I keep my promises.

Hours later, when we were spent, sated… we headed back out to the beach with lobster rolls and a bottle of limeade. The chef had it ready and waiting even before we were showered and dressed.

The basket swung in one hand while I held Libby's in the other. She was wearing a bikini that begged me to untie its strings. Her curves had always been lush, but I swore they were becoming even more so. I couldn't seem to get enough…

"Here… you'll burn if you're not careful." I said, after we'd finished our lunch and she stretched out in the sand. "Lotion?"

"Mmm, please…" She rolled over onto her front and the curves of her round ass beckoned. She reached up behind her back and untied the strings that held her top. She wasn't making this easy…

I spread the tanning lotion over her back and legs, letting my fingertips slip under the elastic of her bottoms. She was so warm, so smooth. The hours making love to her had done nothing to satiate me. Her skin was like a drug, her body an addiction that got stronger with every touch. Then she rolled over onto her back and pushed the tiny triangles of her top away. She smiled at me expectantly.

I dripped lotion onto her beautiful breasts and watched it run in thick, slow rivulets, all the while keeping her gaze locked onto mine. When she took my hands and put them on her body, sliding them over her slippery skin, her eyes were sparkling… teasing. I rubbed the cream into her breasts until her nipples were tight and she was moaning.

I was more than up to the challenge…

We spent the afternoon walking the perimeter of the island, hand in hand. Pristine white sand along with exotic birds and plants… white clouds over sapphire water…

"I didn't really believe you, when you described all this," Libby said, looking out over the water as the sky started to dip toward the horizon. "I can't imagine there's a more beautiful place anywhere in the world."

"Oh, there are," I replied. "Paris, St Lucia, Greece… I'd love to show them to you one day…"

She was quiet for a while as we walked. "Is this a mistake?" she asked quietly, still looking out over the water. "The contract says I walk away, once the baby's born… This," she waved a hand out across the ocean, "and this…," she rested a hand on my chest, "isn't going to make that any easier when the time comes."

We continued to walk in silence until we reached the house. It was casual elegance, with rooms that provided shelter and privacy without any sense of containment. Many of the windows had only sheer gauze curtains. We'd shared the master suite last night. And our pretend honeymoon had gotten very fucking real. The idea that things could change now made my chest tight. The fucking contract was supposed to be keeping this from getting complicated.

"You want a family, Jack," she continued. "And you already have a great one. But I don't want or need that for myself." Her hand was still in mine and it tightened.

"Don't want," I asked gently. "Or never allowed yourself to imagine…?"

She let go and turned her face toward the water. "We're different people, Jack. And we want different things in our lives. It's why you chose me in the first place, and why I signed the agreement…

It's why we're here and how you're going to get what you want." She turned back to me, her voice a little calmer. "And I will too. As for all the rest… Well, we're healthy, consenting adults. Here in paradise…" She smiled a little. "And I've got baby hormones to blame. What's your excuse?"

I laughed out loud and took her hand again. She was right, as usual. "Maybe not so different from yours," I shook my head. "I wanted to put my baby inside you the right way from the first time we met." I pulled her along beside me, letting the waves lap up against our bare feet. "A man's drive to father a child is no less powerful than a woman's need to carry one. It's just easier to forget that…"

She laughed too, and suddenly things seemed easier between us. "The agreement will keep us on track," she said softly. Confidently. "And now we've gotten our primal urges out of our systems…," she glanced at me from under her lashes, "maybe for the rest of the trip we should just stay focused on the baby…?"

"And stick to the contract…," I said. I lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. I rolled her emerald back and forth with my thumb, keeping her hand and holding her gaze. I knew she was right. That we could both have what we wanted, if we stayed on track…

"I think you're the strongest woman I've ever met, Libby. And certainly the wisest."

Also the most beautiful, inside and out, I thought to myself.

We looked out over the water in silence, watching darkening clouds building in the distance. It seemed like we would be fine… We were both very much on the same page. She was strong. She was wise. And I admired her more than any woman I'd ever know. She had focus and integrity. I couldn't have made a better choice than her.

We headed back to the house as the storm rolled in. And we went to our separate rooms. Fuck no, it wasn't easy. But when the time inevitably came to say goodbye to the woman I was falling in love with, well… maybe it would make things easier then.