Chapter 24
Interrupted
Kate held Nick’s gaze, her heart hammering.
She wanted him, needed him, with a terrifying intensity—more than anything she’d ever wanted before—but anxiety coiled beneath the desire, whispering questions she wasn’t ready to answer.
His eyes were dark with concern, and she realized he feared he’d pushed her too far.
“Kate,” he whispered, and her chest ached at the worry threading through his voice. “Are you okay? Am I pushing you too fast? If I am, tell me to back off. I don’t mean to. It’s hard to control myself with you, I want you so damn much, but if you need me to slow down, say the word.”
She smiled, warmth blooming through her at his consideration. A shrill ring from his phone shattered the moment, and Nick groaned, the sound rumbling through his chest where she still touched him. He dropped his head into her neck before pulling the device out.
“I need to get this. Michael is gatekeeping, so if he put a call through, it’s important.”
He sat up straight, and the loss of his weight hit like a physical thing.
“Nicholas Ivory.” He answered, voice crisp and professional.
As he listened, his muscles slowly tensed beneath his shirt, and he gradually transformed.
The man of leisure disappeared behind a businessman’s mask.
“A minute, please. I need to get to my computer.”
He put the call on hold, and when he looked at her, conflict flickered in his eyes. “I really don’t want to leave you, but I have to handle this. We’ll talk later?”
Disappointment crashed through her, sharp and unexpected in its intensity.
Kate wanted nothing more than to be with Nick, to feel his hands on her body again, his lips on hers, to lose herself in the heat they generated together.
But she, of all people, understood life couldn’t always be about pleasure, sometimes duty called—even if the timing sucked.
She stroked a hand down his arm, enjoying the warmth of his skin, trying to memorize the sensation. “Of course.”
Nick pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before walking away after a last lingering look, the sound of his footsteps echoing on the stone before fading into silence, and Kate sat frozen, cold rising in the space left behind.
The courtyard loomed larger, emptier, and she wrapped her arms around herself as unease crept in like fog.
What if this were all a mistake? What if she was reading too much into heated glances and stolen kisses?
After all, they still barely knew each other and lived in different states—she in her middle-class Colorado life, he in his glamorous tropical world.
She was here on vacation, a temporary escape from reality, and he traveled most of the time, his life a constant motion she couldn’t imagine keeping up with.
But as doubt whispered its poison, she couldn’t deny the truth humming through her veins.
Deep down, Kate knew it was more than physical attraction.
The way her breath caught when he smiled, the way her thoughts drifted to him in quiet moments, the way terror and exhilaration fought for supremacy in his presence—this was more than desire.
She just hoped it was more for Nick too.
With her heart tangled in confusion, threads of hope and fear wound impossibly tight, Kate forced herself to stand and wandered across the lawn to her own suite.
The grounds stretched before her, dimly lit and too quiet, her footsteps absorbed by the thick grass: each step hesitant, her body heavy, weighed down by the phantom memories of Nick’s touch—his fingers trailing fire across her skin, the possessive grip of his hands, the intoxicating pressure of his lips.
The sound of his voice still lingered in her mind, his low rumble that made her shiver.
Kate replayed the evening again and again, unable to stop herself.
The warmth of their closeness, the way he’d gazed at her like she was the only person in the world, the delicious heat that burned between them—all of it mingled with the sudden cold of his absence, the business call that stole him away.
Happiness fluttered in her chest like a caged bird, fragile and tentative, yet doubt crept in alongside it, darker and heavier—an uneasy cocktail leaving her both longing for more and questioning whether she hoped for too much, too fast, for something that might never be.
The night air pressed in around her as she stepped into her suite, thick with the briny scent of the sea and the rhythmic hush of distant waves. The sound should have been soothing, but instead echoed the restless churning inside her, her emotions swirling like a riptide she couldn’t escape.
She would see Nick again—he’d promised they’d talk later—but she couldn’t help the worry gnawing at her, the fear their encounter might not lead to anything more, that this magical night might dissolve like morning mist when reality intruded.
As she fell into bed, she let out a deep sigh from the very center of her being. The sheets brushed against her flushed skin, too smooth, too empty. She closed her eyes and wished the doubts would fade away, that sleep would bring clarity or at least peace.
But as exhaustion pulled at her, she couldn’t shake the fear things might not work out the way she hoped they would.
The thought settled over her like a weight, and she curled onto her side, hugging a pillow to her chest, trying to hold in the warmth of Nick’s touch as she slipped away to the arms of Morpheus.