Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Wisteria

I sigh and sink into the kiss before I can tell myself this is a bad damned idea. I dart my tongue against his and tell myself just to enjoy this. Enjoy every second of this moment. The taste of him, the feel of him up against me, the rough tug of his fingers in my hair moving me where he wants me.

By the time he pulls away from me, I have shamefully pulled my legs up around his waist and wrapped my arms around his neck. My legs spring apart, and I make myself loosen my hold on him. My lips curl around my teeth taking in the last taste of him that still lingers on my lips and slide my gaze over to the others. All of them are turned towards us, watching with rapt interest.

Rachel is the first to speak, "Wow, that was some prize, girl."

Heat hits my cheeks and I put even more space between us. He takes me by the hand and tugs me back to him before I can get too far away. Seriously blue eyes look down at me.

"Thank you for my prize, Winnie."

He's lifting me out of the water by the time I get my head together to say anything to him. We spend another thirty minutes lying on the wood staring up at the sky and clouds, talking about everything and nothing at all. By the time we make it back to the house all of us are starving and very ready for dinner together.

I try not to think about that kiss or the way I reacted to it or how good Banner looked in his trunks. I just focus on getting through dinner. By the time I make it to my room, I don't care that it is a new bed in a new place. I don't care that our rooms share a bathroom and a balcony. I don't even mind that I am in a house full of strangers trying to pretend I know more than I do. I just collapse on the bed and burrow under the sheets, completely ready to hide in the sweet oblivion of slumber.

The next morning it appears as if I am the first one up since I don't spot another person on my way downstairs. I look through the many open rooms until I come upon a room that must be the library. A smile tilts across my lips at the room and all thought of going for breakfast evaporates. Sun is coming through the wall of French doors and the other side of the room is full of books of all sizes and shapes. In the middle of the room is one big stone fireplace that I can tell I would fall in love with on cold, winter days. Or during the summer, I could open the doors up and let in the soft scent of all the beautiful things growing right outside. I run my fingers over the many books, searching the titles with no real aim when Aaron steps through the door.

"Oh hi. I didn't realize anyone but me was awake."

I give him a smile before answering, "Me either. I saw this place on my way to the kitchen and got a little sidetracked."

"Yeah, this place is awesome. Hey, do you think it has a hidden passage or secret room like in all those old movies? Aren't they usually in the library or something?"

"Oh gosh, I don't know." I can't help but laugh since I was thinking the same thing last night when Sarah mentioned the library. "Want to start pulling random books out and see if we can find it?"

"Hell yes!" He goes to the opposite side of the bookshelf. "We'll meet in the middle?"

"Sounds good to me." We start pulling books out and searching the room, the entire time laughing about how silly we are being. We've almost tried every book when a shadow falls over the doorway. We both turn to find out who it is. My eyes meet cool blue flames that watch both me and Aaron.

The look on his face clearly says he didn't have a good night or something. Maybe…maybe he was hoping he could do the whole skinny-dipping thing with Rachel and found out she has a thing for Cord. Although how she could turn down a chance to be with Banner I could never understand. Or maybe he just hated his room. Maybe his bed sucked, or he has the same problem I do when I sleep in strange places. Either way, he is shooting me and Aaron some not-happy looks.

"Oh hey, Banner. Want to come help me and Wisteria look for secret passages?"

He comes all the way into the room but doesn't answer Aaron at first. "I'll have to take a rain-check and so will Wisteria, I'm afraid. Dane says he wants to take some shots of us down in the wine cellar because they will look cool."

"Oh, um, okay." I turn to Aaron and give him a little wave, "Bye, I guess. Let me know if you find anything."

Banner stays quiet the entire trip downstairs and for the life of me, I can't figure out which Banner I am going to get from one day to the next. Is this normal? Is it because he's a talented actor who is always playing a role? Who the hell is the real Banner?

Will I ever figure it out? Will I ever figure him out? Or is this just the way he acts to keep people at arm's length? And what does it mean that he wants to keep me at a distance? Are we back to him not wanting me around him?

I thought we were doing pretty well after the kiss. But what the hell do I know? It could have been the kiss that has him so upset for some reason.

An awful thought takes form in my mind, what if he just did the whole kiss thing out on the lake so he could make Rachel jealous and it didn't work, or worse - it backfired, and she didn't want anything to do with him afterward because of me. It sucks on more than a few levels and the thought has me almost as grim as Banner was when he came into the library.

As soon as we are down in the cellar, I say hello to Dane and try to remind myself that I am a professional. I am bigger than this stupid crush, bigger than the irritation that sets heavy in my chest at the thought of Banner using me to be with someone else. I just have to remain professional.

"Oh, hello my lovely. Today I want to do castle vogue, film noir in stone, sexy cellar shots."

I give him a slow nod, not at all sure if I can do any of that. But I am a professional and I will at least try to do it for Dane. His assistant, who I didn't even realize had come with him, comes over and holds up a slinky dress in a soft dove grey. "Put this on and come on out."

"Don't I need makeup or something? And my hair?'

"Just throw on some lips stick. Dane wants to try to keep things as casual looking as possible."

Casual looking? There is nothing casual about the dress I have to wiggle into. It's so slinky. The first time, I tried to wear underwear under it but there is simply no way to do it and not show lines. I'm going to have to go bare if I want the damned dress to look right. Bare really isn't a condition I want to be in around Banner. Not after this morning. Not after that horrible suspicion that has taken root in my mind.