I’d barely managed to calm down over the past half hour, and now I was on edge again.
“Fuck, Josie. Keep me in check, okay?”
“What?”
His mouth was dangerously close to my ear. His hot breath tickled the sensitive spot behind it.
“Since you’ve moved in—and after today—I can’t keep the lines from blurring. I don’t know how. You have to be the reasonable one between the two of us.”
I didn’t know what to say, how to react.
“You’re the most important person in my life, and I don’t want to screw this up,” he said.
He whirled me around, bringing his hand to my face, caressing my cheek before kissing my forehead.
The first night in one thousand ninety-five. How were we supposed to make it through?
Chapter Fifteen
Josie
Next morning, I woke up with a headache, as if I was hungover. No surprise, since I’d only gotten a few hours of sleep.
I’d expected Hunter to already be up and about, but a quick peek in his room showed that he was still fast asleep. Then again, he’d already finished packing before the wedding. As usual, I’d left some details until the very last minute.
I still had to sort out my cosmetics. As I stuffed all my creams and scrubs in the toiletries bag, I caught a glimpse of my wedding ring, and it dawned on me that I was a married woman. Holy shit. I was legally bound to the six feet of sexiness currently sleeping in the guest room. I was married to Hunter Caldwell, my best friend, and teenage crush. A mix of panic and euphoria overwhelmed me, and I had to lean against the wall of the bathroom and press the heel of my palm on my collarbone to calm down. Then I headed to the foyer, where Hunter had already brought our bags. I wondered if he had a reservation confirmation from the hotel somewhere. He hadn’t wanted to tell me the name of the hotel, insisting he wanted an element of surprise.
I had a sneaking suspicion he actually hadn’t wanted me to research the price, but eh... he was asleep now. How would he know I snooped around?
I hunched over to find the zipper to his bag.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
I startled so badly that I nearly plowed headfirst into the door. My heart was beating so fast, I felt I was going to be sick as I straightened up and whirled around to Hunter. He was wearing pajama pants and nothing else. The pants hung low enough on his hips that I had a prime view of the V-lines pointing downward. Don’t stare. Don’t stare.
I forced my gaze up. Right, at the first opportunity I got, I was buying him some decent pajamas.
“I just wanted to put my toiletries in the bag,” I said with as much innocence as I could muster. Hunter narrowed his eyes, stepping closer.
“My bag?”
“I don’t have enough space in mine.” It was true, but I was sure my cheeks were pink.
“There’s something else too. You wanted to look at what hotel we’re going to.”
“Not at all.”
His eyes crinkled at the corners. In a fraction of a second, he wrapped one arm around me, pinning me against the entrance door. His hips were pressing against mine, keeping me immobile.
“Tell me what you were up to.”
“Or what?”
“I can think about a few torture methods to lure the truth out of you.”
His bare chest was almost touching my torso, and then there would be nothing separating us except my very thin cotton dress. My senses were completely assaulted by this man and it wasn’t even nine o’clock in the morning. Two full weeks in a romantic resort in the Maldives, where I’d be seeing enough of him shirtless to tempt me on an hourly basis? Things were not looking good for me.
“Fine, I admit it. I admit it. I wanted to know the name of the hotel.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard.”
Was I imagining it, or was he looking at my lips? His skin felt so impossibly hot against me.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“How soon?” I grinned. I couldn’t help it.
“Patience.” He motioned to my toiletries bag. “That’s all you need me to stuff in my luggage?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Go get ready, and I’ll pack it up.”
“You don’t trust me, do you?” I rolled my eyes. “I wouldn’t peek.”
“Think I’m going to believe you after catching you red-handed?”
He had a point, so I turned on my heels, heading to my room to change into my travel attire—jeans and a polo shirt.
Half an hour later, we were in the back of a cab, heading to the airport. Hunter was silent, looking out the window. From time to time he touched his wedding band—we wore identical platinum rings. I wondered if he felt the same panic and euphoria I did. The same attraction. I couldn’t think like that. It was silly.
At the airport, the driver wheeled the carriage with our bags right inside the building.
“I wish you all the best on your honeymoon,” he said.
Hunter took over, pushing the baggage cart toward the business class check-in area.
“Good morning, sir,” the check-in lady said, taking the passports Hunter handed her.
She scanned them while a man took care of our luggage.
“Would you like me to print out the tickets, or do you have them on your phone?”
“Print them, please,” Hunter said. After we received them, we headed to the TSA checkpoint.
“Still not going to tell me the name of the hotel? I want to do my research about the activities they offer.”
“You’ll have plenty of time once we arrive.”
The line advanced, and I moved with it, startling a little when Hunter wrapped an arm around me from behind, bringing his lips to my ear.
“Told you I’d make these years the best, Josie. Just trust me on that.”
I did trust him. The problem was, I didn’t know how I’d manage to go back to how things were once we divorced.
“If you want me to trust you, that means you actually have to tell me things,” I teased.
“We’ll get to that. Baby steps.”
After security, we headed straight to the business lounge. “So, this is how you travel all the time?” I asked him, sitting cross-legged on a leather armchair big enough for two of me. “I could get used to it.”
We were served champagne and canapes right before boarding began. I already had a happy buzz going on and was a bit mad at myself for that, because I wanted to experience everything.
When we were shown to our seats, I immediately began poking every button and trying every single position for the seat.
I only stopped when I caught Hunter staring at me with a strange expression.
“What?”
“I forgot how much you enjoy new things.”
Unfazed, I checked every item on the menu, accepting yet another glass of champagne. Then I glanced at my ring, touched it. “Does it feel weird?”
He gave me a small smile. “I honestly never thought I’d wear one. How about you?”
“I freaked a little this morning,” I admitted in a small voice.
“So did I. But I think it’s normal. It’s not a small thing, and the implications are... well... we both know them.” He frowned, then half turned, leaning in closer. For a fraction of a second, I thought he was going to kiss me, leave no doubt for everyone that we were in love, but instead he said, “If you regret it...”