Free Deliciously Sinful by Lilli Feisty Page A

admit he’d never had the opportunity to cook fresh mushrooms like these during any of his stints at restaurants in big cities.
    “I suppose that makes sense,” Phoebe said. “It’s just that not even the locals know the proper names for any of the mushrooms around here.”
    “Well, I would hazard a guess that the locals are looking for a different variety entirely.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Making a swirling motion with his hands, he said, “You know. The magic kind.”
    She jerked the bucket back. “That’s ridiculous.”
    He stopped waving his hands. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
    Now he was apologizing? Nick never apologized. For anything, and what he’d said was relatively low on the offensive scale.
    She shook her head. “I’m not offended. It’s just that those varieties don’t actually grow out here in the wild.”
    Now he was the one who looked surprised. “And you know this…how?”
    “Well, you can’t just go feeding people random mushrooms. The majority of them will make you sick. I wouldn’t be picking them if I didn’t know what I was doing.”
    He took a step back. “Okay. Calm down.”
    “I am calm.”
    “Only you could make an issue out of a mushroom.”
    “I’m not making an issue out of it.”
    “You got all pissy at me just then.”
    “That’s because you insinuated everyone out here is a bunch of hippies on hallucinogens.”
    “And they aren’t?”
    “Only a few. And not me.”
    “Of course not you. I’m sure you’ve never so much as taken a drag of a cigarette.”
    “Cigarettes are disgusting.”
    “Never touched a joint either?”
    Biting her lip, she looked to the side.
    Lowering his head, he took a step toward her. “Phoebe Mayle. Are you telling me you inhaled?”
    “Maybe. Just once, though.”
    He laughed. “Did you like it?”
    “Not really. It was a long time ago, and I remember I ate a bag of chips and fell asleep.”
    He smiled. “Yeah. I pretty much had the same experience.”
    She couldn’t take her gaze off his smile. Silence stretched between them, but her brain had turned to mush, and she couldn’t find one word to say.
    She wanted to jump on him. Just like that. Standing there in the sun, in the forest, talking about the most random things—she couldn’t help it. She remembered the way his lips had felt on hers, the way his breath had felt soft on her skin, the way he smelled—like spices she couldn’t quite identify, no matter how hard she tried.
    She clenched the handle of the bucket in her hands. There was something about him, something that drew her. Raw. Physical. Hard. Heart-pounding. Lust.
    As if some kind of magnetic force surrounded them, she could feel the draw between them. Tearing her gaze away, she moved toward the tractor and pretended to find it interesting. But then she felt him beside her. Her heart raced. Her skin flushed. He was so close, so close that goose bumps pebbled up her arms and her body tingled.
    Oh, God, how she wanted to touch him. Just touch him…
    And then she felt his hand on hers. Just the barest whisper as his fingertips went up the back of her hand, but that simple contact sent an electric shock through her, right to her core.
    She glanced over, and he was staring at her. She felt her hands start to shake. But the pull was so strong, so exciting, she went with it. Allowed herself to enjoy the thrill of the moment.
    All that talk about not doing this—not allowing herself to feel the pleasure of Nick’s touch. It went out the window at a single touch.
    He took the bucket out of her hand and placed it on the ground. Then he turned her toward him, using his hand on her neck to move her. She gazed up at him. His stare was so intense it was almost unnerving.
    Okay, it was totally unnerving.
    Hell, everything about him was unsettling. But the gentle grip with which he held her calmed her at the same time.
    She’d never felt anything like it. She’d never felt a shiver go up her back like she