Page 17 of Never Again
He’d messed up three years ago—letting his insecurities and her father chase him away. He would not make the same mistake again.
Carmen stifled a yawn. “I’m hungry. Pretty soon my stomach will start growling.” She pulled away and stretched her arms above her head, arching her back.
Carlos’s palm smoothed down the line of her spine, his mind shifting to more pleasurable thoughts and making his bottom head lift a little in attention. “I was thinking we could have a quickie before we left for breakfast.” He smoothed his hand up to the base of her neck and rubbed his thumb across her smooth skin.
She sent a coquettish look at him from beneath her lashes. “A quickie? No, sir. I need a shower, and then you’re going to take me to breakfast.”
She slipped from the bed, and Carlos groaned his disappointment.
“You go first. Extra towels are in the closet beside the bathroom door. I’ll catch another nap while you’re in there, and you can wake me up when you’re done.”
Carmen moved a few feet away and glanced at him over her shoulder. “Are you sure you want me to go first? You don’t want to join me?”
She lifted the back hem of the shirt, revealed her bare bottom, and gyrated her hips. That quick, that fast, the wiggle of her bare tush inflamed his already incendiary lust and turned his erection into the consistency of a lead pipe.
Hot damn! How did he not know she was naked under there? He was slipping.
Carlos flipped the sheet off his naked body and hopped from the bed. With a happy shriek and a throaty laugh that squeezed his heart back to life, Carmen raced toward the bathroom.
But she was no match for his long strides. Before she reached the door, Carlos caught up and lifted her into his arms.
She tossed her head back, giggling and screaming. “Put me down. I demand to be free of your clutches.”
He ignored her request and instead showered kisses on her face and neck as he finished the walk to the bathroom.
They were different. Worlds apart, really, but he’d been attracted to her from the start, a magnetic pull drawing him to her and forcing him—quietly and against his will—to chase until he caught her.
Now she was his again, back in his life for a reason.
She would never be free of him again.
8
“You’re what?” Natalie stared in disbelief as Carmen hurriedly tossed clothes into her suitcase.
“I’m going to stay with Carlos until the end of my trip.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to.”
Natalie fell quiet behind her. Carmen continued stuffing clothes in the suitcase but could imagine the disapproval on her friend’s face. She knew her that well.
“Are you sure this is wise?” Natalie asked, accustomed to speaking her mind.
“I know you’re concerned about me, but you have nothing to worry about.”
Carmen zipped the bag and then scanned the room to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. Carlos was picking her up in a few minutes. Franklin could have taken her to his place, but Carlos had insisted he wanted to come get her.
“I don’t like this.”
“Weren’t you the one telling me that he loved me?” Carmen turned to her friend and placed both hands on her hips.
“Yes, I believe he loved you, but he also broke your heart when he left Toronto. Have you forgotten all of that in your new lovey-dovey phase?”
“Of course I haven’t forgotten, but leaving wasn’t his fault. Like you said, my father chased him away. Plus, he needed to leave for himself. To become the success that he is right now. Nat, you should see his work. He’s even better than before. One day, he’s going to be huge.”
Natalie also placed both hands on her hips. “Good for him, but that doesn’t change the past.”
