Chapter 17


    Even more so when he had admitted what she had already suspected to be true after his reaction to


    their first time—that he was not the same with other women. Unfortunately, Piper had allowed herself to


    build emotional ties on that flimsy pretext, while ominously lying to herself about what was going on in


    her own heart the whole time.


    This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    But was the pretext so flimsy?


    Despite what his words the night before had implied, she was special to him. They were friends and he


    had few enough of those, no matter how he liked to tease Neo to the contrary. Piper and Zephyr’s


    sexual rtionship had alreadysted longer than any other one he’d had as well. And she already


    knew it drew out a side in Zephyr he did not regrly let loose.


    So, in all three of those instances, she was not business as usual for the tycoon. Add that to the fact he


    was vacationing for the first time since she’d known him, with her and for her benefit, and it all added


    up to something special. Right?


    Or was she grasping at straws as she had done with Art, not wanting to believe he was being unfaithful


    until confronted by irrefutable evidence?


    One thing she knew, she wasn’t going to lie to herself any longer. She loved Zephyr. Irrevocably and


    unequivocally. More than she’d ever loved Art, and she suspected more than she could ever love


    another person. But if Zephyr could not, or would not, love her, then she needed to stop this thing


    between them before she had no hope ofing out of it with a heble heart.


    The thought of letting Zephyr go hurt so badly, an involuntary whimper slipped past her lips. He didn’t


    wake up, but his arms tightened around her, only exacerbating the pain.


    Because if she walked away from him, there would be no one there tofort her.


    And that led to her final decision. She wasn’t going to waste what might well be herst days with


    Zephyr as even a pseudo-lover grieving a loss that had note yet. She would squeeze every bit of


    joy out of their time together in Greece that she could.


    Zephyr woke to the wonderfully pleasant experience of Piper giving him a massage. He was on his


    stomach, his arms rxed above his head and his legs stretched out under the light covering of a


    sheet. She sat on his upper thighs, having an effect on him that he doubted she was going for.


    Or maybe not. Piper was the most open and adventurous lover he’d ever had.


    It bothered him that her moving him around had not woken him. His ability to incorporate her touch into


    his dreams showed how deeply he trusted her. As did the secrets of his past he’d shared with her the


    day before.


    He’d never been tempted to tell that story to another woman, and no other lover had been allowed to


    sleep in his bed, much less wake him with a massage. He’d thought he’d been so clever in pursuing a


    sexual rtionship without strings with the only woman he had ever considered a true friend. Now, he


    realized that kind of thing led to intimacies he did not crave.


    He had to get his rtionship with Piper back onto an even keel, or end at least the sexual side of it.


    Friendship and sex. Nothing more, and certainly nothing so deep it led to true confessions. He’d started


    at the ka, the day before, buying her gifts and mping down on that dangerous urge to talk.


    She’d done him a favor waking him with the massage. It would lead to sex and that was something he


    could handle. He didn’t open his mouth to blurt out things better left unsaid when it was busy pleasuring


    her.


    “Mmm…” He stretched under her kneading fingers, rubbing his cheek against the bottom sheet, taking


    in the scent of their lovemaking from the night before.


    Call him earthy, but he loved that smell and often put off their morning shower so he could enjoy it.


    “Like that?” Her voice was husky as if she was getting as much out of this as he was.


    “Very much. Are you sure you’ve never gone to massage therapy school?”


    “It’s one of my many natural talents.” Humorced that sweetly husky voice.


    “I admit, I am grateful for this particr talent.”


    “As you should be. So, I’m the only person in your life with this particr talent?”


    “I’ve never asked Neo if he likes to give massages.”


    Softughter tinkled above him. “I’m having a hard time imagining that conversation.”


    “You’re not the only one.”


    “There are no other women in your life who know how to rx your muscles like this? I find that hard to


    believe.”


    Was she fishing? He’d never asked her if she slept with other men, but he knew she didn’t. He didn’t


    make it a habit to sleep with more than one woman at a time, either. It led to messyplications, and


    he didn’t do messy. Though he was rarely with a woman long enough for it to be an issue, he still


    followed his own rules. His longest liaisons could be measured in months, not years.