Page 58 of Guarded Hearts
Alyssa closed the space between us and rose on her toes. “Pretend it’s just us in the room. None of this matters anymore—just you and me. Let’s have fun. Enjoy the moment.” The wordswe don’t get morehung in the air between us.
“Okay,” I said. “I can do that.”
She stepped back from me, our hands clasped. It took a moment to catch the beat of the song playing, but once we did, we were off.
I laughed as I twirled her around, her skirt spinning around her thighs. Months ago, when Mia had proposed the dance with Alyssa’s help, I’d had no idea dancing would make me so happy. Or maybe dancing wasn’t the key to this cloud of euphoria. Maybe the crucial component was the woman who was dancing with me.
***
Just before my head hit the pillow in Alyssa’s room, I checked the clock.
Five hours.
I’d spent the last hour dealing with a belligerent hotel guest who hadn’t understood why she couldn’t just join the party. All-inclusive resorts were great until a guest had one too many drinks and thought the hotel had to fulfill their every desire, including crashing Mia Malone and Tyler Sullivan’s wedding.
The whole time I’d been working with staff to remove the woman from the party, I’d been thinking about Alyssa, who’d gone back to our rooms to wait. A minute or two was all I’d expected to spend convincing the woman to leave, but she’d dug in her heels, and when her boyfriend had appeared, threatening violence to anyone who tried to remove him or his girlfriend, I’d had to become more diplomatic and bring in backup in the form of hotel security.
Fortunately, Mia and Tyler had stayed away from the scuffle in the corner of the ballroom. People who broke the rules shouldn’t be rewarded.
I curled around Alyssa’s sleeping form and wrapped my arm around her waist. She sighed and pressed closer. But when breaking the rules led to this, who could blame someone?
“You’re back,” she breathed, turning in my arms to snuggle closer.
“Sorry it took so long.”
“Not your fault.” She kissed my chest and slid her hand under the waist of my boxer-briefs. “I had fun tonight.”
I hissed when her hand gripped my length and gave it long, leisurely strokes, warming me up. I closed my eyes and let the pleasure infiltrate my body. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I rolled us until I was on top of her, settling between her legs.
From underneath me, she chuckled. “Oh, it’s like that, is it?” she asked, her tone teasing.
I stared down at her, in no mood to joke around.Five hours. In five hours, I’d lose her. “How do you want it?” My voice was husky.
“Any way. As long as it’s you. Any way.”
Words I’d never spoken in English got stuck in my throat. If I didn’t have a plan, if I wasn’t sure we could work out beyond tomorrow, I couldn’t say them. But the words pulsed between us, unsaid, electrifying the room. Did she feel the same?
Saying the words would seal our fate. I’d do anything to keep us together if she loved me back. Having lost love once, I wouldn’t be able to abandon it a second time if I knew the feeling was real.
The air around us was heavy, weighed down by what we couldn’t or wouldn’t say. Alyssa had told me once that long-distance relationships became recipes for cheating and heartbreak. My gut clenched. I’d had enough heartbreak to last a lifetime.
Alyssa put her hands on either side of my face and offered me a soft smile. “No need to overthink it. We’ve got all night.”
Fewer than five hours. Almost no time at all when you wanted a lifetime. Instead, I kissed her and let our bodies lead the way.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alyssa
Itucked my letter inside Pasha’s bag and then crept back into the room where he was sleeping. He’d offered to take me to the airstrip, and I’d agreed last night, but the thought of driving there with him, knowing what was coming, made my stomach roll.
Boarding the plane and having to say goodbye in front of other people would be a slow, painful torture. As it was, I was afraid I’d bawl my eyes out on the flight. He’d be just down the stairs, and with one cry ofstop the planefrom either of us, I’d never be able to leave. And I didn’t know whether he’d truly want me to stay in the same way I wanted to stay.
Gazing down, my fingers itched to run through his close-cropped hair one more time. If I did that, he’d wake up, and I’d agree to a ride, to the public goodbye. I wouldn’t be able to deny him if those light blue eyes had even a hint of the sadness I felt.
Maybe if we’d had more time together, he would have come to love me too. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t know how to stay. Would we ever see each other again? Would we ever have another moment like we’d had last night?
When I’d watched him dance with Mia, I’d been so full of pride I’d been sure the emotion was going to burst out, spill all over the floor.
