Chapter 3
Ciara put down herfork and leaned back in her chair. “What’s wrong?”
Maddox’s intense expression deepened as he finished chewing. Then he took a sip of his drink before responding.
“Nothing,” he finally replied.
“Perhaps that’s the wrong question,” she countered. “What’s on your mind? You’ve been quiet, and you are practically staring a hole through me.”
He chuckled. “Is that another one of your steely gaze jokes?”
“Even though you tend to have an intense gaze, no. You just seem distracted.”
“I am,” he admitted. “I have something I wanted to talk to you about, but you might consider it a heavy topic for dinner, so I’d planned to wait until we left here and headed back to my room.”
One of her dark brows arched high on her forehead. “That sure of yourself?”
“Yes,” he replied without hesitation before chuckling.
She smiled. “Then we might want to go for a walk after dinner before going back to your room. We have some lost time to make up for, and I will not be in the mood to chat then.”
He laughed as he placed his dinner napkin on the table. “Let me not keep you waiting then. I’m ready when you are.”
She finished the last of her water before pushing back from the table. While she usually enjoyed the wine selection they had, the humidity here was different from it back home, so she always took extra care to increase her water intake the first few days.
Maddox pushed to his feet at the same time. The simple act made her aware of their size difference. It was one of the things she liked about him. He didn’t balk at her natural curves. In fact, he relished them more than other men in her life had.
He’d proven time again that he could lift and maneuver her into any position he desired when he needed to. Something she couldn’t wait for a replay of. It had been too long. As of late, she hadn’t had time for dating, let alone sex. So she’d been resigned to a few stolen moments of peace and quiet where she put her best battery-operated boyfriend to use. But it didn’t compare to the intimate times spent with the man next to her.
For now, that had to wait. Something was going on with Maddox. She hoped it wasn’t anything too serious.
She took the hand he offered and walked out of the restaurant with him. They’d chosen to eat at the specialty restaurant that offered local seafood tonight. She was pleasantly full but hadn’t overdone it.
The instant they stepped outside, she was glad she’d taken the care to pin her hair up tonight. The humidity was killer, and an instant sheen of sweat broke out on her skin. Instead of walking in the direction of their rooms, he made his way toward the beach again. It wouldn’t be long before the sunset, and she looked forward to seeing it.
She knew that the move had been intentional on Maddox’s part. He knew how much she liked to walk the beach first thing in the morning before it was too hot and in the evening to relax before going back to one of their rooms. It would be one of the many strolls they go on before the week was up.
Several minutes of silence passed between them after they stepped onto the sand. She gently squeezed his hand to get his attention.
“Tell me what’s on your mind,” she whispered.
He didn’t respond immediately but gripped her hand tighter in his. A surprising surge of nerves filled her. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions about what he intended to say, but he made her nervous.
“When is your birthday?”
The question was so unexpected that it took her several seconds to grasp it.
“April twelfth,” she replied.
“Mine’s is January twenty-fifth,” he murmured.
“What’s your favorite movie?”
She frowned as she looked over at him. “What?”
“Your favorite color?” he continued.
She stopped walking. Evidently, he’d expected her to because so did he.
“Okay, I’m confused,” she admitted. “While we’ve never gone out of our way to share personal information, technically, it isn’t off-limits. Why are you asking?”
Maddox reached for her other hand before lifting both of them to his mouth to place a kiss on the back of each. An intimate gesture that made a tingle travel down her spine.
“Have you ever wondered about our chemistry?” he asked. “Why it’s so off the charts? Why do we seem to mesh so well together? How we can come back together after a year, and it’s like nothing has changed?”
“Yes,” she replied honestly, “but then I cut the thoughts off because I know that is a dangerous thought pattern. It goes against our agreement. Why mess up a good thing?”
“What if we didn’t?” he refuted. “What if our compatibility lasts more than a week?”
She exhaled heavily as she pulled her hands from his grip. “That’s hopeful wishing, Maddox. We live different lives. We both come here every year to escape those lives. I don’t know about you, but I’m different here in Nosy Be. This is the only place I can be. Back home, I have demands in my life that you can’t even imagine. One’s that would make you run in the opposite direction if you knew what they were.” She shook her head warily. “So, while I’ve had the thought run through my mind once or twice, I quickly dispel it because I know it can never be.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because you don’t know me,” she admitted. “And I don’t know you.”
“Then let’s get to know each other,” he pressed.
She frowned. “Where is this coming from?”
He shook his head, uncertainty in his expression. “I don’t know. It just feels like something is missing. When I leave here, I still think about you. Those thoughts only grow as the time to come back nears.”
“I do the same,” she stated with a small smile. “I love the week that I spend with you. I always have. That’s why I keep coming back. But that doesn’t mean we should give in to what amounts to hopeful wishing.”
“Why do you think that?” he probed.
“Because the reason we met was over your aversion to having kids. I want them. So that outweighs any other compatibility we could possibly have. It also means there is no point in discovering if the chemistry between us can last more than a week. We’d crash and burn regardless.”
Ciara smiled sadly as confusion filled his expression. She was confident that her confession had shocked him. But instead of dwelling on it, she reached for his hand.
“Now, instead of ruining what I’m hoping will be another great week in our lives by arguing over something that isn’t meant to be, how about using the time to enjoy our original agreement.”
Maddox looked like he wanted to say something, but instead, he pressed his lips together and gripped her hand in his with a nod.