“I wish I’d listened to myself about not agreeing to marry you at that time. It would have saved me a lot of hurt and embarrassment.”Chase raised his brows. He gave her an on-off smile and turned away to shove his feet back into his shoes before he reached for a T-shirt and hauled it over his head. “I’m going up on the bridge to check on things. I’ll leave you to rest or whatever. We’ll have some supper once I secure us for the night in a sheltered cove not far away from here.”Amaya’s shoulders sagged when the door clicked shut on his exit. She was being silly. What did it matter if he didn’t love her? Refused point blank ever to fall in love with her? They could still have a satisfying relationship. Far more satisfying than any relationship she’d had before. Sure, it wasn’t the fairy-tale relationship she secretly yearned for, but how realistic were those yearnings anyway? She knew more than most about the sort of heartache that came from idealistic expectations in relationships. T

Amaya woke up in the quietude a little while before dawn. The only sound she could hear was the gentle wash of the water against the sides of the yacht. Chase was sleeping spoon-like behind her, one of his arms over her waist, his legs entwined with hers. She had never spooned anyone before. It was such a cosy, intimate feeling to be curled up together, skin to skin. She listened to the sound of his breathing, feeling each rise and fall of his chest against the naked skin of her back.She glanced down at the band of his tanned, hair-roughened arm around her waist. The contrast of his darker-toned skin against her creamy white made something tingle and shiver deep and low in her belly. The curtains weren’t drawn as they were so far away from anyone in the private cove they’d anchored the yacht in the night before. The stars were like handfuls of diamonds flung over a dark velvet blanket, twinkling and winking, existing in a timeless and spectacular array. It struck her how long it had

“If you ever had the pleasure of getting in bed with me again..." Chase narrowed his cold eyes on hers. “You would be the one to catch fire, and we both know it.”“I don't think so. You did all the work on the yacht, remember? ”He frowned.“Oops! Did I hit some nerves, husband, dear? ”With that, Chase curled his finger, motioning her into the conference room. People had begun to trickle straight into it with their coffee cups and sleepy eyes. Amaya obeyed, her catlike, limber walk telling him she knew he was looking.Justin opened the door for them before he walked in.“Hey, lover boy. How's the honeymoon?" He clapped his back.“Call me that again if you want a one-way ticket to early retirement,” Chase muttered.“Mrs. Lover Boy?” He winked at Amaya.“Lover boy, my ass," she saluted.They shared a knowing smile. Chase punched him in the face. Internally, of course. His limits were few and far between, but they were there. Besides, Justin had just another fling, the morning show’s la

Chase smiled, his thumb pad stroked over her beauty spot, his eyes still holding hers in a penetrating tether. “But I have a feeling you’re not as ambitious as you make out, wife?”Amaya forced herself not to shift her gaze but to hold him without wavering. How could he know how conflicted she felt about her career? Of course, the specialist department can wait, but yeah, being his assistant is considerably her career for now. She thought to herself.She had barely acknowledged it to herself. She hadn’t even talked about it with Mary. She’d played the ‘career girl’ card for years. Work had always been her top priority before Tommy. But if she interrupted her career path with a baby again, what would happen to her place on the ladder? And did she even care? Amaya slipped out of his hold and held on to the side of the table.“Did you even talk about this Chicago plan of yours to Tommy?" she asked.“Not yet; I just got the email earlier. I haven’t even had time for a call yet. But guess

Chase frowned. “Tell me about what?” A muscle tightened in the lower quadrant of his jaw.He thought sleeping with Amaya again was a bad idea, but he couldn't help himself.Not that there’d been much sleeping involved. Their cataclysmic honeymoon had changed everything.“About Tommy,” she said, tugging his hand as she sat at the couch’s edge, leaving Chase no option but to follow.And follow he would, to the ends of the earth if she asked, for the last few days had shattered any illusions he had about this marriage being all business.With every kiss, with every caress, and with every gut-wrenching moan, she’d stripped away the years, catapulting him straight back to a time he was so crazy for her he couldn’t see straight.Nothing had changed—absolutely nothing.Even that was a lie.A few years ago, he’d been a fool, kidding himself; all he felt for Amaya was lust.Now he knew the truth.What they’d shared had never just been about lust; it was more than that, so much more.And their