Maid for a Magnate(24)

"Someone will come for us," she told him. "Besides, with you cooking  and letting me nap, you're spoiling me. Dinner smells a lot like that  chicken dish you made me for our first date."

Will grinned back at her and winked. Winked. What had she woken to?  Will in the kitchen cooking and actually relaxed enough to wink and  smile as if he hadn't a care in the world.                       
       
           



       

"It is," he confirmed. "I'll bring it to you so don't worry about getting up."

"I actually need to go to the restroom."

In seconds, Will was at her side helping her up. When he went to lift her in his arms, she pushed against him.

"Just let me lean on you, okay? No need to carry me."

Wrapping an arm around her waist, Will helped her stand. "How's the ankle feeling?"

"Really sore, but better than it was." She tested it, pulling back when  the sharp throbbing started again. "Putting weight on it still isn't a  smart move, but hopefully it will be much better by tomorrow."

Will assisted her across the room, but when they reached the bathroom  doorway, she placed a hand on his chest. "I can take it from here."

No way was he assisting her in the bathroom. She'd like to hold onto  some shred of dignity. Besides, she needed a few moments to herself to  regain mental footing since she was stuck playing house with the only  man she'd ever envisioned spending forever with.

"I'll wait right here in case you need something," he told her. "Don't lock the door."

With a mock salute, Catalina hobbled into the bathroom and closed the  door. The scent of some kind of masculine soap assaulted her senses. A  damp towel hung over the bar near the shower. He'd made use of the time  she'd been asleep. Her eyes darted to the bathtub that looked as if it  could seat about four people. What she wouldn't give to crawl into that  and relax in some hot water, with maybe a good book or a glass of wine.  When was the last time she'd indulged in such utterly selfish desires?

Oh, yeah, when she'd stripped Will naked and had her way with him in the old cabin earlier today.

A tap on the door jerked her from her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Give me a minute."

A girl couldn't even fantasize in peace around here. She still needed  time to process what their intimacy meant and the new, unexpected path  their relationship had taken. Will had most likely thought of what  happened the entire time she'd been asleep. Of course he was a man, so  he probably wasn't giving their encounter the amount of mind space she  would.

Minutes later, Catalina opened the door to find Will leaning against  the frame. Once again he wrapped an arm around her and steered her  toward the bed.

"I can eat at the table." She hated leaning on him, touching him when  her nerves were still a jumbled up mess. "I'm already up. That bed is  too beautiful to eat on."

In no time he'd placed their plates on the table with two glasses of wine...again, her favorite. A red Riesling.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you stocked this kitchen just for  me," she joked as she took her first sip and knew it wasn't the cheap  stuff she kept stocked in her fridge.

"I did buy a lot of things I knew you liked." His fork froze midway to  his mouth as he looked up at her. "At least, you liked this stuff four  years ago."

For a split second, he seemed unsure. Will was always confident in  everything, but when discussing her tastes, he suddenly doubted himself.  Why did she find that so adorable?

She felt a shiver travel up her spine. She didn't have time for these  adorable moments and couldn't allow them to influence her where this man  was concerned. That clean break she wanted couldn't happen if she let  herself be charmed like that.

They ate in silence, but Catalina was surprised the strain wasn't  there. Everything seemed...normal. Something was up. He wasn't trying to  seduce her, he wasn't bringing up the past or any other hot topic.

What had happened while she'd been asleep? Will had suddenly  transformed into some sort of caretaker with husbandlike qualities.

But after a while she couldn't take the silence anymore. Catalina  dropped her fork to her empty plate. "That was amazing. Now, tell me  what's going through your mind."

Will drained his glass before setting it back down and focusing on her. "Right now I'm thinking I could use dessert."

"I mean why are you so quiet?"

Shrugging, he picked up their plates and put them in the kitchen. When  he brought back the wine bottle, she put a hand over hers to stop him  from filling her glass back up.

"If I need more pain pills later, it's best I don't have any more even though I only took a half pill."

Nodding, he set the bottle on the table and sat across from her again.

"Don't ignore the question."

A smile kicked up at the corners of his mouth. "I'm plotting."

Catalina eased back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.  "You're always plotting. I take it I'm still in the crosshairs?"                       
       
           



       

His eyes narrowed in that sexy, toe-curling way that demanded a woman take notice. "You've never been anywhere else."

Her heart beat faster. When he said those things she wanted to believe  him. She wanted to be the object of his every desire and fantasy. And  when he looked at her as if nothing else in the world mattered, she  wanted to stay in that line of sight forever, though she knew all of  that was a very naïve way of thinking.

"I only set out to seduce you," he went on, toying with the stem on his  glass. "I wanted you in my bed more than anything. And now that I've  had you..."

Catalina wished she'd had that second glass of wine after all. "What are you saying?"

His intense stare locked onto her. "We're different people. Maybe we're at a stage where we can learn from the past and see..."

It took every ounce of her willpower not to lean forward in  anticipation as his words trailed off yet again. "And see what?" she  finally asked.

"Maybe I want to see where we could go."

Catalina gasped. "You're not serious."

Those heavy-lidded eyes locked onto her. "I can't let you go now that I know how right we are together."

Her eyes shifted away and focused on the posh living space while she tried to process all he was saying.

Her mother's words of warning from years ago echoed in Catalina's mind.  How could she fall for this man with his smooth words and irresistible  charm? Hadn't her mother done the same thing with Patrick?

No. Will wasn't Patrick and Catalina was not her mother.

To her knowledge, Will, even to this day, had absolutely no idea what  had transpired when he'd been a young boy right around the time of his  mother's death. That hollow pit in Catalina's stomach deepened. Had the  affair been the catalyst in Mrs. Rowling's death?

"Why now?" she asked, turning back to face him. "Why should I let you  in now after all this time? Is it because I'm convenient? Because I'm  still single or because you're settling?"

Why was fate dangling this right in front of her face when she'd  finally decided to move on? It had taken her years to get up the nerve  to really move forward with her dream and now that she'd decided to take  a chance, Will wanted back in?

"Trust me, you're anything but convenient," he laughed. "I've busted my butt trying to think of ways to get your attention."

Catalina swallowed. "But why?"

"Because you want this just as much as I do," he whispered.

Catalina stared down at her hands clasped in her lap. "We're at the age  now that our wants don't always matter." Letting her attention drift  back up, she locked her eyes on him. "We both have different goals,  Will. In the end, nothing has really changed."

"On that we can agree." Will came to his feet, crossed to her side of  the table and loomed over her. His hands came to rest on the back of her  chair on either side of her shoulders. "In the end, I'll still want you  and you'll still want me. The rest can be figured out later."

Before she could say anything, he'd scooped her up in his arms. "Don't  say a word," he chided. "I want to carry you, so just let me. Enjoy this  moment, that's all I'm asking. Don't think about who we are away from  here. Let me care for you the way you deserve."

His warm breath washed over her face as she stared back at him. He didn't move, he just waited for her reply.

What could she say? He was right. They both wanted each other, but was  that all this boiled down to? There were so many other outside factors  driving a wedge between them. Did she honestly believe that just because  he said so things would be different?