Page 36 of Enjoying the Ride

I reach for her hand and she lets me pull her to her feet.We stand face to face, each of us struggling with an internal battle that needs to be ended, here and now.

“I can’t let you leave the island,” I say in a soft voice, our foreheads almost touching now.

“You can’t force me to stay here,” she whispers back.

“I’m not forcing you, but I am going to give you a choice.”

Her eyebrows shoot up.“What choice is that?”

“Stay on Mirago, just for the six-months that you’ve agreed to stay.Get your payout, so that you can have some financial freedom and independence afterward.”

“I can’t—” Posey begins again, but I startle her into silence her by placing my hand against her heart.

“And be mine.Onlymine,” I finish my proposition.

For a few moments, my offer hangs in the air, the words surrounding us like the salty sea.Posey searches my face, her eyes darting back and forth as she looks for some catch to the suggestion.

“But why?”she asks softly.“Why are you offering this to me?”

I bring her hand to my heart and rest it there.

“Because I don’t want you to leave,” I begin slowly.“Because I willneverlet any of the other men here touch you.And because I’m in love with you.”

The redhead’s eyes grow soft, but then they harden again.

“Yes, but do your rules run both ways?I won’t be sleeping with the other men, but will you be sleeping with the other women?”

I stare at her.

“No.”

“Have you been?”

“No!”I immediately bark.“Did you think I was?”

Posey shrugs.

“I don’t know, Trek.You wouldn’t talk with me.You hardly even looked me in the eye, most days.What was I supposed to think?I knew Narax, Kixson, Sarah and Kelly were hooking up right and left with one another, as well as with the other eight girls.It was basically a non-stop orgy those last couple days in New York, and I had no idea if you were participating or not.”

“Not,” I say in a flat voice.“I’ve only been with you, Posey, since that first bikini fitting.You were so gorgeous, and I wasn’t interested in anyone else.”

“But will you be interested, now that you’re back at Mirago?”she asks, one brow arched.

“No,” I state flatly again.“I only want you.I promise you that, sweetheart.”

With that assurance, Posey’s eyes soften, and she leans against my chest before inhaling in a deep shudder.

“Good, I’m glad.I couldn’t bear it if you were with someone else.”

My big hand reaches up to stroke her soft curls, cradling her skull.

“Is this why you’ve been so skittish?You thought I was hooking up with other women?”

She tilts her chin to look at me, blue eyes wide and bright with unshed tears.

“Yes,” Posey confirms.“But now that I know you’re not, I feel much better.Thank you, Trek.”

“No, thankyou, sweetheart,” I rasp, pulling her in for a kiss.“I had no idea you felt this way, and now that you know that I’m committed to monogamy, will you stay?I’m not promising forever, or a happily ever after, or wedding bells.But I want you to stay so that we can figure this out, you and me.”

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