A medley of hopefulness, desire and unease stirred within her belly.
Indina fought the temptation to be pulled in by those softly whispered words. She couldn’t allow herself to fully digest his statement without comparing it to similar promises that had been whispered in her ear in the past. Promises made by men who eventually had not been there for her.
Yet, even as she struggled to remain indifferent, she recognized the futility in doing so. She could no longer remain indifferent where Griffin was concerned. They’d shared too much over these past couple of days.
Once they arrived at the top, Indina settled in next to Griffin, their thighs touching as they sat side-by-side, overlooking the grounds. Just the feel of his warm skin against hers coated her in a layer of comfort.
That was one of the things that had stood out the most in these last few days. She now recognized just how comfortable she was with him. It hadn’t come as a complete surprise. That sense of trust had been there from the very beginning. She never would have approached him—never would have spent the past eight months in his bed—if she’d felt even a modicum of unease around him.
But over the past few days, she’d been forced to see Griffin outside of the mental box where she usually stored their relationship. He was so much more than just a coworker she just so happened to be sleeping with. He was both sweet and kind, and he had things going on in his life that she would have never guessed. Issues with his family that Indina felt compelled to help him work through. The fact that she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the rift between Griffin and his brother told her that she cared way more than she would have if he meant nothing to her.
It scared the hell out of her.
It scared her to think of how admitting she cared changed the dynamics of this entire arrangement. Caring added a layer of vulnerability Indina wasn’t ready to accept, but it felt as if it was out of her hands.
She did care about him. Now she had to decide just what to do about that.
“Have I thanked you for inviting me to join you here?” Griffin asked.
Indina’s lips tipped up in a smile “Yes, you have,” she said. “Have I thanked you for coming?”
“Not sure if you said it with words, but that thing you did with your tongue last night was thanks enough.”
She was a forty-two year old woman; she would not blush.
Griffin’s deep chuckle told her that it was too late. She was definitely blushing.
“Well, just in case I haven’t said it in actual words, thank you for joining me,” Indina said. “I’ve had a good time.”
“Does it make you wonder how many good times we’ve missed because you’re always so quick to leave me?”
“Griffin—”
“I mean it, Indina. Look at how much fun we had that first night when we went to that disco on the ship. There are clubs back home where we could hang out, have drinks, dance—although you may not want to be seen dancing with me in public.”
She released a strained laugh. “It’s not about your dancing.”
“Then what is it?”
The sudden seriousness in his tone triggered her defensiveness. She tamped it down, and reminded herself that she was still in the driver’s seat when it came to how their relationship operated.
“Griffin, we decided from the very beginning that we didn’t want this to get too serious.”
“That was eight months ago, Indina. And I’m not asking you to marry me, just to go out on an actual date with me.”
She set her elbows on her thighs and ran her hands down her face. “Can we please not talk about this right now? I can’t think about us,” she said, pointing between the two of them, “when I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on with Harrison and Willow.”
Griffin frowned. “What do you mean? What’s going on with Harrison and Willow?”
She lifted her shoulders in a hapless shrug. “I have no idea. What I do know is that something isn’t right. The two of them have hardly talked to each other this entire cruise. And yesterday, while we were all hanging out in the hot tub, Willow made a comment that leads me to believe that she and Harrison have been having problems for a while.”
“Either of them come to you about it?”
Indina shook her head. “I’m not surprised that Harrison hasn’t said anything. He could be up to his neck in quicksand and would insist he doesn’t need help getting out of it. But I thought Willow and I were close enough that she would confide in me if she and my brother were having problems.”
“Maybe they want to work it out for themselves.”
“But what if it’s too serious for them to try to work it out for themselves?” She looked over at him. “They have children, Griffin. It’s already affecting Liliana. I saw her watching her parents earlier. I could tell that she’s bothered by it.” Indina shoved her hands in her hair and massaged her scalp. “If those two end up getting a divorce, it will destroy those children.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Indina. There are a lot of stages between giving each other the silent treatment and filing for divorce. Believe me, I’ve been there.”
She stared at his strong profile and was struck again by how much she didn’t know about him.
“So it wasn’t just the cheating that signaled the end of your marriage?” she asked.
“No, it was a lot more than that.” He set his elbows on his thighs and clamped his hands together. Looking straight ahead, he said, “Earlier, when we were walking on the beach. Do you remember what you said about your parents’ marriage? About how perfect they were for each other?”
Indina nodded. She and Griffin talked about the classic love affair her parents shared as they’d strolled along the shoreline this
