I just wished he weren’t so quiet. It made me worry. And it totally made me doubt my decision to push him after he’d told me to stop more than once. What the hell did I know about what he needed to get better?

As the manager continued to talk to Gideon, I moved slowly through the massive living area, with its wide-open terrace and white couches spread across bamboo floors. The master bedroom was equally impressive, with a large bed framed by mosquito netting and another open terrace that led directly to a private swimming pool with an infinity edge that made it look like part of the shimmering ocean just beyond it.

A warm breeze blew in, kissing my face and sifting through my hair. The rising moon cast a trail over the ocean, and the distant sounds of laughter and reggae made me feel isolated in a way that wasn’t quite pleasant.

Nothing was right when Gideon was off.

“Do you like it?” he asked quietly.

I turned to face him and heard the front door shut in the other room. “It’s fantastic.”

He gave a curt nod. “I ordered dinner in. Tilapia and rice, some fresh fruit and cheese.”

“Awesome. I’m starving.”

“There are clothes for you in the closet and drawers. You’ll find bikinis, too, but the pool and beach are private, so you don’t need them unless you want them. If there’s anything missing, just let me know and we’ll get it brought in.”

I stared at him, noting the several feet between us. His eyes glittered in the soft light cast by the dimmed cam lighting and bedside table lamps. He was edgy and distant, and I felt tears building in the back of my throat.

“Gideon …” I held my hand out to him. “Did I make a mistake? Did I break something between us?”

“Angel.” He sighed. He came close enough to catch my hand and lift it to his lips. Up close I could see how his gaze darted away, as if he had a hard time looking at me. A sick feeling settled in my gut. “Crossfire.”

The one word came out so low, I almost thought I’d imagined it. Then he pulled me into his arms and kissed me sweetly.

“Ace.” Pushing onto my tiptoes, I cupped the back of his neck and kissed him back with everything I had.

He pulled away too quickly. “Let’s change for dinner before it gets here. I could stand being in less clothes.”

I stepped back reluctantly, acknowledging that he had to be hot in his suit, but still sensing that something wasn’t right. That feeling worsened when Gideon left the room to change and I realized we wouldn’t be sharing the same bedroom.

I kicked off my shoes in the walk-in closet that was filled with way too many clothes for a weekend trip. Most were white. Gideon liked me in white. I suspected it was because he thought of me as his angel.

Did he still think of me that way now? Or was I the devil? A selfish bitch who made him face demons he’d rather forget?

I changed into a simple cotton slip dress in black, which matched my funereal mood. I felt like something had died between us.

Gideon and I had stumbled many times before, but I’d never felt this level of withdrawal from him. This discomfort and unease.

I’d felt it with other guys, when they were getting ready to tell me they didn’t want to see me anymore.

Dinner arrived and was neatly laid out on the terrace table overlooking the secluded beach. I saw a white tent cabana on the sand and remembered Gideon’s dream of us rolling around on a chaise for two by the water, making love.

My heart hurt.

I gulped two glasses of crisp, fruity white wine and went through the motions of eating, even though I’d lost my appetite. Gideon sat across from me in loose white linen drawstring pants and nothing else, which just made everything worse. He was so handsome, so goddamned sexy it was impossible not to stare at him. But he was miles away from me. A silent, forceful presence that made me want with every fiber of my soul.

The emotional gulf between us was growing. I couldn’t reach across it.

I pushed my plate away once I’d cleared it and realized Gideon had hardly eaten at all. He’d just forked his food around and helped me drain the bottle of wine.

Taking a deep breath, I told him, “I’m sorry. I should’ve … I didn’t …” I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, baby,” I whispered.

Shoving back from the table with a loud screech of the chair legs across the tile, I hurried away from the patio.

“Eva! Wait.”

My feet hit the warm sand and I ran toward the ocean, pulling my dress off and colliding with water that felt as hot as a bath. It was shallow for several feet, then dropped off suddenly, plunging me in below my head. I bent my knees and sank, grateful to be submerged and hidden as I cried.

The weightlessness soothed my heavy heart. My hair billowed around me and I felt the soft brush of fish as they darted past the invader in their silent, peaceful world.

Being yanked back into reality had me sputtering and flailing.

“Angel.” Gideon growled and took my mouth, kissing me hard and furious as he stalked out of the water and up the beach. He took me to the cabana and dropped me onto the chaise, covering me with his body before I fully caught my breath.

I was still dizzy when he groaned and said, “Marry me.”

But that wasn’t why I said, “Yes.”

GIDEON had gone into the water after me with his pants on. The soaked linen clung to my bare legs as he sprawled over me and kissed me as if he were dying of a thirst only I could quench. His hands were in my hair, holding me still. His mouth was frantic, his lips swollen like mine, his tongue greedy and possessive.

I lay beneath him unmoving. Shocked. My startled brain quickly caught up.

He’d been agonizing over popping the question, not because he was leaving me.

“Tomorrow,” he bit out, rubbing his cheek against mine. The first tingle of stubble roughened his jaw, the sensation jolting me into a deeper awareness of where we were and what he wanted.

“I—” My mind stuttered to a halt again.

“The word is yes, Eva.” He pushed up and stared down at me fiercely. “Real simple—yes.”

I swallowed hard. “We can’t get married tomorrow.”

“We can,” he said emphatically, “and we will. I need it, Eva. I need the vows, the legality … I’m going crazy without them.”

I felt the world spinning, like I was on one of those fun-house barrel rides that revolve so fast you’re stuck to the wall with centrifugal force when the floor drops away from your feet. “It’s too soon,” I protested.

“You can say that to me after the flight over?” he snapped. “You fucking own me, Eva. I’ll be damned if I don’t own you back.”

“I can’t breathe,” I gasped, inexplicably panicked.

Gideon rolled, pulling me on top of him, his arms banding around me. Possessing me. “You want this,” he insisted. “You love me.”

“I do, yes.” I dropped my forehead to his chest. “But you’re rushing into—”

“You think I’d ask you this on the fly? For God’s sake, Eva, you know me better than that. I’ve been planning this for weeks. It’s all I’ve thought about.”

“Gideon … we can’t just run off and elope.”

“The hell we can’t.”

“What about our families? Or friends?”

“We’ll get married again for them. I want that, too.” He brushed the wet hair off my cheek. “I want pictures of us in the newspapers, magazines … everywhere. But that will take months. I can’t wait that long. This is for us. We don’t have to tell anyone, if you don’t want. We can call it an engagement. It can be our secret.”

I stared at him, not knowing what to say. His urgency was both romantic and terrifying.

“I asked your dad,” he went on, shocking me all over again. “He didn’t have any—”

“What? When?”

“When he was in town. I had an opportunity and I took it.”

For some reason, that hurt. “He didn’t tell me.”

“I told him not to. Told him it wasn’t going to happen right away. That I was still working on getting you back. I recorded it, so you can listen to the conversation if you don’t believe me.”

I blinked down at him. “You recorded it?” I repeated.

“I wasn’t leaving anything to chance,” he said unapologetically.

“You told him it wouldn’t be right away. You lied to him.”

His smile was razor sharp. “I didn’t lie. It’s been a few days.”

“Oh my God. You’re crazy.”

“Possibly. If so, you’ve made me this way.” He pressed a hard kiss to my cheek. “I can’t live without you, Eva. I can’t even imagine trying. Just the thought makes me insane.”

“This is insane.”

“Why?” He frowned. “You know there’s no one else for either of us. What are you waiting for?”

Arguments rushed through my mind. Every reason we should wait, every possible pitfall seemed crystal clear. But nothing came out of my mouth.

“I’m not giving you any options here,” he said decisively, twisting up and standing with me cradled in his arms. “We’re doing this, Eva. Enjoy your last remaining hours as a single woman.”

“GIDEON,” I gasped, my head thrashing as the orgasm poured through me.

His sweat dripped onto my chest, his hips tireless as he stroked his magnificent penis into me over and over, rolling and thrusting, shallow then deep.

“That’s it,” he praised hoarsely, “squeeze my dick just like that. You feel so good, angel. You’re going to make me come again.”

I panted for breath, boneless and tired from his unrelenting demands. He’d woken me twice before, taking me with skilled precision, imprinting onto my brain and my body that I belonged to him. That I was his and he could do whatever he wanted to me.

It made me so hot.