“Then why are you inventing reasons that could obviously wait another day or two?”
Because you scare me.
Because I feel myself pulled toward you, and I don’t understand why.
Because some part of me—the part that apparently marries strangers—wants to stay.
“We just met,” I mumbled. “This is crazy.”
“I think the ship sailed on ‘crazy’ when we exchanged vows last night. At least stay for breakfast.”
He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear with such impossible tenderness that I couldn’t help leaning into his touch.
“Why?” I had to ask, my voice suddenly small. “Why do you want me to stay so badly?”
His thumb brushed over my lip as a small divot appeared between those dark brows. All signs of humor and arrogance had disappeared, leaving him as earnest and undone as I felt. And maybe just as disconcerted by it too.
“Because… most of my time is either spent doing things I regret or trying to forget I ever did them. But last night—what I remember of it, anyway—I don’t think I wanted to do either. With you, even when you’re looking at me like I’m crazy, I feel like I can just be. So, I don’t want that to end. Not yet.”
God, he was good at this. The words, the touch, the vulnerability that felt real even though I knew they were probably as calculated as my tax returns.
“I don’t remember…” My voice cracked with something like longing. “I don’t remember any of it.”
“I know.” His voice was soft as he continued to stroke my mouth, my chin, my face. “I’m sorry for that. You have no idea how sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“Because from what little I can remember, I think last night… it was better than good, Laney.” He took back his hand, and I stifled a mewl as he ran it through his hair, making the wayward curls bounce. “We were a goddamn epic, Ariadne. The kind that sent men to war. Or at least to islands to steal wives for themselves.”
I arched a brow. “Did Theseus appear last night too at Naxos?”
“Christ.” His dark-eyed glance was so full of naked yearning, I wrapped my arms around my waist to prevent myself from climbing him like a tree. “Youdoknow Greek mythology, don’t you?”
I chuckled. “I might have a half-written dissertation on the subject waiting to be finished.”
I couldn’t have said why exactly I told him. My scholarship wasn’t something I had the opportunity to discuss much these days, and I hadn’t wanted to in years.
But the look of pure joy on his face was more than enough reward. “Jesus, don’t tell me shit like that. Beauty, brains,andshe knows Classics? Anything else, and I’ll tie you to the bedpost and keep you here forever.”
Whydid my blood literally tremble at that idea?
We stared at each other for a long time, and I couldn’t quite stop my eyes from dropping to those lips. Those perfectly full lips, slightly curved in that ever-present smirk, full of mischief and intelligence and the promise of another dreamlike adventure.
The problem was, I had a feeling if I joined him again in another dream, I might never awaken.
And my family, my heart, my life…we couldn’t take that. “I…”
He sighed. “You have to go. I know. Goddamn it, I know.”
I waved a hand. There was nothing more to say.
He held out a hand. “Give me your number. I’ll call as soon as my lawyer gets the annulment in order and have the paperwork sent to you in Seattle.”
I hesitated but took my phone from my bag, unlocked it, and handed it to him. “Are you sure that’s not too much?—”
He cut me off with a look. “Baby, it’s a drop in the fucking bucket. And nothing’s too much for you. Ever.”
Unsure of how to respond, I nodded. “Um, all right.”
