find out what I can right away. How is it, I’m up to my ears in paperwork and you’re sunning yourself at an island resort with a gorgeous woman?”
Evan pulled the rented Porsche into the drive leading to the ramshackle hotel and parked the car. He made an instant assessment. Good location. Great view. In need of major renovations. He’d have to do a thorough appraisal before deciding to add this hotel to the Tempest chain, the Tylers’ hard-won hotel corporation.
“Someone’s got to do it, Brock,” he said, amused at the image of his youngest brother sitting behind a desk, knee-deep in work. Brock wasn’t one to sit still very long. “I’m one who doesn’t mind mixing business and pleasure. They’re one and the same for me.”
“You know, rumors about the Royals have been floating around for months.”
“Precisely. I plan to find out if there’s any truth to them. Call me when you have details.”
Evan clicked off the phone and got out of the convertible, leaving the car right in front of the porte co-chere. No valet. He made a mental note before entering the establishment to tour the hotel with the owner.
By seven forty-five that evening, Evan had showered in his cottage suite at the Wind Breeze, dressed in a black suit and had gotten all the details he needed about Elena Royal. He had to admit, the woman hadn’t been dealt a fair hand. She’d been courted by a con man and he’d almost succeeded in landing a place in the Royal family. Nolan had been cagey and going against his daughter’s wishes and risking their relationship, he’d had the guy investigated completely, almost too late.
That only showed the hotel baron was getting soft in his old age.
Evan straightened his gray silk tie, combed his hair and grabbed several condoms from an unopened box in the dresser, sliding them into his pocket with ease. He hadn’t met a woman who’d intrigued him more than Elena Royal in months and he didn’t plan on letting her get away. There was keen intelligence in her eyes. She had a quick wit and an uncanny sense of humor. He’d make sure the lady didn’t know another moment of boredom.
At precisely eight o’clock, Evan knocked on her cottage suite and was nearly knocked to his knees when she opened the door.
She went for bold.
“Wow.” His low appreciative whistle made her smile almost shyly.
“Thank you,” she said, bowing gracefully, her long wavy blond hair falling over her shoulders. Sleek black lacy material dipped low and Evan eyed her awe-inspiring cleavage and the way the dress hugged her body at the waist, curving around perfect hips to rest just above the knees. She appeared taller, almost eye level with him now, thanks to shiny rhinestone-embellished sandals that lifted her up about four inches.
“Come in for a second. I need to get my purse.” When she turned around, soft folds of that lacy material plunged down to the very last vestiges of what would be considered decent, exposing her full back, teasing at her shapely bottom and making him itch to uncover more.
He stepped inside the suite’s living room and kept his eyes trained on her. “Nice.”
“It’s almost like home,” she said, picking up a small black evening bag from the sofa and turning. “I’ve been here almost a month.”
“In that dress, you have to know I wasn’t speaking about the room.”
“Oh.” She appeared flustered. “Thanks again.”
Evan would love to keep her that way all night, with a rosy hue on her cheeks and a glint of anticipation in her eyes. He approached her slowly. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“Get what over with?”
She seemed genuinely surprised, but Evan couldn’t stop himself. “This,” he said, wrapping his arms around her, dipping his head and taking her in a hungry kiss. Her lips tasted fruity sweet like tropical nectar from the island and her body felt damn good pressed to his. Her little breathless moan of surprise triggered his desire even more. He deepened the kiss, slanting his head and brushing his lips over hers again with more demand this time. And she responded by putting her arms around his neck and pressing her mouth harder to his.
He parted her lips and stroked her tongue once, twice and she met his strokes with tentative ones of her own. His manhood rose to the occasion and he couldn’t figure out if she were an expert tease or more timid than she let on. But he couldn’t deny that she felt perfect in his arms. Evan pulled back slightly and looked into her killer blue eyes. “If I didn’t promise you dinner, we wouldn’t be leaving this room, Laney.”
She shook loose her blond waves and spoke in a breathless whisper, “Well, then I guess it’s a good thing you did promise dinner. I like a man who keeps his promises.”
“I also promised that you wouldn’t be bored.”
She released her breath slowly and unwound her arms from his neck. “So far, I’d say you’ve succeeded. You continue to surprise me, Ty.”
Ty? For a minute, Evan almost forgot the real reason he pursued the wealthy heartbroken heiress. Without revealing his identity, he planned on getting some firsthand knowledge about The Royal hotels and any trouble they’d been having lately.
He brushed his mouth to hers again, then grabbed her hand and led her out of the suite, before they wound up horizontal on the bed.
Laney surprised him, too, and that was a tall order. Evan never liked surprises of any kind. He always needed to be in control. His immediate intense reaction to Laney Royal wasn’t just sexual and that bothered him. But he wouldn’t let that get in the way of what he really needed from her.
Information.
Two
Laney’s lips burned now, not from Ono Pupus but from the man named Ty, whose spontaneous kisses had put a whole new meaning to the word bold.
Warm Hawaiian breezes blew her hair into a wild new style as they drove in Ty’s sports car along the coastline. Laney thought of the lesson her father had always drilled into her head.
Be careful what you wish for.
She’d been lonely and glum without really knowing it, trying to convince herself she was doing fine after Justin’s betrayal, but she’d been praying for something or someone to bring her out of her doldrums.
And out of the blue, this striking mystery man had entered her life and suddenly, Elena’s heart raced again. Her body throbbed with excitement. Her nerves tingled and she felt truly alive. She’d gotten what she wished for and now she wouldn’t tempt fate by questioning it. She’d decided the moment Ty’s lips had touched hers, that she wouldn’t deny herself this opportunity to forget the past.
She’d be leaving the island in two days to go home and spend some time with her father. Being the sole heir to the Royal empire, her father wanted her not only to learn the business, he wanted her to love the business as much as he did. But Laney never had and she’d always felt like a disappointment in that. She’d tried, but she couldn’t become even remotely passionate about his business. Not when her camera was close at hand and there were countless images just waiting to be photographed.
She put
