Who’s the Boss?

boundaries. No hurt. Nothing and no one but the two of them, soaring as high as the clouds.

“I HAVE NO IDEA why I waited so long to do that,” Caitlin said conversationally a short time later. “It was the most fun I’ve ever had.”

“Fun?” He pulled on a pair of sweatpants and laughed shortly. “You nearly sent me to another world, and you thought it was fun?”

He watched her blond head poke out the neck of his shirt as she put it on, and his blood surged again at the way she looked wearing his clothes. “You know what I mean,” she said, lifting her gaze and smiling at him.

His throat closed. “Yeah.”

“I…uh…you know. Had an orgasm.” She blushed gorgeously and he laughed.

“An orgasm?” He laughed again. “Princess, you most definitely had more than one.”

“Is it always like that?”

His amusement faded. It had never been like that. “No, not always.”

She was looking at him with such emotion, he nearly lost it right there. His lungs seemed to collapse. He needed her, so damn much. Fear welled, but he beat it back. She wouldn’t know, couldn’t know, unless he told her. And if he didn’t tell her, he had nothing to fear. Nothing at all.

But she deserved more than a quick toss in the sheets. She needed a man who would give her a future, a man who could give in to his emotions and love her as she deserved to be loved. She didn’t need him further screwing up her life. Hell, she already thought she was in love with him. Delusions, of course. No one could love him, not really. He was trouble. Had an attitude. A temper. He could be a real selfish bastard. He’d once walked away from his family without looking back. He’d taken everything Edmund had given him without questioning Edmund about Caitlin, and what she might need. Caitlin didn’t know this, didn’t understand, or she could never believe herself in love with him.

He had to walk away now. Had to forget that she could make him laugh, could make life seem more important than work. He had to get over how her chaotic world was as fresh as spring-water when compared to his, which was stagnant, dead. He had to forget that her way of living revived his, gave him back the joy of being. She’d wormed her way into his heart, spreading happiness like wildfire, and he hadn’t even noticed it happening. He had to forget, or the realization of exactly what it would cost him to walk away would kill him.

She took his hand, and that simply loving, trusting gesture had him swallowing hard.

He’d betrayed Edmund by failing to protect Caitlin. He’d betrayed Caitlin by taking her love and innocence without means to repay it. Any minute, fate was going to come knocking and swipe away any semblance of happiness.

She led him down the stairs. “I’m starving,” she said. “I hope you have more food in your house than I do in mine.” In the entryway, halfway between his kitchen and the living room, she came to a grinding halt. “I’ve never seen your place.”

He let out a laugh. “Should’ve opened your eyes when I was playing pirate and hauling you upstairs.”

But Caitlin didn’t crack a smile. She stared at the beautiful glass-and-stone foyer, looked through the kitchen and then sank to a large window seat in the front room, which overlooked the sea. “You never told me you lived at the beach, too,” she said with mock calm while her heart drummed painfully.

“I didn’t know where you lived until yesterday.”

It was a day for truths, and she had to have this one. “My father loved the beach. He gave this place to you, didn’t he?”

A shadow crossed Joseph’s expressive, rugged face. “Yes. Years ago. When I graduated from the college he bullied me into attending.”

“I see.” Pain slashed through her, and she didn’t quite manage to keep it out of her voice. “I’m sorry. I…have to go.”

In three strides, he caught up with her at the door. Gently, his heart already dying, he turned her to face him. “I didn’t know he didn’t pay yours off, Caitlin. I swear to you, until that day we had lunch, I didn’t know. Come here. You’ll see.” He dragged her back through the living room into the kitchen. On the table was a file, which he opened. “The deed for this place,” he told her, lifting it up for her inspection.

Attached to it was a quit-claim notice, which even she knew meant Joseph was signing this house over, and out of his name. To her.

“I don’t understand why Edmund had paid mine off all those years ago, and hadn’t done the same for you.”

“I do,” she said sadly. “It was my own fault. I moved around a lot, was a fickle little thing. He never believed I’d stay in one place for long.”

He tossed the document to the table and took her shoulders so he could see into her face. “Whatever his reasons, I can’t keep this place while you lose yours. It’s wrong, and so was I.”

“Wrong? How were you wrong?”

He’d gone a little pale. “I should have done this a long time ago. I’m ashamed of myself that I didn’t. I’m giving you this place.”

“No.” She backed away from him, holding her hands out to ward him off, because one more touch would have her crumpling, and she had to be strong. “You’re not giving it up for me.” She walked out of the foyer, and he followed her into the living room. “My father gave it to you,” she said, turning around in the large room. “He wanted you to have it.”

“I can’t keep it.” He watched her pace. “You’re hurting and I want to make it better.”

Caitlin knew there was only one way for Joe to make it better, and that was for him to love her back as hopelessly as she loved him. While she suspected he might feel that way, she was afraid that he was so used to being able to rely on only himself, he’d never be able to tell her. “You can’t do this. He loved you, Joe.”

“Yes. And I…loved him,” he said softly, the words grainy and rusty, as if he’d never said them out loud before. He looked open, and more vulnerable than she thought possible.

He could love, she thought with a rush of joy and hope. And knowing that, she knew anything, anything at all, was possible.

“I loved him,” he repeated. “God, I did.”

Through a haze of tears, Caitlin reached out and hugged him. “I know you did,” she said brokenly. “I know.”

He clung close and so did she, their bodies warm and snug and comforting. It started out that way at least, but as the seconds ticked on, and as Caitlin thrilled to be needed by him, the embrace turned decidedly sexual. The smooth, sleek skin of his back drew her fingers, and her hips instinctively melded with his.

“Caitlin.”

His low voice turned her on, too. Everything about him turned her on. He was unpolished. Physical. Sharply intelligent. Fascinating.

And fiercely aroused.

He looked at her, and it was far more than the heat and hunger that drew her. Whether he knew it or not, he did need her, needed her strength and affections. Her love.

She wanted to give it.

She slipped her arms around his neck at the same time that he caught her up against him. His body was strong and hard and grieving. The combination was irresistible.

“Again,” she whispered, kissing his jaw, his ear, whatever she could reach. “I want you again.”

“No, it’ll hurt you,” he protested softly. “You’ll get sore.”

“Don’t make me seduce you,” she said, and he laughed, turning his face so that their mouths met, only it wasn’t the gentle kiss she’d been expecting. Instead, it was deep and wet and long and had them both straining for more.

“Please, Joe,” she whispered. “You’ll never hurt me.”

He moaned, his forehead against hers. “I can’t resist you, not for anything.” He dragged her down to the thick carpet, then took her face in his hands and kissed her again, a carnal mating of their tongues, a mimic of what he really wanted to do to her. He touched her first with his hot gaze, then opened the shirt covering her, spreading it wide.