Last Resort Love

by Holly Cortelyou

  “Of course there is,” Nick said in a low, soft tone. “There always is. I just don’t care about all the details right now.” Nick stood and offered his hand to Krissa.

  “I want you. I want this.” His voice was deep and his eyes glinted with a promise of passion.

  Sounds of velvety jazz music rippled through the night air. Nick raised her hand slowly to his lips, and she felt his warm mouth brush against her skin.

  “Dance with me,” Nick said as his voice whispered like silk across her flesh.

  Without a conscious thought, she slipped into his arms. They swayed to the music as the stars twinkled to life one by one, and Krissa felt her memories drift away into the night. All she felt was here, now. One song blended into the next. Krissa melted into the strength of Nick’s embrace.

  In the flickering light of the fire, Nick raised Krissa’s hand to his lips. He kissed the back of her hand and then slowly turned it over and pressed his mouth to her palm. She quivered.

  “You’re a remarkable woman,” Nick said in a voice heavy with passion.

  Krissa reached up and touched his lips with her fingertips and traced the line of them until his mouth trembled from the effort to stay still.

  He leaned down slowly, agonizingly slowly. As if to give her a chance to resist or change her mind or run.

  Why would she run, she asked herself? She’d never felt more at ease or more aroused. If his lips didn’t touch hers, she would explode. If he didn’t crush her to him, she would die a miserable woman. She needed him.

  With the merest whisper, his lips brushed hers. Krissa trembled and slid closer still. Nick’s arm wrapped around her waist and she felt her skin flare where he touched.

  Nick breathed her name out silkily and waited for her to return the kiss. Krissa’s fingers tickled over his stubbly cheek.

  “Yes,” she said. It felt so right and so comfortable. She was alive and shimmering with excitement.

  Their lips met for one soft, satin moment. Krissa felt quicksilver slip through her veins and spread a warmth from her fingertips to her toes and then from the tips of her breasts to her innermost core. Every bone melted to liquid and her flesh tingled in anticipation. Nick felt oh so right.

  Their kiss deepened and their tongues flirted and teased and danced. Krissa’s head tipped back in a luxurious stretch, and Nick’s lips traced kisses along her jaw and her cheeks; he nibbled on her ear and slipped a tickly path down her neck. With a shiver of delight, Krissa rubbed her hands down his chest and marveled at the powerful muscles flexing beneath her touch.

  His hands slipped along the arch of her back, the swell of her hip. Need and hot desire blazed.

  Nick pressed closer and lean muscles rippled under her palms. With a tilt of her hips, his rigid manhood ground into her. Her nipples hardened and a warmth spread through her breasts and screamed down to her feminine core. A yearning ache. She wanted this man, now.

  As if he answering her heat, Nick’s hand slithered down her back and cupped a soft, yielding cheek and then pushed her hips closer still. He ran kisses down her neck and nuzzled her ear. With a scorching heat, he showered kisses on the tops of her breasts just spilling out of her bra. Her head tipped back and a small moan of pleasure escaped her lips.

  “I need you,” he said. His voice was sure, but the question was in his eyes. He was asking permission.

  How could she say no when every nerve ending in her body demanded satisfaction?

  “I want you,” she said, and a sensual smile arched over her face. She ran her hand over the taut ridge of his virility and rubbed and pressed him.

  In a jumble of kisses and caresses, his shirt fell to the ground and the lavender straps of her dress slipped off her shoulders. Krissa breathed in his male warmth and ran her fingers over his hard abs, along his chest, and rested on his tight pecs.

  “Oh, woman, you drive me wild.”

  His eyes skimmed over the lacy bra that barely concealed her erect nipples and luscious curves. His eyes darkened with passion.

  He buried his head between her breasts while his hands fiddled with the hooks on her filmy bra. The catch released with a little pop that sent a roar of excitement through Krissa’s blood. She was free. On fire. Nick’s hands captured her lush mounds. He stroked and squeezed her nipples until she almost begged him to take one in his mouth.

  She arched her back and his lips captured her glorious swelling breast. Krissa cried out in delight. Everywhere his mouth touched, Krissa felt bolts of electric passion scorch her flesh.

  The music beat on and the stars scintillated in the ebony sky. Nick led Krissa back into the house with the cooling air whispering across their heated flesh.

  They tumbled backward onto his bed in a tangle of lips and hands and legs and searing flesh.

  Chapter 19

  “HEY, beautiful,” Nick said with a delicious nibble behind her ear.

  Krissa stretched and opened her eyes to a pair of vivid blue eyes staring at her with a wicked suggestion in them.

  “Good morning yourself,” she said and pulled his head down for a long, lingering kiss.

  “You certainly know how to greet a guy,” Nick said softly and then laughed. He gave her another short kiss, leaned back, and secured his towel around his waist. “I wish I could make good on the invitation, but I have to leave in twenty minutes for the airport.”

  “What?”

  Krissa sat up quickly and then grabbed at the sheet to cover her nakedness. Her heart sank southward to her toes and a teeny knot formed in her stomach. She noted Nick’s fresh from the shower damp hair and his towel slung low on his hips.

  “Where are you going?” she asked in a tight voice.

  “Down to Belize,” Nick said. “I woke up to an urgent text message from one of the other partners at my firm. It sounds like there are some competing offers on the twin properties we want to acquire. If I don’t go, we’ll likely lose it and it’s too good of a deal to miss out on.”

  “Oh,” was all Krissa could muster. It felt like all the air was whooshing out of the room.

  “I’m not sure when I’ll be back,” he added, “but it shouldn’t be too long. Besides, I’m still waiting to hear from the buyers for the Wescott Resort and I have to be stateside to wrap that up.”

  “That sounds amazing,” Krissa said in a flat tone. “I’d better grab my stuff and go and get out of your way. Shasta is probably bursting and I’ve got school.” Her eyes flew to the clock. At least it wasn’t even six yet.

  “Hold on a second,” Nick interrupted. “I think I need one more kiss to hold me over until I see you again.” He gathered her into his arms and pressed a warm, inviting kiss on her lips. Without thinking, Krissa’s arms wove around his neck and drew him closer. His hand ran down her bare back and a shiver of desire whispered across her flesh.

  Nick leaned back and brushed a tousled lock of her hair out of her eyes. “I wish I could stay and show you just how much I’ll miss you,” he said. He kissed the tip of her nose. “But I have to fly.”

  Nick strode to his closet to grab a suitcase and Krissa sat mutely for a moment before she gathered her clothes and hustled into them. She had to leave. Right now. What had she done?

  She plastered a smile on her face as Nick flopped a suitcase and a stack of slacks and shirts on the rumpled sheets.

  “I’m off,” she said. “I don’t want to be in the way if you have to do a turbo packing job. Shasta needs me. Have a great trip.”

  She waved airily and zipped through the doorway. Krissa ran down the stairs to the main floor and let herself out the French doors with fumbling hands. She cursed. She needed the safety of her own house. Somehow, she kept herself from running at full speed down the paved path to her cottage.

  While Shasta attended to his business, Krissa leaned against the wall and stared into the forest on the other side of the cottage. The sounds of Nick loading up his pickup drifted past her, but she refused to step around where he might see her. Her heart w
as pounding. Her breathing eased when the last engine rumble disappeared down the road. Her shoulders slumped.

  Krissa called to Shasta and ushered him into the house. Without conscious thought, she locked the sliding glass door and automatically fed Shasta. She stumbled up the stairs and mechanically pulled off the clothes that she had so hastily thrown on but moments ago. She lurched into the shower.

  Why was she being so foolish? It wasn’t like she didn’t know Nick would leave. He was coming back…but not to stay. But she knew that, right? She was supposed to be having fun. Just a little fling.

  A memory of Nick cradling her in his arms flooded her. Their lovemaking had stirred her soul. She had poured out so much of her heart to him. He’d been so tender with her pain and then so powerful in his loving. She quivered at the thought of his hands sliding to her hips and holding her close.

  All night she had been safe in his arms and none of the world mattered.

  With the steaming water pouring over her, Krissa’s tears fell unnoticed. She just knew that she had an ache deep down in her core. Nick was leaving. Just like Tim. Just like her dad. None of it made any sense. Why did she even care what Nick was doing? But she did care. Too much.

  She wept softly in the pelting water.

  * * * *

  Nick watched Krissa practically bolt out of his bedroom and out the back door. He stood on the loft landing shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck. It looked like someone or something was chasing Krissa, and he almost checked the floor for tire tread marks, she’d zoomed off so quickly.

  His phone alarm beeped a ten-minute warning and he turned back to packing his bags. A few minutes later, he slowly drove down the gravel lane and looked to see if Krissa was waving from any window. Nothing.

  Nick frowned and wondered what he’d said. She couldn’t be upset about him going on this trip. She knew what he did for a living. She was probably just getting ready for work and he was reading too much into it. Right?

  He shifted his thoughts over to his pending business deal, but the awkward, stiff look on Krissa’s face kept popping into his mind. No, she hadn’t just dashed off to let him get ready to leave. She’d run. Run, don’t walk to your nearest exit. Nick grimaced. His trip had frightened her.

  Irritation flared. He knew he hadn’t done anything wrong. He was a good guy, right? Her cheating ex was the spoiler…and her loser father. No wonder she had trust issues.

  He had a funny feeling that he was back to square one with Krissa. Was he the problem?

  He hadn’t really thought about having his own trust issues, but all of Krissa’s questions from last night made him wonder. He’d dated plenty of women over the years, but rarely for more than a few months at a time. He just seemed to lose interest in them or get distracted by a new business idea. He’d dated Vanessa for a year and Miranda for almost two years. Those had been long-term relationships. He trusted them. He didn’t have a trust issue.

  But Nick could almost hear his sister Dana saying that they didn’t count because one woman had lived in San Francisco and the other in Portland, and he’d only seen them once a month or every other month. He knew he’d never been serious about either of them or even wished that he was.

  He thought about last night, and all he could see was Krissa’s red hair spilling across the sheets and the silvery moonlight glinting through the windows. It had been incredible. His desire rose. Once was not going to be enough with Krissa.

  He pulled into the parking lot for the private charter terminal and spotted Hank with his spiky black hair as he leaned against the hangar. The sooner he got this trip over, the quicker he could get Krissa back in his arms.

  As he grabbed his bag and slammed the pickup door shut, an image of Krissa clicking the door closed behind her shot through his brain. Firm, determined, and final.

  Nick rubbed the back of his neck and had a prickling awareness that Krissa was done with him. Her eyes had held surprise and a hint of fear when he’d told her he was jetting south. Well, she didn’t need to worry. Surely, he’d be back within a few days. Besides, he was probably making too much of her hasty departure. He was ready to decorate her body with kisses and bring her to peak ecstasy again and again. This trip was already too long.

  As he settled into his seat, Nick attempted to clear his mind of Krissa’s body arching as he drove into her. Nick shifted. It was going to be a long flight. Hank pulled a laptop out of his briefcase as soon as they’d reached cruising altitude and started to give Nick status updates on the arrangements in Belize. His able assistant talked for almost ten minutes with short nods from Nick. The kid seemed to have it covered.

  Nick’s thoughts drifted back to Krissa. She’d stared at him across the bed with the sheet pulled high as if to protect herself from him. He’d seen panic in her eyes. His heart ached at her vulnerability.

  How could he get Krissa to trust him? He almost laughed at himself. Since when had he been worried about a woman trusting him? When he got back to town, he’d show her that he wasn’t like the others in her life. He wasn’t, was he? An unsettling knot clenched in his belly. Was there really a point in chasing after Krissa if he wasn’t planning to stick around for the long haul?

  He’d prove to Krissa that he was trustworthy. Surely she’d give him a chance. He shied away from analyzing his reasoning. Gut instinct was usually right. He wasn’t going to overthink it.

  Nick stretched out his legs and closed his eyes. He had gotten very little sleep the night before. He tried not to grin.

  * * * *

  Krissa wondered if her day was ever going to be over. Why couldn’t it be a “no school” Friday again? She tried not to groan.

  As her students’ pencils scratched out answers on their tests, her phone buzzed and danced in her desk drawer. Another text message from Nick, she guessed.

  She almost reached for the phone, but she stopped herself. She couldn’t set a bad example for her students.

  What was she going to do about Nick? She had reacted on instinct this morning and had cut and run. Every nerve in her body had shouted for protection and safety. She couldn’t allow another man to let her down and leave her. She didn’t think she could handle it again.

  What was the big deal? It wasn’t like she was serious about Nick. They were just having a little summer flirtation and a touch of hot sex. Besides, he was selling his resort and leaving Wescott Springs for good. He was absolutely no danger to her. Right? Surely there was no harm in answering his texts and playing along. He was fun to be around and he did delicious things to her body.

  She glanced guiltily at her students and cleared her mind of such naughty thoughts. At the first break of the morning, she snuck her phone out of her desk drawer and grinned foolishly at his two messages—“I miss you already” and “Can’t wait to get back to nibble on your ear some more.”

  Krissa felt the tightness over her heart ease. Maybe she didn’t need to be afraid that Nick would hurt her. He was gorgeous and oh dear heaven, he made her body sing. It was like home in his arms. He was practically perfect.

  As soon as she’d thought it, she wished she could take it back. Nothing was perfect. Tim was supposed to have been perfect for her and see how that had ended? There was no such thing as perfect. Certainly not for her.

  Krissa stared at the messages again and then deleted them with a vicious stab of her finger. She tossed the phone back in her purse and readied for her students to return from recess.

  As she packed up her gear at the end of the day, another text popped up on her phone. It was from Nick. She started to delete it, but hesitated. Maybe she would read it later. She tucked her phone back in her bag.

  Her phone rang. Krissa grabbed at it eagerly and checked the caller ID. Her breath caught in her throat and shock rippled over her. It was a strange number, but the last name of Finchley flashed in front of her. She gawked at the phone and let it ring. It rang for an eternity. At long last, it went to voicemail. She cursed under her breath an
d then looked around. Krissa hoped no one had heard her. Her classroom was empty. The hallways were silent.

  She thought a few more colorful curses and then stomped off to her car. Her drive home was a blur. What could Tim possibly want? Why now? Did she even want to talk with him?

  She took Shasta for a walk around the lake and both of them felt lonely. Shasta barked twice as they passed Nick’s deck. Traitor. Even Shasta liked Nick.

  How was she going to avoid him now? Her stomach churned with anxiety.

  As if on cue, her phone chirped the arrival of a text. It was Nick. She tucked the phone back in her pocket and ignored it. She felt sick. She didn’t want to talk. Not to Nick. Not to Tim. Not to anyone.

  * * * *

  Friday night was a blur. As soon as she got home, she grabbed Shasta’s leash and her running shoes and tried to lose herself in the adrenaline and sweat of an hour-long run. As she nibbled on a salad and mindlessly watched the news, she got two texts from Nick and one more text from Tim. She turned her phone face down and refused to read them. She prayed they would both go away.

  She was mentally spent as she crawled into bed, but sleep deserted her. She thought about all of the men who had been in her life. Her father, her brother, Tim, and now Nick. Yes, she had let Nick into her life. Even after she’d promised herself that she was done allowing herself to trust any men. Nick seemed so different. He made her body sing with excitement. He was beyond gorgeous. She was so relaxed and easy in his arms. Protected. Why wouldn’t she let herself trust that emotion?

  She wondered if there really was anything between Nick and Angie. Angie sure seemed to imply that she and Nick were the next hottest thing. Krissa thought it was more likely that Angie was fooling herself. Nick’s attention did really seem to be on Krissa. She groaned and rolled over restlessly. Why couldn’t she let go of the past and let herself give Nick a whirl? Would a fling be so difficult?

  Was it Tim? Just thinking of having to talk to him put her in a tailspin. She searched her heart to see if she was still somehow hung up on her old fiancé. Could she still love him after everything that had happened? He had blown her heart into a trillion pieces by cheating on her. Or had he? Krissa wondered if most of the pain had really been the agony over losing her baby and losing the idea of a family.