AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She thought she was in with a chance. Lysander had tried things with her he hadn't done before. Like moving her into his home. She was the only woman he'd ever lived with besides his mother.
That meant something, didn't it?
More importantly, what did she want it to mean?
When this thing between them first started, she had been no more interested in commitment than he was, certain her emotions were locked down tight. Feeling bereft when he chose to work rather than make love? That said otherwise.
Sure, she could pretend to herself it was all about sexual frustration, but she didn't make it a habit to lie to herself like that. And she wasn't going to start now.
Their relationship had a sell by date and while she'd wanted that to start with, now it felt like the Sword of Damocles hanging over her head.
Neither of them knew what that date was, and she was sure Lysander didn't spend a single second worrying about it. However, the inevitable end of their liaison was starting to color their time together in shades of grief she couldn't let herself show.
She didn't even know which one of them would end it. Because it could be her. No matter how much she craved him in her life, she might walk away to protect herself from further pain.
Since that first dance they'd shared, she'd felt a connection to Lysander she'd never known with another man. While married she hadn't acted on that feeling, or even allowed herself to dwell on it. No secret fantasies of a man she wasn't married to.
Unlike Cyrus, Rowan was loyal. And she believed in keeping her word. Even if that meant letting go of a man she wasn't sure she could live happily without when the time came.
It was time to stop pretending she'd approached him with her plan solely in order to get rid of her ex-husband's attention.
Rowan had dressed up like an amateur seductress and gone to Lysander because she wanted him. Full stop. Having had him…over and over again for the past weeks…she only wanted him more.
Far from working him out of her system, he had worked his way into the fortress that had been her heart.
The only man on the planet who could.
And she'd been the fool to come to him, to suggest they have revenge sex that turned into the most intimate and fulfilling sex of her life.
"What are you doing out here?" Lysander barked.
Rowan jerked in surprise, slipping from her perch on the molded seat below her and sputtered as water splashed up into her face.
She'd been so lost in her thoughts, she hadn't heard him approach.
Allowing the momentum from her slide into the water to propel her, she floated to the side of the hot tub. Settling her crossed arms on it, she lifted her head and gave him a wry glance. "I think that's pretty obvious, yeah?"
"It sure as hell is." He jabbed the button turning the glass of the surround frosted once again. "I don't want men leering at you in your bikini."
"So possessive," she teased.
She should probably at least put up a token resistance to such blatant jealousy, but it secretly thrilled her. He wanted her to be his and his alone. Even the right to look at her swimsuit clad body. At least for now.
Not that she was giving up public swimming, but she liked the way his over-the-top reaction made her feel.
"Are you done working?" she asked with an inviting smile. "Only, it's a little lonely in this hot tub."
"How can you be lonely when you're displaying your body for anyone to see?"
Okay. No matter how much this version of her lover turned her on, enough was enough.
"Newsflash, we are on a cruise ship, Sander. There will be other men by the pool when we use it. I can't stop them leering, though I doubt I'll be the only woman down there in a bikini." She put her hand up in a stop gesture when Lysander looked like he wanted to speak. She waived toward the outdoor dining area two decks below. "And there are no people down there right now."
"We won't be using the pool when other guests have access to it," Lysander dismissed.
"Maybe you won't, but I'm not spending the entire day holed up in the suite while you are working."
He looked taken aback by her words, like it had never occurred to him that she would explore what the ship had to offer without him.
