was with Alex reached beyond the physical; how could it be that after less than twenty-four hours together, she already wanted to spend every moment possible with him? But Nicola also felt a creeping anxiety that had stolen her sleep last night despite her exhaustion. Alex didn’t live here. He would be leaving. And if they spent any more time together before he left, not telling him the truth about herself would start to be weird. And after she told him, the fantasy would be over—and she really, really liked the fantasy.
“I have some work to do today,” Alex said, tapping the tip of her nose. “But I’d love to see you later. In fact…” He pressed a palm to his forehead. “I just remembered. It’s my brother’s birthday today, so he has a party planned tonight. Would you like to come with me?”
She blinked in surprise. “Oh, I… Are you sure I won’t be crashing it?”
“Are you kidding? The whole island will probably be there. You’ll be the only person I know besides him and his outrageously amazing chef, Rosie, so you’d be doing me a huge favor.”
The whole island. If someone recognized her and said something…but then again, there was safety in numbers.
“Well, then, sure. I’d love to.” Nicola smiled over the butterflies of unease in her belly.
“Perfect.” He pulled her close. “Just make sure my brother knows you’re with me. If he lays eyes on you…”
“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes, and then glanced out the window at the white sky. “I wonder if he knows there’s supposed to be a storm tonight. They can get pretty fierce around here.”
Alex grinned. “I’m sure he has his people on it. He’s got people for everything.”
“Hmm. Sounds weird,” Nicola commented with a furrowed brow. Then she pushed her hands into Alex’s hair. “You know, there’s a very basic question I haven’t asked you yet.”
He ran his fingers up her arm and clasped her hand in his. “Am I gay? I don’t mind you asking, but I thought I answered that pretty well last night.”
She laughed. Alex was funny and charming, that was for sure, and he seemed intent on easing all of her concerns. The problem was that only she had the power to put her real worry to rest, and the only way to do that was to have a conversation she really didn’t want to have. “No. How long are you staying on Moretta?”
He trailed his hand down her side. “How long do you want me to stay?”
“That’s a dangerous question.”
“Is it?”
“Yes. You might not like my answer.”
“Try me.”
She caught his trailing fingers in her own. “Maybe later. Give me your answer first.”
He sighed. “Sadly, I’m due to return to the rat race on Tuesday. Five days from now. But I’ll need to extend my ticket if I can’t nail down a meeting with the contact I’m here for.”
“Wait. You mean you came here on business, but you don’t even have a meeting lined up?”
“Yeah, I know. Long story. I won’t leave without talking to him, though, whatever it takes.”
“Sounds important.”
“It is. I’ve been trying to track him down for months. We want to add his company to our roster, but he’s pretty elusive. I won’t bore you with the details of mergers and acquisitions—I’ve yet to see your eyes glaze over, but that would be a surefire way to make it happen.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay, so…five days.”
“At the least. When I ordered breakfast, I also took the liberty of asking the hotel to extend my stay here.” He pushed her hair back from her face and lowered his voice. “And I want to spend every minute of it that I can with you. Staring into the mirror of these beautiful eyes—not that I’m vain or anything.”
Nicola laughed again. “Do you ever stop?”
“I try not to.” He slid his hand under the sheet to caress her breast. “God, you’re beautiful,” he said, his voice thick. “Too good to be true. So what’s wrong with you? What am I going to find out if I Google you?”
Nicola’s heart stopped.
Shit.
She wasn’t ready for this.
“You know what I love about Moretta?” she answered smoothly. “It’s so close to paradise that you can almost imagine a world without the internet. I kind of love that idea—getting to know someone without the influence of Google. Can you believe the world was actually like that once upon a time?”
Alex grinned. “Can you believe I remember what that world was like?”
She smiled back at him, waiting. It will be better if it’s his idea.
“Okay, so no Google,” he said. “Let’s shake on it.”
Relief flooded through Nicola’s body. She hadn’t solved the problem, but at least she’d dodged the bullet for now. She’d spend today planning out how she was going to tell him. Anxiety subsiding, she snaked her arms around his neck. “Isn’t there another way we can seal the deal?”
“There sure is,” Alex said.
“Just one problem,” she said, glancing at the alarm clock. “I have to be at work in twenty minutes.”
“So that gives us…?”
“About five minutes.” Luckily, she kept a bikini in her locker at the scuba shack and could change at work.
“More than enough time.”
Alex kissed her deeply, and Nicola felt her body respond immediately. God, what was it about this man? In an alarmingly short time, he’d already become like a drug to her. Dangerous.
She reached out and tugged at his towel, exposing his already stiffening cock.
“See how much I want you?” he said softly.
She moved closer to him, closing the gap between them. “Take me any way you want,” she whispered into his chin. “Just make sure you fuck me hard. I need this one to last me for the next ten hours.”
“You’re sure you’re up for that?” he asked, but she could tell by how his body was reacting that he liked the idea—a lot. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’m up for it,” she replied. “And I can see that you are, too.”
“You better believe it,” Alex responded, sliding a hand down to her pussy. “You’re already wet for me.”
How could that have happened so fast? But it had—her whole body was already on fire. “Because you make me crazy.”
Alex made a
