TEN
FOR THE NEXT THREE hours, he regaled her with island facts. Facts about its geography, the building process, the facilities at the hotel. It was open, at the island owner’s discretion. If anyone wanted to stay, or have an event there, he’d open the hotel. Other than that, availability was severely limited.
Apparently, there were a bunch of instructors on call from Hawaii who’d fly in to take groups out on the water, and trekking in the interior of the island.
Anything was possible there. Anything.
Including drinking too much.
Zane took her glass for what could’ve been the tenth time that night. As his focus went to their bar, she rolled onto her knees.
“Oh, Drift,” she groaned. “No more. I’ve drunk too much.”
He looked over his shoulder. “You feel ill?”
“No,” she said, her chin descending as her gaze heated. “I feel invincible. Come over here.”
On a smile, he exhaled a laugh. “I don’t think so.”
“Come on,” she said, stroking the bed between them with both hands. Leaning forward, she opened and brought them back together in large arcs. “You brought me to bed for a reason.”
“No,” he said, putting down the glasses and leaning back to prop himself on a hand. “No. No. No. Definitely not that reason.” Rising high on her knees, she untied her dress. “Babe, you’re drunk.”
“What have you lost?” she asked, catching the edge of her dress to peel it aside. “Come over here.”
“If I come over there, you won’t like me in the morning.”
“Baby…” She opened her dress, dropping the straps to the inside of her elbows. “You haven’t thought about this? About being alone with me…” Sliding one knee closer, then the other, she crawled toward him. “About touching me…” When she got to his side, she curved a hand over his shoulder and kept going, skimming a leg across his lap to straddle him. “About being inside me?”
Capturing his mouth, she gave him a full-on demonstration of what was on her mind. The man was too much. So attentive. So thoughtful. So gentle and yet so desperate… for her. That was what she felt when he gripped her waist and opened his hands to glide them up her back.
His kiss was as sure as hers, as determined. They were there, alone, in the private cabana, surrounded by moonlight, serenaded by the sea.
Coiling her arms around his neck, she basked in the draw, in the magnetism that ached for them to be together, intimate, right there, no delay.
He was ready, growing more ready by the second. The thick, hard length of him was impossible to disguise or ignore. As his hands slid onto her ass to guide her closer, deepening the connection of their bodies, Zane wasn’t ashamed or reluctant.
Good. Yes. Oh, her want… she sank her fingers into his hair, determined to have him. She wanted him on his back or over her. Any way he wanted her, she’d submit.
From nowhere, Zane pulled away. “Babe…” that tone sent a chill through her. Pity. That was what she heard as his palms pushed her hair from her cheeks. “I’m going to take you back to your room.”
And that was the harsh thud of truth. She’d made a fool of herself. Oh, the cool shame of embarrassment. At the start of the night, she’d asserted they wouldn’t get intimate, then thrown herself at him. In the light of day, she would appreciate the rejection. Maybe. It wasn’t so easy to be objective while climbing from his lap and wrapping her dress back up. She held it tight, embracing herself.
“Babe, let me—”
“It’s back this way,” she said, going around the bed, swiping up her shoes to hold them against her, still clasping her dress closed.
Her buzz was gone, replaced by nothing positive. Most of her first dates went well, but no one had a perfect score. Dating Zane with weeks on the island still lying ahead was such a stupid move. Stupid! Ha, and she’d preoccupied herself with their lack of a chance for a long-term future, turned out that was moot. They’d lasted the length of one date.
Their journey back to the hotel was all but silent. Zane tried to talk to her, but her mood was flat. All she wanted to do was get back to her room and crawl into bed. What an idiot. A lush. A ridiculous—she’d never be able to look him in the eye again.