Moonlight Mirage: Bandicoot Cove 2 (13 page)

Hayley had never felt such a confused whirlwind of emotions. On the one hand, he’d caused little cracks to tear at her heart with the distance he’d put between them before she was even awake. On the other it would be so easy to invite Mitch back into bed so he could really finish the job, rip that organ into tiny pieces.

She had to get out of here. She needed space to get her head straight and figure out what she was going to do now—now that the reality of what loving Mitch would mean was staring her in the face.

Always taking a back seat to his real passion—his business.

Gathering her fortitude, Hayley slipped out from under Mitch when he looked intent on kissing her again. “I should get going.”

“Going?” She felt the heat of Mitch’s gaze on her back. “Where?”

“To my room. I have a wedding to get ready for and all my clothes are there.”

“So I’ll have them sent here.”

Trust Mitch to have a perfectly logical solution. “It’s fine, the walk will do me good.”

“I think we both got plenty of exercise last night,” Mitch drawled. “You don’t need to leave.”

The reminder electrified the areas of her body she was trying desperately to ignore. Shifting to the edge of the bed, Hayley searched around for something with which to cover herself. The torn shreds of her blue dress mocked her from the bedside table.
You let him do that to you, Hayley. You begged him, you pleaded with him, you allowed him to master you. You gave everything, and he won’t ever give you the same level of devotion back.

In the moment, it had been spectacular, there was no denying it. And living in the moment had become Hayley’s motto, but at some point a girl had to start facing her future. If she tried to pursue a relationship with Mitch, she’d never be anything more than a temporary distraction from his work. Hell, she’d be little more than an afterthought, the person Mitch spent time with when he wasn’t doing more
important
things. Could she live like that? Always playing second fiddle to his job?

What if the alternative was living without him?

What we have here is a lose-lose situation, Hayley girl.

Hayley stood, ignoring the shaking in her knees and the sick feeling in her stomach. In lieu of clothing, she wrapped the bed sheet around her, toga style. “Do you have a shirt I could borrow? I don’t think I should walk around the resort like this.”

“I agree. From now on, I’m the only one who gets to see you naked.”

Hayley could have laughed at how presumptuous that was, but the autocratic thread in his voice triggered responses that were far from humorous. Her nipples peaked against the sheet, and her pussy fluttered. That was the tone he’d used last night when he’d ordered her onto the bed, when he told her to spread her legs, when he demanded she suck his cock. It turned her on even when she was frightened out of her wits that in giving herself to Mitch, she was going to get lost.

Her love for Mitch could easily swallow her whole, become a prison.

She was the girl with the freedom tattoo. She didn’t want to be locked in a cage, no matter how beautifully it was gilded.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find something myself.” Hayley scanned the room until she saw the shirt Mitch had worn last night draped over the back of a chair. She walked over and picked it up, slipping her arms into it and letting the sheet drop to the floor. Fortunately, she was a lot shorter than Mitch so the garment hit her at a modest midthigh.

Unfortunately it was redolent with Mitch’s scent and the way it wrapped around her made her chest contract.

“What’s your hurry to get back to your room, Hayley?”

“No hurry.” Her voice shuddered, betraying her nervousness over the lie. “I just want my clothes. And I really should make sure Ty’s okay.”

The second the words were out of her mouth, Hayley realized her mistake. The tension in the air crackled. Somewhere out in the grounds a couple wandered the path that rimmed Mitch’s suite, talking and laughing. The only muscle of Mitch’s that moved was the one that ticked in his jaw as he stared at her. “You’re going to see Butler?”

“Not just to see him. To get my clothes, like I said. He’s staying in the room, that’s all.”

Mitch’s eyes trailed over her barely covered state. “You’re going to meet him dressed like that?”

She sent her ripped dress a pointed glance. “I don’t have a lot of choice.”

His lips tilted sardonically. “You didn’t complain about that at the time.”

No, she sure hadn’t. “I guess there comes a point when a person has to face practical concerns.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Hayley huffed. “But the fact is, I’ve treated Ty badly this trip. I invited him here as my guest, and now on the day of the wedding, he’s probably wondering what he’s supposed to do.”

That muscle in Mitch’s jaw jumped as though it were going to break skin. His tone was lethal. “You’re not still thinking of taking him to Mack’s
wedding
.”

She hadn’t thought about it at all until this minute. She’d been too wrapped up in the whole Mitch-Ty thing, and then last night she’d practically dumped Ty on his ass in the middle of the pool and run off with Mitch, who had then completely dominated her time, in more ways than one. Everything had been so clear-cut then. She loved Mitch and wanted to be with him. The rest could work itself out later.

Now it all seemed so messed-up and confusing.

“I can’t tell him not to come,” Hayley explained, realizing the truth of it even as she spoke. “It wouldn't be fair. He’s traveled all this way and Mack’s already paid for the catering—”

“Catering? Are you out of your mind?” Mitch thundered, the sudden eruption making Hayley jump. “Who gives a fuck if there’s a leftover plate of chicken? You told me you were never going to see him again.”

Had she?
In the pool last night Mitch had growled his demand:
never again,
and she’d agreed. But she’d assumed he meant she’d never have sex with Ty again, not that she would sever all contact. “I can’t just abandon him. He’s my friend.”

“Bullshit. You told me all you had in common was sex.”

“I know, but…” How to explain it? The sex had drawn them together and had motivated them to ensure they bumped into each other as regularly as possible. But somewhere along the way she’d gotten used to bouncing one-liners and ideas off Ty. She was supposed to give up all the other ways in which their relationship had grown because the sex was no longer on the table? Was it fair of Mitch to ask that?

Was it reasonable of
her
to expect
him
to tolerate her having any kind of relationship with Ty?

“If it means anything, I have no intention of having sex with Ty—”

“Good to know,” Mitch spat.

“—and you’re going to have to trust me on that,” Hayley continued. “Exactly how I trusted you last night, when I let you have the upper hand because I knew it would please you.”

“It pleased you too.”

“Yes, it did. But you can’t make all my decisions for me, Mitch. You can’t tell me who I can and can’t be friends with.”

“Damn it, I don’t like the man. It’s not you I don’t trust, it’s him.”

“That’s such a crap line. You think I can’t control myself, or that I still don’t know my own heart after everything I did with you last night, after all the things I said.”

Hayley’s face heated at the reminder of what she’d revealed.
I love you.
Three little words Mitch had chosen not to say in return. Oh, it shouldn’t matter to her. They were only words and it was early days. Mitch might still say them, and even if he didn’t, what did it matter if he made her feel like he had while they’d made love—like the most amazing, cherished, adored woman on the planet?

It shouldn’t matter, but it did.

Mitch’s expression softened. “Hayley, sweetheart, listen to me. I spent half the morning on the phone arranging—”

“I know you were on the phone, I heard you. You have to work, it’s what you do.” The statements burst from her lips, carrying a ring of accusation she couldn’t strip from them. “I’m just not sure if I’m strong enough to play second chair to it
all the time
. A relationship like that isn’t what I want.”

“Then what do you want? Something meaningless like you had with Ty? A man you fuck but don’t give yourself to? Someone to have sex with who doesn’t give a shit what you do the rest of the time?”

“I want something equal! I need to feel like I’m as vital to the man I’m with as anything else in his life. Let’s face it, Mitch.” She regarded him sadly, the tears welling in her eyes. “That’s not the case here.”

Mitch stepped back, regarding her with astonishment. “You don’t think I see you as an equal? You’re the most strong-willed, stubborn, determined woman I’ve ever met. If you think I consider you in any way inferior, you don’t know me at all.”

Hayley shook her head, unable to speak over the painful lump that clogged her throat. That wasn’t what she’d meant. He might take a high-handed approach in bed, but Mitch respected women. He’d always treated Hayley like a human being, not merely a girl he wanted to screw. In his business he promoted females as often as males. Merit was what counted at Wood and Markham, there was no boys’ club.

And she knew that just because Mitch had mastered her last night, he didn’t consider her his slave. The inequality in their relationship derived from its inherent emotions, not from any latent chauvinism on his part. It was simple: Hayley’s feelings were all-consuming, threatening to pull her under. Mitch’s allowed him the room to make phone calls and place conditions on who she could and couldn’t see.

If he loved her at all, it wasn’t nearly as much as she loved him.

“I can’t do this.” The words tumbled out of her on a sob. “I can’t love you and keep my sanity. It hurts too damn much.”

“Hayley, sweetheart.” His voice cracked and began to tremble. “I don’t know how to make you stay. Don’t you know the last thing I want is for you to be hurt?”

She swiped at her eyes with the heels of her hands. “I know. You’ve always done your best to protect me. Protect me now, please. Let me go.”

Without waiting for an answer, Hayley fumbled with the door handle. When at last her damp palms allowed her to grip and turn the knob, she yanked open the door and bolted into the hall.

Dumbstruck, Mitch watched Hayley vanish as though into thin air. He couldn’t work out how things had gone so wrong, so quickly. One minute he’d been happier than he’d ever been in his life. The next…

Mitch dropped onto the bed, devastated. He was
devastated
. Hayley had run out on him. She’d said something about wanting to see Ty Butler again and it had made Mitch see red—or green if he were honest with himself. He’d never been in a position where he had to war with an opponent for a woman’s affections. The fierce jealousy was a newfound experience and it was making him behave in ways he couldn’t seem to control.

She was right, in theory—he had no cause to dictate who she could and could not be friends with. Yet he couldn’t possibly cope with the idea of her remaining bosom buddies with Ty Butler. Resting his elbows on his knees, Mitch dropped his head into his hands.
Think, Wood. Think.

All he could picture was Hayley’s tear-streaked face. All he could hear were her words.
I can’t do this. It hurts too much.

How had he hurt her? By asking her to stay away from the man she’d been lovers with not twenty-four hours earlier? Was she saying if the situations were reversed, she wouldn’t have a problem with him going to see a former lover while half dressed? If that was true she mustn’t care about him at all. She mustn’t love him like she’d said she did.

Mitch’s chest shuddered as he tried to draw breath.
She didn’t love him.

All he’d done this morning had been a waste. He and his PA had fought tooth and nail to clear his schedule for the rest of the week. Most of those people were going to be extremely unimpressed to find themselves dealing with someone other than Mitch, but he didn’t give a rat’s ass. He’d woken this morning with only one intention—to somehow prove to Hayley Bryant how much she meant to him.

Time had been the answer. He knew Hayley was into all this living-in-the-moment business. Today he’d been planning to ask her to show him how to live like that. He was going to offer to be her student for the rest of the week, here on the island. He was going to learn to sail and scuba dive, all the things she’d accused him of not doing because of his work. And he’d wanted to do it all with Hayley by his side, day and night, to prove he had time for her. That he would make room for her in his life.

“Oh, Christ.” The words tore at his throat and Mitch realized how close he was to shedding tears. He loved her so much. She’d brought him to life three years ago when she’d walked into his office dressed in that horrible black suit, smiling from ear to ear. She’d done it again when she’d taken him to the beach yesterday morning, showing him all he’d been missing. He loved her, and even knowing that, she’d walked out on him.

Something about that last thought made him still.

What if she didn’t know how he felt?

He hadn’t said the words. He’d chosen to wait, to give Hayley a chance to confirm or retract what she’d said when she’d been caught up in the storm of her orgasm. But she had to know, surely. He’d confessed how long he’d ached for her. He hadn’t been able to control his desire for her—he’d been hard all damn night. And each time he’d reached across the bed, she’d been there. Willing, passionate, eager.