He paused for a few moments to catch his breath, kissed her shoulder, then got off the table.
She turned around and sat up, watching as he tied off the condom and tossed it into a waste container.
When he looked up and found her watching, he grinned. “We meet again.”
His smile was sexy and boyish at the same time. Kayla ignored the way her heart stuttered—surely it was just a result of the screaming orgasm she had just had—and smiled back.
“So we do. Are you going to run away again, or are you going to stay and play a while?”
It was a challenge, one she hoped he would accept.
Kayla let her gaze drop down to his impressive package and licked her lips before meeting his eyes again. They glowed with the same fire she felt burning in her core.
“Play,” he answered, his voice low and heavy with wicked promise. “Definitely play.”
Chapter Sixteen
Kayla gave in to the urge to look back at Sate one more time, then settled back into the comfortable seat as the limousine pulled away. The last three days had been some of the best of her life. Excellent weather, great food, and spectacular sex. Of those, she knew which one she would miss the most.
Spencer Dumas was a fabulous lover. There was no other way to describe it. Dominant, yet he catered to her every whim. Skated the edge of darkness, but was also incredibly tender. He had given pleasure as eagerly as he had taken it.
And nothing was taboo with him. After another round in the massage room, making creative use of some of the chairs, they had gone up to his suite and spent the rest of the day and most of the night slaking the insane lust between them.
Finding someone she felt so in tune with, so open with, was a rarity. And trusting someone enough to do some of the things they had done, well, she wasn’t sure she had ever let go quite so completely. She and Spencer Dumas had an explosive sexual chemistry.
Leaving quietly in the middle of the night had been one of the hardest things she had ever done. Difficult, but necessary.
As intimate and compatible as they had been, they remained strangers. They might be from the same geographical area, but their worlds were in entirely different realms. And she had a plane to catch back to hers.
It was just as well. Kayla had shed her rose-colored glasses years earlier. She didn’t have his millions, nor the luxury of staying longer.
Instead of spending the day lounging, ordering room service, and having incredible sex, she would be spending hours in crowded airports for connecting flights until she finally made it back to Pennsylvania. Then she would have another couple hours of driving from Philly International to Pine Ridge, and she would be doing it in her compact hybrid, alone.
At least she was going back in better shape than she had arrived. That was what a vacation was for, right? She felt refreshed and rejuvenated, and more satisfied than she had been in a long time.
She did feel a pang of guilt, sneaking out as she had without saying a word. However, she shook it off. Spencer would probably be relieved she hadn’t hung around and made things awkward. No matter how good they had been together, they both knew it was a temporary thing, nothing more.
Goodbyes were for people who cared if you left. Kayla didn’t fool herself into thinking Spencer Dumas considered her anything more than his flavor of the week—delicious while it lasted but easily replaced. If she felt differently, well, it was better he didn’t know that.
They’d had a great time, but now it was time for her to return to the real world. She had her memories, and they would have to be enough.
Chapter Seventeen
Wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs, Spencer stood at the railing of his private balcony, coffee in hand. He stared unseeingly out at the expanse of sand and sea, his mind on the exquisite creature who had slipped away in the wee hours of the morning.
The sex had been amazing. The woman was fearless in bed. Good sex wasn’t anything new—he made sure any woman he was with walked away happy—but Vexy, Vexy had taken things to an entirely new, mind-blowing level. Things had been so good, in fact, that he had done the unthinkable.
He had fallen asleep in her arms.
Spencer never did that. Sleeping with someone had never actually involved sleeping with someone. That kind of vulnerability implied a connection beyond the physical. Yet, he hadn’t given it a second thought until he had felt her quietly extracting herself in the pre-dawn hours.
At first, he thought she was getting up to attend to personal needs. Then he had heard the whispered rustles of clothing, the soft snick of the locks, and the door as it closed. That was when he had realized she left.
He hadn’t gone after her. He had remained in bed, surrounded by tangled sheets that smelled of great sex and her. Getting back to sleep proved impossible, his mind consumed with questions he couldn’t answer. Questions that even now, hours later, he had no answers to.
Why had she slipped away? He knew she had to be just as exhausted as he was. Had she not felt the same level of comfort in his arms as he had felt in hers?
That thought was disconcerting. He had done his share of slipping away, so he understood it. What was the point of sticking around after you had both gotten what you wanted?
More, a little voice in his head whispered. The point of sticking around is to get more.
She had enjoyed herself. He knew she had. And Lord knew he had enjoyed himself immensely. They had been at it for hours, fucking like bunnies on crack. In the massage room, against the wall, in the shower, on the counter, and finally, in the bed, where they had explored every inch of each other’s bodies with hands and lips and tongues ...
Maybe it had been too much for her. Too intense. Maybe she just needed a bit of rest and time to process things.
Process things? He laughed out loud at the thought. There was nothing to process. She was a great fuck, nothing more, nothing less. In another couple days, he would be flying back to Pine Ridge, and she would be just a pleasant memory, never to be seen again. They didn’t even know each other’s names, for Christ’s sake.
Glad he had worked that out, he went back into his room and ordered room service. He then ate, showered, shaved, and called in to his administrative assistant to take care of some pressing business. He immersed himself in his morning routine and tried to put her out of his mind.
It didn’t work.
By early afternoon, he was on the prowl again, feeling slightly irritated with himself. He wanted her back in his bed, as much to slake the ache that had returned with a vengeance as to work her out of his system. He didn’t need the distraction, not with his father and the stockholders on his ass.
She wasn’t on the beach, nor at the pool, the restaurant, or the spa. She was probably resting and recovering in her room, he thought smugly.
Images of slipping into her room, finding her splayed naked in exhausted slumber heated his blood all over again. How fun would it be to climb into bed with her, then rouse her into wakefulness with his head between her legs? They could pick up right where they had left off.
First, he had to find out which room she was in.
Reluctantly, he sought out Dominic. Spencer had been adroitly avoiding the man.
He found his general manager hovering around the main reception desk.
“Dominic.”
The man stood up straight, looking relieved to see him. “Ah, there you are, Mr. Dumas, sir. I was looking for you.”
Spencer didn’t ask why Dominic had been looking for him. At that moment, he didn’t care.
“The woman I asked you about the other evening. What room is she in?”
Dominic’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he wasted no time in bringing up the digital registry. He tapped his tablet a few times, then looked back at Spencer. “She checked out this morning, sir.”
“She’s gone?” Spencer kept his face neutral, but he couldn’t completely hide the sharp edge to his voice.
“Uh, yes, sir.”
Dominic looked back down at the tablet. “The limousine took her to the dock around seven a.m.”
Spencer turned away without another word and stalked toward the elevators.
She left! Without a word! Now what the hell was he supposed to do with the rest of his day?
“Mr. Dumas!” Dominic called after him, the sound of his soft Italian leather shoes crossing the marble flooring in a hurry. “I wanted to tell you that—”
Spencer didn’t hear the rest of what the man had to say as the elevator doors slid closed behind him.
He gripped the brass railing, the same railing Vexy had held while he took her from behind. Had that only been two nights ago?
He was angry. Angry that she had snuck away. Angry that she had ruined his plans for the rest of the day. Angry that she had been the one to walk away when that was usually his privilege.
As he thought that, a corner of his mouth quirked. They were even more alike than he had thought.
Well played, Vexy, well played.
By the time he exited on the twenty-seventh floor, most of his anger had drained away. The anticipation that had been riding him hard had faded, too, and the tiredness he should have been feeling all morning finally settled in.
Spencer readjusted his afternoon agenda. He would grab a restorative nap, then spend the rest of the evening exploring the resort and seeing what other unexpected surprises Sate had in store for him. Yet, as he held his hand to the scan pad, his heart wasn’t in it.
Stepping into his room, he frowned at the designer bag sitting just inside the door. Then his heart leaped. Had Vexy changed her mind? Had she decided to extend her stay?
Those hopeful thoughts were laid to rest almost immediately.
“Well, hello there, lover.” Wearing nothing but diamonds, Chelsea Chamberlain grinned from her reclined position on the sofa. “Surprised?”
Chapter Eighteen
After an exhausting day of travel, flight delays, and dealing with obnoxious people, Kayla slept like the dead for a solid eight hours. The unwelcome sound of her alarm heralded her first day back to reality.
She popped a few ibuprofen caplets to take care of her lingering headache and stiff limbs, washing them down with coffee and an energy shot. It didn’t compare to the stuff she’d had on vacation, but it did the job. Then she took a long, hot shower while her body revved up and her mental state recalibrated from vacation back to work mode.
Feeling marginally better, she looked in the mirror and was pleased with what she saw. The radiant kiss of bronze could be attributed to the tropical sunshine, but the inner glow was from her sexy times with Spencer Dumas.
So were the quickly-fading red marks from his playful nips around some of her more sensitive areas, like her breasts, her abdomen, the tender curve where her backside met her legs.
She couldn’t help the soft smile that curved her lips as she angled her body this way and that, remembering how completely focused he had been in giving his undivided attention. The man had serious, serious skills.
Chances were, their paths would never cross again. It was for the best. As sexually compatible as they were in the insular bubble of paradise that was Sate, it would never work out in the real world. He was a multi-millionaire CEO, and she was a travel agent who had learned her lessons the hard way a long time ago.
With that less-than-cheery thought, she grabbed a protein bar and fixed herself another cup of coffee, both of which she ingested while getting ready for work.
Annette liked her agents to look professional, so Kayla’s work wardrobe consisted of fashionable, business casual skirts, blouses, vests, and jackets. The clothes were well-made and comfortable, but felt confining after bikinis and fine silk wrap dresses.
Playing the vixen again had been fun for a few days. She had enjoyed wearing the provocative, elegant clothing and the appreciative looks she had received as a result. Those things wouldn’t fly at the office, though. Annette would pitch a hissy fit.
At least she still had her expensive lingerie. Even if no one else saw the fine silk and lace pieces, she knew they were there. They made her feel sexy and empowered, and that was what was really important.
Spencer had liked them, though, hadn’t he? As fierce of a lover as he was, he had been remarkably gentle with her underthings, removing them with care and reverence ... and occasionally, with his teeth.
She wondered if he ever found the vibrant red panties she had left for him. It had been an impulsive, spur of the moment act on her part. As she had been sneaking out, she had seen a pair of his shorts draped over a chair and had tucked her thong into one of the deep pockets, a memento of their brief but explosive time together.
Would he fist them and bring them to his nose, closing his eyes in fond remembrance? Or would he sigh and toss them into the nearest waste basket?
She knew which scenario she preferred. She also knew which was more likely.
Grabbing her keys, she locked up the house and drove to the travel agency. The gray skies, heavy with forecasted rain, reflected her mood.
“Wow, that must have been some trip. You’re glowing!” Stephanie hung up the phone and stared at Kayla with envy.
“It was,” Kayla agreed. She thought briefly of asking Stephanie how her sick kid was, but didn’t bother. She would know soon enough anyway. Stephanie couldn’t go five minutes without talking about her kids—what they did, what they said, where they went. Carly, the other working mom, was the same way. Kayla vaguely wondered if they never noticed that no one cared, or if they did and just kept talking anyway.
“Thanks for covering for me last week,” Stephanie said, right on cue. “Sammy picked up something at the daycare. He was running a fever and throwing up, and with Bill taking on those extra-long hauls—”
Kayla was granted a reprieve when the sharp staccato of high heels clacked across the flooring.
“So?” Annette snapped, interrupting what was certain to be a long-winded recap of Stephanie’s domestic woes. Sour-faced as usual, Annette looked Kayla up and down with a critical eye. “Recommendation?”
“Hands down, five-star rating,” Kayla said truthfully. “I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it, especially to wealthy singles or couples looking for some quality pampering.”
Annette’s scowl deepened. “Any issues?”
“None whatsoever. Sate is a taste of paradise on earth.”
“Hmm,” Annette hummed, then went back to her office.
“What crawled up her ass and died?” Kayla asked, though she suspected she already knew the answer.
“She’s pissed that you went instead of her,” Stephanie confided with a smile.
“She wouldn’t have liked it,” Kayla said, tossing her purse in her desk drawer. “People actually have fun there.”
Stephanie laughed, then got a wistful look on her face. “Must be nice, though. The most exotic place Bill and I ever went was to a lake up in Canada, and I was already pregnant with Sammy, so we ...”
Kayla turned on her computer and tuned out whatever else Stephanie was saying. It didn’t matter. Stephanie would continue to tell the story in its entirety whether anyone was listening or not.
As she scanned the more than three hundred emails that had accumulated in her inbox, Kayla’s thoughts drifted to Spencer again. When he had woken up and found her gone, had he come looking for her? Did he even know she had left the island? Had he already found another lover?
Kayla shoved the surprising sense of disappointment aside and focused on her screen. Thinking like that would lead her down a dangerous road, one she had no intention of traveling.
After weeding out the junk mail, she was down to just under two hundred, and of those, less than a hundred would need to be handled today. Not as bad as she had thought.
Then she checked her voicemail. She jotted notes as she listened, prioritizing as she went. She paused when a message held a voice she hadn’t heard in a long time.
“Kayla? Hi. It’s Lexi. I’m sorry to
bother you at work, but I ... well, it’s the only number I could find.” A pause followed, the awkward kind when people didn’t know what to say next. Then, softer, Lexi continued, “Thanks for giving me a chance to save my parents’ things. Listen, do you think we could meet sometime; have a cup of coffee? It’s been a long time, and—”
Kayla deleted the message, having heard enough.
She had done her good deed. She had no intention of wading in those shark-infested waters again. Her brief trip to the pub had been enough to know that a family reunion wasn’t anywhere in the near future. Lexi might be a soft-hearted, forgiving woman, but the rest of the family wasn’t.
That was fine by her. She had messed up, done terrible things. She had learned and moved on.
“Oh. My. God.” Francesca, better known as Frankie, burst through the doors.
Kayla knew that look. Bright eyes, flushed cheeks, body nearly vibrating in excitement. Frankie had come across a juicy piece of gossip and she couldn’t wait to share. Her sister was the daytime receptionist at the Brandyville Town Hall, and as a result, Frankie was often the first to find out anything about local goings-on.
“What?” Stephanie asked immediately.
Kayla turned back to her computer. Unlike those two, Kayla didn’t follow celebrities or give a single fuck about local gossip.
“A new Wawa is opening up in Brandyville,” Frankie said, barely containing her excitement. “Right down the street! No more of Annette’s shitty generic coffee.”
Kayla chuckled silently. Wawa was a chain of convenience stores and gas stations up and down the East Coast, lauded by locals for their excellent coffee. The stuff Annette bought for them was pretty bad, unlike the expensive blends she kept for herself in her private office.
Frankie bustled over to her desk and plopped down the suitcase-sized quilted handbag with a loud clunk. “Oh, and remember Ashley, the one Annette fired for sleeping with Mr. Davenport? Turns out, she wasn’t sleeping with Mr. Davenport. She was sleeping with Mrs. Davenport!”
Two of a Kind: A Callaghan Family & Friends Romance Page 6
