The easy humor, the carefully constructed indifference, they were all a foil for something beneath, something deeper. Riya wanted to run away and delve deeper at the same time.
“Take a couple of hours off. The island heat can be too strong for newcomers.”
She nodded, feeling a strange sense of disappointment as he walked away.
* * *
Nathan was e-signing a bunch of documents for his virtual manager when he heard more than one long sigh from his engineering team and a subdued curse fall from the local construction crew they had hired.
Baffled by the sudden change in the tenor, he looked up from his tablet.
His own breath fisted in his chest. Languid energy uncoiled in his belly.
Clad in a white stretchy top that hugged the globes of her lush breasts, and denim shorts that showcased the lean muscles in her long legs, Riya was coming down the steep path. Her hair was tied into a high ponytail and swung left and right with her long stride. She wore flats, the strings of which tied around her ankles in the most sensual way.
He couldn’t fault his team for losing their focus, nor fault her for her simple attire. The weather was a combination of damp and stifling heat.
Every inch of him thrummed with tension and anticipation. Locking his jaw, Nathan turned away. Fought the insidious thought supplied by his mind that he could have her if he wanted.
Her skin glistened golden in the sun. And it felt like raw silk, he knew now. And her brown eyes took on the darkest shade when he touched her. The faintest whiff of roses clung to her skin. Two tiny things about her that he would never be able to erase.
Even as he warned himself, his gaze traveled over the modest neckline of the sleeveless T-shirt that draped over her lush breasts and dipped to her waist.
She stopped and looked around her with a smile that only added to her appeal.
The need to run his fingers over that graceful line of her neck, to sink his hands into her hair, to shake loose the safe, sterile world she had built for herself, to be the one to wake her up to her own potential in every way was almost overwhelming.
She was like a beautiful butterfly that refused to leave the cocoon, and he wanted to be the one to lure her out.
With a curse that punctured the stunned silence around him, he shot up from his seat. Turned away from the temptation she presented. Reminded himself that he had conquered obstacles and fears that were far more dangerous.
Things were already too twisted between them. And from her episode with Drew, he knew she could never handle him.
Nathan needed the rule-following, road-map-for-my-life female in his life the way he needed a heart attack.
What he should do was to put her on a flight home immediately and forget her or her little deal.
And yet with the excitement thrumming through her as she reached them, her wide eyes taking in the equipment around, he couldn’t find it in him to break his word.
Three more months of this torture, and he was already chafing against his own rules.
* * *
Pushing her shades on to keep the orange glare away, Riya looked around herself. All the guesses she had made were off by a mile. It was not a casino, or a resort or a theater or an architectural marvel of any kind.
A huge crane stood behind the working team. An enclosure that was as tall as her surrounded the crane.
Her heart beating with a thunderous roar, she stepped inside and stilled.
A raised platform with an exquisitely designed, waist-high iron railing that went all around sat center stage in the enclosure. The most luxurious little sofa with legroom in the front sat against the back wall, and Riya noted that it was riveted to the wooden floor of the platform. As she watched with spiraling curiosity, tiny little lights, strategically placed around the perimeter of the floor turned on, casting brilliant light around.
Two small tables sat on either side of the sofa. Exotic orchids in vases along with an assortment of other things like expensive chocolate and even a bucket of champagne in ice sat on the tables.
And the final thing she noticed was safety tethers on each side of the sofa.
Her breath hitched in her throat as she realized what the elaborate setup meant.
She turned around, determined to find out if the fantastic idea was really true, when Nathan and a tall brunette stepped inside the enclosure.
Meeting her gaze, Nathan tilted his head toward the newcomer. “This is Sonia Lopez. She’s the project manager.”
A kind of suspended silence hung in the air where the woman obviously waited for him to say more and then gave up.
“Riya Mathur. She’s the software architect on a company I acquired recently.”
Relief sweeping through her, Riya shook the woman’s hand.
Sonia cast another quick look toward Nathan before stepping out of the enclosure.
Leaving her alone with Nathan.
She jerked as he clasped her wrist and tugged her toward the raised platform. “Let’s go.”
Her eyes wide, fear beating a tattoo in her head, she shook her head. “No. I would very much like to be a spectator, thank you.”
The most unholy delight dawned in his eyes, a wicked fire that turned them into a fiery blue. His mouth curved into a smile; it was the most gorgeous he had ever seemed to her. There was no facade, no frost. Only pure, undisguised laughter at her cowardice. “Not a choice. If you want—”
Surprising him, she took a few steps forward and cast a quick glance at the setup. “It’s not fair, Nathan. My going on this has nothing to do with my company’s abilities.”
“Life’s not fair, Riya. But you have to grab your thrills where you can.”
With that, he pulled her and they stepped through the railing.
“You sound like a little boy going on an adult ride for the first time.”
He clasped her hand and pulled her down to the sofa. Her knees quaking, she managed to stay still as he clipped the safety belt around them. And now, instead of an intangible one, there was a rope binding them together.
Breathe, Riya.
Within minutes, a faint whirring began and the crane unfolded, lifting them up into the sky.
Riya gasped and clasped his hand tighter, at the sheer magnificence of the feeling. Her mouth dry, she laughed giddily as they went higher and higher.
The whole island was laid out beneath them like a glittering jewel. The villas, the infinity pool, the beautiful grounds, she had never seen a more breathtaking sight. Her heart raced at a thunderous speed, a strange pull in her stomach.
When
