Her heart skipped a beat when she looked up at him. Would she ever get used to him?
“Where are you staying tonight?” She whispered the question so Jones and the driver, Conrad, wouldn’t hear.
Michael didn’t whisper his answer. “With you, Isabel. I left my bag with the bell captain.”
She didn’t argue. She wanted him to stay with her. She had quite a lot to say to him, and when she was finished, he damn well better promise never to put her through this misery again.
She refused to think about the bizarre conversation Michael had had with Damon, fearing none of what she had heard had been true.
At the hotel Michael picked up his bag and followed Isabel up to her suite. He locked the door, dropped his bag on the floor, and as he was removing his suit jacket and tie, he slowly walked toward her.
Isabel was loaded for bear. Planted firmly in the middle of the room with her arms folded across her waist, she was ready to let him have it for making her wait so long. When she had said everything she wanted to say—and God only knew how long that was going to take, for she had quite a bit of anger saved up inside of her—she would calmly explain her expectations.
“Four weeks and . . .”
Michael had unbuttoned his shirt and was removing it, breaking her concentration. He had such a fine body. How could she not take the time to appreciate it?
“What are you doing?”
“Getting naked.”
She could barely catch her breath. It was his seductive smile. The man mesmerized her. Nothing new about that.
She mentally shook herself. “Oh no, you’re going to listen to me. Four weeks and . . . ,” she began again.
“I love you, Isabel.”
He didn’t fight fair, she decided, a scant second before his mouth covered hers. Holding her tight against him, he said again, “I love you . . . even when you make me nuts.” He pulled back, put his hands on her shoulders, and stared into her eyes. “Tell me you love me,” he demanded. “I know you do, but I need to hear you say it.”
She didn’t make him wait. “I love you, Michael.”
Neither could say who reached the bed first. It had been such a long time since they had been together. Their lovemaking was uninhibited and . . . magnificent.
Michael wanted to take her with him to shower, and after a couple of kisses she was more than willing. By the time the last of the soapy lather had swirled down the drain, there wasn’t a spot on his
body she hadn’t kissed or caressed, and he was even more thorough with her.
Later, Michael entered the bedroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Isabel was already in bed and he smiled when he saw her in glasses. “I noticed you wearing them at the party.
You looked damned hot.”
She removed her glasses. “And now?”
Dropping the towel on the floor and sliding under the sheet, he grinned. “Still damned hot.”
She was about to roll into his arms when he asked, “Why didn’t you call me?”
Suddenly wide awake, she bolted upright. “Why didn’t I . . . why didn’t . . . ,” she sputtered. “You were supposed to call me. Why didn’t you?”
Michael sat up in bed and leaned back against the padded headboard. “I was helping out a friend with a legal matter. It was a real mess,” he admitted. “I should have called you then. God knows I thought about you all the time.”
“You did?”
“Yes,” he said. He reached over and turned the bedside lamp off. The bedroom was cast in shadows from the streetlights below.
“I did think you needed time to figure out what you wanted and hopefully that your future would include me, but then I realized it didn’t matter, because I was never going to let you go.”
She laid her head on his shoulder. “I didn’t need any time to know that I loved you.”
“I wanted to tell you how I felt in person, not over the phone. I was in San Diego winding things up with the Navy, but then a friend with PTSD disappeared. His wife needed help finding him. She contacted me and the others who were part of his team in Afghanistan. Fortunately, we found him before he did anything too crazy. He’s in the hospital now, getting the help he needs.”
“Are you having second thoughts about leaving the SEALs?”
“No, I think, with my law degree and my training, I can do more in the FBI.”
He started talking about what he hoped to accomplish and the path he had taken that led him to his decision. For over an hour he opened up and told her about his successes and failures and his future goals. He never mentioned the SEALs or talked about his time with them, and she knew not to ask.