“I have to go back to my room soon,” Eden whispers, gently scraping her nails through my chest hair.
I sigh the words, “I know.”
No matter how badly I want her to stay with me, we both know she has to go back to her room before her mother wakes up, so she can help Petra get dressed and walk her over to the café where we’ll sit down to a family breakfast with my daughter and my fiancée.
It’s incredible how complicated things can get within a matter of hours.
“What happens now?” she asks.
My throat closes.
“I’m not sure,” I say, because it’s the truth. “For now, I think it’s best if we keep this to ourselves, at least when we’re around other people.”
Her gaze shutters. I’m sure that’s not the answer she wanted. It’s not the answer I want to give her. But she seems to understand that it’s our best option for now.
“I suppose you’re right.” Eden swivels to the edge of the bed, turning her back to me. Before she can stand, I reach out and grasp her shoulder.
“Tell me not to marry Petra,” I say, slightly embarrassed by the tremble in my voice. “If you tell me not to marry your mother, I won’t do it.”
Still not turning around, she rests her hand over mine on her shoulder.
“I need some time to think.” She rises, readjusts her swimsuit top, then pulls on the bottoms, grabs her towel, and leaves without another word.
Dread sinks into the pit of my stomach like a stone. I stare blankly at the ceiling, noting how much colder the bed feels without her in it. Normally I appreciate the extra legroom, but right now all I can think about is how much I miss having Eden in my arms.
I rub my dry, tired eyes, as if it were possible to scrub away the feeling. But who am I kidding? One taste of Eden’s lips, and I became a junkie who would risk everything for one more fix.
No, not a junkie. A daddy with a mission: take care of my baby girl.
And that’s exactly what I plan to do.
CHAPTER 5
EDEN
My head is still spinning the next morning with memories from last night.
The delicious pressure of Christian’s cock between my legs, and the delicate flutter of his tongue. How wide my lips stretched around him as I took him into my mouth. It was sexy and amazing and utterly insane.
And I loved every second of it.
I nestle deeper into my blankets at the memory of Christian’s chest against my back. No one else has ever made me feel so beautiful and so sexy. He made me feel desirable, like I didn’t have to apologize for my body not fitting into society’s constricting ideal of how the perfect woman should fit between a man’s hands. He thinks I’m perfect just the way I am, despite my inexperience.
Then again, if the hot, salty explosion in my mouth is anything to go by, he enjoyed teaching me how to please him.
I was embarrassed to admit it at first, but I loved calling Christian Daddy, almost as much as I loved hearing him call me his baby girl. My chest clenches like a fist around my heart. I can’t wait to see him again—
My train of thought comes to a screeching halt at the sound of my mother’s blankets rustling on the other bed. Guilt curls like smoke in my stomach.
What would she say if she knew that Christian and I had been together? Would she hate him? Would she hate me? I know my mom doesn’t care about Christian dating other women, but I’m not some random socialite. I’m her daughter, and someday soon, Christian is going to be my stepfather.
Unless they don’t get married.
Christian’s words come rushing back to me.
“Tell me not to marry your mother,” he said.
But do I even have a right to ask him for that? My dad went to Christian because he knew he could trust him to take care of us, and Christian and my mom have already worked out their arrangement. If she knew what happened between us, she might refuse his help altogether. What happened last night could put our entire future at risk.
I need to talk to Christian as soon as possible.
Quietly, I rise from my bed and slip into the bathroom. After the world’s quickest shower, I get dressed and slip out of the room with a final glance at my mom’s sleeping form. No matter what happens, I need to know that my mom will be taken care of.
I make my way to Christian’s hotel room, but when I knock on the door there’s no answer. Figuring he must’ve already left for breakfast, I head down to the resort’s seaside café to look for him.
When I arrive, the only familiar faces I see belong to Brittany and her two annoying friends. I consider finding another place to sit, at least until Christian arrives, but regardless of whether my mom marries him, Brittany is Christian’s daughter. She’s part of his life, and if I want to be part of his life, too, I’m going to have to find a way to tolerate her without letting her walk all over me.