“Rina, I—”
A loud knocking sound interrupted them. “We’ll be right out,” she called.
Colin clamped his hand over her lips. “I’ll,” he mouthed, obviously wanting to protect her reputation. “I’ll be right out,” he whispered.
“I’ll be right out,” Rina called, a heated blush rising to her cheeks. “Do you think anyone will know what we’ve been doing?” she asked softly.
“It’s Corinne. Emma said I could find Colin upstairs.”
He muttered a curse. “I don’t want her finding us like this. It’s not fair to you.”
Rina cared more about how much she liked the sound of us rolling off his sexy lips than she did about what Corinne thought. But she appreciated that he cared.
He started for the door she’d thought was a linen closet. “I’ll catch up with her in the hall.”
“It’s about Joe,” Corinne called when no one answered her.
“Uh…Colin’s in the room next door,” Rina replied.
“You get dressed and I’ll meet up with you downstairs.” He offered her a quick wink and he was gone.
But her body reminded her, he wouldn’t be forgotten.
HE SHOULDN’T HAVE touched her. Knowing they were on opposite sides, knowing he had to convince Joe to ax her beloved job, Colin should have walked out of the bathroom without looking back. He couldn’t, of course. He wanted to be with her too damn badly.
And now that he had, he was shaken. During their intense conversation at the party, they’d connected as though no one else was in the room. Once they were alone, that connection had deepened, both physically and emotionally. When she’d admitted that she’d never asked a man for what she wanted, not even her deceased husband being the implication, Colin had been compelled to put her feelings before his own. He wanted to be the first man she trusted in such an intimate way, and she hadn’t disappointed him.
But now he faced a more difficult truth. Rina was the first woman he was scared to lose.
A knock sounded loud again, drawing him from his thoughts. Buttoning the shirt he’d grabbed from Logan’s closet, Colin stepped into the hall to head off Corinne.
“I could hear you banging from in here.” He left the bedroom door open so she could glance inside and see he was alone. Although he wished he wasn’t…But he meant what he’d said to Rina, and any satisfaction he received wouldn’t be found at her hand. “What’s wrong with Joe?” he asked Corinne before his damn erection became obvious again.
“He had a ministroke.”
Colin’s stomach plummeted. This wasn’t news he wanted to hear.
“The hospital called my cell phone and I’ve been searching all over the house for you.”
For a brief minute, Colin softened toward the woman who not only looked extremely upset but who’d bothered to take the time to find him before heading out for the hospital. “Thank you. Can I give you a lift there?” he asked.
She nodded. “I’m too upset to drive.”
He grasped her elbow and started for the stairs. Corinne was an enigma, a woman he didn’t understand. One minute her feelings for Joe seemed genuine, the next she acted erratically without thought for Joe’s wishes. Colin groaned, knowing Corinne and his feelings about her weren’t important. Joe’s health was. “What did the hospital say?” he asked.
“Just that he was stable,” she said as they rushed down the long, circular stairs.
He retrieved their coats. “Wait here,” he told Corinne.
Colin sought out Emma and Logan to make sure one of them let Rina know why he’d disappeared and covered her ride home. Though he could wait and tell her himself, he didn’t want to waste a minute getting to Joe, nor did he want to give her some explanation that was bound to be awkward after what had just transpired between them.
He couldn’t spare the time to make her feel as special now as she deserved, and he would have to make it up to her later for leaving. She deserved it. But Corinne had given him an excuse to run now and he grabbed the chance.
Because Joe’s scare came at an opportune moment, at a time when Colin needed space.
He was a man who always left before things became intense, and he didn’t know what to do with his craving to be closer to Rina now. He felt crowded by his emotions because never in his life had he connected with a woman on such an elemental level.
Rina humbled him. He’d had more invested than just sex in that one encounter, all the while knowing he’d hurt her in the end. Hurt himself, as well, since losing her was inevitable.