Chapter 1
KATE
Drake Morgan was the sexiest, most intelligent and most romantic man I'd ever met.
And he was mine – every beautiful inch of him.
He leaned against the hotel bar, his arms spread out on the counter behind him, one knee bent, his slick black boot on the foot rest. He wore a crisp white linen shirt, open a few buttons, over black leather jeans. I could see the thick metal belt buckle beneath his shirt, which was untucked. His leather jeans were slung low over a very ample package.
He watched me intently from under thick black lashes, his bangs falling in his eyes in this incredibly sexy way while he waited for the bartender to fix our drinks. The corner of his mouth quirked up in that characteristic way, a gleam in his blue blue eyes.
Before he went to the bar to order for us, he leaned down to me, his mouth by my ear. "I have so many plans for you tonight, Mrs. Morgan," he whispered. "I hope you're ready."
Of course, he had to know that his words would make me more than ready and in fact, just moments after he said those words, I was already wet and aching deep inside. I'd be so ready that I doubted it would take me any time to orgasm when he began touching me later that night. It had been over ten days since we made love – ten days during which time I'd been sick with a stomach bug and Sophie had been sleepless due to teething. Drake had been working five days straight, twelve hour shifts in the ER at UCSF, the evening shift from three in the afternoon to three in the morning.
We were both exhausted and feeling incredibly deprived of each other.
He returned to the table with our drinks and we held them up and clinked glasses.
"To us. To trying to make up for ten days of deprivation."
"To us," I replied and took a sip of my vodka cooler. Drake had a vodka martini with a twist of lime. We agreed to have one drink before dinner, then we'd go to the dining room and eat a meal and spend some time walking outside as the sun set. We were staying at the Ritz-Carleton in Half Moon Bay, which was a glorious hotel overlooking the ocean a few miles south of our place farther up the coast closer to San Francisco. We'd driven by it on our travels and had planned to come and stay for weeks.
Now here we were.
Drake promised me a night of pleasure. I knew he'd deliver.
Sophie was with my dad and Elaine at our new house along the coast. When we first moved to California, we'd originally located in Monterey to be close to my father but when Drake's supervisor asked him to work at UCSF instead of the hospital in Monterey because of a staffing issue in the ER, Drake had been willing. It meant he'd either commute the two hours each way five days a week or we'd have to move closer to San Francisco.
I hated the thought of Drake on the highway every day, so we found another house along the coast closer to SF. It meant we were farther away from my father and Elaine, but it was safer that way and less strain on Drake. His schedule was already grueling.
As a result, our trips to visit my father were less frequent but we made a point of driving down to spend time with them on Drake's days off. They drove up and stayed at our place every couple of weeks so that Drake and I could spend some alone time with each other.
My cell dinged to indicate an incoming text. I checked and saw it was from Elaine.
ELAINE: Sophie just went down. I gave her some Tylenol and she was happy to go to sleep. Just thought I'd let you know so you can relax.
I texted her right back after showing Drake my cell.
KATE: That's good to know. I hope you two are comfortable and have a good night. She usually sleeps through the night but sometimes, she wakes up especially now that she's teething.
ELAINE: We'll be fine. You two enjoy yourself. Drake works so hard and long and you've been sick so you need grownup time.