Chapter 18 How He Made Her Feel
HOW HE MADE HER FEEL
Her world was tilting more than it had before.
Or maybe it was her feet not moving in a straight line.
Three glasses of wine were more than she normally consumed in a night.
That last one went down fairly fast.
“Watch it,” Arik said when she tripped stepping out of the elevator. “Your heel caught in the ridge.”
No, it hadn’t, but it was nice of him to give her that excuse.
“I can’t wait to get them off,” she said. “Are you sure it was okay to leave when we did?”
They’d finished their second dance, more words spoken about Arik and her around them. She’d wanted to escape the floor when she’d heard her last name in hushed tones, but told herself she’d been warned.
It hadn’t stopped there. After the assumption of who she was or where she came from, there were words focused more on Arik, his father, and how much they were alike.
Yeah, she didn’t buy that.
They’d returned to their table, he handed her the rest of her wine and said it was time to go.
She gladly downed it, waved to Sophie and they cleared out through the front door and to his rented sedan.
“No one is going to care,” he said. “Might give them less to talk about, but my father will make up for it, I’m sure.”
“Can I confess something to you?”
“Of course.” He guided her to their room, swiped the card and opened the door.
The minute she was inside, she kicked her dangerous pumps off her feet and felt steadier with her arches touching the carpet.
“I thought maybe you were exaggerating your family’s behavior.”
“And now you know.”
“I do. I’m sorry for you.”
“Don’t be. It’s why I keep my distance.”
She sat at the bottom of the bed. Even her butt was numb from the chairs under the tent.
Though they’d kept it warm in there, almost too hot by the heater, but the breeze that came through cooled it to a perfect temperature.
“Has it always been this way with your father?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I think he’s getting worse as he ages. Mortality can mess with your mind.”
“He doesn’t look his age.”
“Money bought that,” he said, laughing. “Just like Brandi’s overly inflated implants. Matches my father’s ego.”
She let out a soft laugh. “I wonder if he’ll ask her to pay him back once he finds someone else to replace her.”
“Nah. He throws money around. It’s a game to him and why he’s broke. It goes back to his ego. He’s getting what he wants out of it.”
“Attention or sex?” she asked.
“Both. It works for him, but he can keep me out of it.” He hesitated, searched her face, then said, “About what was said on the dance floor.”
“Think nothing of it. You can’t control words and thoughts out of others.”
She didn’t want him to address what part was said.
Who she was that he didn’t correct, nor the comparison to his father.
She’d be lying if she didn’t say both touched a chord of disappointment inside of her.
But he wouldn’t put a scene on any more than she would.
Those people didn’t know Arik.
And she had to admit, she didn’t either.
What she knew was how he made her feel.
His touch left her flushed with heat, his gaze sent jolts of electricity racing through her, and his kisses stirred a hunger that left her breathless and aching.
And all those kisses were pecks!
Imagine how much more she’d feel if he kissed her the way she truly wanted.
“I controlled what I could,” he said. “I left. I’m sure there will be comments about that too.”
“Do you care?”
“No.”
“Then say no more. You met your obligation and it’s over. We’ll get some sleep, some food in the morning, then fly back to the island.”
Where she’d be more grounded.
Have her bearings around her and be able to focus rather than feel.
It’s not something she’d ever allowed herself in the past. This fake relationship was turning out to be more than she bargained for.
Then she had to remind herself that they had gone on a few dates prior.
It could be the start of the real thing.
If he didn’t jackrabbit out when his time was up.
Until she knew the answer to that, she wasn’t opening more. She couldn’t.
It wasn’t worth the risk to her heart.
“I need to get this suit off and take a shower,” he said.
He went to his bag and grabbed a pair of shorts. It was after eight and though early for bed, she was exhausted mentally and physically.
The wine might play a part in it.
“I’ll change out here,” she said.
The minute the shower was on and she heard the curtain move, she unzipped the back of her dress, let it fall to the floor, then stepped out of it. Her bra was off with her stockings, a T-shirt and cotton shorts in its place.
She climbed under the covers to warm up and wait.
What she hadn’t expected was to wake up in the dark, heavy breathing on her neck, an arm around her waist, and a stiff dick against her butt.
Hard not to notice that even through their clothing.
She was terrified to move.
Waking him, he’d shift away, and she wasn’t sure she was ready for that.
Or he might be embarrassed and apologize. Nope, didn’t want that either.
He could think she was willing. Yeah, not there yet.
Her body might be filled with the dampness and fullness between her legs. An ache that hadn’t visited her in longer than she cared to think.
But her practical mind told her it wasn’t the way to do things.
Once they were back on the island, she’d meet her obligation and they could go back to focusing on them.
Could they really go back now that she knew so much about his background?
She let out a breath, her body sighing, his arm tightening. His breathing hadn’t shifted.
He probably didn’t even know what he was doing.
She was fully aware!
Maybe it was best to let it go. It wasn’t hurting anyone if he didn’t know.
She closed her eyes, her body drifting back into dreamland faster than ever before.
So fast that the next time she woke up, she was on her stomach, her arm across Arik’s waist, her leg tangled in his.
There was an eerie feeling of being watched, her eyes snapping open, her gaze lifting to his face.
His grin was massive and his eyes telling a story that she wasn’t so sure she wanted to hear.
“Morning,” he said.
She jumped back fast to her side of the bed with mortification covering her body tighter than the sheets she was gripping.
His laughter wasn’t helping any.
Nor the fact that when she moved, her hand brushed against his groin and she’d felt he was still aroused.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Hey,” he said. “Don’t apologize for something you can’t control. I know I’m irresistible.”
“Ugh! It had to be the wine. I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t even know I did.”
The sheets shifted, his hand landed on her arm, then yanked her back.
She didn’t want to go but hadn’t put up a fight either.
Maybe her brain and her body were tired of going to war.
“Come here,” he said, tucking her against his side.
She shifted so that his chest was against her back. She hadn’t even brushed her teeth before she fell asleep last night giving morning breath a new meaning!
“I need to go to the bathroom,” she said.
“In a minute. I just want to thank you for everything.”
“You’re welcome.”
“It meant the world to me to have you there as my emotional support girlfriend.”
She laughed at the sarcastic tone to the description of her role. “Happy to do it.”
“I think you were. And I know it took a tremendous effort for you to not jump in and try to correct or help any situation.”
He’d seen right through her there.
“It wasn’t my rodeo to ride at.”
He laughed. Probably not the best analogy she could have come up with.
Her mind was never focused on sex as much as it was now. Or around Arik.
“We have three hours to get to the airport,” he said.
At least he wouldn’t comment on her statement.
“Do you mind if I shower first?”
“Go ahead. Then we can get some breakfast before we leave.”
“Did you want to see your grandmother first?”
She threw the covers back, her shorts jacked up into her crotch, having her spread her legs to have them drop down.
His eyes followed her movements.
How many more humiliating moments was she destined to suffer in Arik’s presence?
“She knows we are on a schedule,” he said. “I’ll talk to her later.”
She nodded and made a mad dash for the bathroom with her clothes in hand that she’d yanked out of her suitcase without looking.
Twenty minutes later, she felt more composed and in control.
She opened the bathroom door and didn’t see Arik anywhere.
While she was folding her clothes to put back in her suitcase, the door opened and Arik came in with two coffees in his hand.
“Oh, thank you,” she said. “I would have choked down the one from that little machine there, but the powdered creamer makes it rough.”
“It’s the least I could do considering what I put you through last night.”
There was still humor in his eyes.
Did he remember that he started it first? Did he wake up mortified he had his body pressed to hers just as she’d done not that long ago?
No, he wasn’t mortified over it.
“As I said, think nothing of it.”
Too bad she couldn’t kick it from her mind as easily as the words out of her mouth.