“Of course. I’ll talk to Maxim.”
“You don’t think he’ll mind?” I asked.
He settled the plates on the counter and placed his hands on my shoulders. “Even if he does, I’ll make sure you get to meet Ida Jane.”
My ears rang. No way this could be my life. It was… It was so perfect. I dropped the tassel and took Cormac’s hand. “Why?”
“Because you matter to me, and I want you to be happy.”
We spentthe rest of that night cuddled together in bed. While I’d hoped Cormac would pick up where we’d left off in the sauna, he seemed content to hold me. I, however, wanted more. I just didn’t know how to tell him. He had already been married, and I didn’t know how to do anything related to a relationship.
I lay awake for a long time, trying to wrap my head around the unevenness of our romantic lives. Cormac didn’t understand how deep my issues ran because I hadn’t told him. I had to explain my past. Soon. I should have done it already. But I didn’t want him to look at me the way my father had—like I was nothing. Unwanted. Unlovable.
In the morning, Cormac rose long before I did. He’d worked out and made breakfast before I finally got up. After we ate, we took a Sunday morning swim in his pool. His expression burned with lust when I came out in the swimsuit he’d bought me—a tiny bikini where the blue triangles barely covered my breasts and sex.
“You are stunning,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion.
I slid into the warm water next to him as the sun pounded on our heads. The air had turned muggy; I expected an afternoon rain shower. But for now, the sky was a watery blue.
“Want to show me how much you like it?” I asked. My heart pounded. I struggled with being so forward, but I wanted his arms around me. I craved his body over mine, making me his.
He bit into his soft, kissable lower lip and groaned. “I don’t know how I’m going to keep my hands off you.”
I frowned. “Why would you want to?”
He tugged off his sunglasses, clearly aware we needed no barriers between us.
“Because I made you a promise, pretty girl. And you need to know I’ll always keep my promises to you.”
My chest warmed. When he lifted his hand and ran his fingers down my cheek, that heat seemed to radiate outward, heating parts of me that had always been jagged and cold. He kissed my temple, and tears clouded my vision. “Cormac, I…”
He kissed me, and I clung to him, kissing him back even as tears dripped from my lashes.
After some very satisfying pool time, he plucked me from the water and wrapped me in a towel. He held me, nuzzling my hair.
Those jagged bits cracked, and I clung to him, my mind spinning, my heart aching. But each time I opened my mouth to share the reason I struggled with trust, I remembered my father’s voice, the look of disgust when he’d told me I was a mistake.
I curled tighter into Cormac, unable to bear the thought of him looking at me like that.
We showered, and I put on more of the clothes Cormac had bought for me. Then he played with Slippers while I made lunch. He’d offered, but I wanted to get to know his kitchen. I liked the layout. It was intuitive and luxurious.
After we ate and Cormac cleaned up, I rubbed my hands on my hips. “I need to go home,” I told him. Melancholy weighed on me because I didn’t want to leave. “I have reports I have to finish.”
Cormac nodded. We packed up Slippers and her stuff, and he drove me back to my house. Sadness filled me. I tipped my head back on the headrest, my eyes scratchy and my throat clogged with tears I couldn’t shed. This wasn’t goodbye, I reminded myself. “So, what’s next week hold?” I asked.
“Let me think…” Cormac frowned, mentally going through his schedule. “We play Montreal next. There. That’s on Tuesday.”
“Okay.”
“I need to talk to my mom about her message to you, and about us in general, so I asked Coach if I could travel ahead of the team. I leave tomorrow morning, early.”
“Okay.”
“You’ll call me?” he asked.
“If you want.”
He reached over and grabbed my hand, placing it high on his thigh. “I do. I always want to talk to you. I may not answer, but I’ll call you when I can.”
