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“We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” I say, in a brusque tone that I hope will encourage him not to push it any further. “I’ll have someone contact you with the details of time and place. Goodbye, Donovan.”
I hang up the phone without giving him a chance to reply, and then press the device against my forehead, thinking. I have to make this last. One last day to persuade her. If she doesn’t see already that we belong together, I don’t know what else I can do.
But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.Chapter TwentyCarinaTommy appears while I’m braiding my hair, tucking it away so that it can dry without getting into my face.
“Did you manage to sort everything out?” I ask, finishing off fastening a tie around the bottom of the braid.
“I did.” Tommy comes to stand in front of me, cupping my face in his hands. “What do you want to do today?”
“I don’t know.” I think about it for a moment. “We could just stay here, in your room.”
Tommy’s mouth curves into a wicked smile. “But what might we do all day?”
I bite my lip shyly, fighting the blush that I can feel rising up in my cheeks. “I can think of a few things.”
Tommy laughs and bends to kiss me, and doesn’t stop there. Before long we’re naked again, touching each other, embracing, kissing, warming up to the real thing. As he slides home inside of me, I get a sudden pang that hits me right in the chest, the thought that this might be only the beginning of the end.
I don’t know what will happen when our time is up and my Dad has to pay. I don’t know if I will be forced to go home no matter what I want. Would Tommy even want me to stay here, or is all this just talk? Just a fantasy to fill his days before I leave?
He’s a busy man, and I’ve seen how much it affects his life. Before this, it seems that his life was only business, with no room for pleasure. He told me he’d tried to clear his schedule, but even so, he’s had to duck out time and again to deal with business matters. How much worse is it usually? Surely, he doesn’t have time for me?
I try to push it away, letting myself fade deeper into the blissful feeling of being in his arms again, of having him inside me. The heat crackling between us, the way that he makes me gasp and call out his name just by shifting, it’s enough to clear my head again and again and again.
But still, in those slow moments, in those times when we lay beside each other recovering our stamina, in those breaks for food and drink, the doubts return. When my Dad comes tomorrow, what will happen? Am I going to have to say goodbye to Tommy forever? Will my Dad forbid me from seeing him ever again if he finds out what we’ve been up to?
If I get the chance to make the choice, will Tommy even want me to stay? Is there room here in his life for me?
All I know is that if it can’t happen between us, I don’t want to know. I lay beside Tommy in bed as the night draws in and I utter a silent prayer to whoever might be listening. If tomorrow will be the end, then just leave me here. Never moving forward, never back. I will live in this day for the rest of my life.
Anything to avoid losing him and having to go back to my normal life, alone, without him.Chapter Twenty-OneTommyI wake before Carina on our final morning, somehow managing to beat her. I suppose her habitual inclination to wake up with the dawn has faded away a little after the amount of sheer athletic effort we went through yesterday.
I’m feeling good, even though I know this might be it. The last moment. I watch her face as she sleeps, so soft and peaceful, so beautiful. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.
Except, I won’t need to, because I will see it every morning. I am Tommy Lucio, I remind myself. I don’t need permission from anyone. While it would be nice to have Donovan on-side when I marry his daughter, it won’t make a difference. She isn’t going anywhere. She’ll stay by my side. I know it. All that remains is to see how the day will play out.
Since I know that later may be difficult for her, I will do what I can to release the tension of the morning and make it as enjoyable for Carina as possible. I watch as she slowly stirs awake and lean down to kiss her lips.
“Good morning.”
