Author: Roni Loren

His gaze snapped toward her, pinning her like a butterfly to a board. “What the hell are you apologizing for?”

“Someone figured it out, didn’t they? I didn’t say the right things. I choked.” She looked down at the bed. “I’m such a fucking disaster. I don’t even know how to appear normal.”

“Kelsey—”

“I’m so sorry that I’ve . . . embarrassed you. You should’ve just taken a normal girl here with you. I know how much your reputation��”

He was across the room in the span between blinks. She looked down at her toes, still fighting tears, but he pushed his fingers beneath her chin, forcing her face upward. “Listen to me. You didn’t do anything. Gwen told Carmichael. And a ‘normal’ girl? What the fuck does that even mean?”

“Normal. A girl who doesn’t have so many skeletons waiting to pounce, one who can go to a spa day with other women and talk about things like high school and college and her job without having to make shit up.”

“Stop it,” he said firmly. “I would never, ever be embarrassed by you.”

She closed her eyes, shaking her head. “You don’t have to—hell, I’d be embarrassed by me, Wyatt. The way some of those women looked at me today when I stumbled over my answers.”

Her stomach flipped over at the memory of it, settling down into the pedicure chair all smiles only to see that judgment in the others’ eyes when they started throwing probing questions at her. That . . . dismissal. You are no longer worthy of our regard.

“No,” he said, his tone as sharp as an ax through ice. “Do not give those women and their opinions that kind of power over you. I’m embarrassed that I even know people who would cast you aside because you come from a different background than they do. Fucking elitist bullshit.”

She shook her head, another awful realization hitting her, and tears snuck by this time. Those women had acted like they were on a mission today, like they were playing some kind of game they were sure they’d win. Kelsey had thought she’d attracted that shrewd speculation because she’d struggled with some of her answers. But if Gwen had told Carmichael, what if . . . “Oh, God.”

“What’s wrong?”

All of it started to make too much sense. “What if they know, Wyatt? I thought I’d made a mistake somehow today, so they’d figured out I didn’t come from money. But God, what if they weren’t just being suspicious and nosy but already knew it all? What if Gwen told them everything?”

Wyatt’s jaw clenched. “I’ll make sure she rues the day if she did.”

A sick dread washed through Kelsey. “They’re all going to assume you paid me to be here, that I’m a hooker.”

“Screw what they think. You and I know that’s not the case.” He looked from her, to the clothes clutched in her hands, to the open suitcase on the bed. “What are you doing?”

“What do you think? I’m packing. I already called and verified there’s another boat to the main island in an hour. We need to get out of here.”

He took the shirt she’d been holding in her hand and tossed it to the bed. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“What?” Her voice was shrill in the quiet room. “We can’t stay. Especially now. Everyone—”

“Can go fuck themselves,” he said, his eyes blazing. “Running away now makes us look ashamed, like we’ve been caught in some big scandal. We haven’t. Neither of us have lied—you like to cook, you want to go to culinary school, and you want a bakery.”

“We told them I was your girlfriend.”

He circled his arms around her waist, his expression softening. “So let’s make that the truth, too.”

She blinked up at him. “What are you talking about? We said—”

“Don’t freak out. I know we promised each other this was just for fun, that it would end when we get back home. But this week has been one of the best I can remember, and I’m not so ready to give this up yet. Are you?”

She averted her gaze, unable to handle the earnest look in his eyes. More time with Wyatt? It was about as alluring a prospect as she could imagine. But it was so risky. Anxiety curled in her belly, her heart waging a battle with her head, and her libido cheering for the wrong team. “Wyatt . . .”

“I’m not saying til death do us part or anything, love. But what does girlfriend/boyfriend have to mean beyond the fact that we’re seeing each other and no one else for a little while?” He stroked the base of her spine, sending hot chills along the column. “And all these assholes can move onto some other gossip when they see that you didn’t disappear the minute we got back to town.”

“Is that what this is about? Making the ruse look more real?” she asked.

The corner of his mouth lifted and he kissed the tip of her nose, which was probably still bright red from crying. “No, this is complete and utter selfishness on my part. I want you, Kelsey. In my bed. At my side. And I want it for longer than two more days. The other is just a convenient side effect.”

She pressed the top of her head to his chest, the weight of temptation crushing her. Wyatt had been the subject of her fantasies for so long and now she was living them. Being with him was fun and sexy and goddammit, it made her feel happy. It was so, so dangerous. Was it better to taste the best, most delicious chocolate in the world, knowing you’d only get a few bites? Or was it better to have never tasted it and live your life not knowing what you’d missed?

She’d already had far too many nibbles of the forbidden confection known as Wyatt Austin and now he was offering more—girlfriend, more time, a legitimate place in his life—at least for a little while. “Wyatt, this scares me.”

He rubbed her bare arms and sighed. “It kind of scares me, too. But this doesn’t change anything except the amount of time. Let’s give ourselves a month. If you had decided to do all your training with me, you would’ve spent the full month with me anyway. Believe me, I never had any intention of letting you finish it up with the lumberjack.”

She laughed against his chest.

“Plus, I just punched our illustrious host in the stomach in front of security so I’m feeling ballsy today.”

She pulled back, her jaw going slack. “You did what?”

“He’s lucky I didn’t throw him through a damn window.”

“What the hell happened?” He frowned, and she knew instantly. “He said something about me, didn’t he?”

“I don’t want you going anywhere near him for the rest of the trip,” he said, leaning over to close her suitcase and pull it off the bed. “And I was right not to want his business. He’s not above board.”

“What do you mean?”

“He alluded to some things that have my warning bells going off.” He set her suitcase back in the closet, a weariness settling over his features. “Honestly, I don’t even want to think about some of the implications he made. I need to talk to my father, but he’s still at that therapy thing with my mom. Until then, I’m done worrying about it. It’s probably Carmichael blowing smoke anyway.”

She sat on the bed, exhausted by the roller coaster of the last few hours. “So what now?”

He reached behind him and pulled off his T-shirt, distracting Kelsey with that lickable torso of his. “Right now, we’re taking a lazy afternoon nap because you look wiped out and we’re going to need our energy to deal with everyone tonight.”

She lifted a brow. “That’s all I’m going to need energy for?”

He slipped out of his shorts, leaving him blessedly naked, giving her a view of the kind of sheer male beauty that made every tender part of her tighten. “Guess you’ll have to stick around and find out.”

She started tugging off her own clothes. “Tease. How am I supposed to sleep with you lying next to me, looking like that?”

He grinned and slipped beneath the sheets, pulling them back on her side. “Come ’ere, love.”

She climbed into the bed, and he dragged her against him, pressing his lips to hers and brushing his fingers along her backside. The kiss was languid, his tongue parting her lips and stroking against hers in a soft, sensual tangle. Her body went liquid, her muscles going lax in his hold as he deepened the kiss. If he thought this was going to lead to a nap, he was delusional. Sleep was suddenly the farthest thing from her mind.

He traced a blunt fingertip along the crack of her ass, a feather-light touch that had heat gathering low and fast. She moaned into his kiss when he teased at her back entrance. He broke away from the kiss. “I need to have you here, love.”

She nipped at his bottom lip, damn near purring at the feel of his dexterous fingertips exploring her. “You can have me any way you want me, Wyatt.”

The flash of wickedness in his eyes had her heartbeat stuttering mid-beat. He sat up and flipped her onto her belly as if she weighed nothing. Her face buried into the soft pile of pillows. “I wasn’t asking. But I also want you to rest.”

She turned her head. “I don’t need—”

He popped her thigh with a stinging smack, stealing her protest. “Quiet. I will tell you what you need and don’t. And what you need is some sleep. I kept you up too late last night.”

The sound of the bedside drawer being pulled open had her dragging her bottom lip between her teeth. He wouldn’t let her look in there, but she knew that’s where he kept all his fun stuff.

“Lift your hips up, love.” She did as she was told, and he tucked something small with soft nubbed latex against her clit. The small but powerful vibrator hummed to life against her. She let out a soft gasp, but Wyatt didn’t stop in his ministrations. Straps wound around her hips and thighs, securing the vibe against her. “Maybe this will take the edge off and let you get some rest.”

Slippery liquid and warm fingers moved against her back opening, making everything clench inside her. Ah, God. The thought of him inside her, taking her there, had her entire system quivering in anticipation. And with the tortuous slow-slow-fast pattern of the vibrator, she felt on the verge of losing it already.

Wyatt eased a finger inside her, and she had to fight not to writhe on the bed. “Please, Wyatt.”

A low sound of pleasure from him. “Patience, love. Though I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything sexier than you begging for my cock in your ass. Believe me, I’ll have you before the night ends. But right now, I’m going to help you be ready for me.”

She buried her head back in the pillows and let out a groan of frustration, which only earned her a dark chuckle from Wyatt. Then his finger was gone and something far bigger was sliding inside her. Her breath whooshed out of her, the edge of discomfort turning a dial inside her, translating all that stimulation from the vibrator into something wholly more intense, forbidden. Her moan was long and pitiful.

“Shh,” Wyatt said, caressing her back with his free hand while continuing to ease the implement inside her. “Relax, beautiful. This plug isn’t as big as I am. I need to know you can take this so that I won’t hurt you later.”

She breathed through the overwhelming need to come, trying to focus on relaxing the tension coiling in her body. He nudged the plug deeper and the wider end slipped past the ring of muscle, earning a little cry from her as her body fully accepted the plug. The flared based tucked against her opening, holding everything in place.

“That’s it, love. Now just ride the sensation of it all,” Wyatt said, his voice as soothing as a thousand massaging hands. He trailed his fingers down her spine and over the globes of her ass. “And let me enjoy you while you come.”

Wyatt clasped her hips and lifted her upward until she was on her knees, her back sloping down to the bed. She couldn’t even help him get herself into that position. Her nerve endings were starting to spark and flame with need and all she could do was . . . exist and accept it all.