CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
RILEY
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He finds me in the gardens. Well, not exactly. Conservatory Garden is closed, but I’m sitting on a nearby seat just soaking up the green of the trees and plants.
I feel safe here, even though it probably isn’t all that safe. I was surprised that the park was open this late. There are lights along the paths, and it’s very romantic-looking at night.
I’m not alone; there are other people walking around. Not a lot but enough that I’m not scared. Still, I’m street smart enough to know this isn’t the best decision I’ve made in my life.
My father would lock me in my childhood bedroom.
I just didn’t want to go back to Colt’s penthouse and wonder who he was with all night.
I’ll be home in a few hours. Order dinner if I’m not back in time.
On top of the friend comment, I wondered what the hell I was doing in America. I’d come here to be with him. I thought...I thought we were working out if there was anything between us.
Clearly, Colt wasn’t.
He didn’t even flinch when he called me his friend.
It’s my fault. I let myself fall for him when I knew better. How this would work between us, I don’t know. Surely two people, if they really connect, can work that out.
It’s hard to think straight with all this jetlag and those drugs...and all the sex. I’m sure when I get home to Australia and have a good sleep, I’ll realize I fell down a rabbit hole with Colt Winters and need to just snap out of it.
But I’m in love with him.
I’m in love with the thought of him. Not the man who looks reluctant to introduce me to his best friend and has clearly not wanted me to meet any of them.
Moments before Colt showed up, I rang Kylie.
“Wallo,” she yawned.
“Hey.”
She was quiet for a moment, then with a much clearer voice asked. “What’s wrong?”
“I shouldn’t have come.”
“Where are you? Are you safe?”
I’d glanced around. “In Central Park.”
“Oh, okay. Wait, is it...what the fuck is the time there?”
Cringing, I’d answered. “Almost midnight.”
“RILEY!” she yelled, and I pulled the phone away from my ear. “Where the hell is Colt?”
I shrugged, which was useless given it was only an audio call. “Kylie, I think I love him. And this is just sex to him.”
“Babe.”
“Everyone but me knew. I mean, I did know. But I thought, who flies someone across the world, ya know.”
“Billionaires, babe. Billionaires do.”
I slumped further.
She was right.
“You are home in a few days, right?” she asked. “Have you had a fight? Do you need money for a hotel or anything?”
Kylie knew I had savings. Not the forty thousand Colt had deposited into my account, which now, with hindsight, makes me feel like a damn prostitute.
God, I’m blind.
Colt walks towards me, his hands in his coat, his expression dark and a little furious. His dark hair is mussed and jaw tense behind the flicked-up collar of his coat.
Such a beautiful stranger.
I don’t know him this man. He’s full of secrets and has not let me into his life at all. His apartment and bed, but not his life.
Even his family, he’s said they were in medicine.
That’s it.
I have two more days left here in New York, and then I leave. Without question, I know that I’ll never see Colt Winters again.
He crouches in front of me. “Riley,”
The pain and rejection I’ve felt all night boils up. Slipping off the leather bracelet, I hand it to him.
It doesn’t belong on my arm.
Hurt flashes across his green globes, and then it’s gone. Colt takes it, slips it onto his own wrist, and stands.
Reaching out, he pulls me to my feet. “Let’s go home, gorgeous.”
That’s it?
That’s all he’s going to say?
I don’t have much choice; I let him lead me to the car where he wraps an arm around me and kisses my forehead.
I lean against him because what does it matter?
My heart loves this man, and it can’t get any worse.
––––––––
“OH GOD,” I vomit into the bowl and cringe when Colt walks in behind me, rubbing his eyes.
“Are you sick?”
“Yes, Einstein, I’m sick.” I vomit again, then grab seven thousand miles of toilet paper, ignoring the roll which falls off and drifts across the floor.
Colt leans to pick it up.
He’s naked.
We had sex. It was inevitable.
It was also slow, emotional, and I cried. Whatever, I don’t care. I just want to keep throwing up in peace.
“Shall I get a doctor?”
I flush and sit on the lid when I lower it. “No. It’s clearly the stupid medicine because you forgot to use a stupid condom.”
I glare.
“Twice.” I add for good measure.
Colt lifts his brows, running a hand through his dumb sexy hair and then glances down at his stupid hard cock.
He shrugs.
I huff and make my way to the sink, rinsing my mouth and then looking in the mirror.
Good lord. I look terrible.
When he comes to stand behind me and takes my hips, I close my eyes. He’s every woman’s dream man. Mostly.
“Let me get you something to settle your tummy, and I’ll call my doctor.”
I turn, wiping the water from my mouth.
“Colt, I’m leaving early.” I put my hand on his arm.
“Riley, no.” Colt grips my hips. “I’m sorry for hurting you yesterday. Seb knows me better than almost anyone. If I hadn’t called you a friend, he would have interrogated you and asked a thousand questions.”
“Instead, he couldn’t remember my name,” I deadpan.
It felt horrible.
Colt glances away for a moment and then looks me dead in the eye. “Does it matter what he said? This week was for us. We live miles apart and don’t need other people involved or judging us.”
Heat creeps up my face.
“I wanted to keep you to myself. All to myself.”
“Well, it hurt.”
“I’m sorry. I never want to see you hurting.”
But he did hurt me, and maybe if I hadn’t fallen in love with him, I could laugh this off. But I have.
Colt is sorry he hurt me, but he likes fucking me, but he didn’t confess his true love for me last night.
I’m a girl he enjoyed spending a week with.
“How many girls have you chatted to online, like we did?”
He pulls back, looking offended.
“Fucking zero, Riley.”
I nod.
“None. I need you to believe that.”
I nod again, wanting to.
“I fucking wish he hadn’t seen us. We only have a few more days. Stay, please.”
I’m still hurt and angry, and all this vomiting is draining me. I’m tired. But I have pride and I don’t want Colt to know I’m in love with him.
“It’s fine. I didn’t come here expecting a ring. It just felt weird after all of this to be called a friend. I overreacted. None of this means anything. I get it.”
Colt takes my chin, his nostrils flaring. “The fuck it means nothing. I gave you my bracelet.”
Shame rushes through me.
It was childish to return it, but it’s important to him, and in the hours I was sitting in the park I made peace with the fact that I don’t. That I’m just some woman he met online and will one day forget.
“It belongs with you,” I whisper.
Colt’s fingers dig into me, his gaze deep and intense. “You belong with me.”
What?
My heart stutters, all the feelings I’m holding back fight to surface, and tears pool in my eyes. One slips down my face.
Colt catches it with his thumb.
“I couldn’t fucking focus knowing you were out in the city without me. Without protection.” Those green eyes sizzle as he presses me hard against the sink. “Riley...Jesus...I’ve never felt like this, and it’s confusing the hell out of me.”
“What are you saying?” I brush another tear away.
“I’m saying, please stay. Don’t let that one upset yesterday steal the rest of our time.”
Sniffing, I nod.
“I’ve never flown across the world to kiss a girl.”
“You did more than kiss.” I make one of those snotty laughs.
His eyes smile, and my heart melts.
Then his hands roam over my ass, and I feel his hard cock pressing into me.
“Last night I wasn’t fucking you, Riley. Didn’t you feel the difference?”
Yes.
I felt every inch. Like he was staking a claim on my entire being, not just my body. Colt was rougher, slower, more dominant. His hand clutched my neck as I came, his piercing gaze holding me locked in the exquisite moment like our next breath depended on it.
I’d laid awake for a long time wrapped in his arms, wondering if it was just me feeling the intensity of our lovemaking.
If he would cringe at that word.
Colt slides his hand up my silk nightie as my hormones flare and dry my tears. Sliding his hand over my bottom, he takes my leg and lifts me with both hands and presses his cock at my entrance.
“Do I need to show you again?”
Yes.
“Might pay to,” I whimper, then gasp as his thick head enters my now wet pussy.
“Feel that, baby? The way we fit together perfectly. Fuck friends, you’re not my friend. You feel it when I slide inside your cunt.”
Yes, I feel it, but why won’t he tell me what this is? Why can’t we have an honest conversation about how this feels different from a long one-night-stand? How we do fit like a jigsaw puzzle, and what happens when I go home.
Colt thrusts in deep, pressing me into the countertop. His hips banging against my thighs, his mouth inches from mine.
“Tell me you feel it.”
“I feel it,” I clutch his arms and arch when he rips my nightie and palms one of my breasts.
Slam.
“Your body. It craves me. My touch. It responds so beautifully. Your juices soaking your thighs when you see my cock.”
All facts.
Damn him.
Slam.
Slam.
“My seed filling your sweet cunt. I’d have you walking around full of me every fucking day if I could. Letting it drip from you, so every man knows who you belong to.”
Oh, god.
Colt leans me further back, teetering on the edge of the sink, as he palms the mirror. “Come for me, Riley. Scream my name and show me the fucking truth.”
My body explodes.
“Colt!” I cry, shuddering and convulsing around his cock as I feel his red-hot seed shoot inside me.
Holy hell.
Wait a damn minute. The truth? What is he talking about? I’m looking for the truth from him.
Colt lifts me, carries me to the shower with his cock still inside me, and turns it on. Water rains over us while I cling to this man who confuses the hell out of me.
We really need to have a conversation before I leave, but I’m not running away early. Not after what he just said.
Colt Winters cares for me.
You belong with me.
I’ve never felt like this, and it’s confusing the hell out of me.
As he softens and our juices leak out of me, a light bulb goes off in my head. Oh crap.
We didn’t use a condom.
Again.