Page 41 of Turbulent Fires

“I didn’t know I was playing a hustler,” he says with a laugh. I love his determined look. The man’s predictably competitive. He’s also good, making it fun to play him. I hate easy victories.

“Where’d you learn to shoot?” he asks when I sink the seven ball with an impressive backhanded shot.

“In my twenties, when I got sick of the smug college boys thinking they were so cool.”

He laughs. “You’re just a bundle of surprises. Beautiful and dangerous.”

We finish our game when the songSomething Just Like Thiscomes on. He immediately puts our sticks away and pulls me into his arms. I’m embarrassed at first as no one else is dancing, but it’s hard not to get lost in his eyes when he looks at me the way he does.

Of course, he’s a great dancer, and I’m falling more in love with him as he twirls me and pulls me close, and even manages to sing some of the words of the song. I thought I was in trouble before, but spending time on the island with him is sending me over the edge of a cliff with no parachute anywhere close.

I look up, his eyes capturing mine. “Is there anything you aren’t good at?” I ask.

“I’m terrible with patience,” he says without missing a beat. I laugh.

“I think you’re pretty great at it because you’re still with me. I’ve been told a time or two I’m a challenge.”

He leans in, his lips centimeters from my ear. “Because you’re worth waiting for.” His hot breath cascades over me, sending a shiver down my body. My breath catches, and I can’t respond.

We sneak out of the bar and walk in silence back to the Glenmore Plaza Hotel, our hands together, our bodies close. I’m tired, but I feel more alive than ever. It’s hard to walk away from this man. I think I’d be happy being at his side day and night... for the rest of my life.

When we reach the steps of the historic white and pink building, Wolf stops and faces me. “I’ve had a wonderful day.” His voice is soft and grounded.

“Me too,” I tell him, afraid I’m about to melt into a puddle at his feet.

“Do you want to have a nightcap in your room?”

Everything within me wants to say yes, but I do have to work, and I guess I really am testing the man. He laughs as he looks down at me, adoration in his eyes.

“What are you testing?” he asks, curiosity lighting his gaze.

“What do you mean?”

“I can see you want to be together, but there’s calculation in your eyes. Are you seeing if this is only about sex with me? Are you seeing if I can handle it?”

I’m shocked at how insightful he is. “I’m not easy to date.”

“I strongly disagree with that.”

“You’ve only seen the good side of me. You haven’t seen the obsessive-compulsive side, the bad-mood side. You haven’t seen when I’m so stressed I can’t breathe. This is the fun phase of any relationship.”

“I think you’ve been around the wrong people,” he tells me.

He then pulls me to him and gives me a kiss full of heat and passion that nearly makes me melt into a puddle at his feet. I’m about to cave and pull him up to my room when he lets me go. He steps back and winks.

“Think about that tonight,” he warns. “Think about my hands all over you when the shower water touches your skin. Picture it’s my lips and fingers gliding across your body instead of you being there alone. Think about what we can do for each other every single day if you just say the word.”

I’m shaking when he turns and walks away with grace and confidence. I know I’m making a mistake letting him leave. The man is potent, and he wants me. I want him too. I just don’t understand how we can remain together without going up in flames or ending up like Romeo and Juliet.

I somehow manage to get to my room, which is elegant and quaint with crown molding, floral bedding, windows that open to the sound of waves, and a history I can’t begin to fathom. I can barely focus on any of that. Instead, I stand at the window watching the moonlit town below, my fingertips still tingling from the brush of Wolf’s skin, my lips still warm from his hungry kiss.

I need to work, but I don’t want to. Wolf is all that’s on my mind. I finally give up, walk into the roomy bathroom, and draw a bath. As I sink into the hot water, I let out a sigh, lean my head back, and close my eyes, enjoying the sound of the ocean.

This was supposed to be a simple trip to cleanse my head, but instead it’s turned into another adventure with Wolf, one that’s even better than Hawaii, one that’s made me fall deeper in love with the man. I wanted to know if I could resist him, and I clearly can, barely, but what’s shocking me more than anything is that I don’t want to.

It’s not only about sex. We have fun together. We have a lot in common. And on top of that, we have incredible passion. I’m such a fool to let even one night go without being in his arms. I climb from the tub with a smile on my lips. The only thing keeping me from going to him right now is the raw exhaustion filling my body. Tomorrow we’ll take it easy, because tomorrow I’m not letting him go anywhere.

Chapter Fifteen

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