Every Breath You Take (Second Opportunities 4)

Kate remembered the hotel manager’s brief discussion with Mitchell in the lobby, and she aimed an accusing look straight at Mitchell while directing her question to Diederik. are the young newlyweds now?”

had them dragged out of here and thrown off a cliff,” Mitchell replied.

are in another suite,” Diederik provided simultaneously, Mr. Wyatt very kindly offered to pay for. The young bridegroom was greatly distressed over the cost of this suite which they were unable to enjoy.” Satisfied with his garnishment of the prawns, he looked at Kate and said, will unpack for you before I leave. Do you have anything with you that you would like me to press for you?”

, thank you,” Kate replied as she picked up half a watercress sandwich and walked over to the chest-high balcony wall for a better look at the view below.

Behind her, Diederik said, ’ve pressed your clothes, Mr. Wyatt, and hung them in your closet.”

Unaware that Mitchell had followed her, Kate whirled around and almost smashed her sandwich against his chest. have clothes to wear?” she exclaimed in delight.

Bracing his hands on the wall on either side of her, he trapped her and studied her with amused fascination. look ready to cheer with relief.”

Before Kate could respond, Diederik said politely, I finish unpacking, may I be of any further service?”

With his smiling gaze still fixed on Kate, Mitchell replied, turn down the bed before you leave, and see that we are not disturbed.”

Kate gaped at him in horror. you possibly be more obvious?”

is a hotel,” he pointed out reasonably.

know it is. But in the last five days I’ve checked into two of them with different men. I’m feeling like a complete floozy.”

He chuckled at her description of herself and ran his knuckles up her arm in a lazy caress. you thought I didn’t bring any clothes with me?”

didn’t have a suitcase with you in the taxi,” Kate pointed out, trying to sound less affected than she was by the touch of his skin against hers.

dropped it off this morning when I came out here to try to arrange for this suite or at least a better one than what the reservations clerk was offering me.” His knuckles slid across her shoulder and followed the curve of her jaw, which allowed his fingertips to slip beneath the neckline of her shirt and glide over her bare collarbone. “Just out of curiosity, what did you think I was going to do about clothes while we were here?”

thought you’d decided you weren’t going to need any clothes,” Kate said shakily, trying to concentrate on his words and not his fingers. to the tourist pamphlets, some beaches in St. Maarten are nude.”

casinos aren’t.”

, of course not. I thought maybe you intended to skip the casino tonight.”

do what instead?”

don’t know.”

, you do.”

Swallowing a laugh, Kate glanced toward the doorway. . Diederik is in there. He’ll hear you.”

cares?”

do. This may sound hopelessly unsophisticated to you, but I’ve never actually checked into a hotel for the sole purpose of going to bed with someone, and I’m a little self-conscious about it. I suppose you’ve done it lots of times, haven’t you?”

I’m feeling self-conscious.”

shouldn’t have asked that question,” Kate said ruefully.

not,” he whispered.

Kate stiffened at the implied reprimand, but before she could think of a suitable response, he twined his left hand through her hair and tipped her head back. His warm lips came down on hers in a long, slow, searching kiss filled with lazy hunger. Finally, he lifted his mouth from hers. ’s go inside.”

Kate nodded agreement. By then, she would have nodded agreement if he’d suggested they jump off the balcony headfirst, but once they were in the suite, his tone and his words startled her out of her sensual haze.

need to talk, Kate; sit down.”

Surprised by his businesslike tone, Kate perched her hip on the arm of a sofa and watched curiously as he walked over to the windows, shoved his hands into his pockets, and looked down for several seconds as if composing his thoughts. When he turned, his expression was friendly but resolute. you get into that bed with me, I want to be sure you don’t have any false illusions about what’s going on between us. I’m telling you this because I never want you to look back on our time together with any kind of regret.”

on,” Kate urged when he paused to let his words sink in.

your own admission, you’re a ‘romantic,’ and last night, we were caught up in a situation that might have seemed more . . . meaningful . . . than it actually was. What I’m trying to say is that there’s an amazing amount of physical chemistry between us, but last night, on the beach in the moonlight, those few kisses of ours may have seemed . . . What’s the word I’m looking for?”

?” Kate suggested, using the word that best fit her own impression of last night. The instant she said it, she regretted betraying that much of her own feelings about the night before, but Mitchell seemed to agree with her assessment.

“ ‘Magical’ is close enough. You weren’t the only one who was influenced by the setting and the moment. I was influenced enough by it that I actually came back to you to answer your questions, which is something I never would have done under ordinary circumstances. However, that was last night and last night was an . . . aberration.”

Struggling desperately not to leap to any conclusions and to appear serene, Kate tipped her head to the side and asked with a slight smile, you trying to warn me off?”

at all. I’ve been dying to get you into bed since we sat down to dinner last night.”

you trying to establish some sort of ground rules, then?”

don’t think so.”

what are you doing?”

’m having an attack of scruples,” he said with disgust, I’m trying to deal with it.”

this an unfamiliar occurrence for you?”

these circumstances, it’sunprecedented ,” he said bluntly.

that case, I’m flattered,” Kate replied, but she wasn’t flattered; she was confused and uneasy and becoming more so by the moment.

’m trying to explain that I need to be sure you’re here with me now for the right reasons, not the wrong ones. Until this morning, I didn’t know your father had just died. The two of you were obviously very close, and you’re feeling a little lost and alone. On top of that, you’re faced with the burden of trying to run his business. You’re worried and you’re scared. All those emotions may be clouding your judgment about what you and I are doing.” He paused for some response from her.