Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Rick held the car door open, waiting.
I stopped just short of stepping in. My hands curled into fists at my sides. “No,” I said.
He turned his head slightly, blinking once, confused. “What?”
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“I’m not going with you.” My voice came out louder than I expected. My chest tightened as I took a breath and stepped back. “You can’t keep doing this to me. You brought me all the way here, made me change, paraded me in front of a camera for your little damage control stunt. And now you want to go to your own personal honeymoon site? What the hell does that even mean?”
His jaw clenched. His face was blank, unreadable, and he didn’t answer right away. He just stared at me.
Then he said, “I’m doing this for your own good.”
I laughed under my breath. “Oh really?”
“My father has his own people stationed here. Paparazzi. He made sure this place was watched from the start,” Rick said calmly. “I knew it’d be a mess so I made plans. I thought you might need more privacy.”
“I don’t need privacy,” I snapped. “I need my life back. I want to go home. I want nothing to do with anything that you have here. I’m so tired of this bullshit.”
My throat burned. I tried to keep my voice from cracking. “I just wanted to check in at my restaurant, see my staff. And now I’m standing here in wet lace with your father’s cameras on me and you’re talking about some other location. I’m not your doll. I’m not your PR stunt.”
He didn’t say anything. His expression shifted slightly but he kept quiet.
“I just want to be with my daughter,” I said, softer this time. “Please don’t push me over. You got your photos, now take me home.”
Rick’s brow furrowed slightly. The silence between us stretched for too long. He stepped away from the car door, closed it gently, and looked at me.
“That’s fine,” he said, “but it’s midnight. We can’t go back now. We’ll leave in the morning.”
His eyes dropped for half a second, lingering on my chest and I realised my nips were starting to poke through the wet material. I crossed my arms immediately, heart stuttering. I turned away slightly, uncomfortable under his stare.
He noticed.
Without saying a word, he pulled a towel off the lounge chair and stepped forward. He wrapped it around me gently, his hands brushing my bare shoulders. His touch was surprisingly careful. I didn’t look at him, but I felt his breath against my cheek before he turned away.
“Give us privacy,” he told one of the nearby staff.
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Chapter 22
The man nodded and disappeared around the corner with quiet footsteps.
Rick looked at me again. “Let’s go inside, you’re freezing.”
I didn’t respond but I followed him into the house.
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The hallway was dimly lit, warm lights lining the edges of the stone floor. The air smelled faintly of salt and lavender. He led me to the end of the hall where there was a large double door. He opened it and walked in. I followed slowly, holding the towel tighter around me.
The suite was massive. Clean marble floors stretched out beneath soft rugs. A sunken lounge area faced an open wall of glass looking over the beach. The bed was low and wide with crisp white sheets and black velvet pillows. Soft yellow light spilled from small lamps mounted into the walls. A single door stood slightly ajar on the far side, probably the bathroom.
Rick moved to the middle of the room and pulled off his wet jacket, tossing it onto the back of a chair. Then his hands reached for his shirt.
I stood near the door and just watched him. I didn’t even mean to at first. He had pulled off his jacket and tossed it over the chair like it weighed nothing and then his hands went to his shirt, and I swear my breath actually hitched.
He grabbed the hem and dragged it over his head in one quick motion. That was it and yet I couldn’t look
away.
His skin was still wet from the pool, and I watched the water slide down his chest, across his abs, and lower. Every muscle moved like it had its own rhythm. He looked calm, like he wasn’t even thinking about it, like this was nothing but it didn’t feel like nothing to me.
Then he reached for the front of his pants.
I tensed immediately. My fingers curled tighter around the towel.
The zipper came down, and I heard the sound way too clearly. Then the pants dropped, pooling at his
feet.
I stared. Wide–eyed. My face was burning.
He was left in black briefs that clung to him, water still dripping off his legs.
I quickly wrapped the towel tighter around myself. My heart was racing. I should’ve looked away but I didn’t.
I stayed near the doorway, frozen.
He started walking toward me.
I tensed instantly, my back straightening, hands clutching the towel like it was the only thing keeping me safe. The way he looked like he was coming to touch me made my heart jump into my throat.
I took a step back without even thinking, then another until I felt the wall press against my spine.
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Chapter 22
He didn’t stop.
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My breath caught as he came even closer, and I braced myself but he didn’t reach for me.
Instead, he leaned in, just close enough that I could feel the heat coming off his body, and reached past my head. His arm brushed the side of my face, and I flinched again. His hand found the switch just beside my
shoulder.
A soft click.
The lights went out, leaving only the faint glow from the bathroom behind him.
Then I realized how close we were. My back was against the wall, and he was standing right in front of me, one arm still braced above my head.
He hadn’t meant to touch me. He just wanted to turn off the light.
But now I was pinned, barely breathing, and he hadn’t moved away. He turned around to leave and I moved away releasing a breath I didn’t know I was holding and then he looked over his shoulder at me.
I took a step back.
He noticed.
“Stop doing that,” he said sharply, turning to face me.
My back hit the edge of the doorframe. I clutched the towel tighter. “Doing what?”
“Flinching,” he said. His voice was low and rough. “I’m not going to do anything to you.”
He took two quick strides forward, closing the distance. I stepped sideways but he blocked the path.
His voice dropped even lower, almost a whisper now. “Unless you want me to.”
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