Private Party (26 page)

It was then that she noticed her hands, fisted so tightly in his hair that it had to hurt. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she gasped.

“It’s okay,” he laughed. He rubbed his chin against her belly. “I take it as a compliment that you were trying to keep me down here.”

She swatted at his head, giggling as she tried to close her legs against him. But he wouldn’t budge, and held her hips firmly in place as he rained kisses on her belly.

Her laughter faded as she hugged him to her. How could she possibly leave him, leave this? The thought brought such pain that tears welled in her. She quickly blinked them away before he could see.

Because what choice did she have?

Instead she focused on the tenderness with which he touched her. He was so amazingly sensitive, paying attention to what she liked in order to give her maximum pleasure. She’d always thought it was a cliché when she’d read it in romance novels, but Chris actually did know her body better than she did herself.

He put that skill to good use now, as his fingers teased at the entrance of her body, then slid in with firm thrusts, reawakening her desire, her anticipation for the moment he would bury his cock deep, deeper than any man had ever gone.

“I need you inside me,” she whispered against his neck. She needed to feel that joining, that melding, even more than she needed physical relief. She needed the memories to savor, memories of those brief moments when Chris was actually a part of her.

“Say the words,” he teased, holding himself away.

She bit back a smile. He loved getting her to talk dirty. “Fuck me, Chris. Slide your cock deep inside me.”

He stemmed her words with a nearly savage kiss, groaning into her mouth as he quickly sheathed himself. Within seconds the thick, blunt head of his erection was squeezing its way inside, rasping deliciously against slick, pulsing flesh. She arched herself against him, taking him deep as she used her muscles to draw him even further.

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Her arms and legs wrapped around him as she arched up to meet his every thrust.
I love you.
She buried her open mouth against his shoulder to keep herself from saying the words aloud.
I love you,
her mind screamed as she came, clenching around him in rippling waves, giving him everything, her heart, her soul, as her orgasm sizzled through her.

I love you,
she whispered silently as she watched him follow her over the edge. His eyes burned into hers, inviting her to share in his surrender to the intense, overwhelming sensation. With a low groan he collapsed heavily against her, his face cushioned in the soft flesh of her breasts.

Pulling him against her, she closed her eyes, trying to etch every detail of this moment into her brain.

She couldn’t have forever, but she could have right now. And right now was pretty damn perfect.

The morning sun hit Chris square in the face. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. He smiled at the sight of tumbled blonde curls spread across his bare chest. After they’d cleaned up and put their clothes back on, he and Julie had enjoyed a decadent picnic of lobster tail, white wine, and fresh fruit. After a nap in the shade they went for another skinny dip. Chris had insisted on reapplying Julie’s sunscreen very thoroughly, which led to him making love to her again.

Eventually they’d made it back to the boat, planning to head back to Holley Cay. But then Julie had pointed out that sunset was only a couple of hours away, and wouldn’t it be wonderful to watch it from the yacht? Chris had agreed wholeheartedly, and decided that, as they had plenty of food and fresh water, they might as well spend the night on the boat.

The night was so perfect and clear, he had made a makeshift pallet with bench cushions and bedding taken from one of the berths.

“Why spend the night below when we have all this?” Julie had said, stretching luxuriously as she gazed up at the star-filled sky.

She’d looked so gorgeous with the light of the nearly full moon highlighting every curve, Chris had been forced to make love to her again.

Now it was morning, and they really should be heading back. He needed to get back to work, and she needed to pack.

Because she was leaving tomorrow.

His arms tightened involuntarily around her. She shifted in her sleep, making a small sound of protest.

He really, really didn’t want to think about her leaving.

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He closed his eyes, for once not forcing away the very dangerous ideas floating across his brain.

What if she didn’t leave? The whole point of this trip was to make some changes, right? And what could shake up her life more than leaving San Francisco all together? God knew he and Carla needed the help running the resort. It was perfect. She would have a job ready-made for her, she could move into his place…

His heart skipped a beat, then started to pound. He had never in his life considered living with a woman, and he felt a flurry of panic that he was even entertaining the idea.

But even stronger than the panic was a voice telling him that it was definitely a great idea. A perfect idea even…

She shifted against him, and he opened his eyes. She was staring at him intently, and for a crazy second Chris thought maybe she knew exactly what he was thinking.

She stared silently, her blue eyes blazing turquoise against the golden tan of her skin. Her mouth was pink and blurred-looking, swollen from his kisses. Tiny freckles dotted her nose, and he could see every individual eyelash that curled up, long enough to almost touch her eyebrows. She was so damn adorable it made his chest hurt.

He watched as one corner of her mouth lifted in a tiny, inquisitive smile. “What?”
Ask her. Ask her, you pussy. Tell her you don’t want her to leave, that you want her to stay here with you
and find out whether or not you’re really in love with her.

“Nothing. Just thinking how beautiful you are.”

Coward.

She smiled wider and pulled him down on top of her.
I’ll ask her later, when the opportunity presents
itself. You don’t just spring something like this on a woman when she first wakes up.

Her leg looped around his waist and her tongue slid inside his mouth.
And you don’t interrupt a woman
when she clearly has other things on her mind.

He’d wait for the opening he was looking for, and then he’d ask her to stay, to take a chance on him, a chance on them. Heat coursed through him as her small hand closed over his quickly hardening cock.

But later. Much later.

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16

T
he opportunity presented itself as they were sailing home.

Julie leaned back against Chris’s chest, his arms wrapped around her waist as she steered. She tilted her head back and smiled at him.

He kissed her, savoring the taste of her mouth. This was so perfect, so right. Why had he been such a coward up until now? He had never considered himself a fearful person. He’d always gone after what he wanted. Julie was the only exception. He wanted her, more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life.

Because of that, he’d convinced himself they could never work, that she would never turn her back on her family. But right here, right now, the way she was kissing him and putting what felt like her whole heart and soul behind it, how could he doubt she felt about him the way he did about her?

She ended the kiss with a sigh and said, “I wish I never had to leave.” He couldn’t have asked for a better opening if he’d written her a script.

“What if you didn’t go home tomorrow?”

She stiffened in his arms and turned to face him. “Why wouldn’t I go home tomorrow?”

“What’s the rush? You could stay here…”

“Chris, I have a job, I have a life that I need to get back to.” PrivateParty

Chris fumbled for a moment. He’d expected her to jump at the chance. “We need help here,” he said, in a foolish attempt to salvage some semblance of pride.

“Are you saying you want to hire me?” Her eyes clouded with hurt, and he experienced another surge of hope.

“No, I mean, yes, but there are…I want you to stay for us.” Chris dragged a hand through his hair. Jesus, he felt like a thirteen-year-old asking a girl to dance. Where the hell had his smooth moves gone? He took the wheel as they approached the dock at Holley Cay.

But her face softened, finally, and her smile sent warmth trickling through his belly. “Really?” He felt a smile curving his own lips. He opened his mouth to reply, but as he steered the boat into the slip, he became aware of several other, unfamiliar boats anchored off the beach. A little Zodiac sped by, its passenger snapping photographs as it passed.

“What the fuck?”

Chris and Julie quickly tied off the boat, gathered their things, and climbed onto the dock. Dozens of people milled around, shouting, jostling, and it looked like the local island police were attempting to hustle several people onto the resort’s ferry.

A man sprinted over to them, shouting incomprehensibly. Julie flinched as he shoved something in her face, and Chris instinctively pulled her to him. Holy shit, were those paparazzi? Within seconds, others had surrounded them, answering his question.

Somehow, Carla and Dan broke through the throng, followed by several policemen who managed to hold the photographers at bay so they could make their escape.

“Thank God, you’re back!” Carla said. “They showed up last night, after you left. I have no idea how they found out—”

“Because there was a leak,” Dan broke in, his voice tight.

Chris met Julie’s troubled gaze. It didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out who’d tipped off the press.

“Kara,” they said in unison.

Carla’s fists clenched in frustration. “Jane and her husband had left already, and it’s not like they were able to photograph the wedding.” Dan didn’t look impressed.

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“This isn’t the worst of it though,” Carla said. “It wasn’t Jane Bowden who set off this mess, it was—” She broke off, interrupted by two men who had appeared behind her. “Julie, there are some people here to see you.”

Chris heard her gasp, and he wasn’t sure if it was from his suddenly tight grip on her shoulder or from the shock of recognition.

His brother Brian and Julie’s father glared at them over Carla’s curly dark head.

Julie felt Chris’s body go completely stiff, felt the chill as he released her shoulder and stepped away.

Brian stepped forward, fists clenched, chest out. “What the hell do you think you’re doing with my wife?”

Never one to back down from a challenge, Chris glared down at his older brother from his superior height. “As far as I’m concerned, if you couldn’t appreciate her when you had her, all bets are off. Not to mention,” he stepped forward menacingly and poked Brian hard in the chest, “she’s not your wife anymore.”

“Actually, he hasn’t signed the annulment,” Julie said, darting nervous glances between her father and Brian. “Yet.”

Chris’s eyes filled with confusion and anger, but before she could try to explain, her father grabbed her by the arm.

“We are not going to do this here,” he said. He turned to Julie, his low voice making up in menace for what it lacked in volume. “You’ll notice that every sleazy tabloid reporter in the country is either on that dock or in the water snapping pictures as we speak.” The bottom dropped out of her stomach, and she felt all the blood draining from her face. Within hours, minutes even, their pictures would be broadcast to every gossip site on the Internet. Her picture and story would be fodder for the rags for weeks to come. How could she have been so foolish? And now she’d dragged Chris and his reputation down into the muck with her. But if she had her way, she’d be here to work tooth and nail to pull him and Holley Cay right back up. “You’re right,” she said around the thick lump in her throat. “Let’s go somewhere private.” She started towards the main building, thinking to go to the office.

“Julie.” Chris’s voice cut through the roaring of dread in her brain. His face was set in tight lines. “You don’t have to go with them.”

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But she did. She needed to explain to her father and Brian what exactly she would and would not do with her life and her time. And if they didn’t like it…oddly enough, for once in her life she could truly say she didn’t care. “I have to,” she said. “Trust me, this is for the best.” Once in the office, Julie whirled on Brian, who looked taken aback at her assertiveness. “Why haven’t you signed the annulment?”

“Because there’s not going to be an annulment,” her father said. Grant Driscoll’s short, stocky frame was clothed in Bermuda shorts and a white golf shirt that already bore perspiration stains under the arms. He was a stark contrast to Brian, who, despite his heated temper, had barely broken a sweat in the intense Caribbean heat.

“Of course there will,” Julie practically shouted, gratified at the surprised look on her father’s face. She had never challenged him before. But it felt really good. “I can’t believe you want me to stay married to a man who would cheat on me repeatedly, including on my own wedding day.” Grant sighed and raked his fingers through his short, graying blond hair. “You don’t have to stay married to him forever. Just a year, maybe two, until this entire thing blows over. Then you can quietly go your separate ways.”

Julie’s jaw nearly hit her chest in shock. “Are you kidding me?”

“You need to come home and clean up the mess you made.”

“The mess
I
made?” Julie gestured helplessly at Brian, who displayed not the slightest bit of shame for his own behavior. “He’s the one who—”

“It doesn’t matter who started it,” Grant cut her off. “You’re the one who made the scene.”

“And you’re the one who ran off with my brother,” Brian interjected.

“—and the resulting negative press we’ve received has been devastating to the company,” Grant finished. “And now with this fiasco,” he gestured out the window toward the dock, where what seemed like legions of reporters were boarding the ferry, whether they wanted to or not, “we’ll be even more of a laughingstock. We have to put up a united front even if it’s temporary.” The knot in Julie’s stomach expanded until it nearly choked her. “You call two years temporary? We’re talking about my life.” She hated the way her voice cracked, hated the way her father looked at her like she was the biggest disappointment of the century. Most of all, she hated that she was tempted to do exactly what he said, if only to wipe the horrible look from his face.