how it would end, with the two of them naked, upstairs in his bedroom. Or, hell, maybe they wouldn’t even make it that far. Maybe he’d take her up against the wall by his front door. Or just press her down over the hood of the Hornet, shove down her pants and plunge into her from behind.
As gut-wrenchingly tempting as any or all of those fantasies were, he didn’t want their first time together to be like that.
He wanted to savor her. To lavish her with attention. To spend hours learning her every nook and cranny. But he wasn’t going to do that tonight.
“I just—” he began, then broke off and sucked in another breath. “Let’s take it slow, okay? Like we agreed.”
“Okay.” She nodded. But then took another step toward him.
He held up a hand to ward her off. “Whoa.”
“I’m okay with slow,” she said.
“I meant, let’s take the relationship slow. Not, let’s slowly hop into bed.”
“Oh.” Comprehension spread across her expressive face. She frowned. “Oh,” she repeated, sounding miserable.
“There’s no rush. Tomorrow night, we’ll go back to Vista del Mar. We’ll see what happens there.”
Her frown only deepened. “I guess that’s okay.”
It would have to be. Despite her eagerness, he sensed that she wasn’t as experienced as she wanted him to believe. Which only made her more vulnerable to him. He didn’t want to rush into a sexual relationship that she wasn’t ready for. Moreover, he didn’t want her to rush into it and then regret it later. And she almost certainly would regret it.
Women who got involved with stars nearly always did.
Sure there were some women who could handle a one-night stand with a man they barely knew. He’d certainly been involved with plenty of those women. But Ana wasn’t that type. The fact that they would have to work together only complicated matters further.
Which was precisely why he wanted to take things nice and slow. There was a good chance she was going to see past his finely crafted layer of bull to the man beneath. When she did, he’d let her go. Maybe that would happen sooner rather than later, but whenever it did happen, he wanted her to have as few regrets as possible.
He couldn’t stand it if one more woman regretted being with him.
By the time she returned to Vista del Mar the following evening, Ana still wasn’t positive she’d made the right choice when she’d decided to date Ward. But after spending a day anda half constantly in his company—after seeing firsthand all he’d accomplished with CMF, after having him escort her around Charleston, where he was universally treated with affectionate respect—after all of that, she’d definitely reached one conclusion. She may not have made the right choice. But she’d really made the only choice.
How could she turn him down?
It would have been impossible.
But she could certainly appreciate how tenuous their situation was. And for that reason, she told him on the flight home that she didn’t want anyone at Hannah’s Hope or in Vista del Mar knowing about their burgeoning—but still very undefined—relationship. Her trust that he would follow her wishes was absolute. That same stalwart honor that had made him warn her off meant he would respect her request.
Still, even though she was not yet ready to share their relationship with others, she couldn’t hide the improvement it made to her mood. She tried not to be too bubbly when she showed up at Hannah’s Hope the day after her return.
“So how was the trip with Mr. Fabulous?” Christi asked, hovering in the open doorway.
Ana ducked her head, trying to hide from her friend’s too astute gaze. “It was great. Charleston was completely charming.”
“Really?” Christi asked. “I thought you were dreading it.”
“Oh… Well, sure.” Of course she had been dreading it. Back when she thought that Ward was a class-A jerk. Back when she’d wanted to believe the worst of him. So now she was stuck
As gut-wrenchingly tempting as any or all of those fantasies were, he didn’t want their first time together to be like that.
He wanted to savor her. To lavish her with attention. To spend hours learning her every nook and cranny. But he wasn’t going to do that tonight.
“I just—” he began, then broke off and sucked in another breath. “Let’s take it slow, okay? Like we agreed.”
“Okay.” She nodded. But then took another step toward him.
He held up a hand to ward her off. “Whoa.”
“I’m okay with slow,” she said.
“I meant, let’s take the relationship slow. Not, let’s slowly hop into bed.”
“Oh.” Comprehension spread across her expressive face. She frowned. “Oh,” she repeated, sounding miserable.
“There’s no rush. Tomorrow night, we’ll go back to Vista del Mar. We’ll see what happens there.”
Her frown only deepened. “I guess that’s okay.”
It would have to be. Despite her eagerness, he sensed that she wasn’t as experienced as she wanted him to believe. Which only made her more vulnerable to him. He didn’t want to rush into a sexual relationship that she wasn’t ready for. Moreover, he didn’t want her to rush into it and then regret it later. And she almost certainly would regret it.
Women who got involved with stars nearly always did.
Sure there were some women who could handle a one-night stand with a man they barely knew. He’d certainly been involved with plenty of those women. But Ana wasn’t that type. The fact that they would have to work together only complicated matters further.
Which was precisely why he wanted to take things nice and slow. There was a good chance she was going to see past his finely crafted layer of bull to the man beneath. When she did, he’d let her go. Maybe that would happen sooner rather than later, but whenever it did happen, he wanted her to have as few regrets as possible.
He couldn’t stand it if one more woman regretted being with him.
By the time she returned to Vista del Mar the following evening, Ana still wasn’t positive she’d made the right choice when she’d decided to date Ward. But after spending a day anda half constantly in his company—after seeing firsthand all he’d accomplished with CMF, after having him escort her around Charleston, where he was universally treated with affectionate respect—after all of that, she’d definitely reached one conclusion. She may not have made the right choice. But she’d really made the only choice.
How could she turn him down?
It would have been impossible.
But she could certainly appreciate how tenuous their situation was. And for that reason, she told him on the flight home that she didn’t want anyone at Hannah’s Hope or in Vista del Mar knowing about their burgeoning—but still very undefined—relationship. Her trust that he would follow her wishes was absolute. That same stalwart honor that had made him warn her off meant he would respect her request.
Still, even though she was not yet ready to share their relationship with others, she couldn’t hide the improvement it made to her mood. She tried not to be too bubbly when she showed up at Hannah’s Hope the day after her return.
“So how was the trip with Mr. Fabulous?” Christi asked, hovering in the open doorway.
Ana ducked her head, trying to hide from her friend’s too astute gaze. “It was great. Charleston was completely charming.”
“Really?” Christi asked. “I thought you were dreading it.”
“Oh… Well, sure.” Of course she had been dreading it. Back when she thought that Ward was a class-A jerk. Back when she’d wanted to believe the worst of him. So now she was stuck
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