Текст книги "How to Fall"

Автор книги: Rebecca Brooks

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

Too safe.

Julia could take control in a classroom of rowdy teens but that wasn’t the same as taking control now, flexing her tongue against Blake’s, drawing his hand to her breast to feel the way her nipples responded to the heat radiating from him when they touched.

“What else do you want?” he whispered in her ear, rolling his fingers over the delicate curve of her breast.

“Touch me.” Her voice was throaty, hoarse, thick with desire. Thick with the heady, forbidden thrill of asking for what she wanted. Of telling him her need.

Blake bent his forehead down so it was resting against hers, one hand slowly working under the fabric of her dress while the other gently slid the straps off her shoulders, one side and then the next.

“Where?” His voice was quiet, a breath in her ear.

“Everywhere,” she exhaled, leaning into him. When she pressed her hips forward she felt him hard and wanting, pressing back. His hands grew bolder, firmer, grasping her around the neck as he kissed her, hard, everything he had kept pent up surging forth with the force of the river rushing around them.

“Like that?” he asked, drawing his lips from hers for a fraction of a breath.

But she could only whimper in response.

She slid her hand down the front of his shorts, reaching for his cock. Wanting the feel of him, solid and real. She couldn’t believe how much just touching him through the fabric of his boxers could make such warmth build deep inside her. If he’d asked her right now what she wanted, she would no longer have hesitated with her reply.

“Why don’t you find out how wet I am,” she whispered, sliding her palm down his shorts. He let out a low moan as she wrapped her fist around his full cock and helped draw his boxers down.

“I can do that,” he murmured, running his fingers under her dress, over her thighs, up to her hips, bunching up her dress as he crept north. At the ridge of her hips he stopped, a smile teasing across his face. “Is this what I think it is?” he asked.

She gave a flirty shrug. “Guess you’ll have to see.”

Slowly he lifted the bottom of her dress to reveal red lace panties hugging her hips. Julia had absolutely not planned to pack anything sexy—what would she need it for? They never got any use anyway. But at the last minute, when she’d been putting her new bikinis in her bag, she rooted through her dresser drawer and found them. It would be only for her, but sometimes it was nice to feel sexy, even if no one else knew. Maybe especially then.

Now, though, the secret was out. And she could see in Blake’s eyes that he was more than happy to have discovered her surprise.

“Well goddamn,” he said, eyeing her up and down. He ran his fingers over the thin strip of lace and then across the narrow V of fabric that burrowed down where her desire pooled. “I almost hate to take these off you.”

She spread her legs apart, granting him further access. He looked deep into her eyes and kissed her.

“Almost,” he whispered in her ear, then pulled the panties down.

Behind her, the waterfall roared and roared, a timeless falling. A barrier separating them from the rest of the world. In this tiny circle all their own, they could be anyone they wanted. Julia could be reckless, dirty, stepping out of the little lace things. And Blake? Well, she only knew him as the man who looked at her like he wanted to devour her whole.

This time, he didn’t have to prompt her to spill her desires. “I want you inside me,” she panted.

Blake squeezed his eyes shut like he was savoring a taste, a smell, a perfect memory he didn’t want to forget. “God, I love those words in your mouth.”

“I need you,” she whispered.

“I’m yours.”

The words still shocked her coming out of her mouth, but hidden under the waterfall she could hold nothing back. It was a strange sort of paradox, to be somebody else and yet at the same time to know that in here, with him, she was only capable of truth. It was as though the river washed away all pretense, all hope of normalcy and decency and respectable things men and women did with each another, leaving something naked and raw and devastatingly true in its path.

“Fuck me, Blake,” she moaned as he kissed his way down to her breasts.

There were things she’d never said before and things she’d never done. And now that she’d discovered them, she didn’t know how she’d ever go back to a more innocent time, when sex happened behind closed doors with people who loved each other, tiptoed around each other, gave but never took, maintained that everything was fine, and never, ever asked for more.

She buried her fingers in Blake’s hair as his teeth found a nipple and pulled on her breast. Part of her felt like she was completely letting go but another part knew she was already gone, hurtling herself over the cliff of desire like the water rushing above and all around her, pounding in her head, pounding in her heart, pounding as his body moved with hers in the crevice of the earth they had marked as their own.

Chapter Seven

Blake had been playing, teasing, building up the moment as his hard-on grew from watching her come undone in his hands. He knew from the night before that underneath the demure, proper exterior, light and fun and girlish in her sundress with her long hair streaming, someone else was waiting to be released. He only had to give her permission to let go.

Julia’s hair, wet from the waterfall, clung down her back, and her cheeks were flushed from the warm day and the fervor of their touching. The look in her eyes as she begged him to fuck her was enough to elicit a low groan from him, hungry and possessive. He wasn’t the only one discovering something hidden deep within that was taking over now. Hearing what she wanted, there was no way he could stop himself from giving it to her. Anything she asked for, he couldn’t say no.

He hooked her panties over one finger—goddamn how his dick had jumped when he felt that little lacy tease over her hips. He’d been expecting something simple and practical, the traveler’s wardrobe. In fact, he didn’t really have any expectations at all. His focus wasn’t on her panties but what was underneath.

The surprise and delight that she’d been carrying this secret was almost more than he could bear. Had she woken up knowing she was going to seduce him again? He’d said he was leaving, but maybe she’d already sensed there was no way he was getting away that fast. A night like they’d had could only be followed by an even better day.

Or maybe she’d changed into them when she went back to her room to get ready before they left. The thought that she’d prepare for him was equally thrilling.

He knew, too, that it might have had nothing to do with him. And thinking about her going through her day with that flimsy red lace clinging to the curves of her ass, for no other purpose than the fact that it made her feel sexy even if no one else saw, was perhaps the most arousing possibility of all.

That, and the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra under that dress. Her nipples danced when he pulled the straps down, advertising how turned on she’d become the more time they spent tucked under the waterfall’s arm. He wanted to take her like that, her clothes still on but falling off, too close to being in public to risk undressing and too far gone to take the time.

He dangled the panties while she blushed and then, holding her eye, put them in his pocket.

“I don’t want them getting dirty,” he said when she begged to know what he was doing. He’d decide later whether to give them back.

She was standing before him. Waiting. Wanting. His shorts were unbuttoned, his cock already raging hard and halfway out. He pulled his boxers farther down and saw her breath catch, her cherry lips part. God he wanted to feel those lips around his swollen tip, but the ground was nothing but dirt. And while he figured everyone else assumed by now that something was going on, they didn’t need to have their suspicions confirmed by Julia showing up with dirty knees.

Was he already planning more things he wanted to do with her? That would mean more time together—the exact opposite of the one-night stand he’d been looking for.

Delaying his departure to Buenos Aires was one thing. For all that he’d planned out his itinerary to maximize his time abroad, the rest of his travels would still be there waiting for him once she went home. But he didn’t want to get carried away. There was no room in his life for anything more than the kind of fun they were having right now.

Sternly he told himself to focus on the situation at hand. Which was looking very, very good. Her dress was wet with spray from the waterfall and clung to her curves, showing off the swell of her breasts glistening and slick with water and sweat. He couldn’t hold off any more. It had to be now.

His hands covered her body, her hips, her breasts, pressing between her legs and feeling the heat as she pressed back. He bunched her dress up and ran his hands over her ass. That little noise she made when she was surprised and turned on was to die for. In one swift motion he turned her around so her back was facing him, her bare shoulders pressed against his chest. He worried briefly about whether he was being too rough with her, but she wriggled her ass up against him in a sign that only meant one thing.

He wrapped his arm around her, and she whimpered as he slid a finger over her clit, feeling her wetness as her back arched, sending her ass tighter against him. With one hand he circled her clit while the other hand worked his cock, pulling up her dress so he could slide himself over the soft skin of her ass and her arched lower back. She was so wet and she kept right on whimpering. He knew she was ready for him.

“Bend over,” he whispered.

His voice was low. She immediately obeyed.

She supported herself against the part of the fence that was still standing and leaned down. He pulled her dress up so it was draped halfway up her back.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” he murmured. Julia craned her neck around so she could see him, her hair tumbling over her shoulder and down her back. He’d stashed another condom in his wallet—it looked like Julia wasn’t the only one who’d been optimistic getting ready that morning. Now he slid it on and rubbed the tip of his cock against her, throbbing in anticipation. Her legs trembled as she moved her hips to draw him into her, wanting him deep within her as much as he wanted to be there.

“I’m all yours,” she said. She closed her eyes, and he touched her hair as he buried himself inside her. She was eager and panting and so soft and wet and warm, he bit his lip to keep from crying out too loudly as she took him all the way in.

Sometimes it seemed like after a while, women should be the same. Wasn’t it the same act with each of them? But this wasn’t the same at all. It was her body and the blush in her cheeks and the way the muscles in her back flexed and released, flexed and released with every thrust as she braced herself against the fence. And the way the water kept on falling over them, a fine mist over her hands and face but the real power of it thundering just out of reach. It was as though he’d never really felt anything until he felt what it was to move inside her.

She bucked her hips back into him, eager for more, and he built up the motion until he was slapping into her with fast, sweaty thrusts. He kept his hands braced on her hips, holding her dress up and his own shorts low on his hips. He could only think what a sight they’d be if some poor family of tourists were to stumble upon them, half naked and clawing at each other like animals as the water rushed all around.

“Oh God, Blake, yes, right there, oh, Blake,” she was saying over and over again, in time with his movements. He put his hands squarely on her ass, which seemed to excite her even more, and then he reached around so he could touch her clit like she’d done to herself in the pool. The combination of rhythms was harder to maintain but she ground against his hand, meeting the sensations he was giving her both inside and out. He knew how close she was to coming.

He reached his hand up to her mouth and she didn’t hesitate, licking his fingers precisely because it was clear that was what he wanted. He loved the way she played both sides of his game. She told him what she wanted him to do to her, at the same time that she was eager to do whatever he desired. His fingers searched her tongue, pressing into her mouth as he continued to take her, making him think again about that blowjob he was more and more certain that he wanted to stick around for.

He trailed his fingers down her chin, over her chest, and unceremoniously yanked down the top of her dress, running his fingers over her nipples.

“You’re going to make me come,” Julia moaned, her knuckles on the wooden fence now totally white.

Blake increased the force of his thrusts. If there was one thing he’d noticed from her orgasm in the pool last night, it was that she didn’t want him to let up when she was close. She liked it hard and fast, and that was fine with him. He never wanted to stop.

“That’s it, baby,” he urged her along. “Come for me, Julia. I want to feel you let go.”

“I want you to come first,” she panted.

He eased up on his thrusts and leaned forward, his chest to her back, and pressed his lips to her ear. “Listen to what’s going to happen. I’m going to fuck you, Julia, and you’re so close that when you explode, I’m going to know it. And when you’re done, I promise you, darling, I’m going to come. And it’ll be all for you.”

Her cheeks flushed and her eyes shone. “Come inside me,” she whimpered, pushing back to feel the full length of him.

“Touch your clit,” he commanded, and one hand disappeared under her dress where it fell over her hips while the other hand braced herself. The thought of her pleasuring herself while he was inside her made him take her that much harder. She rocked forward with his thrusts, and if it was beautiful watching her body tremble as her orgasm built up inside her, it was all the more so because they were tucked away in the most gorgeous corner on earth. The Devil’s Throat was impressive, yes, but here they were in the belly of the rushing falls and he was so close, he was so close, he was just trying to hold on until she came and he could explode deep inside her.

“I’m coming,” she gasped, her hand working vigorously against her clit as his cock kept up the same pace. He could feel her contracting and releasing around him in waves of pleasure.

“Fuck, I feel you.”

“Don’t stop!”

As though he would ever give this up. He kept drilling her right at the spot that had made her come undone, and then when her hand started to slow, pressing up against her clit to draw the waves out, he grabbed her hips and pounded into her.

“Please,” she panted, both hands back on the wooden fence to prepare herself for what he was about to give her.

“It’s all for you,” he said through gritted teeth. His balls ached as the release grew within him, hot and strong and impossible to stop. On impulse he let out a cry and grabbed her hair in his fists, long and luxurious between his fingers. He pulled and she arched her back, craning her neck. Over her shoulder he could see her breasts half out of her dress. The cloth had gotten all turned around and hung off her waist like an afterthought. She was so fucking sexy. He lost it.

“Right there,” she gasped as he pumped his heat inside her, pulling on her hair, making her take it from him. It was like she knew all his secrets—how to make him go insane. It felt like forever before he slowed, completely spent. She ground her hips back against him, bending over so that her head dropped low and her ass was high and pressing into him.

He wrapped his arms around her and slowly pulled out, savoring the feel of every part of her against him.

“That,” he exhaled, “was something else.”

She straightened and faced him, hair tousled, gorgeous breasts still exposed. She flashed a dirty smile, letting him ravage her all over again with his eyes. Goddamn.

Blake wrapped the condom in tissues to throw out when they got to a trash can. Slowly he buttoned up his shorts, while Julia pulled up the straps to her dress and ran her fingers through her hair, composing herself. She almost looked like nothing had happened. Except for the flush. And her panties still in his pocket.

He pulled them out and dangled them over his finger. She reached out a hand like she was waiting for a gift. He started to pass them over, but on second thought, he yanked them back.

“I’ll tell you what,” he said thoughtfully, twirling them around. How could something with so little fabric make him go so completely insane? “I’ll make you a deal.”

She raised an eyebrow skeptically and folded her arms. “Oh?”

“I’ll give you your panties back,” he said, beginning to pass them to her. “If—” he pulled them back again, making her pout. He grinned. “If you give me another chance to take them off you again.”

“So you don’t want this to be our last time fucking,” she said pointedly, and the way she cut through his teasing to call out exactly what he was saying made him suddenly squirm. They had a great time and he wanted to have another go—why not?

“Or I can hang onto these like some creeper.” He went to stuff them in his pocket and she laughed.

“You let me have my underwear back and I promise, you can have me as many times and as many ways as you want.”

She reached out her hand, and he passed her the prize. He loved the sight of the bright lace riding up her thighs as she pulled them over her hips and let the dress fall again.

“As many times?” he asked. “That might be a lot.” He looped one arm over her shoulder while the other reached out to graze the waterfall as it continued its endless plummet over the cliff.

She rested in close to his shoulder and splashed water over him. “I’ve got four days until Chicago. You see how many rounds you can fit in.”

Chapter Eight

Shit, Blake thought as he stood under the shower, hot water pounding down his back. Shit. Shit. Shit.

What the hell kind of post-fuck nonsense had he been thinking? I’ll fuck you as many times as I possibly can in the next four days before you return to your life and I return to mine. Okay, it sounded good in theory. Great, in fact. But he’d spent the last three months on his own, beholden to nothing more than his calendar and the whims of the local bus schedules. He’d been trying to learn how to do the whole one-night stand thing—stay smooth, don’t get attached, and don’t ever, ever let your guard down—and already he was ruining everything.

He let the water run until he heard banging on the door.

“You drowning in there, mate?” Jamie called.

“Sorry.” Blake shut off the stream. “I’ll be out in a sec.”

“No rush, just making sure you’re okay.”

Blake wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out into the steam. He wiped a streak through the foggy mirror with the side of his fist and looked at himself in the watery stripe. What was he doing? What—who?—was he still running from?

The face looking back at him was distorted through the bathroom steam and it didn’t have any answers. Slowly he watched the mirror fog over again, and when his face was gone he opened the door to get on with his life, wherever it was leading.

“All yours,” he said, passing Jamie in the hall.

“Have a good afternoon?” Jamie smirked as he held open the door.

“I guess.” Blake paused, frowning.

Jamie gave him a quizzical look. “Is there some sort of maybe in there?”

Blake tried to laugh, keeping it light. He really didn’t know what the problem was. “The waterfalls were great,” he said, steering away from any mention of Julia. “What’s the plan for tonight?”

“Chris has some bar in mind if you guys want to come check it out.”

And there it was, exactly what Blake didn’t want to hear. “You guys.” Like they were already some kind of a package.

Because packages, he knew, existed to be ripped apart.

But he said, “Yeah, okay,” because it would be weird after all this time with Jamie and Chris to say no.

“Leaving at seven,” Jamie said. “Drinks out back before then.”

Blake nodded noncommittally and walked down the hall to the dorms. He threw on a pair of shorts, ran the towel over his hair, and lay down on his bed, staring up at the wall. It was nearly seven when Jamie came back in to get him, thinking he’d fallen asleep.

“Totally knackered,” Blake said, realizing that he sounded like Julia when she’d given her fake yawn.

“That girl’s wearing you down,” Jamie joked.

Blake gave his best rakish grin, the kind that he’d perfected in his weeks on South American beaches. He grabbed his wallet, rolled up the sleeves of his button-down shirt, and slid on his leather sandals. “Let’s go,” he said as he closed the door behind them.

The truth was that he hadn’t slept a wink. Instead, he’d spent two hours memorizing the spidery pattern of ceiling cracks, and he felt like he could trace their web for two hours more. It was a good afternoon, like Jamie had said.

But he couldn’t help wishing that he’d gotten on that bus after all.

The bar was a ragtag collection of plastic tables with Pepsi umbrellas on the banks of a wide, lazy lake, dark water reflecting the lights from the makeshift restaurants set up along the path. A leaning wooden structure housed a long table with dark bottles piled high. A grill was set up under a tarp tied between two trees in case it rained, but on this night the clouds were nothing but thin wisps idling by. Every so often a swell of laughter rose from one of the other tables like a ripple of water before falling still.

Julia wondered who these other people were and what they were like and how they had found their way to this hamlet outside of town. She wondered, too, about the man sitting next to her as he brushed her hand with his and then suddenly pulled away, reaching for a menu as though an afterthought.

Was everything okay?

But she was being paranoid. Of course it was—Blake was just tired after the, ahem, energetic activities they’d shared. Jamie had said he’d found Blake napping all afternoon, which was why Julia didn’t see any more of him when they got back from the falls.

He’d practically promised to spend the rest of her trip with her. She didn’t know exactly what that was going to entail since she hadn’t booked any more nights at the hostel, but she was pretty sure there’d be space for her to stay on.

Everything was fine.

In the distance, headlights blinked between the trees where a road wound up a hill, rising like a dark stain around the edges of the sky. Somewhere down there was Argentina, and on the other side, Paraguay, but here in the deepening night there were no borders and no boundaries, just the lap of water against the muddy banks.

They had piled five into a cab again with Chris, Jamie, and Lukas, Julia squished uncomfortably on Blake’s lap in the back seat over the bumpy roads that twisted and turned to the lake. The whole time he hadn’t known where to put his hands, until he basically sat on one and wedged the other between the seat and the door. At first it seemed weird—didn’t his arms belong around her? But then she’d decided his awkwardness around his friends was cute. And it was always good to have something in reserve that she could tease him about later, when they found a way to be alone again.

She warned herself that it was dangerous to see her and Blake this way, as a couple that would seek each other out when they could. But she couldn’t help it. Hadn’t Blake made it clear how much he wanted her? Shouldn’t she take in as much of him as she could?

They grabbed two tables, red plastic chairs angled close together on the sandy shore. Chris plunked down between Jamie and Lukas, talking about the view and how she’d heard this spot was a popular place for locals, away from the more energized bars in town. Naturally Julia parked herself next to Blake. He was being oddly quiet, but Julia told herself there was nothing wrong with being comfortable with silence. The rest of the group more than made up for it with their chatter.

She was wearing cut offs and a dark cranberry tank top loose around her hips, perfect for the night breeze coming over the water. The warm air and the hum of conversation washed over her in waves, reminding her that had she stayed by herself in São Paulo, she’d probably be curled up in that closet of a hotel room right now, reading about curriculum development and trying to convince herself she was happy “traveling” alone. She’d been at the falls for just over a day, and it still managed to surprise her that she was here.

“Don’t you feel lucky?” Chris asked, perusing one of the plastic menus left on the table. “Other people have jobs and mortgages and kids to worry about and we’re like, fuck it, let’s go sit by a lake and drink beer.”

“I live by Lake Michigan. I can sit by a lake and drink beer any time,” Julia said, kicking off her sandals and burying her toes in the sand. “But I guess bringing work there sort of defeats the purpose. Plus it’s completely iced over right now.”

“All the more reason to stay down here.”

“I like how Chris pretends she doesn’t have a job.” Jamie laughed as he signaled for the waiter, who was bringing another round of beer to a table by the shore.

“It’s on hold,” she said.

“Yeah, until we get back and pick up where we left off.”

Chris shook her head. “How can you say that? It’s like six months away doesn’t even affect you—you can’t wait to get back to early morning meetings and nothing in the fridge for dinner.”

“That’s why I’m a photographer,” Lukas said cheerfully, holding up the camera that was always around his neck. “Travel the world, make my own hours—”

“Be perpetually broke,” Jamie teased.

Lukas shrugged. “I’d rather have little money and spend it on this than a lot of money and be trapped by car payments and my dry cleaning bill.”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Chris exclaimed, turning toward Jamie. “Don’t you like this way of life better?”

“This isn’t a way of life,” Jamie said. “It’s a long vacation. You know, a break from the real world.”

“This is real to whomever’s living it,” Chris protested. “It’s not like they don’t need real estate agents here. We could move to Rio. Or some gorgeous small town on the beach and I could sell land. Or we could run an inn! A little pousada—wouldn’t that be great?”

Jamie looked pleadingly at Blake. “Come on, you’re with me, right? Don’t you want to go home? I mean, not right now, obviously. But…eventually?”

Julia looked over at Blake, but she couldn’t figure out what he thought of the question. “I’m not looking for a life on the road,” he said carefully, and Jamie pounced on the affirmation.

“See? We can’t always keep moving, but some day we’ll save up enough again and take another vacation. Maybe India. Or Egypt, I’ve always wanted to go to Egypt. We could tour the rivers of the world.”

Even in the darkness Julia could see Lukas smirking, and although he was handsome, the expression didn’t sit well on his face. “I’ll try and meet up with you on your two-week holiday,” he said. Chris laughed. Jamie looked like he wanted to say something but held his tongue.

“Well I for one am glad to have even a week,” Julia said quickly. “Not everyone is so lucky to get any time off, let alone can afford to travel.”

Chris may have wanted to protest that a week was nothing, but she couldn’t argue when everyone else was nodding. Inwardly Julia sighed, relieved that the prick of tension seemed to be dissipating. She may not have been easygoing like Jamie or adventurous like Blake or independent like Lukas or a laughing, carefree leader like Chris, but she knew how to smooth things over and help make people feel calm.

See? She smirked to herself. Leave it to her not to let bouts of wild sex in semi-public places with a gorgeous foreigner go to her head. She was still the same old sensible Julia, wanting everyone to get along. She could practically feel the force of Liz’s eye-roll from across the equator.

Jamie started a headcount for beers to signal to the waiter at the bar but Blake interrupted, saying, “A caipirinha for me.”

“A what?” Julia asked.

“I need something stronger,” he said, which didn’t exactly answer her question.

“Make it two,” Chris said.

“Three,” Lukas added, and Jamie pointed to Julia to see if she wanted to switch her order.

She thought of how she’d finished Blake’s pineapple juice that morning and decided that whatever he was having was worth a try. So far, saying yes to Blake had served her well.

Even if right now he was tracing circles on the plastic table with his fingernail, some unreadable expression on his face.

“What’s in it?” she asked him, touching his forearm to make him look at her.

“Cachaça, way too much sugar, and about as much lime.”

“What’s cachaça?” she asked.

Chris clutched her chest like she’d been hurt. “Nectar of the gods,” she said.

“Gift of Brazil,” Lukas spoke up. “The cheapest liquor money can buy.”

“It’ll fuck you up,” Jamie said drily, with a look at Chris that Julia didn’t miss.

“It’s sugarcane rum,” Blake finally explained. “Also known as fire water.”

“And you’re going to subject me to this?” Julia raised an eyebrow, feeling very much like the newbie at the table. The travel virgin, except for the fact that everything else she’d been doing so far on this trip was anything but virginal.

“It’s Brazil’s national drink. No trip here could be complete without it.”

“We may be underselling it,” Chris considered.

“Not the fucking you up part,” Jamie warned, rubbing his hand over his beard.

“I’ll try to keep my wits about me,” Julia laughed. “Count me in.”

“Five caipirinhas coming up,” Jamie said, and went to tell the waiter.

Julia wasn’t sure how he and Chris had found each other, since they were so different, but she could see why Blake liked him. His quiet charm helped soften the edges of Chris’s brashness, making the other woman easier to handle. Would the constellation of guests at the hostel have gravitated together if Chris hadn’t been around? Julia wondered if it was simply the nature of traveling that foreigners found each other wherever they stayed. But she had a feeling Chris liked the attention of people besides Jamie, if the way she bantered with Lukas like they were constantly sharing one long inside joke was any indication.