That alone should be a great big warning siren that I should let her go already. But I can’t. I don’t want to. I want every second, minute, and hour of these final days. I don’t want to waste a moment.
Because like I promised her when we started this, I’ll put her on that plane myself if I have to. She has to go back to her life in New York. And I have to not think about her ever again once she does.
It’s the only outcome.
Anything else is inconceivable, dangerous, and just…impossible.
“What is it? Great white shark cage dive?” I ask.
Her eyes pop wide. “No, thanks.” She scoffs, making the corners of my lips twitch. “Why anyone would want to serve themselves up on a platter like that with just some steel between them, I’ve no idea.”
“What is it, then?” I slide my nose down the side of her face, breathing in her scent before I settle my lips beneath her ear and nuzzle kisses into her skin.
“I want to see where you live. Spend the night at your place.”
I freeze, and she pulls back to look at me.
“What is it? Why can’t I? Do you have housemates?”
“No. I live alone.”
“So?” Her eyes brighten and she looks at me eagerly.
I sigh, which she takes as agreement, before she presses her lips to mine in a smiling kiss.
“Tonight then. I’ll pack a bag and let Mel know.” She turns away, then thinks better of it, crushing her lips back to mine. “I can’t wait to spend a whole night together.”
The tension in my gut threatens to explode. We haven’t spent an entire night together and woken up together the next day. And I know without doubt that I can’t let it happen. Because if I do, then watching her leave me is going to be a billion times harder.
23
JUDE
“I don’t thinkyour phone’s ever been this quiet since we arrived,” Mel comments, watching me with a smile as I hum to myself, tossing things into my bag.
Toothbrush. Hairbrush. Clean panties.
I throw the panties back out, grinning. “Won’t be needing those.”
The two of us have spent the day in the hotel spa together getting pampered and buffed to within an inch of our lives. I’m feeling all glowy, and my skin is as smooth as silk. Tomorrow’s our last day and we’re having a big retreat dinner with the other guests at sunset on the beach.
But tonight… tonight, I’m spending the night at Slade’s place.
“You’re a ho.” Mel giggles.
“Tonight, I will be if I have any choice in what we get up to.”
“That man can’t keep his eyes off you. It’s so obvious he’s got a permanent boner for you. I feel like I’ve been watching you two eye-bang one another for weeks. I’ve got front row seats in the splash zone.”
She laughs louder as my grin melts into a dopey one.
“You were right when you told me I needed this trip. I feel like a completely different person. Lighter. Funnier. Someone who isn’t being lied to and screwed over behind their back.”
“Nope.” She flicks her eyebrows up. “Now you’re just getting dicked daily by Woody Big-Pierced-Cock.”
I sigh dreamily. “He’s… he’s great.”
I ignore the pang in my gut at the thought of getting on a plane in less than forty-eight hours and leaving this all behind. This place has become my sanctuary, piecing me back together when I feared I might have been lost forever.
