Page 23 of Captivated By You
CHAPTER
TEN
CLAUDIA
Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.
I rushed down the wooden stairs to the sea, burning like I’d been set on fire.
Everything inside me screamed at me to turn back, to go to him.
I couldn’t. No way in God’s green Earth was I going back to face Liam, not after he’d just totally caught me watching him get himself off.
My cheeks were hot, my whole body was. The shame and embarrassment of being caught watching him—heck watching him in the first place was embarrassing and shameful.
At first, when I’d stepped out onto the patio, I had gone looking for him, assuming he’d be in the kitchen. But when he wasn’t there, I walked outside to get a better view of the pool and the ocean. The last thing I’d expected to see when I turned around was the shadow of his body in the shower encased behind a glass wall but fully visible to me. Cloudy from water drops from the shower, I could still make out the darkened ink on his arms and when that arm began moving, my feet had cemented themselves to the patio, my eyes frozen on his body.
His hand. Moving. Jerking. Head bowed. Hips thrusting.
It’d taken me approximately two seconds to realize what he was doing. I was so lost in rapture watching him I hadn’t even realized he was watching me.
God, he was beautiful. Muscled everywhere, and I’d just seen most of them moving.
But I shouldn’t have watched.
You also shouldn’t have liked it so much.
Worse, he’d caught me. And just like I did in Savannah when caught and embarrassed, I did the first thing I could think of.
I ran.
On the beach, I continued running from his home, along the shore, my bare feet burned from the hot, white sand until I walked closer to where sea washed to shore. With my feet sinking into wet sand, I slowed to a walk and kept moving.
I wouldn’t go far. But I couldn’t stay and I couldn’t sit there waiting for him.
Oh God. How humiliating. I dropped my face into my hands and then pushed my hands back, gathering my hair into a fist at my neck. Barely long enough to pull into a ponytail I hadn’t even considered putting it up when I left the house.
My swimsuit cover dress continued flying up to my thighs and hips but I had the most conservative bikini on I could find beneath it.
And conservative was a stretch. A few triangles and strings in a navy and pink striped pattern, it barely covered my breasts yet everything in the closet was my size.
I’d been shocked before I remembered having to give my measurements to Karen.
It figured a man like Liam would have minions able to purchase an entire wardrobe for me and deliver it to the Caribbean in a day’s time.
God.
How was I going to face him again? Perhaps now I could tell him the truth. He’d be pissed, we could part ways, and he could find a new girl to sweeten up his public image. It certainly wasn’t going to be me.
I was going to sully him further.
Keeping my eyes on the teal, crystal-clear waters, I stayed on the edge of the shore, kicking the water and letting my feet sink into the mud.
It didn’t matter what I did, how much time I wasted. My thoughts continued drifting to Liam.
His body. His hand sliding. The bend of his arm that couldn’t disguise what he was doing. All that ink on his arms. His chest…and a completely bare back.
Closing my eyes, I huffed out a deep breath. I’d apologize. I’d get through the embarrassment, probably the teasing he’d dish out, and we’d move on.
