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He nodded, his face etched with pity for the first time since her mask had fallen off.
“Learning to live with what happened, with the scars on my face, is one thing, but facing a future without my mom and dad, that sometimes hurts just as much.” She stared at the painting. Most days, she saw it when she stepped into her studio. “I was ten when they died. And I remember what it was like to feel wanted and loved unconditionally.”
She waited for him to ask the usual questions. How did they die? Did you have any other living relatives or family friends to take you in? By now, she could talk about the car crash without dissolving into tears. She could explain that no, she had no other relatives besides Natalie. No aunts, no uncles. Even her grandmother had already been suffering from Alzheimer’s when the crash happened.
“The shadows in the painting, those are your parents,” he said.
“Yes.”
“It’s beautiful,” he said, looking up from the picture as he held out her phone. “For all the grief I give my parents over the choices they made with their lives, I know I still have their love. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” She’d abandoned the seemingly obligatory “it was a long time ago” after she’d realized that she’d never stop mourning their abrupt end. Some days, she just plain wanted her family back. She missed that feeling of being loved and accepted, no matter what.
Maybe that was why the thought of saying good-bye to Cade felt so hard to endure. He made her feel like she was home again, and it would crush her when their weekend lease ran out.
What was she supposed to do? Just ask him to set aside his concerns and keep this thing going? He’d been clear how much he wanted and for how long. Who was she to think she deserved anything more?
He must have caught something in her expression, because he said, “I’m sorry. You didn’t come to Vegas to talk about your past.”
She shrugged. “You couldn’t have known.”
“Still. Let me make it up to you.”
“Ready for dessert already?”
He held up his hand, signaling the server for the check. “I’d rather feast on you. And the box of chocolates I picked up earlier.”
“The gifts just keep coming,” she murmured as the server appeared with their bill. “Did you select ones that explode in your mouth?”
“We’ll find out.” He reached for his wallet.
“Let me pay for dinner,” she said. “After everything you did today.”
“No. Consider this the last piece of your Vegas tour.”
After the server slipped away, he stood and held out his hand. He drew her up, leaned close, and in a quiet voice said, “When we get to your room, I want you to strip off your dress and climb on the bed. No robes tonight. Lie on your stomach and lift your hips just enough to run your hand between your legs. Drive yourself wild. And don’t call for me until you’re ready.”
“I don’t recall this Post-it drawing,” she teased, his words pushing her close to calling out, ready!
He took her hand and led the way to a door marked exit. Heaven help her if this door led to another one of the rooms. She’d be tempted to strip off her dress in the library, the kitchen, or whatever space waited on the other side. And she’d probably land them both in trouble.
Two days ago, she’d been begging for a little bit of trouble. But now? Didn’t she already have enough of that? Hell, she had more than she could handle. She was falling for a man who still planned to say good-bye tomorrow.
Chapter Sixteen
Time hovered like an enemy. But Cade felt powerless to stop the minutes, unlike his past foes, from slipping away as they drove down the Strip. And the elevator ride to their room lasted an eternity. If the confined space hadn’t been filled with teenagers, he might have pushed her up against the elevator’s mirrored interior and taken her.
But he’d bypassed the opportunity to see her pleasure reflected in the elevator mirrors
. He wanted more than a quickie in the elevator. And now, finally, they were inside Lucia’s suite, shut away from the rest of the world and the harsh realities waiting for them when the sun came up.
She set her bags down and reached for the zipper along the back of her dress. “Ready for your dreams to come true?”
You have no idea.
One look at her and he wished this fantasy could be their future. Days, nights, weeks, months sinking into her, kissing her. But outside this room, reality—the lies he’d told, the fact that he had to go back to work and likely ship out—would return.
“Please,” he said, letting desire trump reason. “Let me see you.”
