by J. K. Coi
Was he saying that was the case now? That she was wasting her time? With a deep breath, she took a step forward, not ready to give up. “You walked out on my speech this afternoon.”
He nodded, his gaze inscrutable. “Yes.”
She took another step and stopped right in front of him. “It was a good speech. All about learning to take risks and trusting your heart.”
“Is that all you came here to say?” His voice didn’t soften an iota.
“No, I just figured I’d start with that.” She sighed. “I wanted to tell you that no matter how I felt, I never would have agreed to go to New York with you.”
He squared his shoulders. “Well, that’s that then, isn’t it? Maybe you should leave. I’ve got a plane to—”
“No, wait. This isn’t coming out right,” she interrupted, shaking her head. “It’s the truth, but…only because I think I needed this year to be on my own. I needed the challenge of starting my own business, and to work things out with my brother. I needed to face the truth if I was ever going to be able to look to the future, and the truth is, it’s hard to imagine being with you and not think of how much it would hurt to lose you. In fact, it’s impossible to imagine being with you, without worrying that our love would one day turn stale and cold, just like my parents’ marriage.”
She dared a glance at his face. He looked down his nose like she was nothing to him. The dagger she’d stabbed herself with when she pushed him away stuck into her heart a little deeper. Still, she was on a roll and wouldn’t stop until she’d at least said everything she came here to say. She deserved nothing, but Ben, at least, deserved the truth.
But she couldn’t see that look in his eyes when she said it, and so she glanced down at the floor. “I spent the last few days telling myself that we would just have some fun together and then go our separate ways at the end of the week. I thought it would be easy. At least way easier than admitting I’ve been in love with you all this time.”
Her fingers twisted in the folds of her jacket. She needed to get through this. “But I realized that even if this thing between us lasts only one day, I’ll take it. I’ll take as much time with you as I’m given because the alternative is to let you walk away again…and I just can’t seem to do that.”
“You don’t have much choice anymore,” he said coldly. “I laid my soul bare and offered you everything that it was in me to give, not once, but twice. Do you really think I’ll do that a third time?”
“I was hoping…”
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t smile and say it was all right, that they could have one more chance. He just watched her until she wanted to crawl down into the floor and disappear.
She swallowed and nodded, her movements jerky. “Okay. I…I understand,” she whispered, feeling like her chest had been cracked open and her heart ripped out. “My fault. I realized my mistake too late, and you have every right to walk…”
She couldn’t finish. She spun around, fumbling through her tears to find the door knob. She yanked it open and stumbled out into the hallway.
Somehow, she made it to the elevator and jabbed her finger on the button. It seemed to take forever, but when the door opened, she rushed inside.
“What floor?”
Startled, she conspicuously swiped the tears from her cheeks and realized she wasn’t alone. There were three men and two women in the elevator with her. Just my luck. She groaned inwardly. A quick glance confirmed they were all part of the convention, with badges still hanging from their necks.
“Sorry?” she croaked.
“What. Floor?” The man closest to the keypad repeated impatiently. One of the women jabbed him sharply in the arm.
“Um.” She obviously hadn’t been thinking when she raced down the hall. Her room was right beside Ben’s, but she couldn’t go back there. She just couldn’t.
“Wherever you’re going is fine.” The elevator door was sliding shut, and that was all she cared about. Getting as far away from this floor as possible. She’d get out at the next stop and hide out in the stairwell. At least she knew from experience that there, she’d be guaranteed some privacy until she was capable of hiding her shattered heart from public eyes.
Before the door shut completely, there was a shout out in the hall.
No, no, no. Don’t do this to me.
One of the men instinctively threw out a hand in front of the slider so that the door jerked to a stop and started back the other way. “No!” she cried. “Let it close, please.”
He’d obviously picked up on her distressed state and took his hand away again. The elevator door hesitated but started to close again.
Too late.
Ben’s hand, followed by his sculpted, still bare arm, snaked inside the elevator to stop the door. Desperate to disappear, she squeezed past the other passengers until her heels hit the back of the elevator.
Her mouth dropped open. He’d come after her without changing, without even putting on a pair of shoes.
Both of the women gasped as he filled the entrance, holding the hotel-sized towel around his waist with just one fisted hand. The edge barely reached the tops of his muscular thighs and spread apart at the bottom. Water still dripped from his tousled hair and tracked over his naked shoulders and chest, down his torso, and beneath the edge of the towel.
“Beth!”
“Oh God,” she murmured, devastated. She just wanted to lick her wounds in private.
“Dude,” one guy said with a grin. “You want to go get dressed and do…whatever this is with the lady later?”
“Stay out of it,” he snapped, slapping his palm flat against the door when it tried to shut on him again. “Beth, come back out.”
His pecs flexed as he stretched to find her way in the back. She peered through the break in the bodies standing between them. He was the most magnificent thing she’d ever seen.
And he was about to lose that towel.
One of the women in the elevator leaned in close. “If you’re not going to go with him, I will,” she whispered.
Liz’s lips twitched, but she crossed her arms. “You made yourself pretty clear, Ben. What do you want?”
“You!” His jaw clenched as their gazes locked. “Of course I want you. I’ve always wanted you.”
“Really?” Hope bloomed.
“Would I be out here in the hallway of the hotel naked, holding up a packed elevator, if I wasn’t serious?” Exasperation tinged his voice, but there was laughter in his eyes.
“Then why would you make me go through that back there? You all but threw me out of your room.”
“Seriously, dude?” The one guy piped up again. “That’s not cool, man. I would never—”
“I didn’t throw her out,” he snarled with impatience, a telling flush crawling down his neck to his chest. “I just…damn it, Beth. I was hurt, and it was instinct for me to try to protect myself so it couldn’t happen again. But I knew as soon as you ran out the door that I’d made a horrible mistake. I don’t want to protect myself from you. You’re the one person I know I can be vulnerable with. I knew it yesterday, and nothing’s changed today.”
A high-pitched beeping sound interrupted them. It was the elevator, probably getting pissy because the door had been held open for so long.
“Beth, please come out,” he said.
Every single person in the elevator turned to look at her with expectant expressions. She bit her lip.
The elevator started to beep louder. “That’s the alarm,” someone said. “This door’s gotta close now, or security’ll be up here to investigate.”
Reluctantly, Ben let go of the elevator and took a step back. She looked into his eyes, filled with a naked honesty, forgiveness, and so much love.
“Let me out. Don’t let the door close,” she said urgently, pushing her way back to the front as quickly as she could, her heart filled to bursting.
The two women started clapping, and one of the guys hooted as Liz threw herself at Ben an
d reached around his neck to kiss him. The door started closing again just as he put both arms around her…and let go of the towel.
The sound of the security alarm and the startled gasps of their audience were cut off as the elevator finally closed.
When he finally lifted his head, he smoothed the hair back from her face and smiled softly. “Want to give me your jacket?”
She giggled. “No way.”
“Come on, I’m naked here.” His grin twisted. “And I forgot to grab a passkey before I left the hotel room.”
She shook with laughter, until it was hard to breathe. “You’ll have to make do with the itty-bitty towel.” She opened her coat and showed him why.
“You’re not wearing anything under there!” He snapped the jacket tightly closed and looked over her shoulder.
That only made her laugh harder.
If she’d learned anything this week, it was that some spontaneity and reckless behavior was good for a person. It kept the blood pumping and the soul alive.
Yeah, she could do this.
“Jesus,” he muttered. “When you decide to embrace recklessness, you really go all out, don’t you?”
“That was the idea,” she said. “But I think you just took the cake coming after me the way you did.”
He laughed. “Please tell me that you have your room key with you.”
She nodded. He bent and grabbed his towel, and they quickly retreated back down the hall to her room.
Inside, he slammed the door shut and pressed her up against the wall, tossing the scrap of terrycloth and pushing her coat off her shoulders to the floor. She groaned and tipped her head back. The air conditioners still weren’t working because of the storm, and the heat of his body was sticky against her bare skin.
“Wait,” she murmured, her hand against his chest. “You’re getting on a plane to New York in, what? A couple of hours? How are we going to make this work after we leave paradise? I need to know we have a plan.”
With such gentleness she could cry, he cupped her face in his hands. “Is that the only thing you’re worried about?”
She nodded. “I think I managed to work the rest out on my own.”
“Baby, that’s going to be the easy part. We’ll find a way,” he promised with a kiss. “Don’t you think with our two brilliant minds put together we’ll be able to figure out a simple matter of geography?”
“And, you think you can handle…handle your girlfriend being your company’s biggest competition?” Oh God, thinking was impossible now. The look in his eyes was smoking, as if he had already planned out all the things he was going to do to her body.
He leaned over her until his mouth was just a hairsbreadth away from hers. “It will definitely keep things interesting,” he murmured, tugging her bottom lip between his teeth, then soothing the tiny bite with his tongue.
She pressed her chest against his, trying to contain the ache spreading through her.
“But since we’re all about taking risks now, don’t think you’ll be able to avoid a merger forever…on both personal and professional levels.” His kiss was deeper this time, drugging and sweet.
“I suppose I might be persuaded to entertain proposals.” She couldn’t get enough of him, her gaze following her trembling hands over every dip and curve and plane of his muscled body, as he did the same to her.
“I thought you might.” His eyes sparkled as he lifted her right off the ground into his arms. “But don’t worry, I have no doubt we’ll find a creative way to negotiate terms.”
Suddenly she felt like laughing because it was hard to contain such joy and happiness. More than that, she felt hope and confidence, that what they had together was good and strong, and that it could really last. That it could grow into something even more precious.
“First, I seem to remember another promise you made that has yet to be fulfilled.”
He stopped short, his expression turning quizzical. “What promise is that?”
“You promised we’d do it up against the wall.”
She did laugh then, and when his booming laugh mingled with hers, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight, ready for the adventure of her life.
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Acknowledgments
I love the moment when a book is really, truly finished. Not the day that I write the last word on the last page of my first draft—a book is never finished on that day—I’m talking about the day when all the revising, editing, polishing, scheduling, cover art, and other behind-the-scenes work is done. Because after the first draft (sometimes the second or third), that’s when the book gets into the hands of all the people who really make the story shine, and that’s why I want to say thank you to a whole bunch of wonderful people now.
First and foremost, thank you to all the readers, bloggers, and reviewers out there. You are why I do this! You make “coming into work each day” a JOY, and it’s my dream to be able to write more stories for you all to enjoy, so I want to hear from you!
Of course, I want to thank my husband and son, who support my dreams in so many ways. It’s about more than ignoring the piles of laundry when I’m on deadline, or remembering everything that I forget. It’s about the sacrifices we make together, and the future we plan together. Thank you so much! I can never express how much it means to me to have you in my corner.
And to my talented critique partners, the people who aren’t afraid to tell me when I’ve lost my focus and help get me back on track. They are there each and every day to keep me going, and are the dearest friends I could ever ask for: Christine, Kim, Amy, and Paula.
This book would not be what it is without the invaluable knowledge, assistance, and guidance of three very important people: Tracy Montoya, Kate Fall, and Alethea Spiridon Hopson. I’m so grateful to be working with you all.
And to all the other fantastic people at Entangled Publishing and especially with the Indulgence line, who work so hard to bring out the best in us authors, including (but certainly not limited to) Heather Howland, Liz Pelletier, Heather Riccio, Debbie Suzuki, and Melanie Smith.
About the Author
J.K. Coi is a multi-published, award-winning author of contemporary and paranormal romance and urban fantasy. She makes her home in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and son and a feisty black cat who is the uncontested head of the household. While she spends her days immersed in the litigious world of insurance law, she is very happy to spend her nights writing dark and sexy characters who leap off the page and into readers’ hearts.
Find her online at www.jkcoi.com, and visit her alter ego, Chloe Jacobs, who writes thrilling dark fantasy for young adults (www.chloejacobs.com).
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