“Bring a baby into it?”
“Not my life right now, no. Definitely not.”
My relief should have matched his. And there was no way a child was in my immediate future—or even in a distant one. But the idea that it was so abhorrent nicked a little space inside me.
I ruthlessly cauterized it.
No way was I even thinking of him in any sort of future capacity. That was just stupid.
“Hey.”
“Hey what?” I toyed with one of his curls.
“I’m sorry I went all berserker on you. You just wind me up and I can’t handle it. It’s new territory for me, but I’ll get better. I promise.”
“No promises, right?”
He shook his head. “You really think we can just walk away from this?” He set me down and took my hands. “You feel it too, right?”
“What I feel doesn’t matter.” I twisted free and crossed to the bathroom, stripping out of my sandy clothes.
“Of course it matters.” He stopped outside the door. His eyebrows knitted as he tugged at his lower lip with his fingers.
I turned on the taps in the shower. “Do you want to take a quick shower before you go?”
“Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?” He folded his arms.
I laughed and it sounded nearly hysterical. I was heading for overload and I couldn’t deal with him on top of it. “What are you, fifty?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I get what you’re doing.”
“Oh, really?” I stepped in and snapped the curtain shut. I turned my face up to the spray. My sun-abused skin felt like fire ants were crawling over it. Add in the devastation of two rounds of crazy sex in the space of eight hours, and exhaustion was threatening to take me under.
Right now, the solace of sleep was welcome.
There was no thinking, no feeling.
“Dammit, Zoe.”
I soaped up and winced as I washed him away. The scent of him clung to me and I scrubbed harder.
He flicked the curtain away and stood there. “Eager to get me off your skin? To forget about me?”
I pushed my wet hair out of my face. “Yes, dammit.”
“Good fucking luck. I’ve been trying for weeks.” He took my soapy hand and pressed it against his chest. “You’re in here.” He dragged it down to his half-hard cock. “And add in what you do to him? There’s no denying it, Magic. You can hide all you want, but I’ve got your taste inside me. I’m not letting you go now.”
I pulled my hand away. I didn’t want to believe him. I couldn’t believe him. Not and stay sane. “Just go.”
“You know we’re good together. Our timing is fucked, but you know this isn’t over.”
I turned away from him, my hands shaking around my soapy washcloth. I rested my forehead against the tile when I heard the door shut.
“Goodbye, Ian.”
Eighteen
He was putting a stop to this shit once and for all.