“How long?” he asked again, his patience at an all-time low.
Holding onto her glass, she glanced over her shoulder. “Years.”
Luke remained still, absolutely stunned at her admission. How had he not known? How had he missed the signs? She’d never said one word or even flirted.
“That’s a long time to keep your emotions to yourself,” he told her.
“You were engaged and my boss, so that’s not exactly a time to reveal my inner desires.”
Desires. That word slipping through her lips had his body aching even more. He’d always known she was beyond brilliant, independent, strong-willed...but sexy hadn’t entered his mind. And now that’s the only word he could use to describe her.
“You didn’t think I deserved to know before now?” he demanded, taking another step toward her.
“And when would that conversation have taken place, Luke? During a meeting where we were all stressed trying to bring the company from the ashes? Or maybe when your engagement fell apart? Tell me when exactly I should have opened up my most vulnerable thoughts to you.”
When she sounded like that, so exposed and bold, he felt like a complete jerk.
Luke pulled in a deep breath and propped his hands on his hips to keep from touching her again.
“Would you have ever said anything?” he asked softly.
She dropped her arms at her sides. “I was letting my swimsuits speak for me.”
He said nothing. What was there to say? He was sinking here and there was absolutely no lifeline anywhere in sight.
“Listen,” she started. “We kissed. We don’t have to do anything else. My attraction to you doesn’t have to change anything, either. It’s not like you’re the only guy I find sexy.”
Luke moved before he even thought about his actions. His feet slid through the sand as he shifted to stand directly in front of her.
“Do you kiss those other guys like that?” he demanded.
She tipped that chin again and he was finding he wanted to nip at that as well. There had been way too damn much brought to his attention in the past day and he still wasn’t sure how he felt about that... But he knew he needed to fix this ache, this gnawing need he had.
“I don’t believe that’s any of your business,” she answered pertly.
“You just threw other men in my face,” he countered. “You made it my business.”
Her lips quirked in a grin and her eyes sparkled with mischief. “So what are you going to do with all of this information?”
Was she challenging him? Luke didn’t know if he was amused, turned on, or peeved. Likely a healthy dose of all three.
“Figure out where the hell my mind is at.”
He left her standing there as he went straight to the ocean, welcoming the cool water in a vain attempt to calm his raging hormones.
What the hell was he going to do? she’d asked. He had no idea, but he was stuck alone with her for four more days, and he had a feeling that kiss was a stepping stone to something much more.
Eight
As much as Kelly had wanted to follow Luke into the ocean, she’d decided they needed space. She lay on the cabana with her drink, and his since he ran away, and picked up her book.
Since the white material draped all across the top of the cabana, she didn’t need sunscreen after all. She lay on her stomach reading, popping the fresh fruit and enjoying their piña coladas.
And thinking about that kiss.
Mercy, her boss could make a woman’s toes curl. Her suit nearly melted off and that had nothing to do with the heat. The way he’d grabbed her, commanded her without a word, and then claimed her... Kelly’s wildest fantasies hadn’t even been that good
What would happen if they did more than kiss? If her entire body had responded to just his lips, would she be able to even handle more?