around to meet her hard gaze. “His kids decided to sell. Hardly my fault.”
“Of course it was your fault—you offered them a small fortune for the building!”
He smiled. “Good business.”
Bella smothered a sigh. What good would it do? Facts were facts and the fact was, Jesse King was now the owner of her building, despite Robert’s promises.
Robert Towner had been a sweet old man, a surrogate grandfather to Bella. They’d had coffee every morning, dinner at least once a week. She’d seen him far more often than his own children had and she’d hoped to actually buy the building from him one day. Unfortunately, Robert had died in a car accident nearly a year ago. Despite his assurances, he hadn’t made any provisions for Bella in his will.
A month or so after Robert’s death, his children sold the building to Jesse King and Bella had been worried about her future ever since. Robert had always kept the rent low enough so she could afford this great location. But she knew that Jesse King wouldn’t be doing the same.
He was making “improvements” right and left and would soon be raising the rents to pay for them. Which meant that Bella would have to look for another shop to rent. She’d have to leave Main Street and relocate farther inland, losing at least a quarter of her business, since many of her customers were drop-ins off the beach.
Jesse King was going to ruin everything. Just as he had three years ago.
Not that he remembered. The bastard.
Bella really wanted to kick something. Preferably her new landlord. Which was so far out of her character, she blamed that notion on him, too. Jesse King was the kind of man who expected the world to roll over and beg whenever he crooked his finger. The trouble was, it usually did.
He looked over his shoulder at her and grinned. “I really irritate you on a personal level, don’t I? I mean, this is more than me buying up Main Street, isn’t it?”
Yes, it really was. Bella stiffened instinctively. The fact that he didn’t even know why she loathed him was just infuriating. She couldn’t tell him what he’d so obviously and embarrassingly forgotten.
“What do you want, Mr. King?”
He frowned a little. “Bella, we’ve known each other too long to stand on ceremony.”
“We don’t know each other at all,” she corrected. He was going to call her Bella whether she wanted him to or not, it seemed.
“I know you love your shop,” Jesse said, moving back to the counter. And her.
Why did he have to smell so good? And did his eyes really have to be the deep, dark blue of the ocean? Did his smile have to cause dimples in his cheeks? And why had the sun bleached out lightercolored streaks in his dark blond hair? Wasn’t he gorgeous enough?
“You’ve got some nice stuff in here,” he said, looking down into the glass display case at the sunglasses, flip-flops and tote bags. “Good eye for color, too. We’re a lot alike, you and I. My company makes swimwear. So do you.”
She laughed.
He scowled. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing,” she said, bracing her hands on the glass countertop. “It’s just that my suits are handmade by local women from custom-woven organically sound fabrics and yours are stitched together by children hunched over dirty tables in sweatshops somewhere.”
“I don’t run sweatshops,” he snapped.
“Are you so sure?”
“Yeah, I am. I’m not some Viking here to pillage and burn,” he reminded her.
“Might as well be,” she muttered. “You’ve changed the whole face of downtown in less than a year.”
“Andretail shopping is up 22 percent. I should be shot.”
She simmered like a pot about to boil over. “There’s more to life than profit.”
“Yes, there’s surfing. And there’s great sex.” He grinned again, clearly waiting to see if she’d be affected.
Bella would never let him know just how much that smile and his dimples did affect her. Or the casual mention of great sex. Women came too easily to Jesse King. She’d learned that lesson three years ago, when she’d been a card-carrying member of that adoring throng.
The World Surf competition had been in town and Morgan Beach partied for a week. Bella had been on the pier, watching the waves, when Jesse King had strolled up. He’d smiled then, too. And flirted. And teased. He’d kissed her in the moonlight, then taken her to the small bar at the end of the pier where they’d toasted each other with too many margaritas.
She could admit now that she’d been flattered by his attention. He was gorgeous. Famous. And, she’d thought back then, really a very nice guy underneath all the glamour.
That night, they’d wandered together along the sand, until the crowded pier and beach were far behind them. Then they stood at the ocean’s edge and watched moonlight dance on the waves.
When Jesse kissed her, Bella was swept away by the magic of the moment and the heat and the delirious sensation of being wanted. They’d made love on the sand, with the sea wind rushing over them and the pulsing throb of the ocean whispering in the background.
Bella had seen stars.
Jesse had seen just one of the crowd.
She’d actually gone to see him the following day, in the harsh glare of sunlight. She’d wanted to talk to him about what had happened.
He’d said, “Good to see ya, babe,” and walked right past her. He hadn’t even remembered having sex with her. She was too stunned to even shout at him. She’d simply stared after him as he walked out of her life.
Bella looked at him now, and remembered every minute of their night together and the humiliation of the day after. But even that hadn’t been enough to take away the luscious memory of lying in his arms in the moonlight.
She hated knowing that one night with Jesse had pretty much ruined her for other men. And she really hated knowing that he still didn’t remember her. But then, why would he?
But not her.
At least, not again.
Everyone made mistakes, but only an idiot made the same mistake repeatedly.
Inhaling sharply, Bella told him, “Look, there’s no point in arguing anymore. You’ve already won and I have a business to run. So if you’re not here to tell me you’re evicting me, I really have to get back to work.”
“Evicting you? Why would I do that?”
“You own the building and I’ve done nothing but try to get rid of you for months.”
“Yeah,” he said, “but as you pointed out already, I’ve won that battle. What would be the point of evicting you?”
“Then
