Concerned, she quickly threw open the door. “Hey. Are you okay?” She thought of the risks he’d taken all week to be with her. “Did someone see you coming up here?”
“I’m fine. And no.” His gaze skimmed her face and then went lower, making her glad she’d worn the shortie black pajamas. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.” Twin blue orbs locked onto hers. “Sorry it’s so late. I understand if you want me to piss off.”
“I don’t.” Booty call be damned. Connor was the only one who had ever looked at her like this, eyes hooded and filled with hunger, with yearning. She stood back to let him through. “Long day for you.”
“I pulled a double shift.” He tugged her gently toward him, and sank them into a long, sweet kiss. “I missed kissing you today.”
I missed being kissed. She couldn’t say it, too fearful he’d read more into it than she intended. “Why the double shift?”
“Wanted to spend tomorrow with you.” He kissed her again, lots of fleeting kisses across her face, her neck, then down toward the tops of her breasts. “Our last day.”
Dear God, he wasn’t just sexy, he wassweet. And she was—what had her exes called her?Cold, hard, driven. Further assurance that saying goodbye to him tomorrow was the right call.
Yet as his mouth continued the devastating trail of tender kisses, her heart ached. “Got any ideas how we should spend tomorrow?” she asked.
“Lots.” His voice was muffled against her chest, his hands now slipping under her top and running up and down her skin, their callused palms creating a delicious friction. “But most of them involve us staying in bed.”
She’d never been a woman who craved sex. Yet as he dropped to his knees, slid off her pajama bottoms, and began to flutter kisses across her stomach, she couldn’t think of a better way to spend her last day on Nantucket. “Sold,” she whispered just as his tongue dived between her thighs.
Connor’s heart felt heavy as he climbed into a taxi with Olivia the following evening. He’d meant to take her to the beach for one last picnic. One last swim. Meant to leave her with a romantic memory of their time together. Instead, he’d not let her out of bed.
“I should at least have fed you,” he murmured now, clutching her hand and kissing her knuckles.
“We had room service.” She smiled. “And if I recall, you did actually feed me.”
The memory of them sitting cross-legged in bed, both naked, him feeding her oysters, caused his exhausted dick to twitch. Unbelievable.
Sighing deeply, he placed their entwined hands on his thigh. “I don’t want to say goodbye to you.”
“I know.”
He’d not expected her to return the sentiment; she’d made her views crystal clear from the beginning, so the pain he felt in his chest was all his fault.He’dallowed his heart to become involved. Turned out feisty, smart, strong, independent women were his kryptonite. “Any regrets?” The question was out before he realized he might not be ready for the answer. “Today? This week? Any of it?”
She leaned against his shoulder. “No regrets. Not for any of it.”
Relief bumped up against sadness, and he kissed her temple, trying to memorize the feel of her skin, her elegant scent. “Not even that you let someone else be in charge for a change?”
She smiled. “There were definitely times I found that frustrating and unnerving.”
“But then you’d never have gone on a Jet Ski,” he countered, smiling as he remembered the squeal she’d let out when he’d finally gotten her on one. “You’d never have tried windsurfing or parasailing.” She’d complained vehemently the last one, but all he’d had to do was repeat the magic wordsOkay, if you’re too chickenshit,and she’d squared her shoulders and got on with it. Then laughed with delight as they’d soared through the air.
“True. I can’t believe you talked me into them.”
He let out a low laugh. “That implies I used charm when all I had to do was challenge you.” His fingers tightened around hers, his chest swelling with the memories. God, she’d been incredible, so fierce in her determination once she’d set her mind to do it.
“I never could resist a challenge.” She peered up at him. “The woman people know back home would never have gone skinny-dipping. Never have laughed her head off while being propelled through the air on a giant parachute fixed to the back of a speedboat,” she added with a wry smile. “Thank you for giving me a week to remember.”
“I don’t need thanking for being allowed to spend time with you.” He could barely talk past the lump in his throat. “If it’s not totally obvious by now, I think you’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met. I’m halfway in love with you.”
Her hand stilled inside his. “Don’t.”
“Don’t embarrass you?”
She swallowed and looked out the window. “Don’t say things that are better left unsaid.” She inhaled, let the breath out slowly, and faced him again. “What about you? Any regrets?”
“Only that we didn’t have longer.”
“What about your job? If Felix suspects something, if he’s heard rumors—”
