Her fingers barely clung to the pillows in her grip. Her arms dangled loosely at her sides. But she wouldn’t let the pillows drop just yet.
She giggled as he tipped his head around the door frame to peer in at her. “Here, kitty kitty,” he sang, grin wide and teasing.
Kat laughed some more as he stepped slowly into the room, eyeing the pillows in her grip. He held his hands up in a state of surrender, his arresting gaze fixed on her with each cautious step.
The energy in the room shifted as he moved in at last. The smile drifted off his lips. She sensed longing in his eyes, and felt her breath catch in response.
Once close enough, he slipped his large hands around her wrists, his fingers circling each with ease. The pillows tumbled to the floor.
He kicked them off to the side with the swift move of his foot, one after the next, and moved in even closer.
Kat inhaled the handsome scent of him while studying his face. She lingered over the chiseled set of his jaw, accented by that five o’clock shadow, admiring him with new eyes. Eyes that saw what an incredible man he was on the inside as well. Strong, sensitive, and kind. The more she discovered about her groom, the harder she fell. And falling had never felt so good.
When her gaze lingered on his mouth, sparks ignited low in her tummy. Those perfectly sculpted lips could put her under his spell in a blink—he’d proven it. And while the vision of him was impressive no matter where she looked, it was his gaze that always rendered her weak.
She fixed her eyes on his, nearly hypnotized by the depths behind them now. She was really getting to know this man. He was someone she admired. Someone she trusted. And someone she was definitely falling in love with.
His face tightened for a blink, a sudden strain capturing his expression. “Question,” he said, voice raspy and low. “If you were going to be stranded on a deserted island with one person—anyone in the whole world—who would it be?”
It would definitely be him, there was no doubt, but she didn’t want to admit that just yet. “You first…” The simple request came out in a whisper.
His grip on her wrists lightened before he captured both of them in just one of his hands. Slowly then, he lifted her arms into the air and over her head, putting her in a state of surrender too. Making her feel like his captured prey.
Her heart pumped out of rhythm, hot and longing thumps aching in her chest as he moved in, ever so slowly, and cupped her hip with his large, heated hand.
At last he brought his masterful mouth to hers, thrilling her with a slow, passionate kiss.
A whimper sounded in her throat.
He released her wrists and wrapped his strong arms around her. Kat did the same as he kissed her again. She was very aware of the bed at their side. Yet just as she wondered if he might lead her onto the soft folds of the bed cover, he pulled away the slightest bit and spoke against her lips.
“That was my answer,” he said. “Now it’s your turn.”
Another thrill rippled through her at his words. They were answering with actions, were they? Caught up by the feels of falling in love. Drawn in by the knowledge that this man was, in fact, her husband, Kat gripped hold of his hands, took one backward step toward the bed, and then another.
Her already racing heart skittered wildly out of beat. Stirs of anticipation swirled in tingly waves over her skin. No, she hadn’t planned to do this. In fact, Kat had planned to not do this until she and her groom decided they were going to stay married once the eight weeks was through.
But the emotions stirring and brewing inside her made that seem like an unrealistic—not to mention unnecessary—plan. They’d waited this long, hadn’t they? And he’d been a perfect gentleman thus far. Perhaps it was time to show him just how deep her feelings had gone.
“Wait, Kat,” he said, eyes growing wide suddenly. He squeezed her hands, looking from the bed, to her, then back at the bed once more. “I think we should wait a little longer before…you know, we take it there.”
The heart flutters stopped. In fact, it felt as if her heart stalled altogether. Kat tried to keep the hurt off her face. A flood of embarrassed heat filled her cheeks as she dropped her gaze. Perhaps his feelings weren’t as strong as hers. Perhaps hints of the L-word hadn’t even floated to the surface of his mind just yet.
Part of her wanted to vanish. Part of her wanted to question him and find out just where his head was in all of this. But the better part of her wanted to carry out the night—even if it consisted of nothing more than curling up to him and enjoying his kiss—and hope that he was simply being a gentleman where intimacy was concerned.
At once his hand slipped gently beneath her chin. “It’s not because I don’t want to, Kat.” His lips grazed her cheek, then moved along her temple where he pressed a warm, tender kiss.
His heated breath teased her skin as he proceeded to trace over her forehead, placing kisses along her brow. His lips were soft and silky, a contrast to the short, bristly scruff from his five o’clock shadow.
“You’ve been hurt before,” he rasped. “I want you to have full confidence that…that that’s not the kind of man I am. I’m not someone who would ever hurt you.”
Kat glanced up at him, and was pinned by the intensity in his blue, brooding eyes. He did want her. She could see that much. Feel it even, in the palpable connection between them. The delicious pull that had her tossing caution out with the throw pillows.
“How about we just do this…” He came in once more, pressed a kiss to the corner of her lips. “And this,” he mumbled, voice low and raspy.
The kiss he gave her then told Kat they could have a very fulfilling night doing this very thing. She wrapped her arms around him then, and sighed as he worked his masterful spell over her mouth. The push and pull of an ocean tide. He was strong, passionate, and sexier than any man she’d known. And it wasn’t just the contoured muscles and a flawless physique, it was his strength in character that made him all the more attractive.
She found herself convinced once more—perhaps the show had succeeded after all. Perhaps they really had found her very own Mr. Right.
