Page 32 of As You Crave It

CHAPTER NINE

TWODAYSLATER, with the yacht docked back in St. Martin, Quin finally close to getting what he’d come on the boat for—he’d made a verbal agreement with Seacoast Prestige to make Rexford Rum their exclusive rum brand. It wasn’t a signed contract, but he was close. But the more Quin thought about it, he wasn’t sure it was what he even wanted anymore. Before coming on board, he had heard of Jared Foster’s reputation—the rumors and innuendos that followed him wherever he went—but after the things Jared had tried with Celia on the yacht, he knew they weren’t just rumors. It would be easy to ignore the whispers and sign a contract with him. He would have to sit down with Reid and Gemma and have a serious discussion before he spoke to Jared again.

There was a light knock on his door, and he turned and saw Celia in the doorway. “You ready? The car to the airport will be here soon.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.” He looked around the beautifully appointed stateroom in the floating luxury resort, before his gaze fell again on Celia. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

The day before, he’d booked first-class seats for him and Celia together back to Miami and arranged for their transportation to the airport. He couldn’t wait to get back on firm ground at home. He missed his siblings and the distillery. He wanted the chance to get Celia alone without the shadow of Jared Foster hanging over them. After their first night together on the yacht, they hadn’t had much time alone. His body just about vibrated with need for her. And the minute they landed in Miami, he would be wasting no time taking her back to his place.

But before he left his stateroom, he reached out and pulled on Celia’s wrist, bringing her into his grasp. His arms wrapped around her waist and he kissed her. His tongue smoothed against hers and he savored her taste. The kiss was brief however, and they pulled apart. When Quin looked out the door, he saw Jared in the hallway. He couldn’t be sure how long Jared had been standing there, and the man’s face was neutral, not letting on how much he’d actually seen. “Your car is here, Rexford.”

Quin nodded. “Celia and I are on the same flight—I’ve offered her a ride, as well.”

Jared nodded. “I’m sure you have.”

The three of them walked up to the deck. When they reached the gangway leading to the dock, Quin extended his hand to Jared. “Thank you for the invitation aboard. It was a great trip.”

“No problem.” Jared shook his hand. Quin didn’t like Jared’s short answers. He could tell he was angry. Did he know that Quin had been seeing Celia? The woman he’d made a claim on?

“We’ll be in touch.”

Jared nodded, but said nothing in response.

After saying a quick goodbye and thank-you to the crew, Quin and Celia walked side by side onto the dock. He had to suppress the urge to reach out and grab her hand until they were in the car. When they were out of sight of the yacht, he looked across at Celia, who was looking out the window. He wanted to run his lips over the line of her jaw, nibble her earlobe and lick that sensitive spot behind her ear that would make her giggle and then moan. But he couldn’t. Not until they were back home.

She turned and looked at him, caught him staring. “What?”

He shrugged. “Despite the circumstances, I had a good time with you.”

She smiled. “I had a good time with you, too. Thanks for being there.”

“I’ll always be there,” he promised.

A few hours later, when their plane touched down in Miami, Celia was more than ready to get home and relax. She looked out the window as the plane taxied down the runway toward the airport. She sneaked a look at Quin. He was already on his phone, his thumbs tapping wildly on the screen. The plane came to a stop, and when the seat-belt light turned off, Celia and Quin gathered their things and disembarked the plane.

Celia thought about the yacht trip as a whole. She hadn’t exactly gotten enough dirt on Jared to report to anyone, and she knew that if he had given her anything, people would still question why she’d gone on the trip. Why she’d put herself at risk and given her boss the wrong idea. That was how it worked anytime a woman came forward with any sort of accusation—she was put on trial, not her harasser. After that first night onboard, she had barely seen either of the men, partly because she knew that Quin had kept Jared busy and distracted, discussing their upcoming collaboration. But she wondered how much it had to do with keeping her away from Jared. She knew that he thought he was helping, trying to keep her safe. But instead he was messing up her plan.

With Quin spending two days keeping Jared occupied, that also meant that she’d barely seen him during the rest of the trip. Quin had seemed distracted on the flight back to Miami. He’d barely spoken to her at all and she wondered what was on his mind. He was still silent as they walked through the airport and made their way to the waiting taxis. She wondered if he regretted making the deal with her. Maybe it had only been the proximity on the boat that had brought them closer. A more sinister thought then occurred to her: had Jared convinced him to keep his distance? Was she a condition of the deal they were working on, and he was scared that Jared may have seen them kiss? Was he worried about the business, or now that they were back on solid ground, did he regret the agreement they’d made?

Celia had always been an overthinker, and instead of asking Quin what was on his mind, she also stayed silent until they made their way to the ground-transportation area, where lines of cabs and private cars waited to take passengers home. He touched her arm, leaned in close and gave her a kiss on her lips. It wasn’t a long, sensual, drawn-out kiss, and she was disappointed it was more of a friendly peck. His lips were warm, and the kiss sparked a trail of heat that ran from her mouth to her core.

The kiss had started innocently enough, but when he leaned in again, for another kiss, his lips were parted, and he took her breath away. Despite his silence since leaving the Caribbean, the kiss told her what he wanted—her. When he backed away, he cupped her cheek.

“Damn. My plan was to take you back to my place as soon as we landed. But I need to get to the distillery and talk to Reid and Gemma.”

“You wanted to take me home?” she asked. She’d thought his silence had meant that he wasn’t interested in their arrangement anymore. But that obviously wasn’t the case.

“Of course, I did. Although, I don’t believe you need any lessons. But it’s been a couple of days since I’ve had you.”

“Well, you know where I live. Why don’t you come by when you’re finished with work, anyway?”

Celia then realized just how deep she already was when it came to Quin. She took a step back—physically and emotionally. She had to protect herself from getting hurt. She knew that, of course, but tell that to her body, that wanted him like she’d never wanted another man. She should be pushing him away, but she wasn’t. It was already too late—she should have realized there was no way she would be able to live without this man’s kiss or his touch. His love.

He kissed her again, and her lips parted under his and he took full advantage of the opportunity and slipped his tongue into her mouth for one more quick taste. Her willpower shot, her arms encircled his neck and she pulled him closer. There was nothing wrong with a goodbye kiss as a way to cap the short romantic vacation they just shared.

When they came up for air, his hands were on her waist, hers at his shoulders, and she didn’t want to let go. “Maybe I will come by later,” he told her. “But why don’t we go out? We can get dinner.”

“Like a date?” she asked, knowing it wasn’t a good idea. Going on a date with Quin would again put her in a position of needing him, but there was no way she could say no.

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