He grinned sheepishly. “I never said I was the quiet kind.”
“Quiet? More like creepy.” I turned the water faucet off and quickly covered my naked breasts with my hands. “Fucking hell,” I muttered to myself. “You’re like the devil.”
“I’ve heard he’s quite charming, so thank you for the compliment, though I hate to disappoint. I’m quite human.” He held out a white towel out of my reach. “Need this?”
I inched forward and grabbed it from him, then wrapped it around my body. My skin was on fire from his intense gaze. I looked up—fury blazing in my eyes.
“What the fuck are you doing here? This is my hotel room. I paid for it. You have no right to break in.”
“I didn’t break in…” Chase said and leaned against the wall, a smug expression on his face. “Not exactly.”
I frowned at his choice of words. “How did you get in?”
“With this.” His hand moved to his pocket, and he pulled out a key card. It looked exactly like the one I had. “I asked for a visitor card.”
“And they gave you one—no questions asked?” I asked incredulously, shaking my head.
“Well, they only had one question, who I was. I told them I’m your husband.” His eyes flickered with amusement. “I even offered to provide our marriage certificate as proof, but what can I say? They weren’t interested in seeing it.”
That was pure madness. I would file a complaint.
Heck, I’d ask for a refund.
“Unbelievable.” I shook my head again. “You still have no right to be here.”
“Relax, Laurie. I wasn’t planning on staying.”
“Damn right! You’re not.” I tightened the towel around my body before it accidentally slipped off, not missing the hooded glance he gave me. A pull settled between my legs. Chase’s lips twitched, and his eyebrows rose ever so slightly.
What the fuck was he so smug about?
I followed his line of vision, and to my mortification discovered that my left breast was exposed.
I yanked the towel higher, covering myself up as much as I could, as the heat traveled up my neck and face.
“No need to hide, Laurie. I’ve already…”
I rolled my eyes, irritated. “Yeah, I know you’ve already had me.”
“I wanted to say, I already told you how sexy you look, but you’re right, of course.”
The smug bastard.
Of course he wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to remind me what had happened between us; what could still be between us if it weren’t for me discovering his betrayal.
Knots formed in my stomach.
Suddenly, the bathroom felt too cramped.
I needed to get out.
Pressing the towel against my body, I stepped out of the shower cabin, making sure not to get too close to him, and started to wring my dripping wet hair in front of my mirror, my gaze avoiding him.
“Well, I hope you got a good look, because you won’t get to touch me again,” I muttered.
My gaze brushed his in the mirror.
I had expected to see disappointment, maybe even anger, instead a flicker of amusement flickered in his eyes.
“Are you sure about that?” A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “As far as I remember, you were the one asking me to touch you. Maybe not so much to touch as to fuck you. I believe your exact words were ‘I want you to be my first’.”
As I stared at his reflection in the mirror my cheeks flamed. “For your information, I just wanted to get it over and done with. It had nothing to do with you. It could as well have happened with anyone. No offense, Chase, but you were just a means to an end.”
“None taken.” He inclined his head in mock-thought. “I won’t deny it that I’m glad it was me because I doubt you would have had so much fun with someone else.”
“How would you know that?” I turned to regard him, my lips pursed. “Maybe I faked it.”
“Considering my experience and the little sounds you made, I doubt anything about our session was fake.”
I stared at him, my words failing me. Forget the experience part. “I made sounds?”
His lips twitched. “No worries, they were cute.” He lifted a hand, as though to touch me, then dropped it again, his tone mocking. “My only advice for you, next time scream a little louder. It can be a real turn on.”
“You’re…” My expletives remained trapped in my throat. “There won’t be a next time.”
“So you say.” His eyes glinted with a hint of challenge. “Maybe I should say challenge accepted?”
I scowled, heat creeping into my bones. “It happened once. It won’t happen again. And when I say that, I mean as in ‘never’.” I squeezed past him and dashed to the bedroom to get dressed.
“Why not?” he asked, following close behind me.
“Because I’m no longer interested in you.”
“If you’re so impartial, why don’t you remove that towel? I want to see your lack of excitement at the thought of my tongue licking you all over,” Chase said.
The image entered my mind too easily.
Oh, God.
That was the last thing I’d ever do.
Struggling to fight my labored breathing, I walked into the tiny walk-in closet and switched on the lights.
“Surely if you feel nothing, want nothing, it shouldn’t matter whether I see you naked or not,” Chase persevered.
I turned around, forcing my brain to come up with some witty response, but he was faster and beat me to it.
“Thought so, Laurie.”
I peered into his gorgeous eyes. They were mocking but gentle, his expression soft.
Everything in that room stopped still, and it was as if time did, too. It was in that moment I realized how much I still loved him.
As if sensing my emotional undercurrents, Chase moved closer and brushed a wet strand of hair out of my face.
“I know you still want me, Laurie,” he said tenderly. “I won’t make a secret that you’re still on my mind, too.”
My breath hitched, whether it was from the lack of space or from the intimacy, I couldn’t tell.
“You’re delusional,” I managed to croak, which was rewarded with a chuckle.
“No, my mind’s perfectly clear on what I want and what you need.”
Oh, the arrogance.
I had to change the topic—and fast—before his lips, so awfully close, would crash upon mine. That was something I imagined would happen. If he kept doing what he did, his hands playing with my hair, his eyes on my lips, speaking the kind of words I wanted to hear, I’d lose all self-control and kiss him, because the truth was…he was right.
My knees were weak. My heart was racing. Deep inside I could feel hundreds of butterflies fluttering, pounding against the fragile shield I had learned to build in the past.
“What do you want, Chase?”
He hesitated. Dropping his hand, he took a step back and leaned against the wall, his posture implying that he had no intention of leaving anytime soon.
“Why do you assume I want something?” Chase asked.
I stared at him. “Are you serious? You had a folder with an estimate of what my inheritance is worth.”
His lips tightened, and a guilty expression fell on his face. At last he crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes avoiding me.
I used the silence to search for the most oversized piece of clothing I had, and found nothing in the mess I had left behind the night before.
A thong fell from between my clothes. Chase picked it up and lifted it to inspect it. I thought I might just die from mortification.
“Are you kidding me? Give it back.” I yanked it out of his hands.
Unfazed, he sifted through my clothes until he found a short, red dress that belonged to Jude. “You should wear it today.”
I grabbed it from him, meeting his gaze. “Stop touching my things, okay? I’m not going out with you.”
“It was merely a suggestion.” His eyes sparkled with delight. I braced myself for another one of his suggestions, but none came. Instead, his gaze remained glued to my every move. Up close, he smelled fantastic—a deep, manly scent.
A deep pull settled between my legs.
I wanted him so bad, it hurt, and yet I couldn’t act on my desire.
I really had to change the topic—do whatever it took to distract myself from my stupid attraction to him.
“You didn’t answer my first question. What are you doing here?” I found a pair of jeans and a top
“Relax, Laurie. I have no intention of staying here.”
I squeezed my clothes against my chest, the layers of fabric helping to strengthen my mental barrier. “You still had no right to come and see me.”
“You’re right.” Something hard flashed across his face. He tried to hide it by turning his back to me and walking out of the closet, but I caught it nonetheless. I thought he had left so I peered out. He regarded me from the minibar, which I had raided earlier.
“May I?” He pointed to a bottle of something.
“I’m going to change.” I shrugged, not bothering to answer.
While he kept himself busy with the bottles and glasses, I used the opportunity to dress quickly, all the while listening to make sure he wouldn’t try to come in.
But my fear was unfounded.
He left me alone.
He didn’t look.
Not once.
He gave me all the privacy I needed.