done. With a muttered curse, she hurried down the porch steps and crossed the short distance to Trey, then grabbed his arm and spun him around to face her.
“You can’t just ignore me,” she said. “We’re stuck on this island together.”
“I’m not trying to ignore you. I-I just need some space right now.”
“If you didn’t want to have sex, you could have just said so.”
His sharp laugh split the damp night air. “That’s not the problem. All I want to do is make love to you. It’s all I think about. I can’t get enough of you. The moment I touch you, I lose all capacity to resist.” He stopped himself, drawing a deep breath. “I don’t like that feeling. It scares me.”
“It’s just sex,” Sophie said.
“No, it isn’t. And I’m not sure it ever was.”
She took a step back. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Trey shrugged. “It means I’m not sure we can just walk away from this when it comes time to leave this island. I’m not sure I want to. And I don’t think you do, either.”
Sophie shook her head. “I’m not going to talk about this,” she muttered. “We were just having some fun. There’s no need to make a big deal out of it.”
“Come on,” Trey countered. “It’s more than fun. I feel it. You feel it. I know you do.”
Sophie avoided his gaze, as if one look would reveal the truth. Of course she felt it. But that didn’t mean it was anything more than just infatuation.
He grabbed her chin and turned her face up to his. “Go ahead. Admit it.”
“What? You want me to say I love you? No, I’m not in love with you, Trey. We’ve spent a day together. No one falls in love in a day.”
“I didn’t say love.” He paused. “You did.”
Thunder rumbled in the sky and she felt her temper rise. Was this all a game to him? “What were you going to say?”
He opened his mouth, then closed it again as he measured his words. “I’ve never felt this way about any woman,” he replied. “There’s something there. It’s…different.”
“Right. Different. Oh, that tells me a lot.” She spun on her heel and stalked back to the porch, cursing to herself in French. “That something is lust, pure and simple,” she said, shouting through the rain.
She stepped through the door and slammed it behind her, but the moisture had made the wood swell and it refused to close. With a frustrated growl, Sophie shut it, then leaned back against it, her breath coming in tiny gasps, her heart slamming in her chest.
She hadn’t meant to say it out loud. All along, from the moment they’d first kissed, Sophie had warned herself against just this moment. She’d been a fool to believe either one of them could keep emotion from creeping into their relationship. And now that it had, everything was ruined.
She wanted to run away, to hide until all these feelings evaporated. But she was trapped here with him, at least until morning…and maybe even longer.
A knock sounded on the door. “Sophie?” He tried the doorknob, then gave the door a push, but she braced her shoulder against it.
“Go away,” she called.
“Let me in.”
“I just want to be alone for a while.” She closed her eyes, trying to stem a flood of tears. Great. Now she was crying over him. What was wrong with her? “I need some space.”
“All right,” he finally said. “But we are going to talk about this again.”
Sophie slid down along the rough wood door until she was sitting on the floor, her knees tucked under her chin. It had been so simple to avoid attachments. Trey had been right, she could have left her father and found a place for herself in the world. But instead, she’d hidden from her future, from love, in one of the remotest places she could find. Was it any wonder she had no one to love?
In her mind, she rewound the memories of her previous relationships and Sophie recognized a disturbing pattern. Whenever her feelings became too intense, she’d walk away. Her motives weren’t difficult to interpret. Her father had been a notorious philanderer and though she loved him, she’d never really trusted him. But all men weren’t like her father, were they?
There were people in the world who had wonderful marriages, people who loved the same person for their whole life without infidelity ever entering the picture. Had she already found a love like that and carelessly tossed it aside because of her fears? Or was that man here, on this island, with her?
Sophie covered her face with her hands, trying to restore a sense of order to her crazy thoughts. Someday, she’d have to face all her doubts and insecurities about love. But now wasn’t that time. How could she afford to risk her heart with a man she didn’t even know? Though they’d shared the most incredible intimacy, Trey was a complete stranger. She knew nothing of him beyond what she’d learned on this island.
Sophie silently cataloged the things that she did know. He cared about her and in more than just a sexual way. He wanted to protect her. He found her interesting and amusing and attractive. And when he touched her, he made her feel as if she were the only woman in the world he could ever want.
Inside the cottage, it was now dark and she could barely see any light coming through the windows. It would be a long, lonely night with Trey outside and her alone inside. But right now, facing Trey meant facing her feelings. And she just wasn’t ready to deal with that. Not yet.
TREY HEARD THE HINGES SQUEAK and the soft footsteps on the porch floor. He lay in the hammock, his arm thrown over his eyes, blocking his view. He slowed his breathing, wondering if she intended to speak first or reach out and touch him.
He felt her fingertips brush his shoulder and he pulled his arm back. He could just barely see her as his eyes adjusted to the dark. Trey held out his hand and she wove her fingers through his, repairing the break between them in that single instant.
He gently pulled her to the hammock and she crawled in beside him, stretching her body along his. They lay together silently, the hammock swinging back and forth, the warmth of her body seeping into his skin. Sophie nestled beneath his arm, then threw her leg across his, wriggling until she was comfortable.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his lips brushing her forehead as he stroked her hair. “I didn’t mean to snap.”
Sophie nodded. “And I’m sorry for getting angry.”
“I shouldn’t have walked out.”
“It wasn’t you,” she continued, a trace of hesitation in her voice.
“What was it?”
“Past mistakes,” she said. “What do you call it? Luggage?”
“Baggage,” Trey corrected.
“Yes. Baggage. I have a lot of baggage.”
“You and me both.” He kissed her again, but this time it wasn’t out of desire, but pure affection. She hadn’t really opened up to him, keeping details of her personal life to herself. But now, he felt desperate to know what had formed this extraordinarily fascinating female. “Sometimes, it’s better to just open it up and examine it.”
A long silence grew between them and Trey wasn’t sure she was willing to enlighten him. But then, she drew a ragged breath and began to speak.
“When I was young, we lived in Pape‘ete, in a little house near the water. My mother worked as a pastry chef in one of the big hotels and my father ran the air-charter business. I was pretty much in charge of myself and I’d come and go as I wanted. We had a wonderful life and I was happy. And my parents were like this…golden couple. Everyone loved them. My father was handsome and dashing and my mother was sophisticated and beautiful. They were proof that opposites could attract.”
She paused and for a moment, Trey wondered if she intended to stop there. But then, the next words came out in a rush. “After school, I’d usually go to the airport and work at the hangar with my father, helping to keep the books or clean the planes.” Her fingers traced lines over his bare chest, as if the distraction helped her to explain. “I’m not sure when it first happened. But one day, I walked into his office and there was a woman there, sitting on his lap, kissing him. I didn’t know what they were doing at the time, but when I got older, I understood.”
Trey could hear the pain in her voice and he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms tightly around her shoulders. “I’m sorry,” he murmured.
“My father told me I couldn’t say anything to my mother or she would be so upset she might leave us both and
