The Reef

wasn’t above enjoying that as well.
    To show how little it mattered, she let her hand stay in his as they left the screened terrace for the open patio below.
    The music was slow, sexy, with the vocalist adding a teasing interpretation to the words. A couple sat huddled together at a table in the shadows, but there were no other dancers when Matthew took her into his arms.
    He took her close, so their bodies molded, so that her cheek had little choice but to rest on his. Without thinking, she closed her eyes.
    She should have known that he would be smooth, that he would be clever. But she hadn’t expected that her steps would match his so perfectly.
    “I didn’t know you could dance.”
    He skimmed a hand up her back to where material gave way to flesh, flesh that shivered at the touch. “There’s a lot we didn’t know about each other. But I know the way you smelled.” He nuzzled just under her ear. “That hasn’t changed.”
    “I’ve changed,” she said, struggling not to react as fire licked along her vulnerable flesh.
    “You still feel the same.” He reached up to pull pins out of her hair.
    “Stop that.”
    “I liked it short.” His voice was as quiet as the breeze, just as seductive. “But this is better.” Softly, his mouth skimmed over her temple. “Some changes are.”
    She was trembling, those quick, involuntary shivers he remembered so well.
    “We’re different people now,” she murmured. She wanted it to be true, needed it to be. And yet, if it was,how could it be so easy to move into his arms as if not a moment had passed since the last time?
    “Lots of other things are just the way they were. Like the way you fit against me.”
    She jerked her head back, then shuddered when his lips brushed over hers.
    “You still taste the same.”
    “I’m not the same. Nothing’s the same.” She broke away and darted down the steps toward the beach.
    She couldn’t seem to draw in enough air. The balmy night had suddenly turned traitor, making her skin shiver. It was anger—she wanted to believe it was anger that made her stomach clench and her eyes tear. But she knew it was need, and could only hate him for rekindling a long-dead spark.
    When he caught her, she was sure she would round on him, clawing and spitting. Somehow her arms were around him, her mouth seeking his.
    “I hate you for this. God, I hate you for this.”
    “I don’t give a damn.” He dragged her head back to plunder. It was all there, that energy, that verve, that passion. He had a wild, desperate thought to drag her off into the bushes, to plunge himself into the heat that vibrated from her.
    “I know you don’t.” And it was that which still hurt, a scar that throbbed under a fresh wound. “But I do.”
    She broke away, throwing her hands up to ward him off when he would have taken her into his arms again. She fought to even her breathing, fought to resist that reckless, compelling light in his eyes.
    “You wanted to prove you could still strike a spark between us.” She pressed an unsteady hand to her stomach. “Well, you did. But what we do or don’t do about it is my choice, Matthew. And I’m not ready to make a choice.”
    “I want you, Tate. Do you need to hear me say it?” He stepped forward, but didn’t touch her. “Do you need to hear me tell you I can’t sleep at night for wanting you?”
    The words, the rough, impatient delivery, spun in her head, swam in her blood. “Maybe I do, but it doesn’tchange the fact that I’m taking whatever time I need to decide. I’d have gone anywhere, done anything for you once, Matthew. Once. What I do now, I do for myself.”
    He hooked his tensed hands in his pockets. “That’s fair enough. Because this time around what I do, I do for myself.”
    “This time around.” She gave a quick laugh and pulled her fingers through her tumbled hair. “That part looks the same from where I’m standing.”
    “Then you know what you’re dealing with.”
    “I’m not sure I do,” she said wearily. “You keep shifting on me, Matthew. I’m not sure what’s real and what’s shadow.”
    “This is real.” He cupped a hand behind her neck, lifting her to her toes until their mouths met.
    “Yes, that’s real.” As she eased away, she let out her breath. “I want to go back now, Matthew. We start early tomorrow.”
     
    She really didn’t mind the way the teams split so that her father and LaRue worked together, leaving her and Matthew as the second