He intended to stop her, even moved his hands to her hair to push her away, but as her sweet, hot mouth circled over him, his head fell back in ecstasy.

Afterward. They’d talk afterward…

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Crew woke up alone in the bed. The sheets were cold where Haley normally slept, and a sense of unease filled him.

He’d lost his head for a while last night, totally and completely lost it. Yet how could he refuse her when she was begging him to make love to her? He’d never claimed to be a saint and she’d pushed him beyond the limits of what he could possibly handle.

He’d gladly do it all over again. She’d been spectacular.

Wait. Now Crew was sitting up quickly in bed. No matter how good it had been, it wasn’t even close to worth it if she’d somehow managed to sneak out on him. He’d felt her pulling away, and should have been thinking of more than his sexual needs. He needed Haley in his life.

Relief whooshed through him when he discovered all her things still there in the room. She hadn’t left him, not yet, at least.

He knew she was planning to run, but he wasn’t going to let her get far. She’d put him under her spell last night, but even if he had to find a damned chastity belt for himself, he wasn’t going to let her pull that trick again until the ring in his pocket was on her beautiful finger. Hello, cold showers.

*****

Haley’s Cinderella-size feet enjoyed their shoeless freedom, relishing the feel of the cool wet sand between their toes. She left a pattern behind her as she walked lazily along the beach. She’d gone several miles and it was past time to turn around, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it just yet. Last night had been special, something that she could remember Crew by.

She loved him. How could she not when he’d been nothing but kind to her, done nothing but show her how to be a better person? Everything he’d done so far had been about her, for her, and now she owed him his freedom.

She’d be OK. She didn’t know how, but she would make it through this. He’d taught her how to respect herself, to be comfortable with the person she was inside. He’d taught her that she was a beautiful woman. Though it wouldn’t come easily for her, she would never put on a dunce cap and stand in a corner again. That was all thanks to Crew Storm.

In the far recesses of her mind, she knew she was running away. She knew she was far more afraid of his rejection — of actually hearing him say the words that he didn’t want her anymore. If she were the one to walk away, maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t hurt as badly.

After all they’d been through together, if he turned on her, pushed her away from him, she would have a hard time getting past it. She’d been rejected her entire life by those who should have been the first to embrace her. She deserved to be a little weak just this once, didn’t she? If she found love ever again — doubtful — and met again with failure — more likely — she would try to face up to rejection head on.

After another half mile, Haley turned around. The sun was rising in the sky, and the last of the morning fog was dissipating, bringing a beautiful new day to the rest of the people on the island. Haley wished the fog around her heart would clear as well, leaving her ready to begin a new life.

She picked up her pace for her return toward the Catalina Couture Resort. It was best to just get this over with. She’d rip off the bandage and then she and Crew could both move forward.

What she wanted next she just didn’t know, whether it was to get back into school, move, or keep things the way they’d been before coming to this small paradise. But after their conversation, she simply couldn’t stay here any longer. To see him would be heartbreak. Maybe she’d go to Italy and be a tourist, find a job in a small café and try her hand at art.

As she reached the resort and stepped inside the lobby’s beautiful French doors, her heart thudded. No matter how she’d tried to prepare herself for what was to come, her heart still ached, and fear climbed higher in her throat.

Somehow she put one foot in front of the other and managed to return the kind smiles of the front-desk associates, and then she walked down the short hallway to his office. Maybe he wouldn’t be there and she could just leave him a note, take the coward’s way out.

No. She wouldn’t do that. After all he’d done for her, he deserved to hear her say goodbye to his face.

Crew was sitting at his desk, his phone held to his ear, when he looked up and saw her in the doorway. A wide grin spreading across his face, he motioned for her to enter.

Why did he have to be so perfect? Why was it that every muscle in her body was urging her to rush into his arms? If he’d been cruel even once, this wouldn’t be so difficult.

But then, if he’d been cruel, her heart wouldn’t be breaking right now. Trying her best to look upbeat, she moved forward and sat down, crossing her legs and leaning back as she waited for his call to end.

“Sorry about that, Haley. I was planning on looking for you this morning, but then I got called down for an early staff meeting. Since then, I haven’t been able to get off the phone for more than five minutes at a time. Where did you go?”

“Oh, I needed to take a walk. It was no big deal. Now I just need to speak to you, for only a minute,” she said, adopting a cheerful yet businesslike tone.

“Let me switch the phones over and I’ll take you for a late breakfast,” he said as he stood up.

“We don’t need to do that, Crew. This won’t take long. I just wanted to let you know I’m leaving tomorrow. I have everything arranged already and didn’t want to take up too much of your time today. I know you have a lot going on with the sale. I need to spend the rest of the day packing, and then I’ll be out of your hair before you know it,” she said. She refused to acknowledge the tears burning at the bottom of her throat, let alone give in to them.

Crew went from smiling to stone-faced in the span of two seconds. She couldn’t read anything in his eyes as he refused to let her look down — refused to break their gaze.

“Would you care to explain further?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, deciding it easiest to play dumb.

“Why the sudden urgency to leave?”

A shiver ran down her spine at the cold fury in his voice. He was pissed and not trying to hide it. Maybe she should have just slipped away during the night.

Not knowing her next move, Haley just sat there, frozen.

*****

Crew was furious. He couldn’t remember ever being this angry. He didn’t know whether he wanted to haul her into his arms and rip her clothes off, reminding her how good they were together, or to bend her over his knee and smack her on the ass.

As her large green eyes grew wide and he saw the glimmer of insecurity and self-doubt, his temper instantly cooled. She was trying her damnedest to act cool and collected, but she obviously wasn’t in as much control as she wanted him to believe.

Something else was going on here, and he was going to find out what.

“Why the sudden desire to run away, Haley? I thought you were finished hiding.”

His comment made the color rise in her cheeks; she gazed at him and seemed at a loss for words. Emotions, he could deal with; dead-silence, he couldn’t. As long as she wasn’t just through with him, he could fix this. And there was just no way he could have been so wrong about her.

Drawing up closer, he took pleasure in the tenseness of her shoulders. She was far from cool, and, with the last of his apprehension fading away, he reached down and lifted her to her feet.

She took a faltering step backward as she tried to regroup, but he didn’t give her the opportunity. Tracking her as she bumped up against his desk, he boxed her in, then stood over her.

“I need some space!” she cried as she tried to skirt around him.

“I think I’ve given you enough room to breathe. I asked a question and I want to know what this is about,” he said, his hand rising to trace the contour of her cheek.

She flinched as if his touch were painful.

Good. She was hurting. She didn’t want to leave him. His senses were heightened and he picked up on the slightest twitch of her muscles — in her face, her body — as he searched for clues to why she would say something so random and ludicrous.

“This is nothing more than your dignity getting squashed,” she huffed. “Fine. If you want to be the one to call it quits, be my guest. We both know you are leaving in a couple of weeks. So, you don’t want to lose your easy lay for your remaining time here. Well, too damned bad. I’m going.” She ended with just the slightest hitch to her voice.

That was it. She was afraid he would walk away from her. Man, did she have it all wrong. Crew pushed up against her, unashamedly crowding into the last remaining space between them.

“Is that what you think? Do you honestly believe this has all meant nothing to me — that I’m going to just walk away from you without ever looking back?”

“That’s what you do, isn’t it? You like the ladies, like to wine and dine them, show them a good time, and then walk away. I’ve heard all the stories. Well, I’m giving you your freedom, Crew. You’re free to move on to your next woman,” she forced out through gritted teeth.

He rocked his hips forward, brushing his rapidly rising arousal against her, enjoying the shock in her eyes as their bodies connected.

The two of them had never had a problem when it came to sex. She was responding to him as she always did, and he was forced to back off just a hair before he got too turned on and forgot what was most important. That had happened before…

Haley pulled against him, desperately trying to escape his grasp. Crew wasn’t having it. He gripped her arm and held on tight. He wasn’t letting her go anywhere, not unless she truly wanted to leave him. He was done with her trying to hide from him. He wanted all or nothing from here on out.

“Let me go, Crew. I have things to do.”

“What if I don’t want to let you go? What if I like you right where you are?” he said with a knowing smirk.

“This is ridiculous. Stop now!” she cried out, on the verge of tears.

Good. They were finally getting somewhere real. “Stop what, Haley? Stop caring about you? Stop making love to you? Stop dreaming of a future with you? Stop loving you? Which emotion, which temptation, which feeling should I stop?”

Her eyes widened as tears filled them, then began trickling down her face.

“Why are you trying to hurt me?” she begged, raw pain flashing across her features.

“I’m not the one wielding the knife, Haley. You are. All I’ve wanted for the past month was to show you that you can’t live without me. I love you. I need you by my side.” He didn’t see how he could get much clearer than that.

“But, for how long, Crew? You think you love me, but you don’t know the real me. You don’t know how messed up I really am. I’ve been on good behavior with you…but I have so many issues, so many problems…”

“I don’t care. I love you, Haley.”

When she was silent and an innocent hope began filling her eyes, he pressed on. “I love you, Haley.” She still said nothing. “Do you understand what I am saying? I love you.”