I kissed her hard. “I’d prefer you said ‘yes’. Really loud.” I rested my forehead on hers and kissed her nose.

“I’m sure that can be arranged.” She chuckled then kissed me with an urgency I hadn’t felt from her before.

I stumbled over towards the bed and we fell down onto the soft covers together. There was no time for laughing. It was just a blur of clothes and shoes being tossed and flung from our lust-fuelled bodies.

I loved the way her body fit against my much larger frame. She was strong and confident yet soft and responsive to my touch. What started as a crazy desire to take her hard and fast didn’t last the second I had her naked beneath me, staring up into my eyes. I made love to her the way she deserved. All her life, she’d never felt good enough, and I wanted her to know she was so far beyond good enough. She was making me feel things and consider things I had thought were impossible. I wanted to lose myself in her body, in her smile and in her soul, and then maybe I’d find my way home.

Chapter Thirty-One

Juliette

“Studley Park Boathouse? Really? With everything you know about me, is this really what you thought the ideal first date would be?” I asked, somewhere between confusion and amusement.

“Did you think I’d take you to mud wrestling?”

I put my hands on my hips but couldn’t help smiling. I had a strong suspicion this would be the first result in a ‘Romantic dates in Melbourne’ Google search. “Well, that might have been closer to the mark.”

“Settle down, angel.” He grabbed my hand to help me keep my balance as I stepped onto the small row boat. “I’ve got this.”

“Just so you know, if there’s a flock of swans and a thunderstorm on this date, I’m going to throw myself overboard and swim to shore.”

“I have no idea what you mean by that, but I’ll take my chances. Do ducks count?”

“Yes! Ducks count.”

“Guess I shouldn’t have bought the duck food, then?” He laughed, and I couldn’t help laughing too. He was so hot when he was being cute.

When I was safely seated opposite him, he pushed off the side with one oar and then got into a steady rhythm. I questioned why I’d mocked this date. I had a front row seat to the hottest man alive making good use of his muscles. He was wearing dark jeans and a black v-neck sweater over a white t-shirt. I cursed the season, wishing he would ditch the sweater.

“Tell me about Beatrix,” I suggested as Leo rowed effortlessly down river. The serenity was all consuming and lent itself to real conversation, something I realised I had actively avoided with Richard. “Have you known her all your life?”

Leo smiled. “Bea, Angus and I grew up together. We were like the three amigos as kids and the bond just stuck.”

“Were she and Angus childhood sweethearts? Were you the third wheel or did another girl infiltrate the trio?”

“Actually, Bea and I had an on-again off-again relationship through high school.”

“Oh! What happened? She’s lovely and gorgeous.” I felt a mild pang of jealousy.

“We were great friends, but the chemistry wasn’t there. I wanted to go away to uni and then see the world, and she wanted to stay home and run a café.”

“And make the best coffee in the world.”

“That’s it.” Leo adjusted the oars so they were safely inside the boat. We just drifted with the gentle current. “Angus and I were best mates and decided to apply to the same uni.”

“Time for you and Angus to sow your wild oats?” I cringed. Another ridiculous pang of jealousy hit me. The idea of him with another girl made me see red.

Leo laughed. “Are you pissed at me for being with women before I knew you?”

“No!” Yes.

Leo threw his head back and laughed mercilessly. “You are so cute.” He leaned forward and kissed me and I kissed him back, because I could never resist kissing him back. “You do realise it was you with the boyfriend when we met, right?”

“Tell me the rest of the story.” I pushed him lightly on the shoulder.

“Okay, bossy boots. So it was one drunken evening in our first year, Angus confessed his love for Beatrix. I’d had no idea he was so into her, but as it turned out, he had been broken hearted, fearing his chances with her were gone because of me. Over many, many beers and several manly hugs, I insisted we were just friends and he had my blessing to pursue her.”

“Wow. Poor Angus.”

“The next morning, he drove home and declared his love on her doorstep. Apparently, she burst into tears and they never looked back.”

“Happily ever after.”

“Pretty much. He went home to the Yarra Valley every weekend.”

“And what about you? Actually, don’t tell me.” I held up my hand and turned my head to the side. “I don’t want to hear about all your girlfriends.”

“Not much to tell, really.” His expression softened and his eyes blazed with passion. “I didn’t know what I was waiting for until I found a lost soul who belonged to me.”

I gasped. I had no experience with romance, but in my heart, that was the most perfect thing anyone had ever said to anyone.

A noisy flock of what looked like magpies drew my attention to the bushland lining both sides of the river. It was hard to tell if they were fighting or mating. I smiled. Who needed swans?

I turned back to the gorgeous man sitting opposite me and sighed.

“Are you going to say anything?” he asked.

“I think you need to turn the boat around and paddle us back to shore.”

Leo looked worried. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No. You said the most right thing.”

“I don’t think that’s grammatically correct.”

“You’re questioning my grammar when I’m trying to tell you how much I loved what you said?”

Leo chuckled, his beautiful eyes the lightest I’d seen them. “So why do you want to leave?”

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees and cupping my face in my hands. “Because I want to sit on your lap and kiss you, and when that happens in the movies, the couple tip the boat and fall overboard.”

“Well, you were the one who threatened swimming to shore.”

“I wasn’t serious. The water would be bloody freezing.”

“So, you just referred to us as a couple.” Leo raised his eyebrows and his expression was unreadable.

My cheeks immediately flushed. “Um… well, I didn’t exactly. I said couples in movies.”

Leo’s face erupted in laughter. “I’m kidding. You’re mine. I’m yours. It’s a fait accompli, Jules.”

“Seriously.” I shook my head, unable to hide my goofy grin. “You need to stop saying stuff like that while I can’t show my appreciation properly.”

“We have plenty of time for that, beautiful girl.”

He did, however, turn the boat around and start rowing back the way we’d come.

“So a romantic boat ride wasn’t so bad after all?” he asked as he helped me onto the small jetty. “I know it wasn’t exactly an adrenaline junkie’s dream.”

“It was okay,” I taunted, looking back at him over my shoulder as I sauntered away.

Strong arms hugged me from behind and soft lips kissed my neck. “I guess I’ll have to up my game.”

I turned to face him and wrapped my arms around his lean waist. “I guess you will, Mr…” I stared at him. “I don’t know your last name.”

“Ashlar.”

The name rang a bell somewhere in my mind, but I had no idea why.

“We really do things the wrong way around, don’t we? I think I just agreed to be your girlfriend without knowing your last name. Who does that?”

“We do. We’re fucking perfect, Juliette. Don’t question the order of things. Just enjoy the ride.”

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. He was right. We were fucking perfect.

“So what now, Leo Ashlar?”

“Now I want to make out with you at my apartment, and then I have to be at the bar at eight.”

“Work? Really?” I was disappointed. I wasn’t ready to be apart from him.