She’d given in to the desires of the heart once before and look where it got her.
With reluctance, she slid her arms from Jack’s shoulders and stepped back into the known.
The safe zone.
“I…I just can’t, Jack,” she whispered softly, pleading silently with him for understanding.
He took her hands in his own, smiling down at her. “We’re both grown adults, Daisy. Both of us single. There’s no reason we can’t do this.”
She closed her eyes.
Be strong. You know that this is what’s right. For you, your kids, your future.
“Yes, we are.” She opened her eyes again. “But we’re also business partners, playing a part in order to achieve what we both want. Protecting our kids. Establishing our careers. Sleeping together would be crossing a line that would only complicate everything.”
“It would also be amazing.”
“Maybe. At least until we return to our own worlds and realize it was a mistake.” And she’d be left with a massive broken heart and her dream of having her own bakery a pie in the sky once again.
No. What was practical and rational would be for them to keep things as they are.
Instead of expressing disappointment or frustration, or even another attempt to convince her otherwise, Jack grinned, taking a moment to brush a wisp of hair from her face. He was taking this better than she’d hoped.
“I understand. You need time to get accustomed to the idea that you and I are inevitable.”
Or not.
He sounded so certain, though, and she smiled back despite the seriousness of the moment before slowly shaking her head. “Not inevitable. Believe me. There’s nothing I’d like more if it was just about you and me and this moment. But it’s not. There are just too many variables that it’s not something I can risk.”
“I understand.” He still grinned, and she wondered if she had spoken another language. He appeared so…upbeat.
“All right then. I guess I’ll see you in the morning?” she asked, pulling her hands slowly from his.
“Most definitely. Sweet dreams, Daisy.”
With a last glance back to him, she walked down the hall then into her room, where she leaned against the door as she caught her breath.
Because even now, with her body still tingling and her head filled with memories of tonight, she wondered how she’d had the strength to say no.
…
Jack woke up with a strange sense of renewed hope and happiness the next morning. Last night might not have gone exactly the way he’d hoped, but as he saw it, he had the rest of the week—hell, the rest of his life—to prove to Daisy that what was happening between them was real.
And was worth the risk.
He slid out of bed then threw on some clothes, laced up his shoes, and left his room for a quick run. Ollie was sitting outside his door, undoubtedly needing to be taken outside, and after finding his leash, they headed out.
The brisk cold air was just what he needed as he kept a steady pace running along the beach, Ollie at his side.
Sure, his spirits could be low. His disappointment acute that she’d rejected him. But he didn’t see last night as Daisy’s reje
ction of him. Because she wanted him as surely as he wanted her. Of that he was certain. No, what Daisy was rejecting was something else, something tied up in her old life and that asshat of a husband who’d made her question her own value.
He didn’t need a degree in psychology to know that she was afraid of what would happen if it didn’t work out. She’d trusted her heart before and look what happened.
Which was why he could be patient. He needed to show her that he wasn’t like her ex-husband. He wouldn’t ever leave her. And if she let him, they could both make each other happy, provide for each other in a way she probably had never experienced firsthand. They’d take care of the other.
A large log rested on the beach and he leaped over it with renewed vigor. He’d show Daisy how things could be.