Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Sam
N aomi swings open the door wearing a sexy red lingerie set that leaves very little to the imagination.
I rush into the room, pushing her inside and closing the door quickly. “What are you doing? I could have been anyone.”
She just laughs. “No one else is coming up here.”
“I could have been your brother.”
She huffs and rolls her eyes. “If that asshole was knocking on my door, I would have known it deep in my bones and probably gone to hide somewhere.”
That catches my attention. “Why are you so afraid of him?”
Naomi’s eyes raise until she’s got me pinned in her piercing gaze. “I could ask you the same question.”
I open my mouth to answer but the words stick in my throat. The last thing I want to do right now is admit the truth of my situation. Not when she’s standing there, looking at me like I’m worth something. “What do you mean?” is all I manage to stammer out.
She just waves her hand at me. “Never mind. I don’t want to talk about my brother right now.”
Her gaze falls to the floor, and she turns from me, walking over to the far wall where her suitcase is still splayed open and bursting with colorful articles of clothing. She lifts a pair of tiny pink shorts and bends over to start putting them on.
My reaction is automatic, instinctual.
I walk swiftly across the room, catch one of her wrists in my hand, and stop her before she can get her foot into the shorts. She gasps softly in surprise, almost losing her balance. I step in closer and steady her with my body pressed behind hers.
She straightens until she’s got the full length of her smooth back pressed to my chest.
For a long moment, we just breathe together like that.
I don’t remember telling my hand to slide from her wrist up to her shoulder. Or telling my fingers to trail softly over her skin, leaving a spray of goosebumps in their wake. Her breath catches when I graze my fingertips over her collarbone. I’m sure mine would catch as well—if I was breathing.
She doesn’t stop me, so I continue my silent exploration of her nearly naked body, letting the softness of her curves speak to me in braille as I close my eyes and let myself enjoy the feel of her.
When my hand reaches her hip, I tilt my head down so my lips rest on the top of her shoulder, allowing my tongue to escape just enough to get the taste of her in my mouth. I feel her feel it. Feel her suck in a breath and lean into me just a bit harder. I tighten my grip on her hip to hold her to me.
I can’t do what I want to do, which is throw her on the bed and claim every inch of her body. I can’t take that kind of risk…
But what if all this holding back is the real risk? What if I lose my chance with her forever? Losing her seems like the worst idea, even if breaking it off was my plan not ten minutes ago.
“Sam,” she whispers, and I realize my grip on her hip is steadily tightening until my fingers are digging in, not wanting to let go. I relax my hand and feel her relax in my arms.
“We don’t have to do anything. I know you’re nervous,” she whispers, causing my eyes to drop closed in shame.
She’s not wrong. I’m nervous as hell.
But now that she’s in my arms, I can’t hear my logical thoughts over the sound of her soft breathing.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited to have my hands on your body again?” I ask.
She nods, and I smile. “I guess you do, don’t you.”
“I think about you all the time,” she whispers. “At first, it was like I was obsessed. I watched the video every night and pretended you were there with me.”
Her words hit the deepest parts of me, and I nearly buckle at the knees. If only I could tell her I was feeling the same. That I still am.
But as soon as I say those words aloud, as soon as I tell her how badly I want this, there won’t be any way to hold back. So I try to keep my response surface level. “I’ve never been much of a porn guy.”
“But…” she responds, and I can hear the smile on her lips.
“But last night was incredible. I don’t know what came over me. It was like I was under a spell or something.”
“A spell you put yourself under?” Humor still dances through her tone as I let my hand drift back up to trace her navel.
“A spell you put me under, princess.”
Naomi surprises me by spinning quickly in my arms until we’re face-to-face. “That reminds me. Did you miss your plane that morning? You told me you had plenty of time. That you could stay for breakfast.”
My mind reels wondering how she found that out. Who was she talking to about me? Who might know?
The answer comes to me quickly. “Fran.”
Naomi cracks a guilty smile. “I didn’t tell her. She just knew.”
I let my arms fall to my sides, taking a step back. “This is a tough place to keep a secret.”
“She’s not going to tell anyone. Not even Avery.”
I offer Naomi a small smile, even though the truth of the matter is far more complicated. This was always going to be a dangerous game. “I don’t know what to do.”
Naomi reaches down and pulls on the pink shorts, followed by a black tank top. I watch her in dismay. I’m not sure what I hoped would happen here, in a room at my resort with her brother on his way up, but it’s definitely not happening now.
“We don’t have to do anything. I know it’s scary that someone already found out, but I didn’t tell her much. And I didn’t make it seem like it was an ongoing thing.”
I’m equal parts relieved and heartbroken at her words.
And fully and completely fucked.
“Yeah, okay,” I respond, just to say something.
“She’s going to play it cool. So we just play it cool, too, okay?”
I nod.
“Speaking of playing it cool, though. Seriously, Sam, you missed your plane?”
I shake my head as I feel heat rise to my cheeks. This wasn’t something I ever planned on telling her. “I didn’t want to leave.”
Her smile, like the cat who caught the canary, is worth all my embarrassment. It twinkles up to her eyes and dimples her cheeks. “So, when you were sitting in my kitchen, telling me you still had a few hours…”
“My plane was probably boarding.”
Her mouth drops open. “You never should have come over at all. You should have gone back to Houston that night.”
“I had a car scheduled to pick me up at four that morning from my hotel.”
“You blew off your whole trip home to hang out with me? Not even knowing what would happen in my bed?”
I shrug. “Is that so hard to believe? You’re…you. Beautiful, smart, fun, and everything I’ve ever wanted.”
She looks away quickly, and I follow her face with my gaze, trying to read the expression she wants to hide. When she doesn’t respond or look back up at me, I take a step closer and catch her chin in my hand, turning her face to meet mine. The look she holds there is poorly masked sadness and regret.
My hand falls away, and she takes a step back.
“I wish you’d stayed longer,” Naomi says finally, meeting my gaze. Her eyes are fierce, brimming with emotion.
“Yeah. I wish I’d stayed longer as well.”
We stay locked in the heated stare for so long that I lose track of time.
When Naomi finally looks away, I’m almost grateful. I have no idea where that would have gone.
“What time is it?” she asks.
I slip my phone out of my pocket and grimace as the screen lights up. “Shit.”
Naomi just turns back to the suitcase, throwing things in by the handful. I try to be helpful by gathering a few items draped over the desk chair. I should leave, but once again, I don't want to. Especially not when she told me she wished I’d stayed that morning. All I want to do is stay, even if it’s the stupidest move right now.
I watch as she uses her full body weight to press the top of the stuffed suitcase and runs the zipper easily along its track, standing the roller up on end. She glances around the room, and I do as well.
“I’m not going too far if I forgot something.”
She’s not looking at me, so I surprise her just a bit when I come up behind, pulling her back to my chest once more.
“Naomi, I…” I trail off, resting my head on the top of hers. I watch her hair ripple gently with my breath, unsure of what to say.
“I know, Sam,” she says quietly.
I’m sure she’s just trying to make me feel better about this whole thing. The last thing I want to do is leave with so much unsaid, but it’s hardly the time for whatever we need to talk about. Dom will be here in less than five minutes. He’s not the kind of guy who runs late.
“What do you know?” I ask, refusing to allow her shifting body out of my tight grip.
“I know that this whole thing has to be kept secret, can’t be anything more, and I’m stupid to get attached.”
I close my eyes at her words, spoken so matter-of-factly.
“I’m an adult, Sam. I get it.”
It’s the resignation in her voice that breaks me. “Naomi, I’ve never wanted anything in my life as much as I want you to be mine.”
I feel her knees go soft and her breath catch as my words land.
“But?” she offers, and I can hear the bitterness in her voice.
I relax my grip and take a tiny step backward, creating enough space between us that I can turn her around and look down at her. When she refuses to look up, I tilt her chin up with one finger. Our gazes lock, and I can see the war of emotions she’s fighting.
“But this is complicated. There’s no doubt about that,” I say softly.
“Because of my scary brother?”
I cock my head to the side, considering. “Because of choices I’ve made over the last decade. Ones that involve your brother, yes.”
Her eyes cast downward, and all of a sudden, the only thing that matters to me is not leaving this room with her thinking she’s somehow not good enough.
“I get the feeling that you don’t always feel as strong and amazing as you portray yourself to be. As you are,” I start, and it’s all I can do to speak the words, knowing what they will cost me. “But I see you, Naomi. And I know how amazing you are. So, if you forget, you can always come ask me.”
She groans against my chest. “Why do you have to be so perfect?”
Her words are muffled, but still surprise me enough that I laugh softly. “Born this way, I suppose.”
She looks up at me then, not laughing. “I want you. I want this. I’m not going to pretend I don’t.”
I let my eyes close for a moment, the weight of her words heavy on my mind. “I want it, too, Naomi?—”
I don’t get to finish my thought as a booming knock echoes through the room. Luckily, I suppose. I have no idea what I was going to say.
Naomi laughs nervously and wriggles out of my arms. “Now that’s a Dom knock.”
“I guess I can hear the difference,” I whisper.
“Fuck. You should have been long gone by now.”
I follow her gaze around the room, knowing damn well there’s nowhere to hide a fully grown man in here.I doubt I’m going to be able to shimmy under that bed.
“Coming!” Naomi shouts, tossing me a conspiratorial grin that I return with a shake of my head.
Two more bangs make us both jump a foot.
Then there’s a beep, followed by the sound of the lock clicking open. Naomi and I both rush over to the door as it starts to open. Thankfully, I put on the chain lock when I came in, so it catches after opening only a few inches.
I stand with my back to the wall, a foot to the left of the door, as Naomi comes face to face with an angry Dom through the gap.
“Why do you have the chain on?” he demands, rattling the door against the restraint hard enough to be intimidating, but not hard enough to risk breaking it. He is one of the owners of this building after all.
“For safety, Dom. You never know when some guy is going to try to break into your room.”
“I don’t have time for this, Naomi. I need to get back to work.”
“I’m almost ready, just give me a second. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Dom huffs but backs off when he realizes she’s not going to open the door. I watch with pride as she confidently stands her ground.
Not like she has a choice right now. It would be awfully hard to explain why I’m in her room with the chain lock on.
“I’m leaving the luggage cart here,” Dom says, and I cringe at the condescending tone of voice. “I’ll go pull the golf cart around. You better be down there in five minutes.”
And then he storms back down the hallway, leaving the door ajar.
Naomi takes a full moment to calm down her breathing with her eyes closed before looking over at me and nodding. “ Okay…” she starts but trails off when she sees my face. “What?”
“I can't believe he talks to you like that.”
She rolls her eyes and turns back to start rolling her suitcases toward the door. “Oh, yeah. That’s Dom. I used to call him dinosaur Dom in my head when I was a kid. Still do sometimes.”
“He’s fairly short with most people, myself included, but I’ve always considered it to be just his way of being efficient.” I shake my head, pushing away from the wall. “But that was just him being a dick.”
She shrugs. “He’s a dick, for sure. And not the good kind.”
I watch her fumble with the retractable suitcase handle for a long moment before I catch myself and hurry over to help. Our hands touch on the plastic handle, and I should just pull away. I should drag the heavy luggage to the door and make my escape while I still can.
Instead I pull her to me and do the thing I’ve been thinking about almost constantly since our night together in Austin.
Our lips meet and I can tell she’s a bit surprised by the sudden kiss, but she relaxes into it, parting for me to taste her. I close my eyes and savor her mouth, allowing my hands to drift down her body once more.
We stand in the center of the hotel room, in the eye of the storm that is our problematic secret tryst, and disappear into each other. Or, at least, I allow myself to disappear into her. Gone is the weight of my lies. Gone is the stupidity of wasting the incredible luck I was offered in the form of escaping from here undetected.
The only thing that exists is this woman’s body. Her soft skin and the taste of her and the little noises she makes as I touch her everywhere all at once.
And even though I am the responsible, studious, GM of a multi-million dollar resort, it’s Naomi who pulls away first.
“You have to go.”
I close my eyes and rest my forehead against hers, not loosening my grip on her one bit. “I know.”
“Go. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Okay,” I respond, even though it’s not okay at all. I came up here to get things settled, but they feel more unsettled than ever.
I came up here to tell Naomi this couldn’t happen and this thing between us had to end.
I almost laugh at how ridiculous that idea seems now.
This may be a terrible plan. It might mean the end of all I’ve worked for, all I’ve helped build here. But I’m not strong enough to walk away.