Tanya giggled. “Even if he doesn’t, it’ll be worth it if only to see him again. The guy is seriously hot.”
A wave of sickness splashed over her like slap to the face. Hearing her daughter call Josh “hot” made her feel like a…like a cradle-robber. What the hell was the matter with her? Josh should be dating her daughter, not her. If she’d doubted it before, she sure as hell didn’t doubt it now.
“So anyway,” Tanya continued, still sounding as if she was on cloud nine, “I’ll let you get to bed. But I’ll call you tomorrow morning with all the details, okay?”
“Sounds good, hon.”
“I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too.”
Vivian’s eyes were stinging as she hung up the phone. God, she was such a fool. Bottom lip trembling, she turned to Josh and said, “My daughter thinks you’re seriously hot.”
A look of understanding softened his features. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Yes it does. You should be dating someone your own age. Someone like my daughter.” She let out a breath. “God, imagine what she’d think if I told her about us?”
“Vivian—”
She held up her hand. “This is ridiculous, Joshua.” She placed emphasis on his full name, knowing she sounded like his mother and wanting him to see it. “I’m putting a stop to this. Right now.”
He tried to speak but she cut him off again. “Whatever was happening between us is over. I want you to leave.”
“You don’t mean that.”
She ignored his rough plea. “Tomorrow morning I want you to go see your sister and explain why you’ve been lurking around. When you get back you’re going to pack up your things and get on the next plane to San Francisco. I’m serious, Josh. You have no reason to stay here. I’m making it clear, right here and right now, that nothing will ever happen between us.”
“Luke, are you awake?”
Ellie nudged his bare arm, the only part of his gloriously sexy body not tangled in the bed sheets. He made an unintelligible sound and rolled over, providing her with a very nice view of his bare ass. God, he looked cute when he slept. Gone was the take-charge, I’m-always-in-control bodyguard. His features softened in slumber, making him appear younger. Sweeter.
She bit back a laugh. If he knew she was calling him sweet, he’d have a fit.
Climbing out of the bed, she fumbled around the dark room, looking for her robe. It was nearly four in the morning, but she wasn’t tired.
She slipped into her robe and glanced at Luke again, resisting the urge to jump on him and splatter kisses all over his chiseled face. Why had she never known how good sex could be? It amazed her to think about what she’d been missing out on all these years.
Her bare feet tingled, suddenly longing for a pair of ballet slippers. She wanted to dance, wanted to shout out from the rooftops how utterly happy she was.
Leaving the bedroom, she padded down the hall. She paused in front of the living room sliding doors and looked out at the ocean, midnight blue waves rippling under the silver moon. A full moon, she noted. Maybe that explained what had happened tonight. People often credited full moons with eerie events. Not that making love to Luke had been eerie. It had been…right. But unexpected.
Six months ago, the thought of going to bed with Luke would have been preposterous. Inconceivable. Yet it had happened.
Unlatching the door, she slid it open and stepped into the backyard. The sand beneath her feet was soft. And warm. So was the air. Breathing in the salty humid air, she took a step forward, her eyes focused on the water as a thought slipped into her mind.
They hadn’t used protection.
She wondered how long it would take before Luke realized it. He hadn’t brought it up, but she knew he would.
She absently reached down and stroked her stomach, a motion she’d repeated constantly during the three months she’d been pregnant. Just a tiny bump. She’d lost the baby before it became a protruding bulge.
She’d never realized just how much she’d wanted to be a mother until she’d gotten pregnant. All she’d wanted since she was a kid was to dance, but that had changed once that home-pregnancy test had turned blue. She’d been ready to give up everything for her child. Speed up the wedding. Sacrifice her ballet career, which had just started to take off.
A bitter laugh escaped her throat. Well, she hadn’t had to make any sacrifices. She’d lost the child she was carrying. Lost her career. Her fiancé. The future she’d never realized she’d wanted.
“Ellie? Why are you out here?”
But she had Luke. She turned to see him at the door, wearing a pair of boxer-briefs that clung to his lean hips. Bare-chested, with his dark hair tousled from sleep, he was the most appealing sight she’d ever encountered.