Page 14 of What Matters Most

“I think you should know,” he said, and his eyes narrowed to hard points of steel.

Carla wasn’t sure which was troubling him more: the past or the sudden need to tell her about his lost love.

“Let me simplify things by saying that I loved her and asked her to marry me. But apparently she didn’t care as deeply for me as I thought.”

“She turned you down?” Carla murmured.

“No.” His short laugh was filled with bitter sarcasm. “That’s the crazy part. She accepted my ring, but she refused to move out on the guy she was living with. Naturally, neither one of us knew about the other.”

Carla struggled not to laugh. “If you want my opinion, I think you made a lucky escape. This Nicole sounds a bit foolish to me.”

Philip relaxed against her. His hands found the small of her back, arching her closer to him. “I don’t know, there’s something about me that attracts the weird ones. Just yesterday some oddball approached me in the bar with a lunatic story about me being her date for the night because I ordered a margarita.”

“A real weirdo, no doubt,” she said mockingly.

“That’s not the half of it.” His head lowered with every word, so that by the time he finished, his lips hovered over hers.

“Oh?” Breathlessly, she anticipated his kiss.

“Yes.” His low voice was as caressing as his look. “The thing is, I’d been watching her from the moment I walked into the lounge, trying to come up with a way of approaching her.”

Before she could react to this startling bit of news, Philip brought her into his embrace. Slowly his mouth opened over hers, taking in the softness of her trembling lips in a soul-stirring, devouring kiss. Carla stood on the tips of her toes and clung to him, devastated by the intensity of her reaction. This had happened the first time he’d kissed her. If Philip’s lovemaking had been hard or urgent, maybe she could have withstood it. But he was incredibly gentle, as if she were of exquisite worth and as fragile as a rosebud, and that was irresistible.

When his tongue outlined the fullness of her mouth, Carla’s willpower melted, and she couldn’t pull herself away from the fiery kiss. Desire shot through her, and when she broke away, her breathing was irregular and deep.

“I…I think we should put a limit on these kisses,” she proposed shakily.

Philip didn’t look any more in control of himself than she felt. His eyes were closed as he drew in a husky breath and nodded in agreement. Only a short space separated them, but he continued to hold her, his hands running the length of her bare arms.

“Let’s get you back to your hotel room.”

“Yes.”

But they didn’t move.

Unable to resist, Carla rested her head against his muscular chest, weak with the wonder of his kiss. “I don’t understand.” She was surprised to hear the words, not realizing she’d spoken out loud.

“What?” Philip questioned softly.

She shrugged, flustered for a moment. “You. Me. If you had come up to me yesterday and asked to buy me a drink, I probably would have refused.”

He flashed a crooked grin. “I know. Why do you think I didn’t?”

“Obviously you recognized that I was about to take the initiative,” she said jokingly, to hide her discomfort.

Together they turned and headed toward the hotel, taking leisurely steps. Carla’s bare toes kicked up the sand.

“What would you like to do tomorrow?” she asked, not because she was especially interested in their itinerary, but because knowing she would be seeing him in the morning would surely enhance her dreams tonight.

“Shall we get together for breakfast?”

“I’d like that.”

Outside her door, Philip set a time and place for them to meet in the morning, then kissed her gently and left.

Carla walked slowly inside the room and released a long, drawn-out sigh. For such a rotten beginning, the day had turned out wonderfully well.

“Is that you, Carla?” The question came from the darkened interior of the room.

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