“I never imagined I’d have you in my bed all these years later.”
His gaze turns mischievous. “You wore a bright green bikini. It was the color of the plutonium fuel rods in The Simpsons.”
I giggle. “Oh yeah, it was luminous green. So you were ogling me, even then?”
“Oh, totally. I’d have asked you out, but Marcus would have killed me.” He pulls a face. “He still might.”
I suck my bottom lip. So he’s thinking about what happens when we go back to Auckland?
He meets my gaze, obviously thinking the same thing. “I’m not assuming anything.”
“I know.” I turn my hand palm up, and he slides his into it.
“I know we have to sort out the stalker,” he says. “I have a job to do, and I intend to do it until he’s caught.”
“Okay.”
“But when that happens… I’d like to take you out for a meal, to the cinema. Get to know you properly.”
Joy fills me. “I’d like that.”
“We will catch him,” he says firmly. “I know we will.”
I swallow hard. I’ve done my best not to think about him since we’ve been here, but he’s still out there. “I hope so.”
The alternative doesn’t bear thinking about. Weeks, months, maybe even years of having that man watching my every move. Of having to wait to be with Luke.
“Come here,” he says, and he pulls me back into his arms. “Don’t think about it.” He kisses me. “Thank you for talking to me about everything. I really appreciate it.”
“I wish I could help.”
“You already have; more than you could ever know.”
I cuddle up to him, holding him tightly. I can’t bear the thought that when we go back, I’m going to have to let him go for a while.
I don’t want to have to put my life on hold. I send a plea up into the ether. Please, please let them catch the guy. Please let it all be over soon.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Luke
We spend all of the next day in bed.
Well, technically not all day, as we get up to make ourselves food or take delivery of a meal via room service. And we go for a walk along the beach in the afternoon. But otherwise, we remain in bed and spend the day talking, kissing, and making love.
It’s absolute bliss for me. I don’t want to stop touching her, and she doesn’t seem to want to be apart either. Sometimes, we listen to music or watch a movie on the TV in the bedroom. At other times, I turn her over and cuddle up behind her, and we just look out at the ocean, while I trail my fingers up and down her arm, and she hugs the pillow and sighs.
We take time to explore each other’s bodies, getting to learn every inch of each other’s skin. I kiss every mole and freckle on her, and kiss and suck everywhere a man is able to kiss and suck. I’m filled with delight at her obvious pleasure, and the fact that at no point does she ask me to stop or push me away.
The day is broken only by a few phone calls—one from Ella, checking in to tell us there’s no news; one from the police, informing us they’re still analyzing all the evidence; and the final one from Marcus, making sure Aurelia is okay. She tells him she’s relaxing and reading, and doesn’t admit that I’m lying beside her, naked, ready to feed her chocolate when she comes off the phone.
That night, I still wake around two a.m., trembling and sweating. But Aurelia just kisses me and soothes me, and I quickly fall into a dreamless sleep and don’t wake until sunrise, so clearly something about her presence is a calming influence.
The next day, I talk to Ella first thing, who tells me the police say they’re making progress, but she doesn’t haveanything concrete to report. It’s frustrating, but she says most of the team have been working fourteen-hour shifts, especially Rick, who’s working through the camera footage to see if there’s anything he’s missed.
Afterward, Aurelia suggests we take a walk into Port Evermore.
I’m hesitant, because the town won’t be as safe as 35 South with its fences and security cameras, but she promises she’s not planning to give me the slip. She’s too free a spirit to keep caged for long, and I don’t think the stalker would have followed us here, so I agree on the proviso that she sticks to me like glue.
