He smiled at her. “Just how hard have you been working this week?”

“Oh, not too hard.”

He gave her a look. “I don’t think I believe you.”

They landed and she and Drew both thanked the crew, who insisted they were thrilled to spend New Year’s Eve hanging out on the beach. Her father was flying their families out to spend it with them, so they were all excited.

Drew had rented a car. They threw their bags in the backseat and headed toward the house.

Carolina loved Gray’s house. She’d been out a few times, and he’d even let her stay there on vacation when he was away racing. She loved the expansiveness of it—right on the beach, no neighbors close by. It was gorgeous and peaceful, and as they pulled into the driveway, one of Gray’s staff was there with the key.

“Thank you, Louisa,” Carolina said, taking the key from her.

“The house is fully stocked for you. I’ll be back tomorrow—at three o’clock, Mr. Preston said—to get the key back?”

“That’s right,” Drew said.

Louisa nodded and left. Drew took the key from Carolina and opened the front door.

Carolina could already smell the ocean breeze wafting in from the open terrace doors. She walked to the terrace and outside.

It was warm out, so much warmer than Manhattan. She wanted to immediately shed her clothes and take a walk on the beach.

Drew came up behind her and put his arms around her. “I thought this might be more fun than the craziness at Times Square.”

She leaned her head back against his chest. “It’s absolutely perfect. There’s nothing more calming than the ocean.”

“Do you want to get changed and go take a walk?”

“Absolutely.”

They went upstairs and headed into the guest room down the hall from the master bedroom. The guest room was amazing. Oversize, with a big bed, a deck overlooking the ocean, and its own bathroom. Carolina changed into her swimsuit and put on her capris and a tank top, then slid into her flip-flops.

“This feels so decadent for December,” she said as she turned to Drew, who’d thrown on a pair of board shorts and a sleeveless top. She loved seeing all that muscle exposed.

They walked outside and Drew grasped her hand. She felt giddy, like she was on vacation, without a care in the world.

Of course, she had a lot of cares, a lot of tension, a lot of stress.

But not today. Today she wasn’t going to think about all of that. One day off was all she needed to melt all of that away.

The warm sunshine bathed her skin as they kicked off their shoes and hit the sand. It wasn’t summer by any means, but it was warm here, and it felt good. The salt in the air rejuvenated her as they walked parallel to the water. Carolina dug her toes into the sand, wishing it were summer already.

“We used to go to the shore a lot when we were kids,” she said as they strolled along at an easy pace. “It’s one of my fondest memories of my childhood. Playing in the water with Gray, splashing and dunking each other. Dad didn’t come with us all that often because he was so busy when we were kids, but Mom was always there, and aunts and uncles and of course cousins would join in. We had such a blast.”

Drew shifted his gaze toward hers and smiled. “That sounds like fun.”

“It was. We’d spend a week at the shore every summer. I looked forward to it every year.”

“I love the beach, too,” Drew said. “Of course, growing up in Oklahoma we didn’t have the beach, but there are a lot of lakes. We’d go camping. Everyone would go out on boats and water-ski.”

“Did your parents have a boat?”

He shook his head. “We didn’t, but my parents were friends with people who did, so we’d all camp together and we’d ski off their boat. Then when I was a teenager, I had a friend whose parents had a boat, and we’d head off on the weekends to go water-skiing.”

She stopped and turned to face him. “So what you’re saying is that you’re an amazing water-skier.”

He gave her an adorably boyish grin. “Hell, yeah. If the water out there wasn’t so cold right now I’d show you.”

“How unfortunate. Some other time, then.”

He took her hand and continued to walk. “We’ll come back in the summer. Then I’ll impress you with my water-skiing prowess.”

He assumed they’d still be together in the summer. She didn’t know what to make of that.

Would they be? She had no idea. She’d never had a long-term relationship with a man, had never progressed beyond a few dates or a month at best before the whole thing fizzled out due to lack of interest or her just being too busy to care if the relationship went any further. Her focus had always been on her career, and never on a man.

Her career had to remain her number one priority, now more than ever.

But the idea of not having Drew in her life made her ache, and she didn’t like that.

She’d never depended upon a man for her happiness. The thought of it had always seemed ludicrous to her. The only thing she had ever wanted, the only thought that had ever made her happy was launching her fashion line.

Something inside her was changing, some subtle shift in her priorities.

“Your shoulders are getting red. Did you put sunscreen on?” Drew asked.

“Oh, you know what? I was so excited about getting outside in the warmth that I completely forgot.”

“We’d better head back then, and get some sunscreen on you before you fry up like a lobster.”

She laughed. “Yes, that would be bad. Sunburnt is definitely not a good color on me.”

They turned around and Drew walked them farther up the beach into the shade on the way back.

Once inside, she headed into the kitchen.

“How about something to drink?” she asked.

“A beer sounds good.”

“Okay. Actually, that sounds pretty good to me, too.” Normally she disliked beer, but it was warm outside and she was parched, and today it felt like summer. And summer meant beer. She grabbed two beers and handed them over to Drew, who opened them both and gave her one. They went out onto the terrace and took a seat.

There wasn’t a soul out there, just the whitecaps billowing over the water. Carolina spotted a boat far off in the distance, but couldn’t make out what kind it was. It disappeared along the horizon, so all she could see then was water. No one else could be seen along their private stretch of beach. She felt like they were the only people in the universe right now. Shipwrecked, alone, and utterly in their own world.

She kind of liked it.

“Tell me how work is going.”

She shifted her gaze to Drew. “I don’t want to talk about work today. I’m on vacation.”

He cocked a brow. “I’ve never known you to not want to talk about your work.”

“So you’re saying I’m obsessed?”

He laughed. “No. I think you love your job. Nothing wrong with that. I talk about hockey a lot, because I love what I do. So do you. If you didn’t, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.”

“True. And I do love it. I’ve also been a bit obsessed by it for the past several months.”

“Rightly so, I imagine, since you have a lot riding on this being a success.”

She drew her knees to her chest. “Don’t remind me.”

“Oh, right, because you’re on vacation today and you want to obliterate it from your mind.”

Her lips lifted. “Exactly.”

“I can take your mind off work.”

“You can, huh?”

“Yeah.” He got up and grabbed his beer and hers. “Follow me.”

He led her through the door and into the house, down the hall and into the side yard, an oasis of greenery and palm trees, where there was a pool and a hot tub surrounded by a tall fence. He sat them down at the edge of the pool.

She tucked her feet and legs in the water. “Ah yes. At least this one is heated, unlike the ocean.”

Drew sat next to her and sank his legs in, too. “Yeah. And it’s a lot more private here.”

She laughed. “I didn’t see anyone out there.”

He clinked the tip of his beer bottle to hers before taking a long swallow. “But I have nefarious plans for you, and I wanted privacy.”

“Really. What kind of nefarious plans?”

“First, we’re going to take a swim, so get out of those clothes.”

“I like the sound of that.” She pulled off her top and her capris, then slid into the water, which felt warm and glorious. She swam a few laps side by side with Drew, who then scooped her into his arms and swung her around before dunking them both. She came up laughing, and then he took them under again, this time kissing her underwater. She wrapped her arms around his neck, loving the buoyant feel of the water and the way his lips felt on hers.

When they surfaced, she turned in his arms and wrapped her legs around him.

“This is a good start,” he said, pushing through the water toward the cement stairs. He sat her on the edge, then untied her bikini top, letting it fall to her waist.

Undaunted, she untied the back and tossed the top to the side of the pool. “Part of your nefarious plans?”

“I’m only just beginning. But first, sunscreen for you.”

“Oh, that’s right. We’re in the sun again.”

Drew got out, water dripping from his body as he headed over to the supply cabinet on the covered veranda. There was such fluidity to his movements, the way he walked with such ease and confident masculinity.

It was the same as when he was on the ice. When he skated, whether he was coasting or zooming along at some crazed speed, it was a beautiful thing to behold. She was mesmerized by him, and she’d caught each of his games when they were apart this past week. Not just for the lines and watching the movements of his body, but also because she’d missed him.

Which was a dilemma she had decided not to think about today.

He came back with lotion, pouring some in his hands. “Lean forward,” he said.

She did, pulling her hair out of the way so he could spread the lotion across her back and down her arms. His motions were thorough, and yet slow and sensual, heating up her body more than the sun had. Each touch was a caress, as if he was learning her body for the first time. He swirled the lotion down her spine and across her back, all the way to her bikini bottoms.

“Now, lean back.”

She smiled up at him as he spread more lotion on his hands, then began at the front of her shoulders, moving his way inward, toward her collarbone, cupping her neck in his hands and using slight pressure of his thumbs as he caressed her throat. She watched his face when he did this, his expression so serious, as if he wanted to make sure to cover every inch of her skin. His brows knit tight in concentration, his lips compressed. She had to smile at how seriously he took this task.

She swallowed as he made his way down across her collarbone. He cupped her br**sts, teasing her ni**les until they tingled.

He lingered at her br**sts, using his thumbs to brush across the aching buds until she arched against him. Then he looked up at her, and the heat and desire in his eyes made her breath catch.

“I like you touching me,” she said, watching as he continued to tease and torment her nipples.

“You have the most beautiful br**sts, Lina. I could play with them all day, watching your ni**les harden. And from the way you move when I touch you, I know you like me lingering here.” He proved it by swirling his thumbs over her tingling nipples. Her lips parted, her breaths coming out in fast pants.

“Yes, that feels so good.”

“And there’s more of you I want to touch.”

He moved down to her stomach, putting more lotion in his hands and rolling across her abdomen, her hips, her lower belly, and then lifting each leg to rub and caress every part of her, all the way down to her calves. It was a soft, lingering sensual massage that awoke every nerve ending in her body.