Page 36 of Chasing Paradise

The bedroom was dominated by a king-sized bed with all-white linens and a wooden frame. It sat with the feet facing the windows, so you saw the beach the first thing each morning.

I moved into the bathroom with its pristine marble walk-in shower and a deep soaking tub.

I dropped my dirty clothes into that tub. In lieu of detergent, I used some of the hand soap to soak my clothes in, then spent a few minutes agitating with my hands, rinsing, then wringing as best I could.

I had no idea what was next after this damn island adventure, but I sure wanted some clean clothes to deal with whatever it was.

That done, I locked the door, raided his linen closet for supplies, stripped down, and moved under the water. Did I go ahead and let out a moan? I sure as hell did. Fresh water, soap, and shampoo felt like absolute heaven. So did a fresh shave, lotion, and a hairbrush.

It was amazing how so many things I took for granted in my daily life could become luxuries to be savored.

By the time I was dressed in one of my few remaining pairs of clean clothes—dark green cargo pants and a brown tank top—my anger at the whole situation had all but evaporated.

And when the scents of cooking met my nose as I descended the stairs, I was pretty sure I didn’t even care what the circumstances of this whole faking being stranded on an island thing were about.

Until, of course, Wick opened his mouth.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Wick

She came down smelling like my coconut soap and lotion, looking fresh and relaxed.

I couldn’t seem to stop my mind from thinking about running my lips and tongue up her skin, of feeling how she’d shiver and writhe, of hearing the soft little moans she’d let out as I…

Fuck.

No.

I couldn’t let my mind go there.

That little tussle-turned-almost-kiss was bad enough.

“I’m surprised you didn’t flood the whole upstairs.”

“Don’t think I wasn’t tempted,” she said, but all the heat was out of her voice as she pulled herself up on one of the island stools. “What did you make?”

“Well, as you can tell, we’re pretty cut off from civilization here. So most of the food around here is shelf-stable. But I managed to throw together some rice, beans, lentils, and enough spices to make all that palatable.”

“You cook?” she asked, brows pinched.

“I told you I was cooking.”

“Right, but I thought you’d, like, heat up canned chili or something. You cooked cooked.”

“I can feed myself, yeah. Do you cook?”

I took down plates, separating the meal into thirds, though our visitor insisted on staying outside when I’d invited him in. So once I’d served Violet, I brought his plate out to him.

“It’s kind of rude to make him eat out there.”

“He doesn’t want to come in. I think he senses I have some shit to tell you. And that you have a bit of a temper,” I said, rubbing my jaw pointedly.

“You caught my elbow because you were trying to pin me,” she said, shrugging.

That was fair.

The memory of her body under mine, panting, heated, pupils blown wide with desire rushed back to me, making me need to take a deep breath or two before I could think straight again.

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