Adam sat down on a rock beside her, started pulling off his boots and socks. Searched his mind for something to say. Something innocuous that wouldn’t piss her off any worse. Talking just wasn’t his talent. “You know, ah…the company built all this for psychological reasons. They thought it would make the adjustment to being out here easier.”
“There’s nothing like this at home,” she said in a quiet voice.
“No.” The first touch of cool water on his toes was magic. He let out a groan and settled himself as close to her as he dared. His knee was a hair’s breadth from connecting with hers. For a moment he held his breath, waiting, but she didn’t move. “It’s nice here.”
And it was. The rich smell of damp earth, the fragrance of flowers. He could see why this had become her haven.
“What do you want, Adam?”
His shoulders dropped and he exhaled hard. “Truthfully? To come up with a way to apologize to you without actually having to apologize.”
Louise rested her elbows on her knees. Her face was in her hands, blocked from view. Everything about her posture radiated defeat, and his guts clenched. He’d done this to her. There was no humor to be found in this situation.
“Princess, I’m sorry. I was an ass.”
She turned her head with her cheek still cupped in her hand. “Why do you call me that?”
“Ah.” He rubbed his hands together and scrunched up his face. Did they really have to go there? At least she’d spoken to him again, not much but a little, and a little felt better than nothing. It remained infinitely preferable to her walking out on him. Shit. “Well…last night, you know how we discussed our mutual distrust of one another when we first met?”
She blinked.
“So, ah… I…I felt…” He sucked in his cheeks and shut his stupid mouth, not enjoying himself much at all. Unhappiness sat like a stone inside him. His wife sat there patiently, waiting for him to dig himself a deeper hole. Something he proved particularly efficient at. “It’s a term of affection. Now.”
Louise turned to look out at the dark pool. “You should go and get some sleep. You’ve got work tomorrow.”
“No, I’ve got tomorrow off.”
She gave a small, uninterested nod.
“You haven’t accepted my apology yet,” he helpfully pointed out.
“I don’t feel like forgiving you yet.”
He held back his smile of victory. She didn’t feel like forgiving him yet. “Yet” being the key word, thank fuck. “Ah.”
Water trickled and splashed, and a bird hooted somewhere in the thicket of trees behind them. He rubbed the side of his foot against hers, daring to touch her. Needing to touch her.
The response was immediate. Louise jerked her foot back, brows and mouth drawn tight. Her eyes lit with fury. “You discussed our sex life with another woman!”
“Only a little and in very vague terms, and I said I’m sorry.”
“Not good enough. Say more.” Her mouth trembled and he felt like the biggest heel in the universe.
“I wasn’t discussing it with Rose, exactly. I was just… You have to understand, they’re family to me.”
“And if you’d told your brother intimate details about me, then rest assured, we would still be having this conversation. You betrayed my trust.”
He clenched his jaw tight. “I know.”
“Is she family to you, Adam? Or something else? Because honestly, I’m confused.”
“Louise—”
“The truth. Please.”
“Are you fucking serious? She’s my best friend’s wife,” he growled.
“And I’m asking if you’ve fucked her. Is that why she’s so territorial? Answer me.”
“Louise…”
“Forget it.” His wife shook her head and pulled her feet from the water, every movement tight and sharp, fast and graceless. She scuttled back from the lagoon’s edge and got to her knees, obviously preparing to leave.
He couldn’t do it. He could not let her go again. Everything in him revolted at the idea. It didn’t even feel as if he had control of his own body anymore.
Adam spun and rushed to his knees. He wrapped his arms around her waist, grabbing her from behind before the dubious wisdom of such a move could make its way through his panicked mind.
Louise grunted and her top half pitched forward, unbalanced. She shoved a hand at the ground to hold herself up while the other clawed at his arm. “What are you doing?”
“Don’t go.”
“Adam,” she growled, and squirmed.
“Please.” He shuffled his hand up her chest and pulled her back up against him, her back to his front. “Princess, I fucking hate the thought of you walking away from me again. Honest to the gods, deep down hate it. So…please.”
The rise and fall of her chest against his palm was furious. “You have abandonment issues now?”
“So it would seem. I’m sorry for that too, if it helps.” He coughed out a humorless laugh. Adam fisted his hand in her top and buried his face in her neck. He pressed his mouth against her hot skin. “I swear, it’s just you. Only you.” He was hers and she was his. Or she was supposed to be. He wanted her to be. “I’m sorry she was mean to you. I guess she feels slighted about the tour or something.”
Louise squirmed in his hold. “Do not defend her to me.”
“All right. All right. I’m sorry.”
She said nothing.
“I only want you.”
She scoffed.