Wrapping his arms around her, he whispered in her ear. "I messed up," he admitted. "I only wanted to protect you and went about it the wrong way. Don't shut me out now, Cat. We have too much between us. This goes so much deeper than either of us realizes and I won't let my father continue to ruin what we have."
Dammit, somewhere along the way to a heated affair Will had developed stronger feelings, a deeper bond with Cat than he'd anticipated. And now that he knew he wanted more from her, he was close to losing it all.
"And what do we have, Will?" Her words came out on a choked sob.
"What do you want?"
* * *
What do you want?
Catalina couldn't hold in the tension another second. There was only so much one person could handle and Will's simple question absolutely deflated her. Melting back against his body once more, she swallowed the emotion burning her throat.
"I want..." Catalina shut her eyes, trying to figure out all the thoughts fighting for head space. "I don't know now. Yesterday I knew exactly what I wanted. I was ready to leave Alma to get it."
Will's fingertips slid up and down her bare arms, causing her body to tremble beneath his delicate touch. "And now? What do you want now, Cat?"
Everything.
"I don't want to make things harder for you," he went on. "But I'm not backing down. Not this time."
And there was a portion of her heart that didn't want him to. How could she be so torn? How could two dreams be pulling her in completely different directions?
Because the harder she'd tried to distance herself from him, the more she was being pulled back in.
"I'm afraid," she whispered. "I can't make promises and I'm not ready to accept them from you, either."
His hands stilled for the briefest of moments before he kissed the top of her head. Catalina turned her cheek to rest against his chest, relishing the warmth of his body, the strong steady heartbeat beneath her. Part of her wanted to hate him for his actions years ago, the other part of her wanted to cry for the injustice of it all.
But a good portion of her wanted to forgive him, to believe him when he said that he'd sacrificed himself to keep her safe. Why did he have to be so damn noble and why hadn't he told her to begin with? He didn't have to fight that battle all on his own. Maybe she could have saved him, too.
Catalina closed her eyes as the yacht rocked steadily to the soothing rhythm of the waves. She wanted to lock this moment in time and live here forever. Where there were no outside forces trying to throw obstacles in their way and the raw honesty...
No. She still carried a secret that he didn't know and how could she ever tell him? How could she ever reveal the fact that his father had had an affair with her mother? Would he hate her for knowing?
"Will, I need-"
"We're done talking. I just want to hold you. Nothing else matters right now."
Turning a bit more in his arms, Catalina looked up into those vibrant eyes that had haunted her dreams for years. "Make love to me, Will. I don't care about anything else. Not when I can be with you."
In one swift, powerful move, he had her straddling his lap. Catalina hissed a breath when her ankle bumped his thigh.
"Dammit. Sorry, Cat."
She offered him a smile, stroking the pad of her thumb along the worry lines between his brows. "I'm fine," she assured him as she slid the ties at the side of her dress free. "I don't want to think about my injury, why we're stuck here or what's waiting for us when we get back. All I want is to feel you against me."
Will took in the sight of her as she continued to work out of her clothing. When his hands spanned her waist, she arched against his touch.
He leaned forward, resting his forehead against her chest as he whispered, "You're more than I deserve and everything I've ever wanted."
Framing his face with her hands, Catalina lifted his head until she could look him in the eyes. "No more talking," she reminded him with a soft kiss to his lips. "No more talking tonight."
Tomorrow, or whenever they were able to get off this island, she'd tell him about his father. But for now, she'd take this gift she'd been given and worry about the ugly truth, and how they would handle it, later.
Fifteen
By the second day, Catalina still hadn't told Will the truth. How could she reveal such a harsh reality when they'd been living in passionate bliss on a beautiful island in some fantasy?
They'd both fiddled with the radio and tried their cell phones from various spots on the island, but nothing was going through. She wasn't going to panic quite yet. They had plenty of food and for a bit, she could pretend this was a dream vacation with the man she'd fallen in love with.
Will rolled over in bed, wrapping his arm around her and settling against her back. "I'd like to say I can't wait to get off this island, but waking up with you in my arms is something I could get used to."
His husky tone filled her ear. The coarse hair on his chest tickled her back, but she didn't mind. She loved the feel of Will next to her.
"I'm getting pretty spoiled, too." She snuggled deeper into his embrace. "I'm never going to want to leave."
"Maybe that's how I want you to be," he replied, nipping her shoulder.
"We can't stay here forever," she laughed.
"As long as you don't leave Alma, I'm okay with going back."
A sliver of reality crept back in. Catalina shifted so that she could roll over in his arms and face him.
"I don't plan on working as a maid forever," she informed him, staring into his eyes. "And after what you told me about your father, I think it's best if I don't work there anymore. I can't work for a man who completely altered my future. I stayed with James because I adore him and I moved on to Patrick because I needed the job, but now that I know the full truth, I can't stay there."
Will propped himself up on his elbow and peered down at her. "I understand, but stay in Alma. Stay with me."
"And do what?" she asked, already knowing this conversation was going to divide them. "I have goals, Will. Goals that I can't ignore simply because we're... I don't even know what this is between us right now."
"Do you need a label?" he asked.
Part of her wanted to call this something. Maybe then she could justify her feelings for a man who'd let her go so easily before.
She had no idea what she was going to do once she got back to Alma. Working for Patrick was not going to happen. She'd put up with his arrogance for too long. Thankfully she'd only worked for him a short time because up until recently, James had been the one occupying the Playa del Onda home. Catalina had had a hard enough time working for Patrick knowing what she did about her mother, but now knowing he'd manipulated his son and crushed their relationship, Catalina couldn't go back there. Never again.
So where did that leave her? She didn't think she was quite ready to head out with her designs and start pursuing her goal. She had a few more things she'd like to complete before she made that leap.
"What's going through your mind?" Will asked, studying her face.
"You know the sewing set you got me?"
Will nodded.
"You have no idea how much that touched me." Catalina raked her hand through his blond hair and trailed her fingertips down his jaw, his neck. "I've been sewing in my spare time. Making things for myself, for my mother. It's been such a great escape and when I saw what you'd gotten me, I..."
Catalina shook her head and fell back against the bed. She stared up at the ceiling and wished she could find the right words to tell him how much she appreciated the gift.
"So you're saying it was a step up from the flowers?" he joked.
Shifting her gaze to him, her heart tightened at his playful smile. "I may have cried," she confessed. "That was the sweetest gift ever."
Will settled over her, his hands resting on either side of her head. "It was meant more as a joke," he said with a teasing smile. "And maybe I wanted to remind you of what we did in the utility room."
Cat smacked his chest. "As if I could've forgotten. That's all I could think about and you know it."
He gave her a quick kiss before he eased back. "It's all I could think of, too, if that helps."
Catalina wrapped her arms around his neck, threading her fingers through his hair. "What are we going to do when we get back?"
"We're going to take this one day at a time because I'm not screwing this up again."