Chapter 22
ZACH
I can’t even think straight, because all the blood has drained from my brain and shifted to my cock.
Why the hell Dad wants this stock transfer form so badly, I don’t know, but my hard-on is painful, and I’m going to need it to calm down before I see him. I hate that we’ve been so abruptly interrupted.
Maya comes back with the share certificate in her hands.
“I guess I better go.” I don’t know whether to kiss her, hug her, or hold her. I want to do all those things and so much more. “Thanks for dinner.”
“My pleasure. Anytime.”
We both laugh a little, and the tension breaks.
I leave overheated, unfocused, emotionally rattled.
That kiss. What was that? I didn’t make the first move.
She did. The memories surge back in a rush—stolen glances at the Knight Estate, trying to dodge my father, Maya sneaking books in and out of the library.
The ache of something interrupted. It all comes flooding back, like a tidal wave, relentless and all-consuming.
There’s been a shift this evening and our dynamics have changed.
The feelings between us have come back, and they’re not one- sided either.
I could have made out with her all night.
Could have talked for hours, but instead I need to leave and see my Dad.
I can’t think clearly, but I must. I need to get my brain and my cock into gear.
I plan to go straight to the penthouse, hand over the document, and leave.
I don’t want to risk him asking any questions about Stella.
But when I get there, my father’s housekeeper answers the door and tells me that he’s resting.
Concerned, I ask if he’s okay, and am about to head for his bedroom to see him, but the housekeeper stops me.
“He asked for no visitors. He’s tired.” This concerns me, but not enough, because my thoughts soon return to Maya. I’ve been distracted by her ever since I left the apartment.
I hand over the form and leave quickly, wondering what’s wrong with Dad. He has been pushing himself more than he needs to. Maybe I should suggest that he cuts back on his time in the business now, and leaves the running of Knight Enterprises to the rest of us.
I hear notification beeps on my cell phone. When I check, I’m alarmed to find three messages from Maya.
Maya: I had something important to ask you.
Maya: It can wait.
Maya: It’s not too important. Don’t worry.
A hundred questions hurtle through my mind. What was so important? I call her back. She doesn’t answer.
She did say it could wait.
But I can’t.
I call her again.
Still no answer.
I get into my car and drive back to my apartment, but it’s not easy ignoring Maya’s texts.
She says it can wait until tomorrow, but there was clearly something she forgot.
Also, we both weren’t thinking straight.
Maybe it is something important. I pull over and call her again.
I call her ten times. Still no answer, and now I’m starting to worry about her even more.
I rush to her apartment, and the concierge lets me in. He knows me. Knows it’s my apartment. I rush to her door and knock but still no answer.
I call her again on the phone.
No answer.
I’m stuck in a tricky situation. I have the fob to let myself in.
Question is—do I?
The fact that I can’t get in touch with her is what concerns me. So I let myself in and call for her as I rush around looking for her. “Maya!” The kitchen island is clear. The place is spotless. “Maya!”
Still no answer. I call her cell phone again, and this time I can hear her phone ring.
It’s lying on the coffee table next to the sofa.
Now I’m really scared, and thinking of the worst—that she’s fallen, and hit her head, or …
bad thoughts crash through my head. I rush around, checking the bedrooms. And then I hear her voice.
She’s singing.
In the bathroom.
It’s a song I faintly recognize. A soft, stripped-back cover of a timeless Elvis Presley song. It catches me off guard and cracks me up. Coiled up tension leaves my body and I start to relax.
She’s okay, and that’s all that matters.
I hover outside the bathroom door, debating whether to knock. Hell, I’ve come all this way, I should at least let her know I’m here. I knock again, but still get no answer.
“Maya!” I knock harder. She’s still singing away.
I have no idea what I’ll find, but I just need to know that she’s okay.
She needed to ask me something and now that I’m here, I might as well ask her what it is.
I decide to take a step inside, but I’m still hovering near the door, and can’t see a thing.
I open the door a few inches to find her soaking in a bathtub full of bubbles, the water up to her neck. The lighting is soft. Nearby, on the window ledge are two big fat candles flickering.
She’s got her earbuds in. No wonder she can’t hear me, and she’s still singing away happily, head bopping, bubbles rising and falling to her chest as she moves.
What the hell?
She’s completely naked, I realize.
I’m still trying to figure out what to do. The cock I’d tamed before seeing my father is suddenly upright again. I don’t know whether to stand there or leave.
As though she can feel my presence, she suddenly opens her eyes and screams when she sees me. Then she bolts upright. I might have caught a glimpse of her nipples under the suds. It’s enough to make me turn around, feeling awful that I’ve intruded her personal space.
“I’m sorry. So sorry.” I move towards the door with my back to her.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m really sorry.” I stay very still, not daring to move as I face the door, and try to ignore the growing bulge in my pants. “Y-you texted me. You said you had something important to ask.”
“I said it didn’t matter.”
“I got worried, especially when I called you so many times and you didn’t pick up. I thought I’d pass by, and when you still didn’t answer, I ...” I hang my head in shame. “I’m sorry, I have a fob. The only reason I used it is because I was scared something terrible had happened to you.”
“Zach,” she says, her voice softening. “What did you think might have happened to me?”
I scratch my head. “You could have tripped and hit your head. You’re not prone to tripping, from what I remember.”
She giggles.
“I shouted out your name, and you still didn’t answer. I heard you singing.”
“You loved the sound of my voice so much that you had to get a front row seat?”
I chuckle softly. “Don’t give up the day job,” I say over my shoulder.
She laughs again and I so love the sound of her laughter. We stay like that. Me with my back to her, my dick growing thicker by every passing minute. Me, acutely aware that she’s wearing nothing but soapy bubbles.
“I appreciate you looking out for me, again.”
I cough lightly. “Seems to be a lifelong habit.”
We stay silent.
“What did you want to ask me?” I just need her to tell me so I can get out of here quickly. And take care of my blue balls.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Now that I’m here, you might as well tell me!”
“Zee?” Her voice is soft and seductive. Hairs stand up along the back of my neck.
“Yes.”
“Turn around.”
When have I ever not obeyed her? I turn around, to find her arms on either side of the bath rim. She’s shifted her body, turned towards me so that I only see her face and neck. Which is a great relief.
Her gaze falls to my tented pants. “You’re hard.”
“Well …that’s because it … it’s physically impossible for the male species to not have this …” I gesture helplessly at my cock, “while in the presence of a beautiful woman, a naked beautiful woman, especially one who’s kissed me like her life depended on it.” I’m rambling like an idiot.
“You kissed me, too.”
“Because you’re irresistible, and because … fourteen years of waiting took their toll.”
“Took their toll, Zee?”
I huff out a quiet laugh. “You have no idea how much restraint I’ve exercised tonight.”
“Is that what you call it?” she murmurs.
“Don’t undermine my achievements,” I say lightly. “You’ve made it very difficult to pretend I’m unaffected.”
“I can’t pretend, either. I can’t stay cold around you anymore.”
A confession. “I missed you,” I say, feeling buoyed by her admission.
When she doesn’t say anything, I push forward.
“I missed you for the longest time, after you left. When I realized you weren’t coming back.
” I don’t want to get all somber, but the words come tumbling out.
Words I haven’t voiced. Words she didn’t want to hear. Words that are the truth.
“And now?” she prompts, her voice a whisper.
“And now you’re completely naked in that bathtub.”
“I am.”
The room goes quiet, filled with the promise of everything we don’t say. Steam curls in the air, the candles flicker, and the memories fill the space between us.
“I… I wanted to ask you…” She looks slightly nervous.
“Ask away.”
“If I could stay a few more nights—”
“Yes.”
“Because the—”
“Yes.”
“But I haven’t told you why.”
“You don’t have to. You can stay for as long as you want.” It takes a lot of effort to keep my gaze on her eyes.
“Are you sure?”
I huff out a breath, and try to control my breathing. “I’ve never been surer.”
“Thank you.”
We stay like that, caught in a tangled web of the past and present. I want her, and I know she wants me, too.
“I should go,” I say, reluctantly. My brain understands the command, but my body doesn’t make a move. I walked in on her, and I now need to leave.
“Are you sure?”
My eyes dip down to her shoulders. “It’s for the best. I’ll see you tomorrow, at work.”
I’m a gentleman and there’s no way I’m making a move on her in this situation.