“Fine!” Shannon turned on her heel and made it three steps.
Victor caught up with her, grabbed her hand, and spun her around. “Not fine.”
His lips crashed down to hers, heated with the same emotion she felt bursting from her skin.
She sucked in a breath, stunned still, and let him fold her into his arms.
Victor kissed her with such fierce abandon the only thing she could do was hold on and try to breathe. Her mouth was open, gasping, and he was laying claim everywhere he could.
He’s kissing me.
Oh, God, it had been so long.
The scent of him, the need in him . . . in her.
Shannon’s body caught up with his. She tilted her head and kissed him back, full, open-mouth kisses that skipped anything timid and went right into overdrive. Raw and needy, she wrapped her arms around his back, dug her fingernails into his shirt.
His hands were in her hair, the back of her neck, her spine. He didn’t let her up for air, just kept kissing her for what felt like hours.
Only when his pace slowed down and his kiss became softer did her brain engage. Bad idea . . . it didn’t matter that she wanted this man or that her body was damn near begging for him.
Perfect timing for a baby.
The second the thought popped in her head, Shannon slammed on the brakes. She dragged her swollen mouth away from his. “I can’t.” Her breath came in pants.
“You want this,” he whispered.
No denying her desire, her reactions proved he was right. “But I can’t do this to you.”
He smiled down at her in the moonlight.
Slowly, their breathing returned to normal.
“I want to see you again.”
“We aren’t leaving until—”
“Back home,” he clarified.
She wanted to deny him. “Victor—”
“In three months. Give me three months and then give me a chance.”
What the hell was she supposed to say to that?
He lifted a palm to the side of her face, traced her lower lip with his thumb. “Wait for me. Let me be the next man to kiss these lips.”
“Victor . . .”
“Please, Shannon.”
Three months? Her emotions clashed with common sense. Confusion muddled her brain. “Where did the asshole I met on the plane go?” she asked.
He reached around to the back of her head, moved in close. “A woman in a white bikini chased him away.”
He kissed her one last time, slowly. Thoroughly.
“He was pissed! Holy shit, I didn’t think he could come out of his seat fast enough when that guy started touching you.”
Shannon listened to Avery’s take on what went down at the table after she’d left. They lounged in the plunge pool, as they had nearly every night they’d been in Tulum. The price of the room was worth every penny to shed the suit and swim naked. Maybe the people on the nude beach had found the answer to life.
“He doesn’t have a right to be jealous.”
“Maybe not. But he was seething.”
Shannon had told Avery that he’d kissed her the second they walked away from the bar. Avery’s response was a hard look at her lips and a comment about bruises.
“He asked me to wait for him, Avery.”
“What do you mean?”
“Three months. He asked me to wait three months and allow him to see me.”
Avery pushed to the other side of the small pool and looked her in the eye. “What did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything. I mean, I didn’t agree, didn’t disagree. He isn’t what I expected. He was a total piece of work when I met the man, and now . . .”
“Not so much,” Avery finished for her.
“Not so much.”
“What do you have to lose?”
“What if it doesn’t work? What if he turns back into the selfish guy he was on the plane?”
“Then you cut him off and go back to your other plan. Consider this: What if you’d met him a month from now, two months from now, and Steve-o at the bar ended up being Mr. Baby Daddy? Call me naive, but a pregnant girlfriend who is carrying a child that isn’t yours is a little harder to juggle.”
Avery’s logic rang true.
“I haven’t been touched by a man since Paul, and I’m considering letting this guy put me on the hook, pushing off my plan for three months based on one kiss.” One spectacular kiss.
Avery shrugged. “I guess when you put it like that . . .”
“See?”
They were both silent for a few breaths.
“How good was the kiss?” Avery asked.
Shannon closed her eyes and shivered. “I’ve never been kissed like that. With such abandon and need. It was like he had this one shot of making his point, this one moment, rolled up in a single kiss.” She opened her eyes, found Avery smiling. “I think it was the best first kiss I’ve ever had.”
“Doesn’t your best first kiss deserve a chance?” Avery asked.
“Why are you so congenial about Victor? The man was engaged to another woman less than a week ago.” A big red flag in anyone’s book.
Avery kicked her feet up in the water. “Oh, that’s easy.”
“Why?”
“You. Because of you! The First Wives Club is going on, what, three years? I have never seen the kind of smiles on your face that I have since we’ve been here. Even when Victor ticks you off, there is a glow in you. So if he ends up being the selfish douche guy you spoke of, right now the man is pulling you out of the muck that Paul drug you through. And I’ll take it. You’re quite the catch, Shannon. I don’t think you’ve ever allowed yourself to acknowledge that li’l fact. Hell yeah, I’m gonna promote Victor. For worse or for better, the man is empowering you.”
“I don’t want to get hurt.”
“Then don’t let him.”
“How do you do that?”
“By keeping it honest with yourself. You fell for Paul, but he didn’t fall for you. You couldn’t just walk away because of the marriage contract. I get it. But that isn’t the case with Victor. If you start diving off the heart-filled cliff for the guy and he’s waving as you’re going over, get out. If he wants to date you and other women at the same time, then be sure and do the same. Enjoy what he has to offer, and don’t take any crap that you’re not okay with.”
“Should I wait for him?”
“In a normal situation, I’d say hell no. You just met the guy, you’ve had one kiss . . .”
“A fabulous kiss.”
Avery grinned. “. . . he just got out of a serious relationship, and the chances of him jumping around right now are pretty high.”
Shannon heard a however coming.
“But,” Avery continued, “I’ve never been on this ‘get pregnant with a stranger’ bandwagon, and the last thing you want is an accident with the wrong guy. Therefore, waiting a little longer, three months . . . I think that’s the way to go.”
“I had a plan,” Shannon said.
“Change the plan,” Avery suggested.
Three months . . .
Shannon stood in the reception area of the hotel, her suitcase by her side. Avery stepped away so they could talk without an audience.
“You’re a surprise I wasn’t expecting this week,” Victor told her.
“I would hope so, considering.”
He wanted to pull her in his arms and kiss her but decided that a public display might not be what she wanted quite yet. He reached out his hand. “Can I see your phone?”
She removed it from her purse and handed it to him.
He typed in his number and pushed a call through. His phone rang and he hung up. “I’m going to call you.”
Her ride to the airport pulled into the drive.
“If you change your mind . . .”
He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t count on that.”
She sucked in a breath. “One thing.”
“Name it.”
Vulnerability crossed her face. “Don’t play me.”
He wasn’t sure he’d know how to play a woman like her. “I won’t.”
She leaned in, kissed the side of his cheek, and moved to the waiting car.
He held the door open for Avery and accepted her hug. “Congratulations,” he said in her ear.
“I’ll thank you when I stop throwing up.”
He laughed.
She lowered her voice. “Absence makes the heart forgetful,” she told him. “You might want to remember that.”
“I will.”
Victor watched the car drive away and felt the sunshine all around him dim.
Chapter Seventeen
A mausoleum would have been noisier than Victor’s office the day he returned. He purposely walked in late in the morning, yet a week earlier than he’d told Stephanie that he’d be back.
He walked past the receptionist in the main lobby, smiled, and said good morning. As he walked through the maze of halls and cubicles of desks and various employees, his presence seemed to stop all chatter midsentence.
By the time he walked into the foyer of his office, Stephanie was standing by his door, folders in hand, with very little expression on her face.
“Good morning, Mr. Brooks.”
“Morning, Stephanie.” He walked past her and into his vast space.
“Did you tell me you were returning today?” she asked, following him.
She knew he hadn’t.
“No. I did not.” He sat behind his desk and glanced at the open stack of mail. But all of that could wait. “Call a meeting with the executive team in one hour. Is anyone out today?”
She shook her head. “No. You asked that no one take time off when you were gone on your honeymo—” Stephanie stopped midword and dropped her eyes to the floor.
“Right. Good . . . one hour. You and I will meet directly after to go over anything I’ve missed.” He picked up the first paper on his desk, dismissing his assistant without asking her to leave.