The next morning, after a hurried breakfast, she and Zach were walking down the beach, looking for seashells when he picked up her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. She stood back up from where she'd been leaning over, examining at a broken sand dollar, and looked at his hand holding hers. He gave her a smile, and kept walking.
Katie felt a flurry of butterflies in her stomach as they continued to stroll down the beach, hand in hand. They'd exchanged heated looks, and he'd leaned in and kissed her lips a few times, and every time he did it, the butterflies got stronger. They were only simple kisses, closed-mouthed and quick, but they were enough to induce a heat that continued to make the blood pound in her veins.
They had walked for maybe ten minutes toward the hotels when they came across the crying girl. She was maybe six or seven, and her parents were nowhere to be found. It was still early morning, and she had wandered off from the hotel swimming pool--that much Katie got out of her between sobs. The little girl didn't know which hotel it was; they all looked the same to her.
Katie distracted the child from her tears and sat with her on the beach while Zach went to get help.
Zach made the decision to bypass the first hotel when he saw the commotion in front of the second. There was a hysterical woman, and people were frantically running around and looking out over the water.
He had both parents calm in seconds, and began leading them back to Katie, where she sat playing in the sand with her new little friend.
They were thanked profusely, and Katie hugged both mother and child before turning around and walking back home with Zach.
"You're good with kids." Zach's voice was deep.
Katie glanced up at him, her hand once again imprisoned by his. "That's good to know." She flashed him a smile. "Because I am a teacher."
He squeezed her hand, but made only a noncommittal response that she couldn't decipher. "Mmmm."
Over the next four days, Zach took Katie to do all the things she wanted to do on the island. They went parasailing, snorkeling, and deep-sea fishing. She had the crazy feeling that she was being courted. He indulged her, spoiled her even, letting he choose everything they did and focusing all his attention on pleasing her.
The hours were spent in relaxation and easy camaraderie. But if the daytime hours were spent doing whatever caught her fancy, the evening hours were filled with a game of the cat tries to seduce the mouse.
The evening after the fishing expedition found Katie totally worn out. She had gotten seasick, and although she hadn't thrown up, she was left weak and tired. Confounding her even more was the fact that she couldn't rationalize that the chivalrous man who had pampered her for the last few days was the same man who had forced her to sign a contract giving him the next five years of her life. The same man who had threatened her mom and dad with foreclosure.
She pushed the inconsistencies from her brain and tried to relax on the couch and enjoy the same routine they'd been following for the previous evenings.
Zach chose the movie that night, a light romantic comedy that was only a year or so old, a movie he thought she might enjoy, and then set the remote down. He had enjoyed all the time he'd spent with her, but the constant arousal he felt in her presence was only growing with time. He admitted to himself he was trying to woo her, but so far, all he had earned for his efforts were long, drawn out goodnight kisses that set him on fire and left him wanting more.
Sitting with his back against the corner of the couch, he pulled her down in front of him, her back against his chest, his arms casually hooked around her, both of them facing the television.
The movie began to roll.
It took ten full minutes before he felt the moment when Katie trusted him enough to fully relax in his arms as she began to watch the movie.
Thirty minutes into it, Katie knew there was no hope of her caring anything about the film. Zach's arms were around her, and for the last five minutes he had been nuzzling the back of her neck through her hair. She could feel him breathing in the scent of her hair, he was taking in deep breaths, his arms would get tighter, and his lips kept moving from the crown of her head to her neck and back. Her eyes drooped closed.
His large hand turned her face towards him enough that he could nip at her lips. He took gentle kisses, with light touches.
He picked her up by the torso, and turned her in his arms. Her hands fell to his shoulders, her breath catching in her throat, her eyes on his.
"Katie."
He was aroused. She knew it. He was aroused and several feelings infiltrated her at once. Panic, excitement, her own arousal.
His hand slid through her hair and cupped her ear. "I want my goodnight kiss now, sweetheart."
His eyes were half closed, his concentration fierce on her mouth, making the blood pump heavily in her veins. He didn't take the kiss; he waited for her agreement.
In that moment, Katie wanted his kiss. She gave a slight nod of her head, and closed her eyes, waiting for his kiss, like a sixteen-year old after her first date.
She didn't have long to wait. His lips landed softly on hers, brushing against them gently. His hand slid to her jaw and lifted her mouth to a better angle. The movement made her lips part a tiny bit, and she tasted him. Her fingers climbed around his neck, and his lips pushed hers open all the way.
What happened after that had Katie shaking in her shoes. The deepest, longest, sweetest kiss she had ever received in her life. He drank from her mouth, not holding her anywhere except that one hand cupping her face. He kissed her softly, tenderly, in a way that made her think it was all he wanted in the world.
He didn't push for more; he didn't try to caress her in anyway. Just those kisses, over and over and over again. She knew he was aroused, she could feel his erection between them. His muscles had tautened, coiling into ropes that she could feel in the cords of his neck as she held on. But he never scared her, never attempted to take what she didn't want to give, never brutalized her in any way at all. She never felt powerless. In fact, she felt like she had all the power. Over him.
It was a heady feeling.
He slowly lifted his head from hers. She watched his eyes open, slowly focus on her, and what she saw in the depths of his eyes had the breath snarling in her lungs. It was need.
He cleared his throat. "I want you, Katie. I want you bad, baby. I've wanted you so long it feels like I'm dying inside."
She didn't know how to answer. She wasn't ready to give him what he needed. She prayed for more time.
Her prayers were answered.
He smiled softly at her, ran his hand lightly down to cup her shoulder, squeezed slightly, and said, "Go to bed, sweetheart."
Katie uncurled herself from his lap, stumbled to her feet and went to bed.
But it was a long, long time before she fell asleep.
Zach turned off the television and sat in the darkened room. When he held Katie in his arms, he felt things he hadn't felt in a long time, if ever. He was forced to think about things he didn't want to acknowledge.
He truly had, at one time, believed he was in love with his wife. Obviously, that was what had sent him off the rails at her desertion and death. He had been totally blindsided when she had started cheating on him. He'd never seen it coming. In retrospect, he could now see that he had been too busy building his company to pay much attention to her needs. It didn't excuse what she had done, but it did explain it somewhat. He had been furious at himself, as well as with her. The anger he had felt toward her, toward himself, had manifested itself in a bad way. Revenge was never a good idea. But vengeance against the innocent was unacceptable.
He would always feel bitter towards Chris Turner, but the man was dead, and Zach knew he needed to get over it. Katie and her parents had never done anything to him, and deep down, he had always known it. He had needed someone else to blame, because he sure as hell wasn't going to blame himself. When Chris and Cindy had died, it had been extremely easy to shift the blame to the Turner family. Shit, he was probably lucky he wasn't in prison somewhere, or at least faced with a lawsuit. What he had done to them could probably be constituted as harassment, if they wanted to go after him.
The Turner family had never done anything to him, and Katie damn sure hadn't.
What the hell had he been thinking? Could his head get any farther up his ass? Forcing Katie into a contract was one thing, but he'd known all along that he couldn't force her to have sex with him. Not only was it immoral, it was criminal. When this had started days ago, he'd been angry and had assumed when he directed her into bed, when the time was at hand, she'd open up for him. She might be angry at first, but that anger would only lead to more explosive sex. They would have a red hot affair, he would get her out of his system, and that would be that. But now he knew differently. She wasn't going to fall in with his plans. She wasn't going to simply fall into his arms and into his bed. And anyway, that wasn't all he wanted from her anymore. Had it really ever been?
So where did he draw the line? How far could he take morality without stepping over the edge? How long could he realistically keep her here? It had been a week already. If he did what the situation demanded, he would have to let her go. Let her out of the contract, and give her parents the time to pay him back in a realistic manner. When he thought about it rationally, he could see that her parents had been screwed almost as much as he had. If they lost their home and property, their lives would be radically affected by the actions of two people they had had no control over. And now his sister was marrying Josh Turner. How could he continue as he'd been doing?