Haley knew there was a reason she should protest — knew she’d figure out what that reason was if she thought about it long enough, but while his hands caressed her, while his warmth kept her sated and secure, she couldn’t find fault with what he was asking of her. After a brief pause, she nodded her head.
“Say it, Haley.” The nod wasn’t good enough.
“I will forget the other guy…for now.” She knew her answer wasn’t good enough for Crew, but at least he wasn’t pushing her.
The two of them lay in each other’s arms for the next hour, or two — they didn’t know — listening to the soothing sound of the ocean waves until the cool evening air had them admitting it was time to go in. When Crew led her to his room that night, she didn’t fight him. She wasn’t ready to let go just yet.
Pulling her into his arms to hold her and nothing more, she felt the first warm stirrings in her untutored heart. But she couldn’t be falling in love with him. She didn’t know what love was, had no examples of it in her life. Her emotions were clearly just in overdrive from everything that had occurred during the day, and night.
Falling asleep with a smile on her face and Crew’s arms wrapped around her, she slept better than she ever had before.
Chapter Sixteen
Wake up. We’re going to one of my favorite places for lunch.”
Haley felt as if one-ton weights were pressed against her eyelids. Wake up? No way. She was warm, sated, very sore, and unwilling ever to climb from bed again. Maybe if she ignored him, he’d eventually go away. It was worth a shot.
“Pretending to be asleep won’t do you any good. It’s already noon. I’ve gotten in four hours of work and a ten-mile jog on the beach, plus I calmed down my sister on a half-hour-long phone call.”
Crew was sounding way too cheery. “Show-off,” she muttered under her breath. She wanted to throw one pillow at his face, and bury her head underneath another one. She wasn’t budging.
“Haley, I can see your muscles tensing. I know you’re awake.”
“I wouldn’t be if you’d kindly shut up,” she grumbled, savagely twisting her body away from the sound of his voice and snuggling down deeper into the softness of his mattress.
Normally, Haley was a very happy person in the mornings, but she’d stayed up long into the night. And anyway, accomplished seductresses needed their beauty rest.
“I’m taking you to my favorite place on the island to eat. Now get up,” he said before playfully swatting her on her bare behind. She was so shocked, she sat up in bed, clutching the sheet to her chest, her eyes wide as she looked into his smiling face.
This wasn’t the same man she’d met a week before.
“I saw and tasted your luscious curves last night...twice. Why hide them now?” he asked as he sat on the bed and ran his finger along the top of the sheet in an attempt to free it from her grip.
“That was…well, that was…” She didn’t know what she wanted to say.
“Something we will do again and again,” he finished for her.
Haley was in shock. She hadn’t known what to expect this morning, but certainly not this playful, lighthearted Crew. She had expected him to look at her with pity, or not look at her at all, having made his conquest.
“That wasn’t our deal,” she finally said as her fingers clung to the silken sheet — her only protection at the moment. She had a sudden desire to slip into one of her baggy tops and hide away for the next week.
“The deal has changed,” he answered her simply. “If you keep gazing at me with those wide, innocent eyes, looking so delectable, I will have to forget about taking you out, and just ravish you all day instead.”
The desire instantly forming in his expression had her green eyes rounding. She wasn’t so sure that was a bad idea.
“Woman!” he groaned as he got up and walked to the door as if it would somehow protect them both. “You were a virgin and you got a serious workout last night. It would do more damage than good for us to go another round. Please, for the sake of my health, too, get showered and dressed before I change my mind.”
With those words, he turned and left the suite’s bedroom, leaving Haley leaning back against the headboard with a thoughtful smile on her face.
This was what he’d been talking about — this feeling of power, of knowing she was responsible for making his body harden, for making him want her. She was getting a small taste of what it felt like to be a seductress — and she liked it.
Fully awake now and ready for her day out with Crew, she jumped from the bed, letting the sheet drop without feelings of shame as she walked into the bathroom and climbed into the shower. She didn’t realize what he was talking about until her hand ran over the outside of her core while she was washing.
She was tender, and now grateful for his consideration. She suspected that walking around would be difficult enough on her.
Panicking for a moment when she realized she was in Crew’s suite, she returned to his bedroom, then sighed with relief when she found her newly purchased outfits sitting atop his bed. He thought of everything.
Thankfully, she’d bought some silky panties that wouldn’t scrape against her lower regions. With care, she slid them on, and then chose a skirt and blouse.
Haley was happy with what she saw in the mirror. Her new colorful clothes made her feel feminine and appealing. She decided to put on a little makeup, which she’d found after rummaging through the bathroom drawers in search of a washcloth. Who had brought it here and knew that she’d stayed in the owner’s suite? It was too mortifying to think about.
She was just finishing placing her hair into a loose bun when Crew joined her.
“You look good enough to lick up and down your entire body. Do you smell just as tasty?” he asked as he pulled her into his arms and lowered his head. As his lips tugged on hers, Haley forgot all about soreness and pushed her body up against his. This was something she could get used to.
With a growl, Crew pulled back and looked deep in her eyes. “Yes. Yes, you do,” he said before pulling back and grasping her hands.
“Thanks for having my things here,” she said shyly. He must have seen the blush stealing across her cheeks because he answered her earlier question.
“I went to your room and picked up what I thought you might need.”
“Thank you, Crew. I don’t know if many men would have been so considerate,” she said and followed him to the living area.
“Would you like a cup of coffee and a pastry before we go?”
She sat down and happily poured herself a cup, then added cream and sugar before taking a sip. Sighing with pleasure at the much-needed caffeine, she pulled a foot up and hugged her leg while taking small sips and briefly attempting to interpret the clouds in her coffee.
Passing on the pastry so she wouldn’t ruin her lunch, she took a moment to study Crew as he conducted a phone call. She didn’t understand how the two of them had reached this place so quickly, how she’d had the boldness to make love to him, but she found that she had no regrets. Even if their time together turned out to be short, she knew she’d carry the memories with her for years to come.
Haley had the feeling that getting over a man like Crew wouldn’t be an easy task. It didn’t matter, though, and it wasn’t worth dwelling on. She was living in the here and now, and it was a great place to be. Whatever happened, happened. That was going to be her new motto.