Page 47 of Her Forever Billionaire

She shook her head and didn’t take her eyes from the screen. ‘No, I’m fine.’

He walked down to the local supermarket, enjoying the heat of the sun on his back and the prospect of another lazy afternoon in bed. His phone chimed. He checked the screen and grimaced. But this time he had to take the call he’d been avoiding all week.

‘Hi, Pete.’ His friend and sometimes coach. Calling in coach capacity this time for sure.

‘Heard from Tahu.’ Pete didn’t muck about. ‘He said you were cutting some moves on the dance floor the other night.’

‘Yeah.’ Jack nodded. No denying that.

‘The knee’s all good now?’

No denying that either. ‘A lot better, yeah.’

‘So why are you there when the snow’s here?’

Good question.

‘I thought you said it was going to take a lot more than a couple of weeks?’

That was the ‘official’ reason he’d given to come back to New Zealand—to take the time to really let his knee heal. But it was all about Kelsi and it always had been. He’d pretended it was the knee for his own sanity—but he knew he was all insane for her. Now, even more.

‘Life’s gotten a little complicated, Pete,’ was all he could say.

‘Well, it’s your call, but we’re here to work if you want to join us.’

‘Great. I’ll let you know as soon as I do.’ He shoved the phone in his pocket and strode out. Frustrated the end loomed so much sooner than he’d wanted to acknowledge.

But it had to end. He had an obligation not just to himself, but to the sponsors his younger colleagues so desperately needed, to the sport itself. He had to get back to work because it was what he did.

This thing between Kelsi and him wasn’t anything more than a completion of the fling they’d begun on the beach that day, right? And they’d be friends who’d get on well for the sake of their child.

But he didn’t feel ‘friendly’ towards her. He felt protective and passionate and out of control. He wanted her all the more instead of less. And now his body felt as if it were being torn apart with its conflicting desires.

The only way to deal with it was to put a time limit on it—force it to a close. He’d book his ticket for the end of the week and then maximize these last few days. That would see it out—surely.

He stared sightlessly across the supermarket car park. Decision made. But he didn’t want to tell Kelsi. Not just yet. He didn’t want to ruin the fragile peace that had built between them. Sleeping together again had been the best thing for them to do, but also the worst—because it had only proven how fantastic they were together. Leaving wasn’t going to be that easy at all. Not for him.

But for her? He really wasn’t sure. He knew she liked the sex between them, but he didn’t know how she really felt about him. Maybe the sex was all it was.

Kelsi was a strong woman—stronger than he’d first thought. And maybe she’d been right that night they’d found out about the baby—she didn’t really need him.

And she didn’t really want him.

And he didn’t want to ask. For the first time ever in his life, he felt unsure of something. He’d always had such complete confidence—he needed it to do what he did. But understanding Kelsi? He figured he’d find out when he told her he was leaving.

All the more reason to delay doing that a little.

He had to leave believing he was doing the right thing. It was the only way he could. And he was sure he was—he would leave her in the care of the best doctors money could buy, set up in a beautifully restored home...safe.

He didn’t bother going into the supermarket after all. His appetite had been crunched.

Kelsi got used to having him in her bed way too easily. The next couple of nights were filled with hedonistic pleasure. Food, fun, frolics. She left work early—hurrying home to see him again. Amazed at the way his hunger inflamed hers.

And he was unbelievably hungry. The stamina of the professional athlete was something to be in awe of. There was no end to it. And it only got hotter.

They lazed across the bed in the evening, surrounded by the initial plans that the architect and Alice the interior decorator had come up with for the redesign of the shell downstairs, laughing about how they’d underestimated her. The design ideas were fantastic.

Finally Kelsi felt excited about the future. With a few twists here and there, the ground floor was going to become a beautiful home. She chose to forget about the flat that would be left upstairs. She chose to ignore all the questions that whispered in the back of her mind. She chose to be swept away by the furious passion he ignited. And he did it so often, with a fierce kind of determination. Keeping them busy—in bed, at play on the skateboard, ever so occasionally letting them sleep.

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