Christina, you gorgeous thing, why don’t you let me take off your clothes and kiss every new inch of you once it’s exposed?
She shivered, waiting breathlessly for the feel of his hot mouth on her back. For the warm, wet swipe of his tongue as he tasted her waiting flesh.
When he stepped aside to lay the scissors on the vanity, she didn’t know if she should crow with relief or growl with disappointment.
“All done.” Was it her imagination or was his voice about three octaves lower than usual? She’d swear she heard it with her ovaries instead of her ears.
“Wolf, I—”
“I need to get to the airport before Romeo leaves,” he cut her off.
“But I—”
“Plus, I have to clear my head before I say somethin’ I might regret. It’s not every day I tell a woman I’ve fallen in love with her only to have her throw the words back in my face.”
All the desire that’d been keeping her warm seeped from her body, leaving nothing but coldness behind. She shivered.
“Go on, then.” He hitched his chin toward the water steaming in the tub. “Take your bath. I’ll be back in less than an hour.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, desperately wishing there were better words for a situation like this.
His eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. “You’resomething, but I don’t think sorry is it.”
Before she could ask what he meant by that, he turned on his heel and quit the bathroom. She watched his swift, sure steps as he made his way down the hall. Then he disappeared around the corner, and a couple of seconds later, the front door clicked shut.
She realized she’d been holding her breath when it whooshed out of her. “What the hell just happened?” she asked the empty room.
It didn’t answer, of course. But she didn’t need it to. She knew what’d happened.
A man she admired and respected claimed to have fallen in love with her. But despite his protestations to the contrary, what he’dtrulydone was fallen inlust.
She’d fallen in lust too. From the first moment she laid eyes on him.
But how in the heck could she convince him he was wrong and she was right?
Kicking off her shoes, she decided she should boil some water for a cup of tea. Nothing better than a hot bath and a warm cup of oolong to help her think.
And sheneededto think. Because she might not want to fall in love with Wolf, but there was no question she cared for him. Cherished his presence in her life. Only wanted what was best for him.
She felt an extra pep in her step every morning she woke up knowing she’d fly to Wayfarer Island to see him. The sun shone brighter when they were engaged in salty banter. The hours of drudgery while carefully removing the sand and crustaceans from theSanta Cristina’sdelicate carcass went by quicker when he was working beside her, writing funny jokes or drawing ridiculous pictures on the white, underwater slates they used to communicate.
The thought of giving that up? Of not having him in her life? Or worse yet, having him in her life, right there, but not being able to talk and joke or attempt to one-up each other like they’d been doing from the beginning?
It made her sick to her stomach.
And yet, she couldn’t see a way around it. They couldn’t continue on as they had been. Not now that those words had been spoken.
Not to mention, after that kiss, it might be impossible for her to go back to keeping her hands off him.
Five minutes later, her tea steaming on the lip of the tub, she slowly undressed, being careful when removing the sling from her arm. After lighting the lavender and vanilla-scented candle sitting on the toilet tank, she lowered herself into the warm water and mulled over her problem.
Water had always been her medium. Something about its wet, weighty embrace. About the sound of it lapping against the sandy shore or the side of her porcelain tub. It grounded her.Focusedher.
Soon, an idea began to form. Trouble was, she wasn’t sure she had the nerve to see it through. And more troubling still, if she saw it through, what happenedafter?
After she’d proved her point? After he’d come to his senses?
Was she strong enough, smart enough,braveenough to follow her head and keep her damned heart out of it?
