Page 46 of One Forbidden Night In Paradise (Hot Winter Escapes)

It had shocked him into speaking. And once he started he couldn’t stop, the barriers inside him that had cracked and given way like a dam breaking, releasing a flood of trapped memories.

And it had been hard and painful. Just like when he’d dislocated his shoulder last year during a storm and theMiranda’s medic had to rotate the joint until it went back into the socket. But now, although it still ached, it was a different kind of pain. The kind you knew would fade rather than need constant managing.

Was sharing his past the reason why he was finding it hard to imagine Jemima returning to the beach house?

The answer to that question, and to why he responded to her with such intensity, were not something he wanted to examine right now.

And he didn’t need to. As he’d told her two days ago, that was the beauty of their relationship. It was about living in the moment. There was no need to give yesterday any more thought than tomorrow.

It was enough that she was here.

Except it wasn’t.

The ice in his spine was back. He had told himself that he had invited her to New York on a whim, but the truth was that leaving her behind in Bermuda was not an option. Not when they had so little time together remaining. Now the panic was back too, sliding over his skin smoothly so that he couldn’t get a grip of it.

‘Chase.’

He turned. Jemima was half sitting up in bed, her eyes drowsy with sleep and something else, something that made hunger ripple through his body in a wave that almost knocked him off his feet.

‘Chase.’ She said his name again but he was already walking back to the bed and as his mouth found her, she took a quick breath like a gasp. ‘I missed you.’

‘I missed you too,’ he said, pulling her against him, with an urgency that was not just simple desire any longer but a need to hold her close while he still could.

They woke late and ate a leisurely breakfast in bed, watching the sun catch the corners of Manhattan’s skyscrapers.

‘What do you think of it?’ he said softly as her gaze returned to his face.

‘I think it’s amazing. I feel like I’m in a film.’ Her mouth curved into one of those tiny smiles that made him want to kiss the corners and work his way inwards. ‘I don’t know how you get any work done though. I think I’d just spend my whole time staring out of the window.’

‘I’m used to it.’ Leaning forward, he ran his fingers over the curve of her hip. ‘But there are other things I prefer to stare at.’

And touch. Caress. Lick.

His body pulsed its approval of that idea but, behind her, the New York skyline beckoned in the distance. Only that wasn’t why she was here. He’d invited her because he had to. Because the idea of returning to New York alone had made him feel as if gravity had stopped working and he were breaking apart. Because he had suddenly realised how much he enjoyed her company.

He stared across the room to the view of the city that had been his home for over a decade now. This apartment had been his home too with his wife. After Frida’s death, he’d clawed his way out of the darkness and found purpose through expanding his business and looking for shipwrecks, but at the heart of his life there was a void.

Now for the first time he could see how lonely he’d been.

How lonely he would be without Jemima.

With an effort, he lifted his hand from her hip. ‘Right, you need to get dressed because we’re going to go sightseeing.’

Their eyes met, hers shining, and then the shine faded. ‘I don’t really have any warm clothes. Do you think I could borrow a coat?’

‘Not necessary.’ Still holding her hand, he slid off the bed and led her into the dressing room, watching her face as she stared at the selection of outfits his housekeeper had collected from his PA and which were now hanging from the rails. Beneath them several pairs of glossy leather boots and shoes were arranged neatly on the shelves.

‘I can’t accept this,’ Jemima said, reaching out to touch a glossy white puffy coat. ‘Any of these.’ Her fingers trembled against a pale blue satin slip dress.

‘Really?’ He leaned back languidly against the door. ‘You’re quite welcome to walk down Fifth Avenue in that bikini you were wearing in Bermy but I’m warning you, you’ll either get arrested or get frostbite.’

‘I’ll pay you back.’ Her cheeks were pink again and she sounded flustered.

‘There’s no need. You’re my guest and, besides, you being here is helping me. So think of it as a clothing allowance.’

‘Me being here is helping you,’ she repeated slowly.

‘I need a plus one for this event.’

---