Chapter 68

“Oh God,” Amaya breathed in a sigh, her entire body humming and thrumming and sated as she sagged against him, her head lolling against his shoulder.

His barely audible oath had her head jerking up as she spun around to face him. “What’s wrong?”

“This. Here. I—I don't know what to say…” he grumbled.

She frowned at her as Chase gestured around the kitchen before dropping his gaze on her bunched clothing and thong around her knees, shaking his head. “You deserve more than this, Amaya.”

Mustering what little dignity a woman with her knickers around her knees could have, she wriggled back into her thong before jabbing him in the chest.

“Seriously Chase? Don’t you dare apologise for the best sex I’ve ever had. It was perfect. Better than perfect, it was stupendous.”

The corners of his wickedly sexy mouth kicked up. “The best, huh? Better than Greece?”

She nodded emphatically. “Yes, better—I mean, the best.”

His grin widened. “So you like a guy so out of control he can’t make it to the bedroom?”

Grabbing his lapels, she hauled him close until their noses almost touched.

“Not just any guy, Chase. You, my husband... every delicious bad-boy inch of you.”

“I love it when you talk dirty to me,” he smirked.

“I didn’t mean—”

“I know.”

He chuckled and rubbed noses with her as he stroked her back, long, languid strokes that relaxed her, and she rested her cheek on his chest, inhaling his seductive scent.

“Do you think it’s ironic that we’re back to, I don't know, where it all started?”

She pulled away and glanced up at him. “You mean at Tyler’s wedding? I was drunk. I—well, it was my first time?”

He nodded, caressed her cheek with a tenderness that stole her breath, and warmed her heart.

“I wanted to make it special for you then too. So what happened? It was a bet, after all?” She smiled at the memories. “That night was special, and it was all because of you.”

Her fingertips skimmed his jaw, savouring the faint prickle of stubble before hovering over his lips, tracing their outline. “You were incredible, and I’ve never forgotten that night.”

Or the few months after it.

“I say we recreate the magic. Though this time, we might even make it to bed. You in?’

Excitement trickled through Amaya's body, fast becoming a raging torrent as she nodded, and he swept her into his arms and headed for his old bedroom.

“I’m definitely in,” she said, laughing out loud when he twirled her around a few times before bumping the door open with his hip.

Chase smiled. “We will forget the deal just yet, okay? Today's our day. We can go to the sea or to my yacht if you want.”

Amaya halted for a while, then smiled as Chase added. “Good, because if you’d said no, I would’ve dropped you.”

Nipping the skin beneath his jaw, she nuzzled him. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Never dare a rebel,” he said, dumping her on the bed before joining her, their laughter surrounding them in lovely warmth.

The warm sun was setting by the time Chase steered his luxury yacht away from the jetty on the island. Amaya stood beside him, a light wrap around her shoulders, and waved back to the guests standing on the jetty and the beach, including Eva and the grinning Gary, who was in proud possession of the bouquet.

Eva was standing a short distance from Justin, and Amaya could see the goggle-eyed looks Eva was casting in Chase's best friend's way, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. On the handsome scale, Justin was like Chase—off the scale. But, while he had a tendency to smile rather than frown, Chase had a more brooding demeanour, hinting at a man who preferred his own company and kept his own counsel. Eva wasn’t the sort of girl to get her head turned by a good-looking man, but she was a sucker for a man with secrets, given she had one or two of her own.

Chase manoeuvred the boat in the direction of the setting sun, which was now a fireball of red suspended on the smoky-blue plane of the horizon. A swathe of stratocumulus clouds reflected the burnished gold of the sun below and the grey and indigo bruise-like streaks of colour above.

A light breeze moved over the surface of the water, sped up by the passage of the boat. It played with Amaya’s hair, which was already in two minds about whether to stay up in her coronet or give up and swing about her back and shoulders. She pushed the straying strands away from her face and resisted the temptation to slip her hand into Chase’s outstretched one as he stood at the wheel. He smiled down at her. “All right? Not seasick yet?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m pretty good on boats, normally. Although, I guess I shouldn’t speak too soon.”

“You’ll be fine. The weather forecast is good.” He glanced back at the jetty. “How’s Eva getting along with Justin?”

Amaya cocked her head. “Are you trying to set them up or something?”

He gave a shrug. “If it happens, it happens.”

“He doesn’t look like the type who needs a hand in that department,” she said.

“He keeps a low profile—or tries to; he isn't actually boring.”

Good luck, Evca. “So is he on the lookout for a wife then?" Amaya asked.

Chase gave her one of his crooked smiles. “No. His parents divorced when he was a young child, and apparently it was one of those acrimonious “use the kid as a weapon” ones. He doesn’t talk about it, and I know better than to ask. Both his parents have remarried and subsequently divorced, his father several times over. One thing I do know is that he will never get married himself. It was hard enough to get him to agree to come to our party. You’d think I’d asked him to have a lobotomy.”

“Did you tell him about our, um, arrangement? That it was a marriage of—?”

“No.” The tone of his voice underlined the word. “We’re close, but not that close. No one is that close to me. No one.”

Amaya chewed at her lip, watching the sun swallow the blue lip of the horizon. Why hadn’t he told his friend? Was it really because Justin was a bit of a closed book himself? Why not tell his friend the truth? Or had he done it to protect her from anyone pitying her?

“I told Mary and Eva.”

“I know, but it's okay; I trust Mary; I'm not just sure about Eva.” He muttered with a shake of his head.

Amaya glanced at him in surprise. “You do?”

Chase’s expression was amused rather than annoyed. “I figured you would. I understand about Mary. But anyway, Eva is a nice girl. Loyal. It seems to have her head screwed on.”

“Did you, um, let on... that you knew she knew?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t lie to them,” Amaya said. “Everyone else, yes,” she sighed, and thought never to Mary; she needed an ally, and Mary and Eva were the perfect ally. “She would’ve figured it out anyway. She knows everything about your schedule and all. And Eva knows I’m not the sort of person to fall in love on a whim. But don’t worry; she won’t tell a soul. She’s fiercely loyal and completely and utterly trustworthy.”