He stepped further into the room. “I forgot to ask what type of sandwich you—” His eyes met mine.

He didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t look like he even remembered that he was talking. He was standing there staring at my naked body, making me blush red all over.

He walked over and picked up my towels. “Face the window.”

I froze. I couldn’t function—couldn’t even breathe, when he looked at me like that.

He kissed my lips and smiled. He pulled my hair on top of my head and tucked it into a towel, planting light kisses all over my face. He took another towel and slowly brushed it over my shoulders, my breasts, and my stomach. “So beautiful...”

I gasped as he bent down in front of me and rubbed it between my legs, as he kissed the inside of my thighs and groaned.

He stood back up and looked into my eyes, sighing. “What type of sandwich do you want?”

“Turkey...”

“With cheese?”

I nodded.

“Don’t take too long getting dressed.” He kissed my forehead and left the room.

I collapsed onto the bed and shook my head in disbelief. I knew I’d be in serious trouble if I didn’t walk away from him right now. If I left this room and didn’t ask him to take me home right away, I wouldn’t be able to rein in my feelings for another minute.

He was getting to me and I couldn’t deny it anymore. I thought about him all the time. My heart did flips whenever I saw him at work, and I looked forward to hearing his sexy voice over the phone at night.

This is not how this was supposed to go...

I sat up and reached for the clothes he’d bought me. I slipped into them and smiled once I saw that they fit me perfectly. I kicked on the flip flops and headed back out into the kitchen, rehearsing a short speech in my head:

Jonathan...I need you to take me home. We can talk about why on the way, but I don’t think—

He looked up and smiled once I stepped into the room, making me lose my train of thought.

Screw it...I’ll just take the trouble...

He handed me a plate and walked me outside, to a small wooden swing that was standing on the porch. He waited for me to sit down first and placed his arm around my shoulder.

Our special silence slowly crept in on us and we ate our food without saying a word. We simply looked out at the ocean, at the calm waves that were frothing and foaming against the coast.

As soon as I set my empty plate on the ground, he pulled me into his lap and held me close.

I lay back in his arms and smiled as he kissed me—repeatedly.

Chapter 16

Claire

I tossed and turned in my bed, wishing I could somehow will myself to sleep, but it wasn’t working. All I could think about was him—him touching me, him kissing me, him getting to me.

After he dropped me off at home yesterday, I promised myself that I would spend my Sunday alone so I could further analyze the situation between him and me. I needed to write down my expectations, best and worst case scenarios, and weigh all the pros and cons of whatever the hell this was.

I even told Sandra and Helen to come over so we could discuss it over chilled wine and cheese—so they could distract me from calling or texting him.

All of a sudden, my “get ready to run” alarm started ringing. I knocked my phone off the nightstand to get it to shut up. There was no way I was running this morning.

My phone hit the floor with a thud, but the alarm kept blaring on and on.

“Ugh!” I rolled off the bed and onto the floor, feeling around for it in the dark.

Once I finally had it in my hand, I looked to hit “dismiss” but I saw that it was a phone call. It was Jonathan.

“Hello?” I answered.

“What are you doing?”

“At five in the morning?” I groaned. “Take an easy guess.”

“Are you on your way outside to let me take you away for the day?”

“What! No. I’m going back to bed. I went out with you yesterday. We don’t need to—”

“Can I please take you out for the day?”

“No. You should’ve mentioned this earlier. I have—”

“I’m not the ‘keep asking’ type, Claire. You have twenty minutes.” He hung up.

What?!

I lay on the floor, confused—processing what the hell was going on. I had plans for today—concrete, definite, no-Jonathan-allowed plans. I couldn’t let him keep doing these spontaneous things to me. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. Then again, I wasn’t even sure what “this” was.

“Ten minutes.” Jonathan.

I sighed. I didn’t want to know what he would do if I didn’t meet him outside. I rushed to the bathroom and brushed my teeth.

I slipped into a pair of loose fitting khakis and a slimming red shirt, pulling a thin gray sweater over it. I went down to the kitchen and left a note on the fridge for Ashley and Caroline:

“I hope you both enjoy your off day today, but please make sure all the dishes are done by this evening. I left thirty dollars for lunch and dinner on my dresser. If your grandmother comes by for her mixer, it’s in my trunk. Love you! See you later, Mom.”

I grabbed a box of breakfast cookies and made my way outside, rolling my eyes once I saw Jonathan step out of the town car.

He held the backdoor open and smiled as I approached. “Good morning, Claire.”

I didn’t respond. I slipped inside the car and slid over to the other side.

“Are you ignoring me?” He cocked his head to the side.

I crossed my arms and leaned against the door. I was too tired to engage in a conversation with him. I couldn’t believe his nerve—to think he could demand to go out with me at any hour of the day, to show up where I was and simply assume that I was willing and ready to follow him wherever he wanted to go.

“Mr. Statham?” His driver’s voice came over the intercom. “Are we set to go sir?”

“Yes, Greg. Thank you.” He slid close to me and whispered, “Talk to me. Are you upset?”

“Yes...”

“What’s wrong?” He slid his fingertips across my cheek.

“You should’ve told me about this yesterday...You could’ve at least asked. What if I had important plans?”

“You don’t.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is?”

“What the hell are we doing, Jonathan? What the fuck is this? I need to know right now. Where are you honestly expecting this to go?”

He sighed and reached over the seats ahead of us, grabbing a pillow and a blanket. He placed the pillow in his lap and pulled me down onto it. He draped the blanket over my body and shook his head.

I groaned. “Are you going to answer my questions?”

“No.” He fluffed the pillow and planted a kiss on my forehead. “It’s going to take us a while to get there and you seem tired. Go to sleep.”

I looked out over the balcony and sighed as sheets of rain fell over the distant city. I was sailing on Jonathan’s newest yacht—an all-black luxury liner with six levels, and I’d spent most of the morning letting him give me a tour.

“Why do you always cut your sentences off like that?” He handed me a cup of hot coffee. “Are you scared I’m going to use your stories against you or something?”

“No, I’m sorry...What was I saying?”

“You always thought you and your ex-husband would—”

“Right...I always thought we would be together forever, you know?” I shook my head. “I gave him every part of me when we were married, and when it was over I didn’t have any pieces left for myself...And the one person who should’ve had her shoulder ready and waiting for my tears was lying in bed with him...”

“Did she say anything to you after the grocery store incident?”

“No.” My heart ached. “We never spoke again after that...And whenever my daughters come back from seeing their dad they know better than to give me a full recap.”