The Playboy's Princess (27 page)

“That’s it. Come for me, Ariel,” he coaxed, speeding his hips and pressing kisses over her cheeks and throat.

Jade gasped for breath and cried out as her body jerked and writhed out of her control. She was soaring, and she never wanted to come down. His thrusting didn’t waiver; it kept her flying for longer than she thought was possible. Her muscles convulsed, milking his own release, and he roared in pleasure before falling onto her, breathing heavily.

“God.”

“I know,” Jade said, giggling.

He groaned as her body convulsed with laughter, milking him further. Slowly, he leaned back and rolled so he was lying on his back, his arm slung loosely over her breasts.

They both lay gasping for several seconds, and then she turned her face to the side to look at him. He was staring at her with wonder in his eyes and a large grin.

“You’re amazing, Ariel,” he said, reaching up to stroke her face.

“You’re pretty good yourself.”

“It certainly looked like you enjoyed yourself.”

“It was okay,” she said, shrugging.

“Only okay? Guess I better improve, huh?” He pulled her toward himself, kissing her deeply. “Round two?”

“Definitely!”

Chapter Fifteen

The Morning After

D
REW
W
OKE
I
N
A P
UDDLE
of sunlight, wrapped around someone. Jade felt warm and soft in his arms, and he pulled her in tightly, pressing a kiss into her hair. She stirred, moaning softly and snuggling against him.

“Morning, beautiful.”

She jerked in his arms and then stilled. “Uh, morning.”

Jade rolled out of his arms and clutched the blanket around her as she sat up.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. My head hurts.”

Drew relaxed. For a second, he’d feared that she’d regretted their night together.

“Well, you did drink an awful lot last night.”

She peered under the covers and groaned. “Did we…?”

“You don’t remember?”

She bit her lip and looked at him with worried eyes. Drew’s heart fell into his guts. She
did
regret it.

“Were we safe?” she asked, her voice shaking.

“Um…” Drew said. Honestly, he hadn’t even thought about protection in the moment, and she hadn’t seemed concerned about it either. “I assumed you were on the pill.”

“I am,” she admitted. “But I left my tablets at home by accident, so I haven’t taken it for a few days. Fuck.”

“Fuck,” he echoed.

She stood awkwardly, pulling the blanket from the bed as she walked to the bathroom, wrapped in a fluffy cocoon.

She closed the door, and Drew flung himself back on the bed. He’d made a real mess of things now. He scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to imagine a way to make things right with Jade.

He hadn’t forced anything. He’d checked with her, and she’d wanted it. But where did he stand if it was just the cocktails in her system that wanted it? He was in deep shit, and their contract was in jeopardy.

A whimpering sound was coming from the bathroom, and he got up, walking over to listen at the door. He could clearly hear she was crying. He knocked on the door.

“Ariel, please don’t cry. Come out and talk to me.”

The sobbing stopped, but she didn’t come out. Drew rested his head against the door and took a few deep breaths.

“Please come out,” he said softly.

“Why don’t you go and have breakfast? I’m just going to have a shower and get ready for the day,” she called, her shaking voice making it clear that she was still crying.

“If that’s what you want.”

He didn’t want to make the morning harder for her, so he quickly dressed and went down to have breakfast at the hotel buffet.

He was just finishing his coffee when Jade appeared, looking at him sheepishly.

“Sorry about that. I was just taken off guard. I’m fine,” she assured him.

“Would you like to get some food? I can sit with you while you eat.”

“No, I’m not hungry. Let’s get this day started.”

He could see the determination in her eyes and knew she was putting on a brave face.

They’d booked a tour of the Daintree and sat in silence on the bus ride through the rainforest. Drew turned to Jade a few times, wanting to point at something out the window for her to see, but the stern expression on her face stopped him each time.

The tension continued for the rest of the week. When out in public, she was polite and smiled in the photos they took for Twitter, but when they got back to the hotel, she fell silent, and she’d started eating alone. In bed, she lay with her back to him, as far to the edge of the mattress as she could get. Drew lay in bed at night and wished he could reach out to her, but he couldn’t.

On their last night in Australia, he fell asleep early. Jade had still been watching TV, so when he awoke in a dark room, he assumed she was asleep. He lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. He needed to make things right. They had to live together for months, and if she wasn’t even willing to talk to him, it wasn’t going to work.

“Ariel,” he said softly.

She didn’t wake up. He reached across the bed, but the sheets were cold. He sat up and turned on the lamp. The room was empty.

“Shit!” he said under his breath. He pulled on some jeans and a shirt and went out onto the balcony. She wasn’t out there, but he could see a lone shadow sitting on the beach. Her red hair was visible under the full moon.

With a sigh of relief, he grabbed his cell phone and the room key and went to the elevator. He walked through the lobby barefoot and out onto the beach.

“I was worried about you,” he said when he got close to her.

She turned and looked over her shoulder. She offered him a small smile which lessened the tight feeling on his heart. That was the first real smile she’d given him in days.

“Sorry. I just wanted to sit on the beach one last time before we go home.”

“Do you mind if I join you?”

She shook her head and turned back to the water. He sat down next to her in the sand. The only sound was the crashing of the waves.

“The stars are so pretty here. In LA, you can’t really see them all that well. Too much light pollution. Just look how many stars there are!”

Drew lay back on the sand and stared up. The sky was pitch black and dotted with thousands of white spots.

“I wish I knew the constellations for the southern hemisphere,” she said wistfully.

“I have an app in my phone that shows the constellations.”

“Can I see it?”

He opened the app and handed it to her. She stood and held it up to the sky. Lines joined all the stars, but her hand shook, and the images wouldn’t come into focus.

Drew stood and walked up behind her.

“Your hands are shaking too much. Here.” He reached around her shoulders and held her still.

The constellations appeared. The scent of her hair was strong as the wind blew up from the ocean. He took a tiny step closer, closing his arms around her. It felt good to be close to her, and he wished she thought so too.

“There’s Hercules!” she said, excited, pointing up into the sky.

“Ariel, turn around,” he whispered.

Her body tensed, but she did as he asked, the stars forgotten. She chewed her bottom lip, a sign that she was nervous, but he had to say what was on his mind or he’d regret it.

“I know you think we made a mistake the other night, but I don’t regret it. We’re two adults who care about each other, and we’re both single. Well, technically we’re married, but you know what I mean. We didn’t hurt anybody. If we want to get closer, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Her eyes sparkled under the moon, but she didn’t say anything. Drew decided he needed to prove his point so he leaned in slowly, moving to kiss her. Just as their lips touched, she pushed him away and wiggled out of his arms.

“Drew, don’t. This deal we have is only going to work if we keep it professional. You’re right that we’re not hurting anyone else, but we might end up hurting ourselves. I really think it’s best if we just keep this as a friendship.”

Drew followed her as she walked away.

“We didn’t plan it, but sometimes fate has a way of bringing people together. We might be going to have a baby. If that’s the case, I’ll do the right thing by you.”

She stopped walking and turned.

“Is
that
what this is about? You trying to do the right thing? Well, don’t worry about it, Drew. My period started this morning. You’re off the hook. So let’s just go back to our deal.”

She walked back up the beach toward the hotel, but Drew stayed on the sand. He’d expected to feel relief at her news, but all he felt was disappointment.

“The kitchen’s done!” Clare yelled.

“Thanks. Can you help me with the closet?”

Jade wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand and looked at the piles of stacked boxes. She was moving out today and into Drew’s house.

They’d been back from Australia for five days, and the construction crew had finished up. Her temporary home was ready to be lived in, and she kept reminding herself it was just the next step in the process, one step closer to having her own life back.

“How have you managed to be away from Drew for
five days?”
Clare asked, appearing in the bedroom.

“It’s not that bad. It’s actually kind of nice having my own space.”

Clare shook her head.

“I saw the pictures in the magazines. You guys were hot and heavy in that bar in Cairns. God only knows what went on when you were actually in private.” She giggled and picked up a box, carrying it to the living room.

Jade and Drew had come home to a flurry of media. Apparently they hadn’t gone unnoticed during their dance/make-out session in the bar. Several grainy cell phone photos had appeared online. Drew thought it was great, reinforcing their story, but Jade cringed every time she saw them. They were just an ugly reminder of what she couldn’t have.

Clare came back into the room. “The moving truck just pulled up outside.”

“Great, thanks.”

Jade ran outside to greet the driver and watched as the pair of men carried everything she owned out to the truck. She gave them her new address and promised to meet them there.

Back in her now-empty apartment, Jade looked around. She’d hated this place. The reason she’d gotten into this situation in the first place was to get out of this dump, and yet she felt sad as she looked at the empty rooms.

“Come on. I want to ride in your new car,” Clare said, turning off the lights as she walked through the apartment.

“You don’t have to come with me. I’m going to have a fun night of unpacking ahead of me. I’m sure you’d much rather be with Stuart.”

“No way! I want to see this swanky new house with your perfect husband. Plus, I need to organize your closet, or you’ll be mismatched.”

“All right. Come on, then.” With a last look, she left her house key on the kitchen counter and locked the door.

“It’s so shiny!” Clare gushed as she climbed into Jade’s new car.

One of the first things she’d done when she got home from the honeymoon was buy a new car. She thought that was a sensible purchase, but shopping for it had been anything but. In her mind, she’d imagined herself in a classy sedan, maybe a neutral color so it wouldn’t depreciate as fast. But when she’d seen the gleaming rows of brightly colored, two-door coupes, she was lost to the dark side of materialism.

In her driveway sat a midnight blue Nissan 370Z. She looked at it with awe, still unable to believe the sexy beast was
her
car.

They pulled up behind the truck, and Jade held in a groan. Drew had also indulged in a new toy. His black convertible sat in the driveway. She’d hoped he would be out. But she couldn’t let Clare know she’d rather he not be there, so she put on her happy face and practically skipped up the drive.