My nails dig into his skin. James is frantic, gripping harder, and I respond like I always do. He pulls me to him and lets out a deep sigh when he buries his face in my neck.

"Say yes…"

I clench my eyes shut and dig my teeth into my bottom lip until I taste blood. I want to say yes. And I think he knows I want to and it's why he keeps asking me.

"At least give me a reason," he begs. "No one is going to love you more than me. I can promise you I'll love you harder than anyone else until my very last breath."

I don't give him a reason. Not even after he makes sweet love to me for the next two hours, making up for what we lost the last few days.

I don’t finish, though. Not once. I can’t. I’m depriving myself because I feel guilty over my decision.

Fourteen

"You better not be fucking my dad!"

Grinning, I sit up higher at the sound of Natalie's voice and feel a spark of excitement burst through me. I’ve missed my bestie. She said she’d be here bright and early the day after we got home, but shit happens.

Natalie steps into the kitchen carrying a brown paper bag and places it on the island. Sounds like a bottle of some sort. My gaze takes in her appearance. She’s wearing the cutest toffee-colored Boho lace-up sandals I might have to borrow from her. It's late summer here in the city, so her tattered ripped shorts and graphic tee aren't going to keep her warm when the temps drop once the sun goes down completely. Always fashionable, though.

I close my laptop. I was taking my time tying up some loose ends before Retreat opens, but I can finish later.

Truthfully, I’ve been avoiding James. He's been in his home office all day and now into the evening. It's uncharacteristic of him and I'm not sure what to think of it. In fact, we haven’t spoken since he made love to me this morning. Granted his office in the basement has a full working kitchen and bathroom allowing room for me to work alongside him, I purposely sat in the kitchen on the main floor in hopes we'd see each other when he came upstairs. At five o’clock I could count on him to come and make a drink, and that's what I’d banked my plan on. Now that it's after six and he still hasn't shown himself proves to me he's vexed.

I shelve my thoughts and hop off the chair to give Nat a hug. "Hey, girl." I smile.

Natalie places a hand over her heart. "Oh, thank God. I thought I was going to walk into a sex fest or some sketchy shit."

I laugh at her dramatic sense of humor. "I'm pretty sure the last thing he wants to do is fuck me right now."

She puts up a flat hand. "T-fucking-M-I, Ram Jam. That's my pops you're talking about."