by Jayci Lee
“I’m going to collapse in bed after a nice bath.” Her soft voice trembled and she hastily turned away from him.
Garrett followed her into the master suite, and she spun around with wide eyes.
“Did you need something?”
Her jaw went slack as he lifted her up again and carried her into the bathroom. He set her down by the tub and stared into her eyes before reaching around her to turn on the faucet.
“I, uh...” Her words trailed off as she bit her lip. He added some bath salt to the steaming water, making lavender and citrus steam rise around them. “What are you doing?”
“Drawing you a bath.”
“I can manage,” she said.
“I know.”
“This isn’t a good idea, Garrett.”
“I know.” He did, but he didn’t give a damn anymore.
She stared at him with wide eyes, a pulse fluttering under the translucent skin of her neck. His gaze not leaving hers, he reached around her and carefully lifted her top off over her head. Natalie moved pliantly beneath his hands as though she was in a trance. Her shirt on the floor, he linked his fingers into the waistband of her skirt and smoothed it down her thighs, letting it pool around her ankles. His breath caught at the sight of her curves dipping and flaring in a way that could drive a man crazy. Her eyelids fluttered as though she was waking from a dream, and she lifted her arms to cover herself.
“Don’t,” he said, his voice gruff. “Let me look at you.”
He reached out and lowered her arms back to her sides, and Natalie didn’t stop him. With a shuddering sigh, he unhooked her bra and slipped it off, his hands skimming the soft skin of her arms. She trembled against his touch, and his gut tightened with desire. He stared at her bare torso. He’d never seen anything more beautiful.
When his thumbs brushed across her breasts, she groaned and arched toward him. He stilled for a second, relishing her response, before he kneeled to tug off her panties. He reverently ran his hands down the sides of her hips and her outer thighs.
“You’re so perfect,” he whispered, rising to his feet.
She blushed and lowered her lashes. His heart was pounding with need as he lifted her into the tub, his sleeves getting drenched in the process. He shrugged out of his dripping shirt, and Natalie’s lips parted as her eyes roamed his chest approvingly.
Then she sighed, tilting her head back into the water, her eyes closing in wordless invitation. Garrett struggled to swallow, his mouth as dry as the sand dunes. He lathered the soap in his hands and lifted her arm, so soft and smooth, then moved onto her other arm. Her chest rose and fell more quickly underneath the water, but she didn’t open her eyes. He washed her legs, then moved down to her feet, awed by the masterpiece that was Natalie.
By the time he reached her torso, he was trembling. He groaned as he smoothed his palms over her breasts, and Natalie pushed against his hands, her hips lifting under the water. He wanted to heed her silent plea, to reach between her thighs and watch her fall apart for him.
For a moment, he wanted to be the man who burned for her, and she the woman who caught fire at his touch. No past, no future. No fear, no heartache.
Gritting his teeth, Garrett hooked his arms under her shoulders and knees, and lifted her out of the water. Her eyes were wide with confusion but he said nothing. With shaking hands, he dried her off, wrapped her in a towel and stepped back from her.
He wasn’t going to seduce her. She needed to know what he was offering, and if she declined, he had to walk away. She should refuse him for both their sakes, but his body begged her to accept him.
Twelve
“I want you.” His voice was a whispered caress, and the intensity of his onyx gaze speared through her defenses. “But this marriage, it still ends once our objectives are reached. If I make love to you tonight, I’m taking your body and giving you mine, nothing more.”
Garrett stood before her, his hands in his shorts, his ruined shirt discarded on the bathroom floor. What would he look like if his shorts fell next to his shirt? She had a feeling he would be as magnificent as he was everywhere else.
If I make love to you tonight...
Natalie knew herself. She wouldn’t be able to sleep with him and not become emotionally attached. The line he’d drawn was the only thing protecting her from... What exactly do I need protection from? It wasn’t until Traci had died that she understood the agony of loss. She hardly remembered her mom, and her father was as distant as a stranger. But Natalie hadn’t minded. Not really. Because she’d had Traci.
A chunk of her heart had been torn from her and buried with her sister. If the pain of losing her sister didn’t kill her, then she could survive anything. Like the end of a fake marriage. Everyone left one way or another. In this case, at least she’d see it coming. She could prepare herself.
And no matter what happened between them, Garrett wouldn’t end their marriage before Sophie’s adoption and Natalie’s promotion. He was a man of his word.
Don’t I deserve to experience true passion?
She had never felt this way about anyone before and probably never would again.
Isn’t it better than living the rest of my life wondering what it would’ve been like to make love to him?
“I understand.” Natalie’s heart skipped like a stone thrown across calm waters. “And I want you, too.”
A predatory light flared in his eyes, but he didn’t lean down for the kiss she was expecting. She could see him holding back, fighting for control. Then she understood. He was as helpless as she was against their crazy attraction, and that vulnerability tipped her over the precipice.
Natalie closed the distance between them and kissed him. Garrett stood as still as a sun-warmed boulder, but his lips parted against hers, inviting her to explore him.
So she did.
She kissed his hot, smooth lips, and she wanted to venture further—to taste more of him. When she eagerly sucked his bottom lip into her mouth, Garrett moved. With a low groan vibrating in his chest, he pushed her up against the wall and flicked his tongue across her lips. He took advantage of her startled gasp to deepen the kiss. His heat, his smell and the carnal pleasure of his touch invaded her. His lips and tongue teased and danced with hers. So wet. So hot.
An onslaught of sensations blanketed her and instinct took over. She plunged her fingers into his thick, dark hair and pushed herself up into his kiss. She hummed with satisfaction as the evidence of his desire pressed against her stomach. He moaned and slid his hand down the back of her thigh, then hitched her leg around his waist.
Lust burned through her veins. Pure, basic and animal. The hunger to touch and be touched threatened to consume her. The tepid kisses she’d experienced in the past hadn’t prepared her for this man.
He ravished her lips as his hands explored her body. She braced her hands on his chest and a decadent sigh escaped her as her fingertips met his hot, bare skin. Desperate to feel him against her, Natalie dropped her towel to the floor. With an impatient growl, Garrett cupped her breasts and dipped his head to run kisses across the sensitive skin.
Instinct was a funny thing. She’d never been touched like this—the few men she’d been with were clumsy and awkward in comparison—but she knew exactly what she wanted. Gripping handfuls of Garrett’s hair in her fists, she held his head against her chest and arched her back, demanding more. She whimpered when his tongue licked one taut peak. When she scraped her fingernails across his scalp, he groaned and took her fully in his mouth.
At first, she didn’t even hear her phone ringing. It was coming from the bedroom.
Then she heard his phone ringing from his pants on the floor.
“Don’t answer it,” she breathed.
When the hotel phone rang in chorus with their cell phones, panic sliced through her lust-addled brain.
“Oh, God.
”
The last time every phone near her started ringing had been the night Traci died. Cold fear replaced the heat of desire. She recognized this dread. She’d felt it that night, too. Natalie ran to her phone and picked it up.
“Yes, this is Natalie.” She was shivering so violently her teeth were clacking against each other.
“You need to put this on.” Garrett wrapped her in a bathrobe and stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders.
“What happened?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.
“Natalie...” Steve Davis’s voice broke on the other end of the line. “It’s Sophie... Lily was carrying her down the stairs and her hip gave out. She managed to break her fall but she lost her hold on the baby...”
“How badly is Sophie hurt?” Natalie’s mind went bright white. Garrett cursed then wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, his chest solid behind her back. She leaned back, grateful for the support.
“Mostly scrapes and bruises.” The poor man choked back a sob. “But Lily’s worried Sophie might have bumped her head. They’re running more tests on her to rule out a concussion.”
Natalie didn’t recall the rest of their conversation. Once she hung up the phone, Garrett turned her around to face him and wiped the tears spilling down her cheeks with the pad of his thumb.
“Sophie fell down the stairs.” Her voice sounded distant and foreign. “She might have a concussion.”
“God...” Garrett didn’t try to comfort her with empty words. He pulled her into his arms and held her until her trembling subsided.
Then he snapped into action, punching numbers into his phone and barking out orders. Natalie heard him mention a helicopter. They needed to go to Sophie—the sooner, the better.
As she stood rooted to the spot, Garrett pulled on his clothes then proceeded to dress her, maneuvering her limp limbs into compliance. “Sophie needs you.”
* * *
The helicopter ride took less than half an hour, but it felt like a lifetime. As they landed on the hospital roof, Garrett kept his eyes on Natalie. She’d stopped crying but she was too still and quiet. Tugging her head into his chest against the rush of the propeller’s wind, he ushered her downstairs.
When they got to the waiting room on the pediatric floor, they found Lily weeping silently into Steve’s shoulder. Adelaide and James sat close together. When Lily spotted Natalie, she walked toward her, limping slightly, and hugged her tightly.
“I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. I’m so sorry.”
“It was an accident. It’s not your fault.” Natalie stepped back from the older woman and scanned her. “Are you okay? Did you hurt your hip again?”
“No. I’m fine.” Lily didn’t sound too happy about that. “I should’ve protected the baby, but I couldn’t hang on. I’m sorry, Natalie. I was so selfish to keep her with me...”
“Not now. She’s going to be okay,” Natalie said, blindly stretching her hand behind her. Garrett knew she was looking for his hand, so he took hers and squeezed. “She has to be.”
There was so little he could do for her. Natalie usually acted as though her spine was made of steel, but when the phones started ringing in Ojai, she’d crumbled like ancient clay. He’d never be able to forget the horror in her eyes.
Garrett wished he could’ve done something to spare her from the pain. He’d never felt more helpless in his life. Over the next couple hours, he stayed by Natalie’s side and held her whenever he could, but she seemed leagues away. She sat motionless, as though she was an empty husk of herself, all the blood gone from her face. Only the sporadic fluttering of her lashes indicated she was alive.
Garrett dragged his hands down his face and shot to his feet. He stepped out of the waiting room and stood uncertainly. He didn’t want to leave her, but she didn’t seem to notice when he walked out.
Just ten minutes. He’d stretch his legs and come back.
After no more than five minutes, he hurried back to Natalie with a cup of hot tea in his hand, hoping it would warm her up. As he neared the waiting room, he heard loud sobbing. Pain shot through his heart. It was Natalie. He ran the rest of the way and came to an abrupt halt at the entrance.
Natalie and Adelaide were hugging, laughing and crying, while a doctor in blue scrubs stood nearby. His dad stared at the ceiling with red-rimmed eyes, his lips pressed tight. When Natalie spotted Garrett at the door, she launched herself at him, barely leaving him time to move the hot tea out of the way. Leaning against the door frame to balance himself, he held her tightly against him.
“She’s okay. All the tests were normal.” Her voice was muffled against his shoulder, but her relief was palpable.
He squeezed his eyes shut. Thank God. They stood wrapped around each other until he heard a small cough. He opened his eyes to find the mild-mannered doctor smiling at them.
“Mrs. Song, you can come in and see Sophie for ten minutes,” he said. “She needs rest but I’m sure she misses you.”
“Thank you.” Natalie’s hand flew to her mouth as her eyes filled with fresh tears. Then she hesitated and turned around to face the Davises. “Would you like to see her first?”
Lily had her face buried in her hands, and Steve mutely shook his head. They needed more time to pull themselves together. Natalie bit her lip, concern for the older couple clouding her exhausted face. Garrett was standing behind her with his hands on her arms. Small tremors shook her frame and he wanted to pull her back into his embrace.
“Will you come with me?” She looked over her shoulder at him.
“Of course.” His voice caught in his throat.
When they entered the room, the baby looked so pale and small in her hospital bed that Garrett wasn’t surprised to hear Natalie’s choked sob. She ran to Sophie’s side, cooing soft words he couldn’t make out, but the little girl smiled in her sleep. Garrett stood back as long as he could, but when Natalie’s body shook with the force of her sobbing, he went to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Let Sophie sleep. Come with me.” He helped Natalie to her feet and tucked her to his side, then quickly glanced back at Sophie. “Sleep tight, baby girl. We’ll be back soon.”
Garrett had to twist their arms to make the rest of the family go home. In fact, they wouldn’t cooperate until Adelaide put her foot down.
“Sophie’s okay. We’re not helping anyone by becoming sleep-deprived zombies,” she said, packing up her things. “Natalie, you have my number. I’m here if you need me.”
“Thank you.”
Adelaide hugged Natalie then kissed Garrett on the cheek. His father followed Adelaide’s example. He squeezed his shoulder on the way out and Garrett nodded his understanding. His father was there for him, too.
With a sigh of relief, Garrett turned to Natalie and helpless anger surged inside him. She hugged herself tight but her teeth were still chattering. Damn it. He dragged his fingers through his hair.
“She’s okay, Natalie. She’s going home tomorrow.” With her grandparents... The Davises seemed stricken and unsure of themselves, and frustration filled him. Sophie should be with Natalie. They should see that now.
“I... I know...” she stuttered through the tremors. “But I keep thinking...what if I’d lost her?”
“Hush,” he said. He sat down beside her and tucked her close to his side. She snuggled her face against his chest. “But you didn’t lose her. Focus on that.”
Natalie didn’t answer but her shivering eased. Then her soft deep breaths told him she’d fallen asleep in his arms. He kissed the top of her head and let his eyes drift shut, holding on tight.
Thirteen
“Sophie!”
Natalie bolted upright, blood pounding in her ears. She gradually registered her surroundings, and her heartbeat regained its normal rhythm. Sophie had been discharged midmorning, and went back with the Davises to their
extended-stay hotel. And Garrett had marched Natalie straight to bed as soon as they got home.
What time is it?
The room was pitch-black, but she didn’t know whether it was because of the blackout blinds or because it was the middle of the night. She could’ve been asleep for two hours or fourteen.
Swinging her legs off the bed, Natalie waited until her eyes adjusted to the dark. A spill of light leaked under the door, and she made her way toward it. She twisted the handle and poked her head out, conscious that all she wore was an oversize T-shirt.
The light was coming from Garrett’s room. Soft murmurs drifted through the open door, so she tiptoed over, holding her breath. He was on the phone. Suddenly aware she was creeping around the house, eavesdropping on her husband, she rolled her eyes and turned to head back to her room.
Natalie stopped short when she heard Garrett say Sophie’s name.
“Good. Sophie has a mighty spirit inside that little body, Steve,” he said, his voice deep and warm. There was a pause as he listened to the other end. “Yes, she’s okay. Just exhausted. She slept through the afternoon. And how’s Lily holding up? It wasn’t her fault. Natalie doesn’t blame her. No one does.”
He was checking up on the baby and comforting the older man. Warmth spread through her body and every locked door in her heart burst open with her love for her husband. Natalie almost gave herself away with a sob.
Pressing herself against the hallway wall, she clapped her hand over her mouth. Willing her shaky legs to function, she made her way back to the master bedroom and sank onto the bed. She swiped at the hot tears trailing down her cheeks. It wasn’t easy accepting she was probably the stupidest woman in the world.
She’d loved him all along—from that first heart-pounding moment in his office. She’d just been too naive and scared to see it. When she heard soft steps in the hall, she wiped her face with the back of her hand and went out to meet him. At least she knew what she wanted now.
