LITMIR.BIZ

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beautiful here,” she told him, glancing at the moonlight on the water.

      “Yeah, it is. Look, Amanda …”

      Oh, that sounded like the beginnings of a we-have-to-talk speech. Which she really didn’t want to hear at the moment. She preferred the teasing, tempting Nathan who had just shattered her so completely. She didn’t want to talk to the dutiful and honorable Nathan. Not now.

      So she just wouldn’t give him the opportunity to turn this moment into a regret-filled this-will-never-happen-again speech. Abruptly, she sat up and reached for her shirt. Dragging it on over her head, she flipped her hair back over her shoulder and asked, “How about some of that wine?”

      He studied her for a long minute, then sat up and reached for his own clothes. “Sure, that’d be good.”

      “And cookies,” she reminded him, determined to keep a cheerful, nonchalant attitude. Standing up, she stepped into her panties and then her skirt, smoothing the material before sitting down on the quilt again. “I think we need more cookies.”

      Once he was dressed, he sat down opposite her on the quilt and watched her warily, as if she were a time bomb with a faulty fuse and could go off any second. “Cookies.”

      “Why not?” she asked. “Don’t you remember? Sex always gives me an appetite.”

      Unexpectedly, he smiled as he poured them each a fresh glass of wine. “I do remember all of the picnics we had in bed.”

      Stillness washed over her as memories slammed into her mind. So many nights they’d spent in bed, laughing, loving and then feeding each other whatever they’d been able to find in the refrigerator. “We had a lot of good times, Nathan.”

      He handed her a full glass, then clinked his to hers. “Yeah, we did. But, Amanda …”

      She cut him off and saw his jaw tighten at being interrupted. “Let’s just leave it there, okay? We had good times back then and we had a good time tonight. Isn’t that what you said earlier? We have tonight?”

      “Yeah, I did.”

      “So, let’s enjoy it.”

      “You are the most confusing woman I’ve ever known.”

      Amanda laughed. “I think I’m flattered.”

      “You would be,” he said wryly. “You always knew how to twist me around until I didn’t know which end was up.”

      He sounded almost wistful and Amanda’s heart lurched in her chest. Memories were swimming in the air between them, rising and falling as swiftly as the frothy waves on the nearby river. Amanda took a sip of her wine to ease the knot in her throat before she trusted herself to speak. “You used to like that about me.”

      “Yeah,” he admitted. “I did.”

      Her gaze caught with his. “I’ve missed you, Nathan.”

      “I’ve missed you, too.”

      And maybe, Amanda told herself, for tonight, that was enough.

      “You had sex.”

      “Piper!” Amanda jolted and looked around the diner guiltily, making sure no one was within earshot. Thankfully, most of the lunch crowd was long gone and she and her friend had the back of the diner practically to themselves. Amanda grabbed her cup of coffee for a sip, then asked, “Could you say that any louder?”

      “Probably,” Piper said. “Want me to try?”

      “No!” Amanda shook her head and tried for a little dignity. What? Was the truth stenciled on her forehead? I had sex with Nathan last night. Who else had noticed? Oh, God.

      “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Amanda told her, deciding to plead ignorance and let it go at that.

      “Sure,” her old friend said with a smirk. “I’ll buy that. And any bridges you might have lying around.”

      Amanda frowned and leaned back into the rush of cool air pouring down on her from the overhead air-conditioning vent. Irritating to be read so easily—and by someone she hadn’t even seen in years. Well, clearly there was no point in pretending with Piper. “Fine. Yes. You’re right, Ms. Mind Reader.”

      Piper laughed and took a bite of the lemon meringue pie Amanda had promised her the day before. “Honey, I don’t need to read your mind. It’s in your eyes—not to mention the whisker burn on your neck.”

      She slapped one hand to the right side of her throat. A quick tingle whipped through her as she recalled how it had felt, having Nathan’s whiskery cheeks buried in the curve of her neck. Of course that didn’t mean she wanted the world noticing what she’d been up to. Amanda had been so sure she’d managed a makeup miracle. Now she didn’t know why she had bothered.

      “Honestly, I don’t know how they can call that foundation ‘full coverage,’” she muttered. “I should send them an email, complaining.”

      “You do that,” Piper said with a chuckle. “So, how is Nathan?”

      “He’s…good.” Better than good. Fabulous, really. A smile curved her mouth as she remembered the night before.

      By the time Amanda had gotten home, she was more tired and more energized than she’d been in years. Every cell in her body had felt as if it had just come to life after long years of sleep. She’d felt almost like Sleeping Beauty, except that Nathan wasn’t exactly Prince Charming and she was no damsel in distress waiting to be rescued.

      No, last night hadn’t been the beginning of anything. She wouldn’t fool herself into hoping for more when she was pretty sure that Nathan was considering what had happened at the river to be just a good time.

      But it had been more. For her, at least. Despite what she had said to Nathan, Amanda wasn’t a sex-is-just-sex kind of girl. If sex didn’t mean anything, what was the point to it all? No. The only reason she had slept with Nathan was because she still had feelings for him.

      “And so,” Piper persisted, “this means you’re back together?”

      “No,” Amanda said, shaking her head. “I’m not kidding myself about that. Last night was just…last night.” She wasn’t going to invent dreams and let them soar only to come crashing back to earth again. She’d already lived through that pain once and really had no desire to do it one more time. “Nathan and I didn’t work out before, remember?”

      Piper winced. “I know, but you’re both different now.”

      “Are we?” she wondered aloud. Amanda had been doing a lot of thinking about this since the night before. Sure, they were older, hopefully wiser, but was it enough to make a new relationship possible? Did Nathan even want a new relationship with her?

      She was getting a headache.

      “I don’t know,” she said finally. “Nathan will always be important to me. But—”

      “No buts,” Piper insisted. “There don’t have to be any buts.”

      Amanda chuckled. “In a perfect world …”

      A loud noise from across the room caught her attention and Amanda glanced at her sister, who was slamming the coffeepot back onto the warming burner. It was a wonder the pot hadn’t shattered. Amanda frowned when Pam turned her head long enough to fire a glare at her.

      “Wow, Pam’s in a good mood today.”

      “Yeah,” Amanda said. “She’s been like this all morning.”

      “Not surprising,” Piper told her. “She’s been after Nathan for years and she’s probably guessed by now that she’s never going to get him.”

      “What?”

      “You probably know that she and Nathan went out a couple times while you were

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