CHAPTER EIGHT
After dinner, Ryan and his friends headed back to the outdoor bar. He’d meant to find the woman from the pool that afternoon, the one who’d lost her bikini top, but he kept forgetting to look for her.
Because…Sophie. A couple hours ago she’d taken off with her surfing group—which included that same asshole who’d tossed her into the pool. Ryan had only noticed her leaving because of the red dress. Who wouldn’t have noticed a curvy woman in a red halter dress, her long, dark hair a tumble of waves down her back?
The dress flared around her hips, accentuating her waist and…damn did it work with her hourglass figure. From her apple cheeks to her round ass, Sophie Valentine was sexy as fuck.
He had—what? Forty-eight hours before he had to head back to Florida. So what was he doing watching the pathway, waiting for Sophie to come back from her night out, when he had a resort full of women who wanted to party?
Exactly. He pushed his chair back. He’d find the topless woman from earlier. Just as he left the table a beautiful woman brushed past him. “Hey.” She gave him a sultry smile. “You heading over?” She gestured toward the crowded bar.
“Yep.”
“Awesome. Want to grab me a chocolate martini?”
“You got it.” As he pushed his way through the crush, he saw a flash of red. And, just like that, he lit up like a firecracker. His body tensed with anticipation, and he scanned the faces of the group coming out of the lobby. He recognized some of the people she’d gone surfing with that afternoon.
They headed up the walkway, approaching the bar, but he didn’t see Sophie among them. She’d probably gone straight to her room. No, wait. Tonight was that music festival in town.
“Everything all right?” the woman beside him asked.
“Sure.” But his attention was on Sophie’s friends. They wouldn’t have left her behind, would they? His body fired up at the idea of her alone in town in that red dress.
“Excuse me,” he said to the woman, as he wove through the crowd. Out on the path, he met up with the group. “Hey. Did Sophie come back with you guys?”
One of the women gave him a slow look from his boat shoes to his mouth before answering the question. “She stayed in town.”
“Is she with anybody?”
“What’s up, man?” the guy who’d thrown her into the pool asked.
“He wants to know where Sophie is,” the woman said.
The guy smiled. “Oh, yeah. She’s at the festival.”
Careless asshole. He’d left her alone in town. “Who’s she with?”
“She’s not with anybody. Why? What’s the problem?” He seemed genuinely curious. Like he didn’t have a clue how dangerous it would be for a woman alone in that rough crowd.
“Tonight’s the festival, and you just left her alone?”
Now the guy just looked annoyed. “She wanted to see it. What’s it to you?”
“She shouldn’t be at that concert by herself.”
“You’re right about that,” the woman said. “That’s why we left. It’s in the town square, and it’s mobbed.”
The guy stepped forward. “We tried to get her to come back with us, but she didn’t want to. I don’t get what your problem is. We’re not her keepers.”
“My problem, asshole, is you shouldn’t have left her there by herself.” Ryan shouldered past him and took off. He hated to think of her all alone. Pulling his phone out, he called her.
She answered right away. “Ryan? Hello?”
He could barely hear her over the loud music. So he ended the call and texted her instead.
Where are you? He headed into the lobby.
She responded right away. In town.
Are you okay?
Of course. Why?
You alone? At the valet desk outside, he motioned for a cab. The guy nodded and picked up a phone.
Not exactly.
What the hell did that mean? Your friends said you were alone.
You talked to my surfing buddies?
Soph. You alone or not?
I’m with a couple thousand people. Why???
Looking up from the phone, he asked the valet, “How long before the cab gets here?”
The guy tilted his head toward the long driveway, and Ryan caught headlights approaching. Be there in twenty.
You’re coming to the festival?
I’m coming for you.
Ryan, I’m perfectly fine.
Don’t want you alone.
The cab pulled under the portico, and Ryan handed a folded bill to the valet. “Thank you.”
As they drove off, Ryan checked his phone. Nothing more from Sophie. Tell me where you are exactly.
No response. With every minute that went by, his impatience grew.
Answer me, Soph.
Nothing. He shifted in the uncomfortable seat. How come he could feel his skin? He started to perspire, and his shirt felt too tight. And why the hell was this driver being overly cautious? The roads were empty. He didn’t have to drive like he was transporting a truck full of bottles.
He texted her again. I’m almost there.
His phone buzzed. Ryan, I’m fine. So unless you’re dying to hear electronic music don’t come!
Coming. Need to know exactly where you are.
She sent him an emoticon of a smiley face sticking its tongue out.
Cute. Jamming the phone into his pocket, he watched out the window, waiting for the first sign that they were nearing the town.
What was taking so long?
Just like the night before, the moment traffic slowed to a crawl, Ryan paid the driver and jumped out of the cab. Electronic music throbbed in the air, and a steady stream of people flowed in the direction of the town square.
Once the stage came into view, he got his bearings. People around him thrashed and banged into each other like it was one giant mosh pit.
Sophie had sent a text about five minutes ago, letting him know where she was, so he stopped to reread it.
On San Gabriel, across the street from Hotel Abac, in the park. Standing right behind a bench.
Ryan pushed his way through the throng. The deeper in he got, the more worried he became. The square was jammed with people. Bodies pressed, slammed, and undulated together.
Imagining her alone in this crazy crowd, her curvy body in that red dress, got his blood pumping. If anyone touched her…He pushed through, trying to read the storefronts and finally spotted Hotel Abac.
Thank Christ. I’m here. Wave or something.
Waving. Crowd’s insane.
His nerves fired up, and if he didn’t get to her soon, he’d start dropping bodies. Where the hell was she?
At the corner of San Gabriel and Monuments Boulevard, he stood on the base of a streetlamp to give him extra height. Every spot of red spiked his pulse.
A fluttering white scarf caught his attention, and once he saw it led to a red dress, he took off, shouldering people aside to get to her.
Finally, she was within his reach. He grabbed her hips from behind and hauled her up against him, immediately surrounded by her sweet, floral scent. She gasped, whipping around with fear in her eyes. But then she saw him, and happiness bloomed across her features. Her mouth moved, but he couldn’t hear a thing she said. Turning in his arms, she wrapped a hand around his neck and lifted up on her toes to bring her mouth to his ear. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
He didn’t know if she meant to, but her nose nuzzled his neck. Desire kicked him hard. He lowered his face into her hair, breathing her in, painfully aware of her breasts pressing against his chest through the cotton of his Polo shirt and her hand on his neck, holding him close.
Desire streamed through him in a fierce, hot wave, making him so hard he pushed himself against her stomach to relieve the throbbing pressure. He felt a shudder run through her body, and then she looked up at him. She was so beautiful, and that mouth, so lush, so pink, was right there. Her expression turned heated, mirroring the same crazy need burning through him.
He kissed her. And the moment he pressed his mouth to hers, she squirmed against him, returning his kiss with equal fervor.
She made him hot and wild. His tongue licked into her mouth, his hands slid down the bare skin of her back to cup her perfect ass. Fuck, he’d missed her. He didn’t understand it—he certainly didn’t want to feel this way—but he was powerless to stop it.
Bodies knocked into him, causing him to tighten his hold. He kissed her more deeply, needing more of the slick heat of her mouth, the slow, seductive tangle of her tongue.
She grabbed a fistful of hair at the back of his neck. Her hips pushed up hard against him, and the kiss turned voracious.
Fucking hell. Too much need and want and desire. He was losing his mind. He wanted her naked in a bed, her body completely bared to him. He wanted to touch and kiss her everywhere. When she reached between them and stroked his dick, when she clasped it through his shorts and squeezed, he about jumped out of his skin.
Need had a grip so tight on him he had a hard time taking a full breath. They had to stop or he’d take her right there, in front of everyone.
Jesus Christ. Grabbing her hips, he turned her away from him so he could get a hold of himself. But it was impossible when her scent clung to him, when her hips shifted restlessly over his painfully hard cock. She leaned back against his chest, and it thrust those gorgeous breasts out. He’d never seen anything hotter than the view into the silky V-neck of her dress to the lush mounds of her cleavage.
With a hand low on her stomach, he held her firmly to him. The crowd jostled him, and he caught an elbow to his ribs and an unintentional hip-chuck, but nothing distracted him from the warm, luscious body in his arms.
As her hips swayed to the beat, her breasts undulated in the silky top. He wanted to slide his cock into the deep valley of her cleavage.
He scanned the people around him, everyone dancing and singing, lost in the ecstasy of the music. Not a single person paid attention to them. So he reached into her dress and filled his palm with her plump breast. Lust pounded in his veins and roared down his spine. Arranging the scarf—wrap, whatever she called it—around her shoulders, so no one could see, he caressed all that smooth, supple flesh. Her back arched, her ass swaying over his hard dick, and she moved sinuously against him. Oh, Jesus, she felt so good.
The look she gave him, eyes glazed, mouth opened softly, pleaded for more. So, he cupped her chin, tilted her head, and kissed her. Jesus, he couldn’t get enough of her. He squeezed her breast harder, pinched her nipple. Her other arm went around to his ass and pulled him to her. She made him wild.
Out of his mind with need, he lifted the back of her dress and cupped between her legs. The wetness sent a spike of electricity through his limbs. He pushed aside the thin lace of her panties and slid a finger into her tight, slick heat. Her body shuddered, and her hips rocked in rhythm with his easy thrusts.
She felt so good, all honeyed heat, quivering breasts, and that round ass moving assertively over him. With a hand on her stomach, he held her tightly as he pumped, adding another finger and working hard to keep as still as possible.
With the skirt of the dress draped over his arm, and her ass pushed up tightly to him, no one could see what they were doing. Everyone around them was drunk, high, and mesmerized by the DJ’s electronic music.
Ryan moaned, letting out all his pent-up frustration. Fuck, he wanted this woman. More than he’d ever wanted anything. And then he slid a finger up to her hard nub, drawing circles around it. She closed her eyes as her body shuddered and her knees buckled.
He caught her around her waist, pulling his hand out and smoothing down her skirt. Winding his arms around her, he held her against his chest.
They stood like that for long minutes. Until he’d had enough of noise and strangers. He wanted her all to himself. He dropped his mouth to her ear. “Stay or go?”
“Go.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder to hold her close and maneuvered them out of the crowd. The air smelled of cooked meat, body odor, and a clash of perfumes and colognes.
As they made their way down the boulevard, away from the square, the crowds thinned. Each bar they passed pulsed with music, and he had to skirt around drunken revelers.
She tugged on his hand. “Slow down. I can’t go this fast.”
He glanced to her shoes. “Sorry.” And then he saw her flushed cheeks, reminding him of what they’d just done in a crowd of people, and concern flashed through him.
Was she pissed?
With a lock of hair spilling across one eye, she gave him a naughty smile. “Do you think anyone saw?”
Apparently not. And the relief was so sudden it felt like taking a full breath after being underwater too long. “Nah. That crowd was wild.” He wouldn’t have touched her like that if he’d thought anyone was watching.
“I know. What an event.”
“Are you okay?”
“Okay about the festival? Or okay after you ravished me at concert in a town square in Santa Grenada?”
Lust slammed him all over again, as his body remembered every sensation of her body pressed tightly to his. He leaned down and pressed a hard kiss on her mouth. “About everything?”
“I’m good. A little confused.” They continued walking, as he kept watch for an available cab. “Why’d you come all the way out here?”
“Your friends came back without you.” The words hurtled out of his mouth. “They shouldn’t have left you alone.” But he was lying.
“They didn’t do anything wrong. They wanted to go back to the resort, and I wanted to stay.” Her jaw tightened, and she drew in a deep breath. “I told you I was going to this festival. It’s not that big a deal.”
“I was worried.” He gestured to her dress. “Look at you.”
“What about me?”
“That dress.”
“I wore it for the nice restaurant we went to, and I covered up with this when I got to the concert.” She waved her wrap. “I’m not stupid.”
“No, you’re gorgeous. And sexy. And I didn’t want you alone in a crowd of drunk, aggressive men.”
“Remember this morning, when I told you I hate when people tell me what to do?”
She had no idea how fucking hot she was. None. But he kept his mouth shut.
“I’m not some wild child looking for attention. Did you see me taking hits off a blunt? Taking drinks from strange men? No, you didn’t. Because I’m smart. I grew up in a big city.”
“You can’t compare Santa Grenada to Beverly Hills.”
“Oh, my God, my life isn’t what you see in the movies. Do you think I got chauffeured to school in a silver Bentley? A butler answering the door, a manservant fetching my lattés for me? God, Ryan. We had a housekeeper, that’s it. The minute I could get my license I did because I couldn’t stand asking my friends for rides all the time. I’ve been taking care of myself a long time.”
Why did that make him sad? He’d never been alone. Ever. Surrounded by family, teammates, coaches, his girlfriend, he’d never had a break.
A flash of insight struck him. He’d always been surrounded by people who had expectations for him. And he’d always met those expectations. Sophie had none. She could’ve been some wild, rebellious teen, but she’d chosen instead to make the best of her isolation by pursuing her interests.
He grabbed her hand, kissed her palm. “I know you can take care of yourself. I just don’t want you to always have to.”
She drew in a breath, gazing up at him with pure affection. But then she looked away. “You’re a dangerous man.”
He didn’t know what to say to that, so when a cab turned the corner he flagged it. It pulled right over.
Once inside, they buckled themselves in. With her elbow on the windowsill, one hand covering her mouth, she looked pensive. She must think he was crazy, the way he kept coming after her.
The thing was, he was known for his self-control. He’d excelled at baseball because of his discipline. While his friends partied, drank, cut class, and ignored curfews, he’d always towed the line. He knew that if he screwed up, he got benched. If he showed up to practice hung-over, he didn’t play his best and Coach limited his play-time. He’d been trained to control himself.
So, what the hell was happening to him? Yeah, his attraction to her was off the charts, but why couldn’t he control himself?
You need to fuck and fuck hard. Then he shouldn’t be spending time with the one woman at the resort who didn’t want a simple hookup. The only one who didn’t want to fuck around. She wanted to surf and rent boats. Jesus—it hit him right then—she’d just wanted to see the festival, and he’d charged into town, mauled her beautiful body in front of everyone, and then dragged her off with him.
Fucking caveman. He looked over at her, the white wrap balled-up in her lap, streetlights dancing over her features. She deserved the truth. “I came because I missed you.”
Her eyes flared.
“I spent half the night looking for you. I tried to get into it, the drinking and partying, but…” He shrugged. “I just wanted to be with you.”
She watched him a moment before shifting her gaze out the window. “You slay me.” She sighed. “You really, really slay me.”
He hoped like hell she didn’t feel disrespected by what he’d just done to her in the middle of the square. “I’m sorry if—” Her expression had his jaw snapping shut.
She let out a huff of breath. “Do you have any idea how offensive that is? Do you think you’re just taking advantage of some helpless girl who has no say in what you do to her body? What just happened in the town square was my choice. I liked it, okay? It was fun and exciting, and it was my choice. God, Ryan.”
Happiness ignited in his heart, sending heat and light everywhere inside him. He leaned over and released her seat belt. Sliding one hand under her ass, the other under her legs, he dragged her onto his lap.
Burying his nose in her hair, he breathed her in. “I’m out of my element here.”
She didn’t fight him, just exhaled. “It’s bad enough that I keep wanting you, but if you apologize every time we get funky you make me feel worse.”
“I don’t want you to feel bad at all. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Well, I don’t want you to hurt me, either. And if we don’t knock this off, I will get hurt. I know you don’t want to hear this, but I’m already getting emotionally involved. I’m sorry, but I can’t separate my mind from my body. I actually like you, and that fuels my interest in you physically. Do you know what I mean?”
“Of course.”
She looked at him. She was so fucking beautiful, that sexy mouth and warm, intelligent eyes. “Is this…I mean, is it because of the challenge?” When he didn’t answer, her gaze cut away. “You can have any woman you want, but you keep chasing after me. Is that what gets you all fired up?”
“Not at all. It’s you.”
“Were you like this with Emma?”
He shook his head, barely able to think past the rush of heat flooding him. “No. It’s never been like this for me. What about you? Was it like this for you and your ex?”
Her brow pulled in. “How’d you know about King?”
He couldn’t keep his laugh from bursting out. “King? His name is King?”
“His name is Richard. But he was a really good snowboarder, and the press dubbed him King. It stuck.”
“Trust me, he didn’t have to keep the nickname.”
“Why do you say it like that?”
“Because I play ball. They’re always coming up with nicknames for me.”
“What’d they try to call you that you didn’t like?”
“Lots of things.”
“Like?”
“Like Hollywood.”
“You are pretty gorgeous.”
“Whatever. I’m saying you don’t have to put up with that shit.”
“He likes it. Not so much now, since he didn’t pass the Olympic trials. So what do you let them call you?”
“Six.” He had a grip on her thigh over the silky fabric, and he had to restrain himself from shoving it up to get to her skin.
“Six? What does that mean?”
“I play shortstop. It’s my position.”
“That’s boring.”
“Exactly.”
She leaned back, taking him in. “You don’t want them to see you.”
“No, I’m controlling how they see me.” Ryan cupped her chin, forcing her look at him. “Now get back to the sex.”
“I’m not talking to you about my sex life with King.”
He gripped her, pulling her closer to him. Those blue eyes widened, her jaw slackened, and her tongue came out to moisten her lips. “I want to know…” His jaw snapped shut. He couldn’t believe the shit about to come out of his mouth.
She shifted to face him fully, cupping his chin. “You want to know what?”
In the dark of the cab, it felt like being under the covers with her, the two of them in their own little world. He felt like he could say anything with her. “I want to know if you respond like this with other guys.” Am I in this alone?
“No,” she whispered.
“Did you love King?”
“Of course. But it was complicated with us. We had history.”
“Meaning?”
“He’s from Utah. My parents had a winter house down the street from him. My family likes to ski, so we spent a lot of time there. He was an only child, and in some ways I was, too. So we hung out with each other and, I guess, we fell in love.”
“You guess?”
“Honestly, I remember the bad more than the good at this point.”
“When did you break up? For good?”
“Junior year of college. Right at the beginning. So, a year and a half ago. He was going to the Olympics and he wanted to be free. To…you know…”
“To bang other women?”
She nodded.
“What a dick.”
She shrugged. “He’s not a dick. He was honest with me.”
“You can’t break up with someone so you can fuck other people. That’s bullshit. You either love someone, or you’re fuck buddies.”
A gentle smile lifted the corners of her mouth, and she scratched the scruff on his jaw. “You’re a good guy. I thought you were like your friends, all man-whorish, but you’re not. I think you’re trying to be something you’re not.” And then she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pressed a sweet kiss to his cheek. “King and I were on and off a lot. He doesn’t come from a good family, so I was like home for him. He could go out into the world and do stuff, but he always had me to come home to. I’m sure I needed him in the same way. Dating sucks. I’m in a sorority, and I think you have a pretty good idea what frat boys want, so it was nice to have him there for me.”
“Did he try to get back with after he didn’t make the Olympics?”
She nodded.
“But you didn’t take him back.”
She ran her fingers through his hair, her voice soft. “I was done. I want to be more than someone’s fallback.”
His nerves thrummed from her touch. “What do you want?” He watched the rise and fall of her chest, the gentle way her teeth sank into her bottom lip. Gave her a minute to get her thoughts together.
“I guess…don’t we all want someone who sees us? The real us. But likes us anyway? I guess I want to be completely myself around someone and not worry I’ll bore them or…not be enough for them.”
“No one’s going to get bored of you. Not in ten lifetimes.”
She drew in a breath, and the prettiest pink flush spread across her cheeks. “When you look at me like that I can almost believe you.”
His restraint snapped. Drawing up the material of her dress, his hand slid up her thigh and squeezed. “Good. I mean it.”
“The thing is…” She put her hand on top of his. “I think what gets me the most about you is the way you pay attention. I mean, as much as it pissed me off that you cut my boat ride short—well, and my concert—it excites me that you notice what I’m doing. You’re at the resort, surrounded by sexy, willing women, and yet you notice that I didn’t come back with my friends. That just makes me go all gushy inside.”
“I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“You’re nothing like what I thought.” A slow smile warmed her features. “When I got to the bar last night looking for Laura, I noticed you. Of course I noticed you. You’re gorgeous. But it was such a turn-off.”
“Hey.”
Her smile lit up the cab. “Yeah, because you need more women stroking your ego. My point is that you’ve got his movie star smile. It’s all fake, like, I am Ruler Thor, and with my smile I knight you. But when you touched my leg? You weren’t that cocky charmer. You were…I don’t know, almost scared. No, not scared. You were in awe. And then the more we talked, the more I saw who you really were, and the hotter you became.”
He leaned closer, heading for her mouth, but she leaned back.
“I love the way you want me.”
Cupping the back of her head, he took her mouth and tasted all her sweetness. But just as he deepened the kiss, she pushed him away.
“What about you and Emma?”
“What about us?”
“You know. Was it ever crazy like this?”
“Hell, no.” The words shot out of his mouth with such aggression he surprised himself.
Sophie smiled. “I’m listening.” She settled back against the door.
He reached for the lock, pushed it down. “I told you I don’t like to talk badly about her.” Besides, he’d much rather kiss her than talk about Emma.
“So it was bad?”
“It’s just sex after sleeping with the same person for six years.”
“I told you about the offer to buy Crazy Hearts. Do you know how bad that could be for me? If you told even one person, I could blow the deal for my family. I think you can tell me a little about your ex. And, besides, this time you really won’t see me again. I’m going away tomorrow. So you can stop being my watch dog and move onto…other things.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
But he wasn’t amused. She was leaving? “Where you going?”
“There’s a three-star restaurant here. Did you know that?”
He shook his head. From this position, he could see all of her, just how he liked it. The smooth skin of her thigh, her feminine hands. It was driving him crazy. And her mouth. Her expressive, beautiful mouth. He wanted to kiss her, reach under the fabric and hold the weight of her breast in his hand.
“Well, there is. It’s part of a resort on the other side of the island. It’s so famous you have to make reservations months in advance. I can’t wait.”
“You can’t wait for what? To eat in a fancy restaurant?”
She laughed. “To try the food. The chef makes a hybrid of Spanish, Caribbean, French, and Portuguese cuisine. I asked for the sampling menu.” She shifted on him. “Now, let’s go, cowboy. Back to the sex.”
“I already told you. Sex was exactly what you’d expect after being with the same person for six years.”
“You never slept with anyone else in all those years?”
“Of course I did.”
She looked so disappointed in him. “You cheated on her?”
“No, but we broke up a lot. I went off to college, and she moved to Europe. We spent a lot of time apart. And, you know, we don’t have a lot in common.” Other than her dad, what did they have in common? Growing up in the same town used to be enough, he supposed.
He had to admit it felt good to get this shit out. Like opening a valve and letting off some of the pressure. “The sex was polite.” He squeezed her thigh. “And I don’t want to be nice all the time.”
“So she never got to see Ryan Unleashed?”
“Never.”
“Shame.”
“I don’t want to talk about Emma.”
“Because you still love her? On some level, I mean.”
“Maybe. On some level.”
“You’re being polite.”
“Of course I am. She was my girlfriend for six years.”
“But I don’t know her. I’ll never know her. So you don’t have to be polite with me.”
“I’m not going to disrespect her.”
“By opening up? Venting? Ryan, if you want to get anything out of this week, then at least open up. Tell the truth to yourself. Or are your feelings for her too complicated?”
“Of course they’re complicated. Her dad practically raised me.”
“Your feelings for her. That’s what we’re talking about. If it’s so hard for you to talk about her, maybe you still love her.” She smiled at him, obviously enjoying provoking him.
Only, it did provoke him. Stirred up an angry nest of shit. “I told you I don’t love her. Not like that.”
“But you have feelings for her.”
“Of course I have feelings for her. What kind of an asshole would I be if I didn’t have feelings for someone I’ve known most of my life?”
“Are you angry with her?”
“No. Jesus, Sophie.”
“Are you happy with her?” Her smile broadened.
“Cut the shit.”
“Are you frustrated with her? Afraid of her? Sad about her?”
“Sophie…”
“Are you displeased with her?”
“Knock it off. I’m not talking about Emma.”
“I’m leaving tomorrow morning. You’ll never see me again—well, you might see me, but I’ll have a restraining order, keeping you ten feet from my adventures at all times.”
He didn’t like the sound of that, the not seeing her again part. His hand flexed on her bare leg. She looked down—her red dress rucked up, his big hand covering her thigh.
“Embarrassed by her? Suspicious of her?”
“None of those things, okay? I’m just sick of her. I need a break from her, from everyone. From every-fucking-thing.”
“Because you’re sick of doing what everyone else wants you to do?”
“How would I know what Emma wants for me? We only ever talk about Emma. She doesn’t ask about me.”
“Or do you not talk about you? I mean, is she totally self-involved or are you not the kind of guy who talks about yourself?”
“Both.”
“So, if you open up a little, she’ll have things to ask you about.”
“Are you trying to fix my relationship with her?”
“Do you want it to be fixed?”
Fuck, no. “I want her to leave me alone.”
“See what I’m saying? A second ago you said you have feelings for her since you’ve known her most of your life, and now you’re saying you want her to leave you alone. You need to get it out, Ryan. Let it rip. Just say it. I swear you’ll feel better. I don’t know your friends, your family, I’ll never meet Emma. So just say it.”
He tapped her knee with his fist, anger rising, roiling, until he wanted to punch something. Instead, he looked into Sophie’s hazel eyes and just fell into them. She wanted him to let it rip?
Brace yourself.
“She’s neurotic. Her hair is too flat, she’s too fat, nothing fits her right. She needs to know I love her all the time. She texts me every five minutes to see what I’m doing. She wants me on a leash, just to know I’m there so she can go out and party and have fun and know that I’m standing there waiting for her at home plate. Because the people she hangs out with? Fuck her over again and again. But me? She knows I’ll never hurt her. She wants to keep me in line, and I can’t fucking stand it. It’s not…I don’t want this kind of relationship. I don’t want any relationship. I want to be free. That doesn’t mean I want to fuck anything in a skirt. It means I don’t want to feel obligated to check in with someone, take care of someone, be on my best behavior all the fucking time. I want to eat what I want, go where I want, and do whatever I fucking want. I don’t want people telling me what to do all the fucking time. And I don’t want to worry about someone’s fucking feelings every minute of the fucking day.”
Breathing heavily, he closed his eyes.
She drew a finger over his lip, wiping away the beads of moisture. Then, she leaned in and kissed him. “Now doesn’t that feel better? And, look, you’re still here. Nothing blew up. Your world didn’t implode. And all you did was tell the truth.”
Affection for this girl rolled through him in big, fat waves.
She leaned into him, the top of her dress gaping, revealing plump cleavage. “I’m glad you skipped your baseball games.”
His fingers tightened on her thigh. He chased her mouth, wanting more.
But she pulled away. “We’re here.”
He looked out the window, only then noticing they’d turned into the long driveway that led to the resort. He didn’t care. All he wanted in the world at that moment was her sexy mouth. So, he took it.
He got one hint of her sweetness, as his tongue touched hers and her fingers curled into his shoulder, before she pushed him away. Leaving him desperate, raw, and unfulfilled. She crawled off his lap, gathering the wrap and her little purse.
The cab pulled under the portico, and she pulled cash out of her bag. “I got this one.”
At the same moment, the valet opened her door, and she slid out of the taxi, heading into the lobby. “I’m going to check in with my friends before I go to my room,” she called over her shoulder.
Oh, hell, no. He caught up with her and grabbed her hand. He wasn’t letting her walk away from him. She’d gone distant, all that intimacy they’d shared drifting away like smoke. They headed up the path, the sound of steel drums growing louder. Just as they reached the bar, just when her hand relaxed in his, like maybe she’d stay with him, Carrie stumbled onto the path and into his arms.
Sophie dropped his hand.
“There you are.” Carrie slurred her words, gazing up at him with her hands on his chest. “I wondered where you’d gone. One minute you were hanging out with us, the next.” She tried to snap her fingers, but she was too drunk. “I want you so bad. Let’s go to my room.”
The look on Sophie’s face flayed him. He shook his head at her, letting her know he hadn’t been with this woman. But then Carrie’s knees gave out, and she burst out laughing, collapsing against him. His arms banded around her waist to keep her upright. “Hang on—”
But when he looked up, Sophie had gone.