Yes. She, for whom sex had been all the things he’d described. Locked door and lights out. “I have to get back to Lizzy.” The only sound was the birds in the trees and the pounding of her own heart. “Seriously, Ryan.” She tried to evade him, but she was trapped between the tree and the hard power of his thighs.

His hand came up to her face, his fingers gentle. “Am I scaring you?”

She didn’t answer because her heart was in her mouth. Her stomach squirmed with a twist of intense desire. Even the smell of fresh air and the sound of the sea hadn’t been enough to cool the memories of what he’d made her feel.

“Not scare exactly. But my life is already complicated enough.”

“I’m not offering you complicated.” His voice husky, he lowered his head and trailed his mouth along the line of her jaw. “In fact, right now I’ve been reduced to man in its most basic form. What I’m offering is simple.”

“You’re talking about sex.” Her eyes closed and her heart raced. She felt the erotic drag of his mouth move down to her neck and linger on the pulse just above her collarbone. “Sex is never simple.”

“It can be.”

Dizzy with the intensity of wanting, she placed her hand on his chest “Ryan—”

“Yeah, I know.” Reluctantly he eased away from her. “I’m pushing my luck for a first date.”

“This isn’t a date.”

“Ice cream followed by a walk in the woods? On Puffin Island that counts as serious.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with a gentle hand. “We’ll go back now. You don’t have the right footwear for a long walk. If you’re going to be living on Puffin Island, you might want to do something about that. Unless you have a secret stash of outdoor gear?”

“Most of my clothes are like the ones I’m wearing.”

“That’s what I figured. This is an outdoor paradise. We’ll have you hiking, mountain biking and kayaking in no time. Better buy some equipment. We have a great selection in the Ocean Club. And I’m going to take you out on my yacht. The best way to see the island is from the sea.” They started walking back down the trail, with sunlight beaming through the trees and the sounds of the forest in the background.

“I will walk in the forest, but I’m never going on a yacht.”

“Penobscot Bay has some of the best sailing in the world.”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean I have to experience it firsthand. I don’t like the idea of all that water underneath me, and—” she hesitated “—I don’t swim.”

He stopped. “You never learned?”

“I haven’t been in the water since that day.”