Nick had entered her slowly; his movements were gentle and unrushed as he explored her body. He’d complimented her beauty between the light kisses he’d placed on her forehead, cheeks, nose, lips, and neck. After their climax, he pulled her back to his chest. He kissed the back of her head and her shoulder before he fell into a content slumber.
Kalilah’s heart swelled in her chest, and it had taken everything in her power to not jump out of bed and run down the street completely devoid of clothing. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear that he’d just made love to her. Anxiety made her want to jump out of her skin. She could take sex, but the false promise of lovemaking was more than her heart could take.
Kalilah held no delusions that she’d cared about Nick far more than she’d cared for any man she’d ever known. She’d fancied herself in love before, but her time with Nick showed her that what she’d felt before was contentment or a deep like at best.
If she fell any harder, losing him would crush her completely or turn her into one of those crazy women from a Lifetime movie. How embarrassed would her momma be if she were on the news being the crazy lady they’d found in Nick’s bushes. She refused to be one of those women or like Glen Close from Fatal Attraction. So, when she’d awakened to a text from Andrew about a major mix up in San Francisco, she packed and ran out of the house quicker than a hooker who’d just robbed her john. Not her proudest moment, but it was necessary to put thousands of miles between them.
Kalilah returned to her hotel room utterly exhausted and emotionally drained. She thanked God for the small favor of being able to keep her cool and give her team some sort of ease, but she was still not the person they knew. She’d declined dinner with the team. She preferred to sulk over room service after a good shower.
She hadn’t heard a peep from Nick the whole day, and she didn’t blame him for not wanting to deal with her stank ass attitude. She answered his calls and texts, but in one liners and not with the same joviality that she usually reserved for him. She knew he wasn’t stupid, and it was only a matter of time before the “I am swamped” partial lie would implode.
The warm shower eased some of the tension out of her body, but she was still too wired to relax while waiting for her food. She wrapped her robe around her naked body and walked out onto the balcony to try to take in the view. The knock on the door called her back inside before she could get a good look. It didn’t matter. She was too tired mentally to analyze the nighttime scenery. She grabbed a five-dollar bill from her purse to tip room service before swinging the door open.
Her body knew before her mind did that her food wasn’t on the other side of the door. Damn. Her body cheered, and her mind panicked. Her brain yelled, “Run!” and her erogenous zones yelled, “Jump him.” Kalilah was stuck in place and did nothing. The intense gray eyes studied her from behind rimless glasses. They warred between irritation, relief, desire, and something else she couldn’t place.
“Are you going to let me in?”
His voice caressed all her naughty parts and kicked her nerves into high gear. He wore black joggers and a soft, white cotton graphic tee. A few days of stubble covered his face, and his hair was mussed from running his fingers through it all day. She opened the door wider, and he passed. The heat of his body was the only thing that touched her. His familiar scent invaded her nostrils. Her whole body sighed. Her hotel room suddenly felt small with his brooding presence.
“Kalilah Leigh Wright. Please explain…” he began.
The sharp knock on the door made her jump.
“Room service,” a man announced on the other side of the door.
Kalilah opened the door, accepted her food, and tipped the delivery guy. With a brisk “thank you,” she closed the door. She had ordered enough food for two people. Maybe her subconscious saw this coming. She sneaked a glance at him, and his gray eyes had warmed a little towards desire; the intensity was breathtaking. Kalilah guessed he’d just noticed she was wearing nothing but a little robe that stopped at the top of her thighs.
“Do I need to get my own room?” his voice thick with restrained desire.
“Huh?” Kalilah cringed. She was hard of hearing and stupid again. He took a step towards her.
“Notes are not okay. You disappeared again. I haven’t seen you in days. We both know it’s taking everything in my power not to rip that robe off you and bury myself deep inside of you.”
She gasped. Her body hoped that he would, but her heart wasn’t sure. His lack of patience was apparent when he spoke again. “If my wanting to FUCK YOU is going to be a problem, let me know NOW.”
Kalilah should be mad or at least indignant, but she couldn’t muster the emotion for several reasons. She did leave like a jackass; she missed him terribly; and Aggressive Nick, along with his word choices, was doing wonderful things to her libido.
Her body told her brain to fuck its feelings. Kalilah quickly found her completely naked back pressed against the cold top of the nearest table and her ankles locked together behind Nick’s neck as he rode them into amazing orgasms. Again, not one of her proudest moments. Her body hummed with satisfaction, and she couldn’t find the energy to care.
As if by some unspoken agreement, they didn’t discuss the major elephant in the room. After a
ttacking each other like teenagers on the table, they ate the room service and fell into an exhausted sleep. Nick felt some comfort knowing that she must have been sleeping just as badly as he had the last few days. Regret burned in his gut. He’d had every intention of storming into her hotel room and putting her in her inconsiderate place, but he hadn’t planned on his timing finding her nearly naked and freshly bathed. His brain and dick both said, “fuck it” for two completely different reasons. Not clearing the air was wrong, but every time those big brown eyes locked with his, it was go time.
The things he’d left unsaid were building like a snowball. Remembering how hurt and lost he’d felt when he’d emerged from his shower and soon realized that he was completely alone, she’d made him paranoid enough to wake at an ungodly hour to ensure that he was showered, shaved, and dressed before she woke up. The sun shone through the hotel window casting a heavenly glow over her naked back. Her hand was over her face, and her light snores told him she was still sleeping soundly.
She stretched and rolled onto her back giving him an unobstructed view of the delicious globes of her breasts. His body reacted instantly, and he fought to urge to join her in bed. As much as he would like to lock them up in the hotel room, he was there for reasons outside of confronting her. They had work to do. As if reading his thoughts, her phone’s alarm started to play a soft tune to gently awake her. He smirked when she groaned and pulled the pillow over her head.
“Time to wake up,” he said half-amused.
She jumped and sat up looking disoriented and confused. Her sleep-glazed eyes focused on him and different emotions flashed over her face before she yawned.
“So, it wasn’t a dream,” she murmured as she wandered into the bathroom and started her shower.
He knew her morning disposition well enough to not be offended by her lack of greeting. However, he wasn’t sure if her dream comment was a good thing or a bad thing. It could mean she was having extreme sex dreams about him all the time, or it could mean that she’d passed off their reunion sex as a sleeping hallucination.
Nick had just accepted breakfast from room service when she emerged wrapped in a towel and looking slightly more alert. Nick clenched his jaw as he watched an errant drop slide down her collarbone and disappear into her towel. They didn’t have time to fall back into bed. She took in his business casual attire, freshly shaven face, and combed hair the scrunched her face in confusion.
“Going somewhere?”