Chapter Ten
Amanda hadn’t been sure what she was going to find. Now she took several steps into the room and stopped short, feeling dazed as she looked around. The last time she’d been in the bedroom, it had been full of typical beach-house decor. Now it was totally transformed—into a romantic and mysterious environment.
Wanting to see more, she glided forward, curious about how Zach had worked the transformation.
Apparently, he’d carefully considered each detail. The bed was now low to the floor, a soft platform covered by a beautiful gold and beige comforter.
He’d moved the dresser to the end of the bed, closing in the space. Then he’d piled two inviting mounds of pillows on the bed. One was at the headboard. The other was at the foot, with the back of the dresser serving as another backrest.
The effect was to create a sumptuous, private cave for two people. And the effect was enhanced by gauzy bed draperies made of mosquito netting that he’d cleverly hung from the ceiling fan.
They came down in a swirl of translucent fabric, on either side of the headboard, enclosing it like an old-fashioned bed canopy—but more open and airy.
A scarf-covered lamp in one corner provided romantic illumination—as did the candles he’d set on the dresser and on top of the armoire.
No man had ever gone to this kind of trouble to set a romantic scene for her, and she was awed and a little intimidated—if she were truthful.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, without turning to look at him. When she heard the breath ease out of him, she knew he’d been waiting for her approval.
“It’s for you—for us.”
“Are you sure you don’t watch those DYI shows?” she asked, because her nerves were begging her to keep the conversation going.
“I’ve seen a little. But mostly this is from my imagination. For how I wanted to see you.”
He didn’t touch her, but she was very aware of him standing behind her, making her skin tingle.
“Where did you get all the pillows?”
“Some are extras I found in the closets. I bought some.” He laughed, “And I stuffed some pillowcases with extra bedding. But let’s not spoil the illusion by going into details.”
“Okay.” She heard him move then, and her stomach muscles clenched. He stepped up behind her, curving his hands around her shoulders, his fingers pressing into her skin, suffusing heat through her body like a sudden firestorm.
“I know why you’re asking a ton of questions. Don’t be nervous.”
“I’m not . . . nervous,” she lied.
He bent to stroke his lips against her cheek. “Good, because if you keep me waiting much longer, you’re going to be responsible for my having a heart attack,” he growled.
She gave a half glance over her shoulder and saw the rigid lines of his face. He knew she could still back out, but she wasn’t going to disappoint either one of them. Licking suddenly dry lips, she knelt, keeping her knees pressed together as she eased herself onto the mattress.
He let out another pent-up breath. “Sit up at the headboard end. Make yourself comfortable with the pillows.”
Feeling strangely light-headed, she did what he asked. Yet she still had trouble imagining herself going through with what he had described. In the back of her mind, she was thinking that she could change the rules as they went along. In fact, she knew she had to change the rules if this was going to work for her.
But she wasn’t going to tell him that. Not yet.
To keep from letting him see her doubts, she turned and fussed with the pillows, making herself a comfortable place to relax, although she knew that relaxation was impossible.
As she settled into the plush backrest, she felt charged with a growing arousal. Did it show on her face? On her body? She kept herself from looking down at the tight, hard points of her nipples that must be visible through the silky robe.
Zachary Grant could arouse her without even touching her. But then she already knew that.
Trying to distract herself, she glanced at the white netting on either side of her. It made a gauzy tent around her head and shoulders, helping her feel enfolded in a private world.
Well, not exactly private, she thought with a sudden zing of awareness as she felt the mattress shift. When she looked up, she saw that Zach had walked around the other side of the bed and joined her on the mattress, settling into the other mound of pillows—the ones that he’d arranged against the back of the dresser.
She could see then that he’d made the bed surface longer by padding the end of the mattress—maybe with cushions from the deck furniture—to extend the area a few feet. But still, when she’d imagined this scene, she hadn’t expected him to be that close to her.