash Finn scooped her up into his arms and swung her towards the railing. ‘Can you swim?’ he asked, grinning down at her.
Callie wound her arms around his neck in a chokehold as she squealed hysterically. ‘Put me down, you jerk!’
Finn swung her towards the railing again. ‘Tell me I’m the greatest you’ve ever had.’
‘The best ever!’ Callie shouted in his ear, tightening her arms. ‘I promise!’
Finn finally allowed her legs to drop to the ground, but Callie kept her arms around his neck, peeking out from over his arm. His hands were running up and down her spine.
‘You were pretty spectacular yourself, Cal.’
Callie dropped her head back to look into his face. His eyes looked warm and tender, and his mouth—that wonderful mouth—was heading towards hers. She allowed him one brush, two, then a quick taste of her tongue before pulling back and stepping away. Sleeping with him was one thing, but the banter, the teasing, the outright affection had to be curtailed—or at the very least controlled. Or else they’d forget that their fake relationship was … well, fake, and they’d end up in all sorts of emotional trouble.
‘I don’t want a relationship,’ she stated baldly.
He met her eyes. ‘Me neither.’
She wanted to tell him that she really didn’t. She couldn’t allow her feelings to be engaged, couldn’t hand her heart over and trust its well-being to the hands of another person. As a little girl she’d done that. Her mum had been her entire world and she’d left. Just left.
I can’t and won’t allow myself to break the habit of a lifetime and fall for you in any way, shape or form, she told him silently.
She made herself smile at him. ‘Just so that you know: I am going to use you and abuse you, then callously toss you aside at the end of three weeks.’ I’m going to treat you like just another short-term prospect … some bed-based fun, she added silently. And that means no digging into the past, sharing secrets or stories. It means being sensible and unemotional and playing it super-cool.
Finn nodded. ‘Use, abuse and toss away. Got it.’ The corners of his eyes crinkled with laughter. ‘You are the most honest woman I’ve ever met, angel.’
He’d called her that before, and it sounded so natural that she wondered if he even knew he was doing it. Short-term lovers shouldn’t have nicknames, but she didn’t have the guts to ask him to stop. She rather liked it.
Callie looked down the gorge to the river, to what looked like a tiny speck on the water. Her attention captivated, she leaned forward and immediately felt Finn’s hand on her elbow, placed there for protection. She would have to be an idiot to lean far enough over to lose her balance and go headfirst down into the gorge, but Finn’s protective instinct warmed her from the inside out.
Don’t go there, Hollis. Use, abuse, toss.
‘Is that a boat?’ Callie asked, pointing to the river so very far below them.
‘Yep. That’s one of the white-water rafting boats.’ Finn nodded. ‘I want to do that tomorrow. Want to come with me?’
Callie twisted her lips. ‘That would be a no.’
But there was a tug of excitement in her belly—a wish that she could say yes, that she could experience the thrill of riding those rapids. She hadn’t done anything to make her adrenalin pound since she was a teenager who’d loved pushing the envelope.
And she wouldn’t. She’d promised Seb and her dad. But, damn, she’d loved it.
‘Aw, come on!’ Finn placed a hand on her back to steer her down the path, away from their lookout point.
‘You have more chance of being impregnated by a member of the zombie apocalypse.’ She leaned her shoulder into his. ‘You’d better not die. I’ll be narked if my holiday and my recently revived sex life is interrupted by having to ship you home in a body bag.’
Finn grinned at her. ‘No worries. It’s safe.’
‘It’s madness!’ Callie hissed.
But it wasn’t—it really wasn’t. It looked fun and exciting and thrilling, and she hoped Finn loved every second of it.
She knew that she would. Damn, she could just do it and they wouldn’t even know. But she’d promised. And promises couldn’t be broken, she reminded herself.
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