“Laurel, wake up.”

Kisses pressed to my shoulder woke me. I groaned and turned towards Jarrod, throwing my leg about his waist. He ran a hand over my bare leg and up to squeeze my butt.

“Laurel, wake up.”

With a frown, I blinked up at him. “Wha…” I trailed off, my cheeks crimson as I remembered what had taken place between us, the mind-blowing sex, which had apparently plunged both of us into sleep right after. We were both still naked on the beach.

The throbbing between my legs caused by his cock plunging into me so hard and fast stole my breath, surprising me. And my heart? Oh, God, I was falling in love with my husband. He would run away from this. He’d chosen me because I wasn’t interested in having a romantic relationship so soon after Scott. But he had wormed his way into my heart, along with his precious girls.

I schooled my features so he wouldn’t see my distress. I sat up, pushing my hair from my face, and searched frantically about me for my clothes. I just wanted to get away from him for a while to gather my thoughts so they made sense again. Of course, I couldn’t be in love with Jarrod. I simply couldn’t.

“Here,” he said, extending my bikini to me. I couldn’t look at him as I reached for the article of clothing. He didn’t let go. “Laurel.”

“Can we not talk about it?” I asked fretfully.

“Are you sure?” he inquired. “Because I’ve been up, watching you sleep, and I was thinking…”

He had watched me sleep? Hope blossomed in my chest, and I raised optimistic eyes to meet his. Did he want a meaningful relationship? Did he want to engage in a real marriage instead of a pretense?

“What were you thinking?” I prompted.

“I know this isn’t a part of the original contract,” he started slowly, as if weighing his words, “but I think tonight proves we are attracted to each other. Why not explore this attraction between us until the contract is up and we go our separate ways?”

My heart squeezed painfully. I had to rephrase what he really meant to say in my head. He wanted to use me for sex, and at the end of the ten years, he would give me the boot. I was tempted to ask him if the price would go up from our original deal but didn’t dare be so crass. I still had to live with him and take care of the girls as I had promised.

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” I told him. “I think it’s best to forget last night. It could have happened to anyone in such a romantic setting. We lost our heads.”

“You mean you have no interest in doing this again?” he queried in surprise. “Didn’t you enjoy it?”

I couldn’t lie about something like this, especially if he remembered the way I had kissed him, moaning and grinding my pussy in his face. Why did he even need to ask that question in the first place when it was clear I had enjoyed every bit of our lovemaking? His question was only punishing, making me rethink whether it would be a better arrangement to accept the pleasure he offered.

“It doesn’t matter how good it was,” I answered, scrambling to my feet as I pulled my dress over my head and smoothed it down my legs. I tried not to blush at the way he stared at my pubic area before the dress covered me. “We should go back to the house.”

“Laurel, I’ve—”

“A platonic marriage, Jarrod,” I reminded him, snagging my panties from the sand and scrunching it in my fist. “That’s what we agreed on, for the sake of the kids.”

“You’re right,” he agreed and reached for the bottle of wine.

“I’m going back to the villa,” I told him. “Are you coming?”

“I’m going to stay out here a while.”

“Okay.”

I dragged my feet in the sand, wishing he would return to the house with me, but when I climbed the porch and turned to look at him, he still sat on the blanket. His head was inclined in my direction. My heart heavy, I hurried into the house and shut the door behind me. The tears didn’t fall until I was in the shower, washing the sand and sex from my body. I shouldn’t have involved my heart in this. How stupid of me to have allowed Jarrod to ravish my body.

No amount of scrubbing could remove the sex. It lingered in the throbbing between my legs—though it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was just enough to remind me he’d been inside me.

He’d blown my mind with his urgency and raw masculine power, the way he’d lost self-control. Jarrod was a man of control and great restraint. He was often more stoic than anything else, and to have witnessed him in such abandon of pleasure knocked at the door of my heart. I groaned at the ache deep in my womb as I remembered how he’d placed my legs over his shoulders, how he’d pushed them forward, and how he’d worked me into a frenzy with his mouth.

Ignoring the stupid voice in my head telling me to go back out to the beach and reconsider Jarrod’s proposal, I trudged to the bedroom we shared. I dressed quickly in a pajama set and crawled into bed. I tossed against the pillows, unable to fall asleep. My mind raced with thoughts of the two of us, my heart wanting what it couldn’t have. Jarrod was not really mine. He was more Pearl’s. And with the memory of the other woman, tears leaked from my eyes.

Hours later, I was still awake when he entered the house. He went straight to the bathroom and turned on the shower. I lay quietly in bed, picturing him washing his body. Was he remembering the way our bodies had intertwined for those minutes we had been locked in each other’s arms? Or was he thinking about Pearl, wishing she was there instead of me?

I evened my breathing when he entered the bedroom minutes after I heard the shower in the bathroom turn off. My heart thumped in my chest when he sat at the edge of the bed. He sat there for a few minutes, but I dared not peek at him. I heard him yawn. Then, his mind made up, he walked around to the other side of the bed and settled in, pulling the covers up to his waist.

I waited and waited, nearly sick with nervousness at why he was getting into bed with me. For the past six nights, he hadn’t minded sleeping on the pull-out bed. I had no need to worry, though, as his light snores drifted toward me minutes after he had settled in bed beside me.

Somehow, him being able to fall asleep so quickly while I lay there in turmoil pissed me off. It also showed me that I had done the right thing in rejecting future sexual encounters. Jarrod would find it easy to forget about the intimacy we’d shared. He would be able to roll right over and fall asleep as he’d done now.

I slept horribly and woke up in a foul mood. I must have slept late because the twins bounded into the room, advising me Daddy made breakfast and they were waiting on me to eat. I looked at the pillow where Jarrod had slept as the girls ran from the room. I hadn’t even heard him get up. I didn’t feel like leaving the bed, and when I swung my legs to the floor, I groaned. My body ached. My muscles were sore from sex the night before. What a way to remind me of the one act of madness I had tried to avoid.

I used the bathroom before getting dressed and walking to the kitchen where the girls were sitting at the table, their eating utensils in hand but their plates empty. Jarrod stood at the counter, and I avoided his eyes as I entered.

“Good morning,” I said softly.

“Good morning. How’d you sleep?”

“Okay,” I answered, my head bent. If he caught a glimpse of my red-rimmed eyes, he would know the truth: that the night had been fitful for me.

“Daddy, Laurel’s here!” Annabelle announced in a whiny voice.

“Can we please eat now?” Isabelle added.

“Oh, I was holding up breakfast?” I asked and walked over to Jarrod to help him, but he waved me over to the table.

“It’s fine. I’ve got this.”

And he did. He served us a breakfast I knew he must have bought from the little restaurant up the beach. I was ravenous, which must have been from the activity last night. I dug into the plate of ackee and codfish with fried breadfruit and biscuits. I would miss this when we left. The food was amazing. Every single morsel I had put into my mouth since arriving on the island was delicious.

After breakfast, the morning consisted of packing and driving to the airport. I was glad the girls were with us, chatting, which filled the silence between Jarrod and me. We didn’t communicate unless it was necessary. The ride in his private jet back to Dallas was equally silent. I was so exhausted from the lack of sleep that I fell asleep and only woke up when we were landing.

We bustled from the airport, transferring all our luggage from the jet to the limousine, which picked us up. I wondered if Jarrod owned the limousine too, as his regular driver was behind the wheel. If we were talking, I would have asked the question but decided to let this one remain unanswered. Nothing would be affected by the answer anyway. It wasn’t like Jarrod would fall in love with me too.

I never had the opportunity to ask him about our sleeping arrangement. The twins headed for the rec room immediately upon landing, and I climbed the stairs for my bedroom. Jarrod went to his office to check his messages.

I sighed upon reaching the bedroom. I dropped down onto the bed. Finally. I was home. Home? For the next ten years, and then what? I suddenly felt like I hadn’t given this enough thought before agreeing to be Jarrod’s wife for ten years.

Rolling off the bed, I walked to the closet to find something to wear and discovered all my clothes had been removed. I checked the drawers and they were empty too. Where could all my clothes… Had Jarrod moved me into another room without consulting me? Like his bedroom? Don’t be foolish, girl, I warned myself. He had no reason to move me into his bedroom.

Hurrying from the room, I scurried down the stairs and to his office. I knocked once and pushed the door open before he said, “Come in.” He sat at his desk, his phone to his ear while he scribbled on a notepad.

“Give me a sec,” he whispered to me, covering the mouthpiece before returning his attention to whomever was on the line. “Okay, uh huh. Did Pembrooke get in touch?” He listened again before continuing. “Great! Thanks, Pearl, you’re a gem.”

I placed my hands behind my back so he couldn’t see my clenched fists. I should have known the first person he would call when we returned would be Pearl. I couldn’t help wondering how he had planned to juggle both of us at the same time. I’d never taken him for a player. Clearly, I knew nothing about him.

“All right, I’ll see you at the office tomorrow morning at seven,” he said. “Bye, Pearl.”

Why did he have to meet her an hour before his staff was due at work?

“Is something wrong?” he asked, barely glancing at me before returning to the notepad before him.

“My things,” I told him, my voice huskier than I would have liked. “My bedroom is empty. I don’t know where my things are.”

“That’s because they are right where they belong,” he answered without looking up.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded, irritated at him for not reciprocating my feelings. “Where did you move my things?”

He stopped writing and lifted his head, his blue eyes piercing mine. “They’re in my bedroom—sorry, our bedroom, of course. Where else did you expect them to be?”