A Secret to Keep by Railyn Stone Page A

be letting up and she stood watching the electricity slash through the darkness of the sky. For a while, Gates sat and watched her, admiring the view as the storm and the scattered lightning lit up her face. She was beautiful. There weren’t many women in the world that could look as naturally beautiful as her. Her bare face and her pure simplicity were the most attractive things to him and he fought every urge inside him to touch her. He was secretly glad they’d gotten caught in the pouring rain because her hair was curly again. She was beautiful with it straight, but he absolutely loved her natural curls. Standing, he moved quietly to her side to watch the storm.
    “I’m really sorry about all of this. I know you’re probably worried about your little boy.” He knew she was still mad at him for being stuck in Charleston. He really hadn’t planned on them having to stay overnight, but in a way he was glad about it.
    “Brayden.”
    “What?” His inquisitive eyes scanned her face in anticipation of her continuing.
    “My little boy. His name is Brayden.” Her voice was barely audible and he strained to hear it over the rumbling of the storm. It was like she had shared some deep dark secret and now was a little wary she’d let the cat out of the bag.
    “Oh…Brayden.” He repeated the name slowly thinking back to the picture of the child behind her desk. There was something very familiar about his eyes, but Gates figured it was the fact they were rimmed with long eyelashes like Sloane’s.
    Looking up at him, she shrugged. “It’s okay. I checked on him while you were in the shower and he’s fine. I can’t blame you for a storm. The truth is, I shouldn’t have come.” He watched her stoic countenance and felt a pang of guilt realizing she was probably upset she was missing her nightly ritual with the baby. Knowing Sloane, she probably had some song she sang or a book she read to the little one every night, and tonight she’d miss it because of him.
    “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you did.” Leaning over, he nudged her arm with his elbow. She flashed a half smile at him then turned back to the window and the storm. He felt a flash of heat eddy through his body while watching the electric hue of the lightning reflect and bounce over her face. His fingers hurt from how tightly he clenched his fist from resisting the urge to reach out and touch her. He knew her skin would feel like satin and he fought his feelings with all he had. “This reminds me a lot of the last time you and I were here. You remember?” Gates tried his best to think of anything else but how soft her skin would feel beneath his own and he turned back to the window.
    “I remember. I’m surprised they don’t have our pictures on the wall somewhere stating we should never be allowed to stay here.” He watched the slow grin move across her full lips referring to their unplanned swim fully clothed in the rooftop pool. Of course, they left an annoying long trail of puddle tracks as they trudged to their room.
    “Those were the days,” he laughed. “A lot has changed since then.” He thought back to the fun they had peeling the wet clothes off one another and the slow, sweet lovemaking the entire episode led to that night.
    “Yeah, I guess so.”
    “I mean, you have a son and you’re about to marry his father, so this has to be an exciting time for you.” It really wasn’t like him to be this inquisitive, but he was having a hard time accepting the fact Sloane had moved on. He wasn’t sure how he was able to hold it together the day she introduced him to Chase. All he wanted to do was squeeze the life out of the guy, but somehow he managed to keep his composure.
    “Uh, yes, it is.”
    “Try to control the enthusiasm why don’t you?” He was a little taken aback at the seeming disinterest Sloane exuded when he mentioned her engagement and upcoming marriage.
    “Oh, no, it’s a lot going on and it’s kind of stressful,