That was not at all what she’d expected to hear, and for a moment her thoughts stuttered.
“What does that mean, exactly?” She couldn’t think straight while he was touching her, so she slid her hands from his. “Are you trying to tell me that this is a fling? Because, Duke, I’m a big girl. I know how these things go, and it’s not like I’m looking for marriage.” Strangely, just saying the words made her stand up a little taller. She wasn’t a weak woman who didn’t know the risks of getting involved with a man, but she was a woman. And she was fully aware of the way her body reacted to him, which was a world away from what she was used to, and she wanted to explore that so badly she ached.
“No, Gabriella, that’s not what I meant at all. I can’t make promises of where this is going, not after only two days, no matter what my body is telling me.”
He paused, and even though she wasn’t expecting him to profess his love for her, disappointment filled her chest.
“But I’m not approaching this as a fling,” he said softly. “If I were, I would have slept with you the first night we met, wouldn’t I?” He tucked her hair behind her ear and pressed his hand to her cheek. “A beautiful, smart, strong woman like you? I’d be crazy not to try.”
Her stomach got all fluttery.
“I was crazy not to try, Gabriella, but that’s how I knew you weren’t going to be just a fling, because honestly, I’m not a saint. I’ve had plenty of flings. I know the difference.”
“Is that your best line? Because it doesn’t make me feel any better.” She took a step away, and he closed the distance between them, his eyes dark and serious.
“I don’t use lines, Gabriella.” His words fell fast and angry. “Don’t you think I’ve seen your heart all over this island? Why would I take you like any other woman in the one place you adore? Wouldn’t that ruin it for you forever? To have some guy come along and screw you just to appease his own carnal desires?”
Her mouth dropped open.
“I have respect for you, and I’m trying to let that respect guide me.” He tugged her in close again, sending her pulse into a frenzy, and when he spoke, his voice was low, controlled, demanding. “I won’t lie to you. I want to have you beneath me, to sink into you so deep that you feel me the next day. I want to see you shivering with need, then exploding with passion, but I’m not approaching this as a fling.”
Her breath left her lungs in a rush. His heated words made her knees weaken. Shouldn’t she be wary of a man who was so blatantly honest? Who spoke so dirty? She’d never been talked to like that. But she wasn’t wary. She was blown away, turned on by his need to tell her in such sensual details what he wanted.
“I…” She tried to speak, but her mouth was bone dry.
He closed his eyes for a moment, and she watched as the determination riddling his body and the tension around his mouth eased, and when he opened his eyes, his gaze softened again.
“This is difficult for me, as you can tell. I’m not used to feeling anything like what I feel when I’m with you.” He stepped back, and she knew that was for his benefit as much as hers. “I’m used to seeing what I want, weighing the risks, and moving forward. But this is complicated.”
Now she was the one eating up the distance between them. She placed her hands on his waist, felt his muscles tense beneath them.
“Duke…” She didn’t know what she wanted to say. She just knew she wanted to be there, touching him, not letting him get too far away.
“I can’t make promises about the island, Gabriella, and that’s messing with my head. I’d like to set the business aside and just see how we play out, but I can’t do that. There are too many people relying on me.”
Her mind snapped back to the island. “What are your plans for the island? You must have come here with some idea of what you’d build.”
“I did.” He held her gaze, but she saw a hint of something there—regret? Secrecy? Uncertainty?
“What was it?” She crossed her arms over her chest, needing to stand on her own two feet for his response.
“What it was and what my thoughts are now are two different things. But I can’t commit to either yet. There’s too much that needs to be done, too many aspects that need to be analyzed, if any pieces to the puzzle change.” He stepped closer again, and she remained rigid.
“Gabriella, that is exactly what I’m talking about. The two of us together might be spectacular, but add in the island you love and what I’m here for, and it might spell disaster.”
She knew this. Of course she did. She had since she’d first seen him sitting with Vivi and David outside the welcome center, when her heart had instantly taken notice of him.
“Agreed,” she finally said, wondering what happened to her vocabulary. This was important, and she needed to put her thoughts on the table. She wanted him. Really, really wanted him. To feel his thoughtful caring side mix with his darker, passionate desires, and before she could stop herself, she offered herself up on a silver platter. “What are you suggesting? We’re both consenting adults. I just want to throw that out there.”
He reached for her hand again. “May I?”
She nodded, placed her fingers in his.
“Well, Counselor. I don’t think you’re the type of woman who has flings.”
She opened her mouth to dispute his assessment, but his serious gaze shut the lie down. She wasn’t the type to have flings. Hell, she was barely the type of girl to make out in the woods with a guy after having known him for only two days.
“That’s a good thing, Gabriella, although I wouldn’t have cared if you’d had a hundred flings. Whatever you did before this moment is your business, and it made you the woman you are. I don’t want to change who you are. I like who you are, and I’m sure as hell not looking for a fling with you. I don’t know where we’ll go, but a fling isn’t anywhere in the realm of what I’m thinking. I’m suggesting that we go into this with our eyes open, knowing what’s at stake, knowing that we might butt heads when it comes to the island. And most importantly, letting the people who matter most in this deal know, too. Because I’m not a liar, and if we decide to move forward, I won’t hide my feelings for you.”
Oh God. She wanted that so badly she could taste it. She felt more confident now, knowing where he was coming from. But with that confidence brought a sense of clarity, and she wanted more before she brought her heart out to play. “Why don’t you tell me what your intentions were when you came to the island? Then you can tell me how they’ve changed. That way we’ll have a starting point.”
“Are you sure you want to do this now? We could—”
Before she could chicken out she said, “Yes.”
He nodded and gripped her hand tighter. “Only if you promise to hear me out without storming off.”
She rolled her eyes. “That tells me what I’m in for, doesn’t it?”
“No.” He stepped closer, bringing that heat that undid her with him. “It tells you that I want a fair shot at explaining.”
She held his gaze, measuring her own ability to remain standing there if he said what she didn’t want to hear. Her grandfather trusted her, and negotiating deals she didn’t enjoy was her job. She could do this.
“Okay.”
“You need to take emotions out of the equation. Can you do that?”
“I’m a professional. Of course I can.” She’d take that lie to her grave.
“The island has a lot to offer, but it needs a draw to gain tourism, and that draw has to be a money maker.” He watched her carefully, as if she’d suddenly tell him to stop, that she didn’t want to hear any more.
“Go on.” She ground her teeth together. What he said wasn’t a revelation, but she hated hearing it just the same.
“Our initial thought was an exclusive resort with multiple golf courses, a casino, hotels on the beach, boats—”
She held her palm up, silencing him and trying to reel in her spinning emotions. “After everything I’ve told you,
that’s where you’re headed?”
“You asked me what our initial ideas were, Gabriella, and those were our initial ideas. Certain revenues have to be realized in order for this island to succeed.” His tone was professional, stern even.
She had to admit he was right about what she’d asked. “And now, Duke? How have your visions changed?”
He rubbed the scruff on his jaw. “That’s the answer I don’t have yet. I have ideas, but I can’t commit to anything until I know if they’re feasible.” He slid his hands into his pockets and sighed. “I told you this would be complicated, and if it’s too difficult for you to deal with, I understand.”
Maybe he could understand if she walked away, but could she?
Chapter Nine
GABRIELLA WATCHED DUKE for a long time, reading the honesty and the underlying worry she saw in his eyes and trying to calm the insistent frustration eating away at her insides. What had she expected? Why was knowing the sale of the island was coming and actually hearing it come out of his mouth so different and so freaking hard for her to accept?
“If you want to forget what’s happened between us,” Duke said softly, “then that’s your prerogative. I don’t want to forget anything about you, Gabriella, and even if I did want to, I know I couldn’t. But I don’t want to hurt you, either.”
“I don’t want to forget it, either,” she answered honestly.
Relief washed over his face. “You’re sure?” He reached for her hand again, and when his thumb stroked over her skin, it felt more intimate and right.
“I don’t. It’s all so hard. Being back here when I know the island is going to change. Knowing it needs to change and not wanting it to. All of it, from how it will impact my family to how it will impact the future of the people here makes it so complicated. But you? This? Whatever this is between us?” She stepped closer. “I don’t want to throw away the one thing that makes me feel alive and happy.”
“You can’t imagine how much I needed to hear that. But, Gabriella, you know I can’t make promises about the island. I have an investment partner, and—”
“Duke, I’m a lawyer. I know all about negotiations and broken promises. When I got into law, I knew there would be things I wouldn’t want to deal with, but I also knew it was all part of the job. Dealing with the liars, the cheats, the incessant arguing of people who knew nothing about communicating.” She paused, not wanting to let the darkness of her job creep into her mind.
“You’re working so hard to be honest and up-front, and that means something. Actually”—she gazed up at him—“that means more than almost anything else. You’re not using me to make the deal or placating me to get me in bed. You’re keeping me at arm’s length and allowing me to make my own decision with all the facts, and I appreciate that.”
“Thank you for recognizing that.” He lifted her hand to his lips again. She loved when he did that. It was so sweet, so unassuming. “Still want to know about my family?”
She was relieved that he didn’t try to discuss the island any further. She had a knot in her stomach the size of the island, but she’d done harder things in her life than hoping things wouldn’t go south with a handsome, intelligent, thoughtful man like Duke.
“Yes, I would like that,” she said honestly, wanting to know whatever he was willing to share.
He unlinked their hands and draped an arm around her waist.
“Good,” he said, before kissing the top of her head. “Because after seeing you with your family, it makes me miss mine.”
She loved hearing that, and it made her heart swoon even more.
“I’ve got four younger brothers, and of course, my sister, Trish, the actress I mentioned to Vivi.”
The mention of his sister made her cringe at her earlier assessment. Duke had already proven that he wasn’t the stuffed shirt she’d thought. Chances were, his sister wasn’t the snotty elitist she’d imagined either. She was curious about his family, and more specifically, his parents, who had raised him to be so warmhearted. She knew from experience that apples rarely fell far from the tree. She had all her mother’s sensitivity with her father’s stubbornness. But he’d only offered his siblings, and she’d take that for now.
“Are any of them investors, like you?” she asked as they walked along a rocky trail.
“No.” He laughed. “My brothers don’t have the patience for what I do. Gage is a sports director at a youth center in Colorado. Blue is a skilled craftsman. He builds houses, custom cabinetry, anything, really. And Cash—he recently married—is a New York City firefighter. He and Jake, my youngest brother, who does search and rescue like my father did, are the two who would spend hours out in the woods together. Gage and I were into other, nerdy things.”
“Nerdy? I cannot see that. I picture you as the big man on campus, the studly football player.”
He laughed as he helped her over a pile of rocks.
“Well, not like a pocket-protector-carrying nerd, but the kind who always had his nose in a book or in the computer. I was the kid who studied the next chapter so I’d have a leg up on the other students. I still played football and baseball, but…” He tapped his head. “I liked to stimulate my brain as much as my body.”
She thought of all the ways she’d like to stimulate his body.
As Duke shared the details of his family, openly and without hesitation, she realized that she’d been keeping him from seeing her favorite parts of the island. She’d shown him the sites that were important to all of the residents instead. She’d feared that if she showed him her most treasured areas, she’d be opening herself up to him in a way she wasn’t ready for. But now, as they jumped over the precipice of I want to kiss you and Please don’t ruin the island, she didn’t want to hide anymore. She wanted to share something, too, and she headed down the path that led to one of her favorite spots.
“How about you? Just the two brothers? Niko and Dimitri?”
“Yes. They both own the taverna. No sisters, but Katarina and the rest of my cousins and I are as close as sisters. Sadly, as I mentioned, most of my relatives my age have also been ushered off the island to pursue better lives.”
“Growing up so close, you must miss them.”
“I do, mostly when I’m here, though. My life in New York is so busy I don’t have time to think about how much I miss everyone, well, except at night. But I spend summers on the island, and holidays. At least I have Addy. She’s my assistant and about as close to a sister as I’ll ever have in New York. I wish I could pack her up and move back here.”
“You’ve mentioned wanting to be here so often. Why don’t you move back?”
Her heart squeezed as she admitted the truth. “I think my grandfather knew what he was doing when he urged us off the island.” She tried to ignore the fresh opening of the old wound. She knew it was the dreams of her youth tugging at her, making her stomach knot.
“I talk about wanting to live here again, and a big part of me does want to, but I have to be realistic, and the more time we spend talking about the island, the more I realize what that really means. As much as I don’t want to see the land leave our family, or for the island to change, I do understand that what the island has to offer has changed over the years. And my grandfather was probably right. Our family legacy won’t survive if we all stay. I mean, unless we want to start marrying cousins.”
As they left the woods and crossed the grassy meadow, M’lady’s Home Bridge came into view, giving her something else to focus on.
“This is one of my favorite places.” She pointed to the rickety, wooden bridge. “It’s called M’lady’s Home Bridge, although we usually just call it M’lady’s Home. This is another story that’s been passed down through generations, so take it with a grain of salt. Supposedly Mr. Banks, the man who owns that white house behind the trees on the other side of the bridge, built this bridge, and…This sounds silly when I say it aloud, but I think it’s kind of cool. I’ve heard that there used to be a big iron bell
on this side of the bridge, and his wife was a midwife. When she’d return from delivering babies, or checking on the women in town, she’d ring that bell and he’d tell whichever of his nine kids was around, m’lady’s home, and come out to greet her.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Everything cool about this island is from the past, right?”
“I don’t know about that,” he said as he drew her in close and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was unexpected and tender, not demanding, and it felt natural to kiss him back.
“I think the coolest thing about the island is right here with me,” he said. “And she’s all about being present.”
She squinted up at him. “If anyone else had said that, it would sound cheesy.”
“That’s because you’re not listening with your attorney ears. You’re listening with the ears of a woman who knows this isn’t just a fleeting moment between us. You feel as connected to me as I feel to you.”
He pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that was seductive and tender, instead of feverish and overwhelming, making it that much sweeter.
She didn’t even try to respond as their mouths parted, and was thankful when he linked their fingers together and said, “Let’s walk,” as he led her onto the bridge.
He stopped midway across and leaned on the aged railing. “It’s beautiful out here, so secluded.”
She watched his eyes sweep over the water, across the grassy clumps by the piers, and then back to her. He shifted his weight, so their bodies touched from shoulder to hip, and Gabriella felt her world shift and define, as if they weren’t standing out in the open but had somehow been transported to their own private oasis.
“Why is this one of your favorite places?” He settled his hand on her hip.
Oh God, that feels too good.
His fingers pressed into her skin.
That feels even better.
She tried to remember what he’d asked, but she was lost in how hot he looked, with the sun setting behind him and a flash of bare skin visible through the open buttons of his shirt. He was so much taller than her, so broad and masculine. She had the urge to throw caution to the wind, scale him like a ladder, wrap her legs around his waist, and make out with him.
Claimed by Love (Love in Bloom: The Ryders, Book 2): Duke Ryder Page 8