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“They won’t.” He cupped her breast, measuring the weight, memorizing the curve, lightly pinching the nipple between his fingers until she gasped and shifted her hips in an age-old rhythm.
“They will.”
Frustrated by his inability to convince her with words, Simon let his newly revived erection ride between the sweet curves of her bottom. With his tongue laving the sensitive skin below her ear and his teeth nipping lightly at her earlobe, Simon parted her thighs and slid into her hot, moist core. She cried out in pleasure as he rocked against her, his fingers plying the knot of nerves between her thighs. Then, as her orgasm broke over her, he bared his teeth in primitive satisfaction before joining her.
She might be determined to leave him, but he intended to convince her otherwise. Whatever it took.
Chapter Fourteen
Where were her shoes? Caroline sat on the floor and stared at the space where they’d been. Every single pair she’d brought with her from Atlanta had disappeared. What was going on?
She’d awakened this morning to an empty bed and an emptier heart. The urgent need to flee that had gripped her the night before was no less insistent at ten in the morning, but she hadn’t been able to shake the exhaustion pinning her to the mattress. Eventually, however, she’d forced herself out of bed and into the shower. It was only as she’d finished dressing that she’d noticed she had no footwear.
The bedroom door opened. Thinking it was Simon, she turned around, but her annoyance faded the second she spied Sarah crossing the room toward her.
“Looking for something?”
“My shoes are gone.” Seeing the grin Sarah couldn’t restrain, Caroline frowned. “Do you know where they are?”
“Somewhere safe.” Sarah joined her on the floor. “Hannah and I took them.”
“Why?”
“To keep you from leaving. Simon came to us while you were sleeping, half out of his mind because he couldn’t convince you to stay. I suggested we take your shoes until we could talk some sense into you.”
“Some sense?” Caroline cocked her head and regarded Sarah in some amazement. She needed sense talked into her? “Did you miss my performance last night? I spilled everyone’s secrets. They all hate me. Why would anyone want me around?”
Sarah slid her raven-wing hair behind one ear. “Did I tell you that I’m almost an only child? By that I mean there’s almost eighteen years between my older brother and me. He was almost done with college by the time I was out of diapers, so I never really had a close sibling. He was more like an uncle. When Hannah and I first got together, she’d tell me all about the fights with Elizabeth and how she could never count on Simon to help her out when she needed something because he was always out of town. Or how Dane always picked on her about how she could do better than the firm she was at. You can imagine how mad I got for her. The first time she brought me here, I was ready to take on each and every one of them for upsetting my girl. Imagine my surprise when I saw how well they all got along. We had a fabulous time, and I couldn’t figure out how they could make her so mad, but she could forgive them so easily.”
Sarah’s message came through loud and clear. Family forgives past wrongs.
“But I’m not part of this family,” Caroline protested, her emotions running a twisting labyrinth of hope and despair. “Look at how Hannah and Simon feel about Francine. They can’t stand her, and she was going to become a part of their family. Simon and I were faking the engagement. What possible reason could they have for forgiving me?”
“Why don’t you let me answer that question,” Simon said from the door.
Sarah winked at Caroline. “I think that’s my cue to leave.”
Caroline tracked Sarah’s journey across the room, afraid that if she looked at Simon, she’d burst into tears. She kept her gaze fixed on the ceiling as he sat beside her, her breath an unsteady rasp as she struggled to maintain some semblance of calm.
“When I woke up this morning and you were still in bed beside me, I knew I’d do anything to keep you from leaving.” He set his forefinger against her jaw and turned her face toward him.
She saw warm affection shining in his eyes and her heart did a backflip. “Even steal my shoes?”
“I have to admit, Sarah’s beginning to think more and more like a Holcroft every day.”
“And this is a good thing?” she grumbled, resisting the entreaty in his eyes, but only just.
“You’ll be happy to know Dane and I had a long talk this morning.”
She searched his face, looking for bruises, but found none. She half expected the brothers to come to blows after she told about Francine’s visit to Simon’s condo. “Just talked?”
“Well, there might have been a little good-natured scuffling.”
“How good-natured?”
His eyes danced at her low murmur. “Let’s just say we worked out a lot of pent-up hostility.”
“And now everything’s okay between you?”
