Page 69 of Catching Trouble

A million possibilities whirled around my brain. Did he regret the last few minutes? I hoped not. Was kissing him the wisest move I could have made?Absolutelynot.

And with the furrow on his brow, my heartdied as reality crashed in.

Regardless of how much I wanted him, he was my boss. I couldn’t ask him to cross any lines he wasn’t ready to. And did I really need the added complication of a misguided fumble on his boat? Anything that happened would only end in tears. I was standing at a crossroads in my life. Drama and entanglements weren’t on my to-do list.

After the longest beat, I let out a ragged breath and spoke.

“Maxime, what’re we doing? Are we really being smart?”

He didn’t answer.

Not at first.

Instead, he looked at me—really looked at me—as if he could see through my skin and straight into the mess of emotions tangled in my chest.

He clenched his jaw, thoughts whipping across his face. I saw hunger, yes, but something else too. Guilt? Sadness? Regret? I couldn’t tell.

His hands were still on my waist. Steady and careful, like he didn’t trust himself to let go.

My heart pounded as the silence stretched. And then he exhaled, his voice rough.

“Chloe. I want you so much. But…” he shook his head slowly, as if dragging out the words was killing him. “Now isn’t the right time.”

I swallowed, waiting for the impending crash—the plungeof my heart being consumed whole. But it didn’t come. Why? Because I agreed with him.

There was too much on the line, for both of us. And despite whatever feelings coursed through my body, we weren’t the only people involved.

I took a breath, hoping the grown-up girl knickers I was about to wear wouldn’t chafe too much.

“We both know this isn’t the right time,” I whispered. “You’ve got Sophie. I’ve got my whole messy life waiting back in London.”

His eyes flicked over my face, and his hands—still steady on my waist—tightened. “So that’s it?”

“For now,” I said. “We could wait until Sophie goes back to school?”

He chewed on his lip like he was holding back a million words. After four of my heartbeats, he gave a small nod.

He stayed still; his eyes locked on mine. They were full of longing and my heart twisted. Surely there was a way to quell the ache in my body without hurting anyone. A way to let Maxime know how being next to him made me feel.

At the solid bulge straining against his board shorts, I didn’t need to guesshisframe of mind.

I closed my hands over his, holding them in place at my waist, before leaning in.

“I know that stopping now is the right thing to do, but, hear me out. What if we weren’t smart for just one afternoon?”

When he didn’t respond, I continued.

“You know there’s that old saying, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”

Maxime quirked a brow. Even if he hadn’t heard the expression, the darkness in his face told me he knew what it meant.

“Well, what if there was some ancient maritime rule we could invoke? I remember reading somewhere that normal laws don’t apply in international waters. We could make ourown code.” I slid my hands up his chest, over his warm skin and inked lines. “What happens on the water stays on the water?”

A beat passed, and a muscle ticked in his jaw.

“Whatever we do, however we feel—we press pause,” I whispered, my mouth close to his. “But I need to be honest. If you don’t touch me soon, Maxime, I’m going to combust.”

His hands tightened around my waist again, giving me hope.