“We can barbecue here and just hang out.”

“I love the sound of that. Unless you like big crowds and fireworks.”

His gaze was pointed, and very warm. “I’m happy just to be here with you.”

And there was that giant warning signal pinging in her head again.

She stood and reached for his hand. “Ditto. Let’s go take a shower. Then you can get the grill started.”

TWENTY

DREW GRILLED STEAK AND LOBSTER, AND CAROLINA made rice and asparagus. They opened a bottle of wine to have with dinner and ate outside on the terrace. The night was clear, they were alone, and it had been a really damned good day.

He didn’t want to leave tomorrow, but real life would intrude soon enough.

He liked spending time with Carolina, and he wasn’t the kind of guy who thought much beyond what came after today. But sitting across from her tonight, watching the ocean breeze blow strands of her hair across her face, made him wonder what made her so different from any other woman he’d ever been with.

Because when he’d dated other women, he never thought about them when he wasn’t with them.

With Lina, he thought about her all the damn time. And that was dangerous territory.

Was he ready for a long-term relationship? He was thirty years old. Maybe it was time to settle down with one woman.

“You’re quiet tonight,” Carolina said.

They had cleaned up the dishes and were sipping wine on the terrace.

He leveled at grin at her. “That’s because you wiped me out today with your constant demands for sex.”

She laughed. “Oh, right. I’ve seen you play hockey. I think you have an endless store of reserves.”

He picked up his glass and took a sip before answering, studying how beautiful she looked in her sundress, her skin kissed with a little tan. “So what you’re saying is that you’d like more sex?”

“I’m not sure there’s an appropriate reply to that.”

“How about yes?”

She gave him a look that made his cock tighten. “I can take it if you can.”

He was sure she was probably sore. He’d given it to her pretty hard, especially this afternoon. She brought out his primal side, made him want to possess her. He’d never been like that with another woman.

“Maybe we’ll just cuddle,” he said.

“Now who’s the wuss?”

“Are you throwing down the gauntlet, Miss Preston?”

He could see the fire in her eyes from across the table. “Maybe.”

He pushed his chair back and came over to her, taking her hand in his. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, selected a song, then pressed Play.

Carolina looked up at him, a question in her eyes. “I can’t believe you even have ‘Unchained Melody’ by the Righteous Brothers in your playlist.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s . . . romantic, in an old-school kind of way. A classic love song.”

He pulled her into his arms and began to dance with her. “What? And I’m not romantic?”

“You just strike me as a hard-driving-beat kind of guy. It goes with the hockey mystique.”

“There’s a hockey mystique?”

“Yes. Fast skating, hard partying, fights breaking out. Soft and romantic music doesn’t fit.”

He pulled her closer, turning her in rhythm to the song. “Then maybe you need to learn a little more about me, Lina.”

She tilted her head back to look at him. He read the confusion on her face.

“You constantly surprise me.”

“Just because I play hockey doesn’t mean I listen to anger rock and go to the local bars looking for a fight. That’s PR and I leave the fighting to the ice. If you really get to know me, you might find I’m a really nice guy, that one night in college notwithstanding.”

“Okay, point taken. I might have had preconceived notions about you because of our past. And hockey does play up the bad-boy image.”

“They do. And we play on that for our fans. But I’m not an asshole. Or maybe I was one in the past. But I’d never hurt you. Not intentionally.”

He twirled her around, loving the feel of her in his arms. “Besides, I like this song. It’s sweet.”

She shook her head. “I would just never think of you as . . . sweet.”

“When have I not been sweet to you?” At her look, he added, “Besides that giant mistake I made when we were in college that for some reason hangs like a black cloud over my head.”

She didn’t answer right away. “You’re right. You’ve been very nice to me since we’ve rekindled our . . . whatever it is we’re having.”

He laughed and twirled her around. “I don’t think we need to define it, do you?”

She laid her head on his chest. He liked having it there.

“I don’t think we do, either. I like things the way they are, Drew. Right here, right now. Let’s not mess with a good thing.”

He didn’t know what to make of that. Was she afraid of having a relationship, or just having a relationship with him? He knew he’d hurt her before. And he didn’t know where he wanted things to go with them in the future.

Living for today always seemed like a good idea.

And that would have to do for now. For both of them.

The song ended, and Drew grabbed his phone to check the time.

“It’s getting close to midnight,” he said. “We should open up some champagne.”

“I have a better idea.” Carolina began to unbutton the front of her dress. She wasn’t wearing a bra, so the visual had his cock twitching.

“I like where this is going.”

“I want you inside me at midnight, making love to me at the end of this year and the start of the next.” She grabbed his phone and backed inside, the swell of her breasts visible as her dress gaped open.

Under her spell, he followed, then took her hand as she led him upstairs and into the bedroom. He pulled a condom out of his bag and followed her out onto the deck.

“I thought we’d do it outside, under the moonlight.” She dropped her dress to the ground.

Drew’s dick pounded as he pulled off his shorts and tugged his shirt over his head. Carolina wriggled out of her panties, then walked into his arms. He kissed her, inhaling her sweet fragrance as his mouth covered hers.

He wanted to do this right, to make it good for her as they brought in the new year. There was a cushioned chaise lounge on the deck and he laid her down on it.

“I don’t need foreplay,” she said, spreading her legs and splaying her fingers over her sex. “I’m already wet and ready for you, Drew.”

He sucked in a breath as he watched her touching herself. He took his cock in his hand and stroked as he watched her slide her fingers between the swollen folds of her pussy.

“Do you know what that does to me, watching you touch yourself like that?”

She looked up at him, giving him a hot, wicked smile. “Makes you hard?”

“Yeah. Makes me want to lick your pussy and make you scream.”

“The clock is ticking, Drew. And I’m going to come with you inside me.”

He pushed the button on his phone. “Five minutes until midnight.”

He set an alarm on his phone, put on the condom, and climbed onto the chaise, using his knee to spread her legs wider. The fit on the chaise was tight, so they rolled to their sides, facing each other. Carolina raised her leg and placed it over his hip. He eased inside her, watching her face as he entered her.

God, she was beautiful, the way her lips parted when he seated himself fully inside her. And then she gasped when he withdrew and thrust. He went slow and easy, taking his time, feeling her pussy ripple as he made love to her with slow, gentle strokes.

She cupped his jaw, brought him forward to kiss her. He tasted wine on her lips, twined his tongue alongside hers, then brought it in deeper to suck even as he increased the thrusts of his cock. She moaned, and that sound gripped him, made his balls tighten.

He felt the pulses, knew she was close, and when the alarm sounded on his phone, he looked at her, saw the rapture on her face.

“Happy New Year, Lina.”

“Happy New Year, Drew. Now make me come.”

He ground against her, pulled out and thrust deep, and she shattered, letting go with a hoarse cry that splintered the quiet of the night. He groaned and released, going with her as they shuddered together, ringing in the new year in the best way he ever had.

He held her, stroked her back and kissed her.

“Can we sleep here tonight?” she asked.

“We could, but it might get cold.”

“I could never get cold when your arms are wrapped around me.”

He tightened his hold on her and stared up at the stars, listening to the sounds of the ocean waves.

A perfect night. A perfect woman.

Tomorrow, they’d go back to reality. But for now, it was the best night he’d ever had.

TWENTY-ONE

IT HAD BEEN MORE DIFFICULT TO GET BACK TO REALITY and the intense, frenetic pace of work than Carolina had thought it would be. The trip to Florida with Drew had been idyllic, a beautiful fantasy that had been equal parts relaxing and deeply disturbing.

She’d definitely had fun. She always had fun with Drew. And the sex, of course, had been phenomenal. But the underlying emotion of the day and night they’d spent together had been unexpected. She didn’t know what to make of it, and had tried her best to push it aside, to concentrate only on the hot and fun aspects of her relationship with him.

And now her deadline loomed even closer, and she had spent a week buried with her team, finalizing clothes and making subtle changes to a few of the designs.