She lifted a pillow and halfheartedly thwacked him in the side of the head. “Everything seems to work for you.”
“Only when it comes to you.” He tossed the pillow out of the way, acknowledging the words were completely true. He leaned up and gently stroked her face. “Were you adopted?”
She was silent for a long moment, while her clouded jade eyes put a hundred lonely images into his brain. He regretted the question, but he couldn’t call it back.
“Foster homes,” she finally told him.
The simple words made his chest thump with regret. He thought back to all the heirlooms he’d shown her. The family history. The portraits, the cemetery.
“I’m so sorry,” he told her. “I can’t believe I threw my castle up in your face.”
“You didn’t know,” she repeated.
“I wish I had.”
“Well, I wish I’d grown up in a castle.” Her spunk was back, and the strength of character surprised and impressed him. “But that’s the way it goes,” she concluded.
“We had extra rooms and everything,” he teased in an attempt to keep things light.
“Could you not have come and found me sooner?”
He sobered, completely serious. “I wish I had.”
Her grin slowly faded, but not to sadness.
His own want growing, he shifted forward and kissed her lips, drawing her tenderly but fully into his arms again, feeling aroused and protective all at the same time. “Was it awful?” he had to risk asking.
“It was lonely,” she whispered into the crook of his neck. Then she coughed out a laugh and arched away. “I can’t believe I’m telling this to you…you of all people.”
“What about me?” He couldn’t help feeling vaguely hurt.
“You’re the guy who’s ruining my life.”
“Huh?”
She glanced around his room and spread her arms wide. “What the hell have we done?”
“We’re married,” he responded.
“By Elvis.” She suddenly clambered out of bed.
He didn’t want her to go, couldn’t let her go.
“My robe?” she asked.
“Downstairs.”
She swore.
“You don’t have to leave,” he pointed out. She could stay here, sleep here, lay here in his arms all night long.
She turned to face him, still naked, still glorious, still the most amazing person he’d ever met.
“This was a mistake,” she told him in no uncertain terms.
He climbed out the opposite side of the bed to face her. “It may have made things a little more complicated,” he conceded.
“A little more complicated?”
“Nothing needs to change.”
“Everything just changed.” She spotted his shirt, discarded on the floor, and scooped it up. “We never should have given into chemistry, Zach. Just so you know, this doesn’t mean you have an advantage over me.”
“What?” He wasn’t following her logic.
“I have to call Lindsay.” She glanced around the room. “She’s probably downstairs. She’s probably wondering where the heck I’ve gone.”
“Lindsay’s not downstairs,” Zach announced with certainty.
Kaitlin pulled his big shirt over her head. “How would you know that?”
Zach made his way around the foot of the bed. “Lindsay’s not coming back here tonight.”
“But—” Kaitlin stilled. After a second, she seemed to correctly interpret the meaningful look in his eyes. “Really?”
“Really.”
“You sure they did?”
“Oh, I’m sure.” Zach had known Dylan his entire life. He’d seen the way Dylan looked at Lindsay. He’d also seen the way Lindsay looked back.
Kaitlin still seemed skeptical. “She said she wouldn’t sleep with him until he admitted he was a pirate.”
Zach barked out a laugh at an absurd memory. “I guess that explains it.”
“Explains what?”
“The Jolly Roger flying over the pool house.”
Kaitlin fought a grin and lost. “I want my ten bucks.”
He moved closer, desperate to take her back into his arms. “Katie, you can have anything you want.”
She gazed up at him. “I want to renovate your building. My way.” Then she paused, tilting her head. “This has been a recorded message.”
“I guess adding the condition that you sleep with me to seal the deal would be inappropriate?”
“And illegal.”
“I’m a pirate, what the hell do I care about legal?”
She didn’t answer him, but she didn’t move away, either.
He curled his hands into fists to keep from touching her. “Sleep with me, Katie.”