“That cover landed me several endorsement deals. I suppose I should thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Though I’m not sure I should take credit for your ability to work the hell out of a camera.”
A beat of less-daunting silence played between them. Gregor’s eyes trailed to her lips, causing a wave of anxiousness to wash over her.
“What did you think I meant?” he asked.
Playing dumb, she said, “About?” Knowing full well he was referring to her response to his you wanted me comment.
He chuckled. Thankfully, he didn’t push the issue. She was certain he knew exactly what she’d been thinking.
Gregor slid his hands into his jeans pocket. “About that compromise.”
“Seventy-seven point five,” she said.
“Seventy-four,” he countered.
“Seventy-six.”
“Seventy-five. And I’ll keep my clothes on.”
Fifty and you take them all off. Of course, she kept that to herself. She pretended to consider the offer for a moment before jutting out her hand. “Deal.”
The second they touched, a familiar sensation blossomed in her palm. While she hadn’t been able to read Gregor’s expression before, it translated loud and clear now. Ambiguity crinkled his features. Yep, he’d felt it, too. And like her was probably trying to figure out what it meant. Energy this intense had to represent something, right? She wasn’t sure she liked the list of possibilities.
Reclaiming her hand, she pointed over her shoulder. “I should—”
Gregor’s eyes lowered to her mouth again. This was so confusing. Was the same man who she was sure would have dropped-kicked her off the island mere hours ago fantasizing about kissing her?
Yes, he was. And the idea thrilled her.
* * *
Gregor eyed the clock again—the tenth time in the past hour—and groaned. Why in the hell was he still wide-awake at three in the morning? That was easily answered. Zahra. Ever since he’d learned of the past he and Zahra shared, his attitude toward her had changed. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about her?
How could he have not instantly recognized her? Her hair was different now—much longer than the short style she’d once sported—and she’d gained a few pounds, but still... The woman had played a huge part in his success. That book cover had single-handedly made him a sex symbol. He’d become a fantasy for women all over the world.
How could he have forgotten all about that day? Ah, he remembered. Zahra had rejected him. That had never happened before and hadn’t happened since. It still puzzled him why she’d flat-out said no to his dinner invitation. Like she’d said earlier, he’d been a rising star. Women flocked to him. Then and still.
The attraction he’d had to the kindhearted woman came rushing back. She’d done everything she could to make him feel comfortable in such an awkward situation. Back in those days, he wasn’t as comfortable as he was now with taking off his clothes in front of a crowd of people.
What would have happened had she said yes?
I would have ruined her.
Back then, he hadn’t been the man a mother would have been proud of. Fidelity hadn’t been too high on his list of priorities. He hadn’t been the man he was now. But while he’d changed considerably, his playboy label still haunted him. It had caused a lot of problems in his relationship with Selene.
An image of his ex popped into his head. She’d stabbed him in the heart with the heel of one of those red-bottom shoes she coveted. His thoughts drifted to the night he’d found her in bed with her ex. One minute he’d been all smiles and excitement about surprising Selene for her birthday, the next he was laid up in the hospital, waiting to learn if he’d ever play football again.
That night still gave him chills. Until that night, he hadn’t given much thought to mortality, especially his own. He did now, along with the fact that he would probably die alone. No wife, no kids, no family. There were his foster brothers, but he hadn’t done a good job of staying in contact with them. Roth had his growing family. Lauder had his, plus life as a senator. And his own hectic lifestyle.
Zahra’s face flashed into his head.
A relationship and love were the furthest things from his mind right now, but he had to admit that the accident had him thinking about things he hadn’t thought much about before. He recalled staring around the empty hospital room after the accident, no one there to hold his hand and comfort him. It had saddened him.
Honestly, he could marry tomorrow, if he wanted that. He didn’t. A bought marriage didn’t appeal to him. A union should be built on love and trust. Got to have trust. Admittedly, it would be nice to meet a woman who didn’t care about his fame and cared even less about his fortune. Someone who saw Gregor Carter—foster kid, mentor, average guy—not Gregor Carter, pro-baller, money machine or career booster. Beneath all the lights, the action, he just wanted a normal life.
He laughed to himself. Who the hell was he kidding? He’d kissed a normal life goodbye the day he signed his first multimillion-dollar contract. He bet Zahra had a life close to perfect. Family who cared. Friends who expected nothing from her but loyalty.
Did she have someone waiting at home for her? If so, what would they think about her being here with him? Well, she wasn’t exactly there with him like that, on some secret rendezvous. And it wasn’t like he even wanted to be here with her.
So why had he told Thad he would ride out the remaining two weeks?
Chapter 5
The howling wind drew Zahra away from the memory of the dirtiest, freakiest, most beautifully exhilarating dream she’d ever had. The one that had forced her out of bed and downstairs to write at four that morning. The head-flick had starred her and none other than Gregor freaking Carter.
She groaned at the fact that the dream of his making love to her had actually brought her to an orgasm. This hadn’t been the first time he’d invaded her sleep; however, it had been the first time it had felt so real that she’d bolted up in bed and eyed the space beside her, convinced he was there.
While the entire ordeal had irked her, it had provided fodder for one of the best chapters and love scenes she’d written, thus far. She eyed the clock illuminating on the microwave. 7:00 a.m. Had she really been at it for three hours? Her stiff neck and tired fingers told her she had.
Pushing away from the table where she’d set up shop, she stood to stretch. Her legs instantly confirmed the amount of time she’d sat there. Making her way across the room, she filled the Keurig machine with fresh water, popped in a pod and pressed brew.
As she waited, her eyes were trained on the doorway leading into the room, almost expecting Gregor to be there. Maybe even hoping.
In her fantasies, Gregor was harmless. In real life he was anything but. Over the years, she’d watched his antics—oftentimes outlandish—play out on TV. Another immature man should be the least of her desires. However, the Gregor in the bedroom down the hall was in stark contrast to the flashy, boisterous man who mocked referees and danced in the end zone.
Unfortunately, the more she tried not to think about Gregor, the more ferocious his presence became. Why did she always do this? Why was she always drawn to men who were no good for her? Maybe her sister, Ava, had been right when she’d stated Zahra was a magnet for assholes.
Laughing at the ridiculous accusation, she grabbed her cup of coffee, strolled to the back door and glanced out at the angry water. Would she ever get to leave this place? The windstorm they’d been experiencing since yesterday had the lake in an uproar. Rough waves slammed into the dock, causing it to sway erratically.
Something in the distance caught her eye. She squinted to bring it into better focus. She gasped. “Oh, no.” The coffee sloshed from the cup when she slammed it onto the counter. The hot liquid burned her fingers, but that didn’t faze her. Dashing out the back door, she rushed toward
the water, determined to save him.
* * *
“Ninety-six...97...”
Gregor stopped mid-push-up when he thought he heard yelling. Blaming it on the wind that had howled all night, he started again, only to be interrupted a second time. Coming to his feet, he peeked out the window to see Zahra wading through the water.
“What the hell is she doing?” he whispered to himself.
The angry waves thrashed her from side to side. It stunned him that she remained upright. Despite the water’s rage, she kept moving farther into the lake. A beat later, an upsurge toppled her over, her body disappearing under the rough waters.
He sprinted from the room, down the hall and out the back door, pushing his ankle to the limit. He didn’t allow the discomfort to sway him. By the time he made it to the water’s edge, Zahra had resurfaced, giving him an uncanny degree of relief. The water should have jarred him when he entered it wearing nothing but a sleeveless undershirt, jogging pants and limited-edition sneakers he’d paid close to four hundred dollars for, but it didn’t. Adrenaline, he told himself.
When he reached a listless Zahra, he pulled her into his arms and held her as snuggly to his chest as an intercepted football. The sensations that zapped through him electrified his entire body. He was stunned that the current hadn’t fried them both.
“I got you,” he said in a voice he barely recognized.
“Save...” She drew in a deep breath. “Save him, please.”
Save him? Was there someone else out there? Gregor’s eyes swept the lake’s surface so fast it took his brain a moment to catch up and inform him he’d seen something. He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized something bobbing in the distance.
Was that...a dog? It was, and it was fighting to stay afloat.
“Can you make it to shore?” he asked.
Coughing, she nodded. “Yes.”
“Go, now,” he ordered, then took off toward the distressed animal without giving much thought to his own safety.
Even with his strong swimming skills, the treacherous waters proved to be a challenge. Thankfully, he reached the animal. The dog didn’t put up a fuss when he cradled it in his arms. Utilizing what he’d learned as a lifeguard, he got them both to safety.
Zahra bound into the water again, this time wrapping an arm around his waist in an effort to assist him out of the water. Instinctively, he draped an arm around her shoulders. On shore, he wanted to drop to his knees and recoup for a moment, but he refused to show that level of weakness.
Zahra stood directly in front of him, her hair soaked and dripping, her clothes clinging to her trembling body. This was so not the time to imagine stripping her out of them.
“Are you okay?” she asked, concern gleaming in her cautious eyes.
He nodded, then lowered his gaze to the dog, not wanting to get sucked in by her show of compassion. The wet, shivering animal tilted its brown head upward and eyed him. The creature seemed to be expressing gratitude through its wary-eyed gaze.
“You’re okay, boy,” he said. It whimpered, then rested its tiny head against his chest. “You’re safe now.” The dog had to be no more than fifteen pounds. How in the world had this little thing survived out there? When he glanced up, Zahra was looking at him in a weird manner. “What?”
“Nothing. I think he likes you,” she said.
There was something, but he didn’t press it. “It seems she does. I tend to have that effect on women. All this natural charm.” Zahra scoffed, leading him to believe she didn’t recognize his magnetism at all. Well, she would be the first woman in years unfazed by him. “What were you thinking about risking your life like that?” he said, addressing the danger she’d placed herself in. “You could have died out there.”
“I didn’t know you cared.”
“I don’t. Your death would have just given the media something else to hound me about,” he said with a decent amount of humor present in his tone.
“I’m glad to see you value human life over your own discomfort.”
Her lips ticked up into a delectable smile, and his eyes fixed on her mouth. For some reason, he felt an insatiable need to taste her.
“Um, we should get inside and out of these wet clothes before we both catch pneumonia,” Zahra said, breaking his concentration.
At the mention of removing clothes, his eyes lowered to her soaked shirt. The muscles in his stomach clenched tight when he realized she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her dark areolae glowed from beneath the fabric and her hardened nipples beamed bright with blinding temptation. “There you go again trying to get me out of my clothes,” he said.
“Ha! You wish.”
Yes, he did. “What are we going to do with her?”
“Well, we can’t leave her out here.” She shrugged. “I guess we’ll just have to bring her inside. Warm her up. Feed her.”
He nodded in agreement, and they sloshed toward the back door.
Zahra ironed her hands up and down her arms. Her teeth chattered when she spoke. “Y-you’re limping. Y-your ankle, is it o-okay?”
“It’s been better,” he said. “But I’ll live.”
“Good.”
Good? That surprised him. He was sure she would have preferred he froze to death.
Inside, the bundle of wet fur went easily to Zahra. Oddly, he missed her in his arms. What in the hell was happening to him? Since coming into contact with Zahra, he’d been experiencing things that made little sense to him. Like what had transpired between them in the water. Had she felt the surge of electricity, too?
“I’ll tend to her while you go and change,” Zahra said.
“What about you?” he asked. “You’re wet, too.” He fought against the erotic images attempting to barge their way into his psyche. The struggle to not lower his eyes to her chest again proved just as difficult.
“I want to get her settled first. You’ve had a traumatic episode, isn’t that right?” she asked the dog in an animated voice.
Why was she so invested in this animal? And why on God’s green earth would she risk her life to save it? Then again, why had he?
“Do you like hot chocolate?” Zahra asked.
Gregor thought she was addressing the dog until she glanced up at him. Did he like hot chocolate? That was like asking him if he loved playing football. The answer would always be hell yes. For him, drinking the beverage always brought back good memories of his childhood. The few he had.
“Yeah, I do, actually.”
“Good. I’ll make us some. That’s if you’re not opposed to drinking hot chocolate with me. I don’t want to force you into anything.”
“I think I’ll survive.” He flashed a half smile, then headed out of the room.
“For the record, you’re not that bad after all, Gregor Carter. Arrogant, yes. Obnoxious, absolutely. But you’re okay.”
Appreciating her words, he tossed a “Thank you,” over his shoulder.
“You’re welcome. See, pretending we like each other’s not that hard after all, right?”
“Who’s pretending?” he said, disappearing around the corner. He did like her. Who wouldn’t? She risked her life for a drowning dog.
Inside the bedroom, Gregor stripped out of everything except his underwear, then shivered at the chill that kissed his bones. Tossing the drenched clothing aside, he headed toward the bathroom, but stopped at the sound of scratching at the door. When he opened it, dark, innocent eyes stared up at him. “Hey, girl.” He knelt and tussled the dog’s damp fur. “What are you doing here? Couldn’t live without me, huh?”
Gregor lifted his new buddy into his arms and moved back into the room, chatting with the animal as if it understood every single word he was saying. He would have never classified himself as a dog lover, but this one was growing on him. Maybe they now had a connection. He had saved her life.
Sensing someone behind him, Gregor’s eyes rose to the mirror to see Zahra, lips parted, standing in the doorway. Instead of turning, he watched as her eyes roamed over his body: legs, butt, back, shoulders. She assessed him so thoroughly, it warmed his damp, chilly skin.
When their gazes collided in the reflection of the mirror, they held for a long, intense, sexually charged moment. He turned to face her because, again, he was no longer that bashful man he’d been years ago. Her eyes performed a slow perusal down his body, stopping at his crotch.
“Did you need something?” he asked.
“Yes.”
A second later, she jerked as if she’d realized just how sensual her tone had been. Her eyes darted up to meet his. “N-no. No. Absolutely not. I don’t want anything from you. Why would you ask something so ridiculous?”
Gregor’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t. I asked if you needed something, since you’re standing in my doorway staring at me. I’m not sure why you heard want. Unless, of course—”
“I neither need nor want anything from you. I simply came in search of Waterspout. I turned my back for only a second and she was gone.”
His brows bunched in confusion. “Waterspout?”
“The dog. The name seemed fitting.”
“You do know she probably belongs to someone on the island and already has a name.”
“I do. But since she doesn’t have a collar on to tell us said name, she’s Waterspout for now.”
“She wandered in here.” As he passed Waterspout to her, their hands grazed. Zahra flinched. They eyed each other for what felt like an eternity. Needing to break free of her hold and the thick veil of sexual tension, he said, “Was there anything else? I’m kind of freezing. I need to take a hot shower.”
Which was a lie, because just the sight of Zahra in the snug-fitting top and curve-hugging jeans she now wore raised his temperature dangerously high. And if he didn’t push away the image of her naked and underneath him, she’d really get a show.
“I’m about to whip something up for breakfast. Are you hungry?”
Then Came You ; Written with Love Page 19
