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Unable to drag his gaze from Natalie’s retreating backside, Matthew knew he wasn’t fooling a single person in the room. At the moment he didn’t care.
He should care.
He had a child to think about, so his behavior mattered. He had to set a good example for Carrie.
But Carrie was in Memphis with his mother, as Matthew had signed up for this continuing education conference before he’d known he was going to be raising his god-daughter. He’d started to cancel, but his mother had pushed him not to, saying he needed a weekend to decompress after the past few months. Carrie was better off with his mother than she was with him anyway.
His heart pinched as he thought of Robert and Carolyn. The couple had died much too soon in a small plane crash, leaving their most precious possession to him. Four-year-old Carrie.
What had his best friends been thinking? Although serious in his professional life, he’d been a happy-go-lucky bachelor who knew how to have a good time without the burden of commitment.
Robert had been Matthew’s best friend since grammar school. They’d gone through university then med school together. He’d been there when Carolyn had stolen his friend’s heart, had been best man at their wedding, had been there for Carrie’s birth.
Having been only children to single moms, neither Robert nor Carolyn had had any living family and had asked Matthew to be Carrie’s godfather prior to her birth. Not believing he’d ever actually be raising the little girl, Matthew had agreed. Nothing was supposed to have happened to his friends.
But three months ago, it had. Something horrible that neither he nor Carrie would recover from, when the couple’s small-engine plane had crashed, instantly killing them both.
If only his friends had made better arrangements for their daughter. Surely anything would have been better than him.
Matthew paused outside the ballroom door. What was he doing? His life was in total upheaval. He should not get involved with Natalie or any other woman when his world was so topsy-turvy.
Wasn’t that why he’d hesitated to accept Natalie’s invitation to sit beside her?
To let her think there could be anything between them would be wrong. He had a whole new messed-up life he had to figure out. Until he did, Carrie had to be his priority. Only, so long as he made sure Natalie knew that whatever happened in Miami would end in Miami, there was no reason why they couldn’t enjoy the next few days. He needed the next few days. He’d not had sex in months. Not since before his friends had... Hell, he didn’t want to think of that anymore.
Natalie would likely tell him to kiss her lovely behind when he told her he couldn’t offer more than a few days of fun in the sun. Sure, there had been a rare moment when he’d been at Robert and Carolyn’s that he’d envied their relationship, the closeness they shared. But he had never actively thought about marriage or a long-term relationship for himself. He liked being single, liked being able to do what he wanted when he wanted with whomever he wanted, that if he wanted to stay at the hospital for twenty-four hours straight there was no one to complain or be disappointed that his work meant more than they did.
All that had changed with Carrie. Now, whether he wanted to or not, he had to keep a regular schedule, had to come home at night.
He raked his fingers through his hair. Yeah, he hadn’t been free to do much of anything over the past three months. Instead, he’d been trying to figure out what to do with the sweetest little girl he’d ever known, who was heartbroken over the loss of her parents and who had the unfortunate luck of being in Uncle Matthew’s care.
Uncle Matthew, who was now thrust into the role of Daddy Matthew.
For the next three days he got to just be Matthew, and to do what he wanted.
And what Matthew wanted was Natalie. Naked and beneath him.
There she was, waiting by the fountain, her gaze dancing with seduction and making his head spin. Would it be wrong if he threw her over his shoulder, carried her to his hotel room and took her every way he’d imagined over the course of the day? He couldn’t recall ever wanting a woman more than he wanted Natalie. Had to be the turmoil of the past three months and his need to just...escape. That, and the fact he’d not even thought about a woman or sex since Robert and Carolyn’s death. His reaction to Natalie was probably his subconscious guiding him to take what he could while he could.
He made his way to the fountain, took Natalie’s hand and practically dragged her toward the elevator bank where he’d been waiting for her earlier.
CHAPTER THREE
“I WANT TO make love to you, Natalie,” Matthew told her as the elevator doors slid shut behind them.
Natalie’s breath caught.
“But—” he began.
No! She didn’t want there to be a “but”. Please, the one time she was willing to just let go and have a fling with a man, don’t let him have a reason they couldn’t.
With his free hand he pressed the door-close button rather than a floor number, then continued. “I don’t want to deceive you in any way, and, if we go further without my telling you the truth, that’s what I’d feel I was doing.”
Had he lied to her earlier? Was there someone special in his life?
Please don’t be married or engaged or whatever it is that’s so horrible that you have to confess before having sex.
“You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman and deserve better than anything I’m able to give. Which is why I need to explain all the reasons why you should tell me no.” He took a deep breath, kept those pale blue eyes locked with hers. “Beyond the next three days, I have nothing to offer to you or any woman.”
