Undeniably His(47)

I press my lips together. My pulse pounds in my ears, and my skin crawls at the thought of losing him. I raise my eyes to his and twist my lips to the side. “I have a better idea.” The idea rushes to my head no sooner than the words fall from my lips. I know that the question I am about to ask him can end it all, and even seem offensive. But I want to know the truth. I want to know that Kalin isn’t just using me to get what he wants. And I want to know once and for all. I garner my courage and turn to face him. “Tell me that you are prepared to walk away from this company for me. Tell me that you will continue to see me, but without the shareholder agreement, without the company shares, and without this contract. Just us.”

Kalin turns from me and glances down at the shore. His tone is more serious than usual. “You realize what this would mean for the employees, for the company, and for everyone else?”

“You can’t save everyone, Kalin. But my judgment is clouded by all of this, and I cannot go through with it. I don’t want a deadline, and I don’t want an ultimatum for marriage. I just want you and me, and let everything else take care of itself. Can’t we just start with that?”

“You realize you’ll be giving up any interests in the stock, and your rights that come with it.”

“Yes.” My eyes flick down and back to Kalin. “So I will still need the job.”

Kalin glances at me and bursts out laughing. I shake my head at him and frown, but I can’t help but join him. His deep laugh is infectious.

Kalin steps around me and presses his hands over my bare stomach, pulling me into him. His full lips glide down my neck and to my shoulder, peppering kisses along the way. “You’re impossible to please. But I will do my best.” His hoarse whisper caresses my ear.

My fingers slide against the smooth curve of his neck, and his hand slips under my bikini top to the swell of my breast. Kalin kisses the back of my neck, and I turn to him. I push away from his bare chest. “You haven’t given me an answer.”

Kalin steps toward me, and clasps my hands into his. His eyes search over my face, and he attempts to draw my eyes to his. But I avert my gaze, knowing he wants to take control. Always in control. My body will surrender to him again, and I won’t get the answers that I came here for. I will have another day of mind-blowing sex, but I will leave with unanswered questions and more confusion. Kalin lifts my chin with his finger. “What’s wrong?”

I shift my eyes down and stare at the sand. “I don’t know why I’m here. I don’t know anything anymore. If only we could have all this without the complications.” I finally lift my eyes to his, feeling strong enough to resist him. “That’s all I’m asking for, Kalin. That’s all I really want.”

Kalin steps away from me and runs his fingers though his hair.

I peek up at him, and stare back down at the sand. “I know it’s not easy for you to walk away from everything, Kalin. I know why you’re doing it. But this is the only way I can know that you love me for me, and nothing more.”

Kalin’s thick, wavy hair flutters in the breeze as he gazes out into the ocean. He takes a deep breath before speaking. “If you want me to prove my love for you, Annabelle, I will. I would give up more for you if you ask me.”

He turns to me and my eyes meet his. My lips part and I fold my arms over my stomach. “Are you serious?”

“I said I will do it. I will give up the stock contract for you, Annabelle. No stock agreements, no transfers, no complications. Just us.”

A fluttering sensation spreads across my body and erupts into goose bumps across the surface of my skin. “You would do that?”

“Yes.” Kalin reaches for my hand and tugs me toward him. My hands land on his chiseled chest. “Anything else?”

The reality of Kalin’s answer releases all the tension in my muscles and skin, and my thoughts are jumbled as all my defenses go down. “I was expecting a fight. I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you love me too, Annabelle.”

I revel in the way he always says my full name like a melody.

“I do love you, Kalin. I love you. Just like this. Nothing else. No contracts?”

“No contracts.”

A weight lifts from me, and I am certain that I’m falling in love with him. I press my head to his chest, and stretch my arms around him. Kalin kisses the top of my head and wraps his arms around me. My body vibrates to life in the warmth of his embrace. The ocean air fills my lungs and caresses my senses, and for the first time since I can remember, I don’t have a care in the world.