Page 65 of Lost Love Found

“You were incredible today.” I kiss behind her ear, licking a trail down her neck. “I need to find a way to properly thank you.” My hands travel over her nipples, and she gasps, making me even harder. I love the way she reacts to my touch.

“Adam…” Her breathing quickens as her hands find my hair. “Someone will see us.” I slow down my movements and kiss her gently on the lips.

“OK. Let’s go.” I take her by the hand, and we walk quickly back to our room. Just as we’re walking in, my phone rings.

“Hi, Kelly.”

“River, you need to leave in an hour. I got you a plane back to LA and then you need to leave in the evening for New York. If you don't go now, you'll have to wait until tomorrow.”

"Thanks, Kelly." She says a quick goodbye and we hang up. Fuuuuuuuck!

Unsurprisingly, Elaina senses my mood, even though I only said four words on the phone. “You should tell me what happened today. And what happened just now.” She sits on the couch and pats the spot next to her. “As much as I want to make out with you and finally get you naked, we gotta do this.”

I let out a long breath. “That’s not helping, L. But yeah. Yeah, we do.” I proceed to tell her about my dad’s transgressions, selling my shares to Gwen and how I now need to speed up the process so Gwen can do some damage control at Holm Productions. “Kelly got a plane for today, but it leaves in an hour. I gotta get to LA for a few meetings, then Raf and I will fly to New York tomorrow.” She takes this all in stride, nodding along. “You can stay. Enjoy the beach and the spa, and relax. I can see you back at home.”

“What? No, absolutely not. I’m not staying without you. And you’re not leaving without me.” She’s not mad, just stating the facts. As quickly as she’s processed this, she starts to pack a few things. “I’m hopping in the shower quickly. I can be packed in 10 minutes.” She winks at me and closes the bathroom door.

Elaina steps out of the car onto the tarmac, her posture perfect as she strides across to the awaiting plane. She adjusts the strap of her carry-on bag, brushing a few loose strands of hair out of her face before reaching the airplane stairs. Her expression is calm and determined, not a trace of worry or hesitation in her step as she climbs aboard for our private flight.

Once we've taken off, we move to sit on the couch, and I feel Elaina's gaze on me. She reaches out to cup my jaw lovingly, her touch sending a shiver down my spine. "You should get some rest. It's been a hectic day, between everything with your family and the water park chaos," she says softly. Then she pats her lap and motions for me to lay my head down. Without giving it a second thought, I do. She tenderly strokes my hair as I drift off into a peaceful sleep.

Hours later, I’ve dropped Elaina off at home after she reassured me she was fine. It’s amazing how my not texting her for a few days angers her, but babysitting two kids she just met and being asked to leave a vacation early warrant essentially no negative responses. She’s an enigma, this girl.

28

is it the tan or the orgasms?

elaina

Well, this vacation certainly took a turn. That was some Drama with a capital D!

After Adam dropped me off, I unpacked and got back to my usual routine. I did some yoga, had a shower and now I’m baking pies - a chicken pot pie and an apple crumble. Comfort food feels appropriate after the last two days.

I feel bad that we had to leave in such a hurry and texted Ashley to apologize for not being able to say goodbye. I really like her! My phone pings with an incoming text.

ASH

Hey babe! Don’t even worry about it. I know there was some drama with my aunt and uncle. Addy said you were a total trooper about it all.

Speaking of my favorite cousin, look at these photos of you two at the wedding!

The first photo captures the exact moment when Adam’s lips meet mine on the dance floor, our lips pressed together in a passionate kiss. We’re surrounded by bodies in motion, oblivious to the surrounding commotion.

The next photo shows us a few moments later, with our arms still wrapped around each other. Everyone is cheering, but all I can see is Adam’s face, bright and filled with joy as he looks down at me. In that moment, it feels like I’m the most important person in the world. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen someone look at me that way before.

ASH

Now do you see it? You two are so in love it’s sickening. But in the most adorable, wonderful way. Ah, I love love!

I can’t bring myself to respond. In love? No. No, no, no. This isn’t love. It can’t be.

I need to distract myself. I will not overthink this. We have an expiration date, and that’s how it’s going to stay. What’s the best way to ignore any deep thoughts? Turn on some music and have a kitchen dance party. Also, cleaning up the giant mess I made in this kitchen should keep me busy for a while.

After cleaning up, I pick up the romance novel I brought to Hawaii with me but didn’t actually read. This series is completely addicting! I could totally see this being made into a movie or a TV series. Searching for further distractions, I immediately start dreaming up what it would look like. I run up to my office and come back with my iPad so I can sketch out a few ideas. I know it’s not happening, but it feels really good to just be creative for fun, without an agenda or a producer and director to please. They’re just my ideas free-flowing. I’m sketching out the hero’s bachelor pad on the couch and the next thing I know there’s an arm under my knees and I smell that familiar soapy, foresty smell. “Adam?”

He lays a kiss on my temple. “Hey Tornerose. It’s late. Go back to sleep.” He’s walking into my room and putting me on my bed and I feel the sudden heat in my core. Adam. My bed. Mmm. Ugh, No! Focus!

“No, wait.” I sit up as he sits on the edge of the bed facing me. “How did everything go? Tell me what happened.” He looks so tired, so defeated, so not like the Adam in the photo I definitely didn’t look at 200 times tonight.

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