“The day your brother called, I overheard you telling him you missed him. I thought you were hung up on some guy. An ex.”
“Wow. I’m a neurotic, narcissistic, lying cheater. That’s pretty low, even for me. I told you I wasn’t involved with anyone. Do you really think I’d get on my knees for you if I was?”
Some emotion she couldn’t name lit the gold around his pupils. “I didn’t think you were involved with him. I thought you had feelings for him. Which you do, as it turns out, but I misinterpreted the situation. I’ve been tearing myself up for weeks because of it.”
Her heart stuttered, and then took off at double-time. She rested her hands on his shoulders and leaned in close enough to watch his pupils expand. “What are you saying to me, Luke McLean?”
He whipped her robe open again and they both watched his big, tanned hand cup her pale breast. “I’m saying the thought of you missing an ex drove me crazy.” The admission came out in a tight, tortured voice. He kneaded her flesh possessively. “The idea that you might be longing for another man’s hands on you while you were here with me made me burn from the inside out.”
His words were making her burn from the inside out. “You were…jealous?”
He moved his hand to the place where her heart pounded. “As fuck. That crosses all kinds of lines, Trouble, and I know it, but I was jealous as fuck.”
Her arms were around his neck before she knew she meant to hug him. As emotions went, his confession of jealousy fell far short of what she felt for him, but her eager heart was willing to accept inspiring his territorial impulses as a start. “I don’t care about the lines.” She didn’t. His lines were ridiculous as far as she was concerned. To demonstrate, she grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted. He raised his arms and let her drag it off.
“I care. But I’ll deal with the lines we have left.” Before she could question his cryptic vow, he settled her astride his lap. “Trust me.” He nudged her forward and trailed his mouth along her jaw while she shivered at the way their bodies fit so perfectly together.
His low voice vibrated in her ear. “Trust me.”
…
Luke sat on the end of his favorite lounge chair in the courtyard of Quinn’s villa, watching the first rays of dawn gild the clouds lined up across the sky, and holding his phone to his ear. Eddie’s cautious voice filled it, providing the wrong soundtrack for memories of Quinn kneeling between the chairs and showing him how much she appreciated imported chocolate ice cream.
“When I asked for a favor,” Eddie continued, “I didn’t expect you to do it for free. You took a six-week hiatus from your business, dropped everything to go to Paradise Bay and train my client. It wasn’t a vacation. You’ve spent time and incurred expenses. You’re entitled to receive the compensation called for under the contract. Are you sure you want to do this, man?”
Gold deepened to fire, tingeing sky and water pink. He’d get Quinn in the water today. Maybe a beach run for cardio, and then a swim to cool down and work some muscle groups besides her legs. After that? Quinn, wet and panting…the possibilities abounded.
“Luke?”
Eddie’s voice brought him back to the here and now. He wasn’t prepared for this debate, mainly because he hadn’t expected his friend to pick up at such an early hour. He’d aimed to leave a message and avoid explanations. “I’m sure. Cancel the contract. I’m waiving my fees and absorbing the expenses. My business manager will refund the deposit. I’m not charging Quinn for this.”
Luke heard a mattress groan, like someone shifting to sit up in bed, and then an unfamiliar murmur from the other end of the line. Shit. Had Eddie been…entertaining? Confirmation came quickly as his friend said, “Couple bottles of Ace in the wine fridge. Help yourself. Pour me a glass while you’re at it. I’ll be down soon.”
A moment passed, presumably while Eddie waited for his guest to exit, and then he continued. “What’s going on? I thought you told me everything was on track. I grant you, I’ve only seen her over FaceTime, but she looks great. Are you telling me at five weeks into this, you’re not going to hit the goal?”
“Not at all. She’s done an amazing job. If you want to measure the success of this effort strictly by BMI, we’ll do the fifth week assessment on Friday and I expect she’ll be within a percentage point of her target. Relax, Eddie. She’s there. If the producers saw her today, the out clause would never enter their minds. Their only concern would be getting her in front of the cameras as soon as possible.”
“Okay. That’s a relief. But then why are you killing the contract?”
“Because I don’t get involved with clients.”
“What’s that got to do with anything? Ah. Never mind. I retract the question.”
“Yeah. Ah. It’s not a problem if she’s not a client.”
“That’s a huge fucking forfeit on your part…”
“I’ve done the math—”
“…especially if you’re just being a stickler. You two indulged in a one-off? You’re both consenting adults. Call it a moment of personal time, and get back to work. Ten days from now, she won’t be a client.”
“I’m not being a stickler, you cynical bastard. It wasn’t a one-off. We’re involved.” Exasperation turned his voice terse. “I didn’t plan it, but it happened, and I can’t undo it.”
“This is probably a good point for me to mention that Quinn’s not just one of my favorite clients, she’s one of my favorite people. I sent her to you, so I’m also going to say this. She deserves some fucking enthusiasm, not a guy with no plan who’s trying to ‘undo’ a personal mistake with a professional sacrifice.”
Fair enough. He let out a breath and rubbed the back of his head. He didn’t mean to come off like an unwilling victim. All the hesitancy he felt was on her behalf. She deserved a chance to consider her feelings in a couple weeks when real life resumed, and decide if this was really what she wanted. But he hadn’t given it to her. His plans moving forward didn’t involve giving it to her, and deep down, he had no regrets. “Even if I could undo it, I wouldn’t want to. Quinn’s not a mistake.”
“All right. Fine.” Eddie paused for a moment—the mating calls of a few die-hard Coqui frogs filled the silence—and then he added, “I’ve worked with her since she was a kid. I know she’s not a kid anymore, but she’s also not as tough and jaded as she comes off.”