She was lying to me. Maybe she was lying to herself, too, but I knew she was lying to me. This was not just awesome sex, and there was no way it was going to stay in the Islands. Something between us, something within us had changed the minute she’d kissed me in the hallway, and it wasn’t going to go back in the box because she pretended she was in control of everything messy, like emotions and vulnerability.
I watched her turn on her sensual charm, but it was an act. It wasn’t the real her. I knew, because she was usually the real Mona with me, even when she was caustic and aggressive. She was none of that now. She was sensuous and pleasing, and she wore this pouty look meant to attract without giving anything away.
After our third round of mind-blowing sex, she started to crawl into my lap once again. I stood up and slapped her on the ass. “Go on, get dressed now.”
She turned around to look at me, fuming. “Did you just slap my ass?”
Her glare made me lightheaded with glee. I knew I could get past that sexy girl act she was putting on. “Get dressed. I’m taking you snorkeling.” The pugnacious expression fell off her face. “Go ahead. Get dressed. We’re going to get in a helicopter and go to a place like none other.”
She put her hands on her hips. Naked, the gesture didn’t quite have the same edge to it. “I thought we were going to,” she gestured at the bed, “you know.”
I hooked my arms around her waist and pulled her in. “Oh we will, don’t you worry, but I said I was going to take care of you this week. I would not be taking care of you if I brought you all this way and you didn’t enjoy the sights and sounds of this beautiful Caribbean island.”
“Well, yes . . .”
She was thawing, turning back into Mona. “You said you’d never traveled, and I said I’d take you places. This is a start, isn’t it?”
“You did? When did you say that?”
I chucked her under the chin, and she snapped at my fingers with her teeth. “Back when I realized you weren’t just my little sister’s annoying friend.” She started to growl, which honestly got me turned on again, so I pushed her away and slapped her ass again. “Get dressed. We missed the sailboat tour, but we can make this.”
She wanted to snap at me, I knew, but she was too interested in my little tease. And if I wanted to set my plan into action, I needed to jump on it right now. While she went to go get changed, I made some quick phone calls and got started.
I only had tonight and tomorrow before the awards ceremony, and that was deadly dull. Not one person could fall in love during an awards ceremony. I had a lot of work to do if I wanted to break Mona out of her shell and get her to be herself around me again and let me in to this new part of our relationship.
Within an hour, we were landing the helicopter at the tiny island airport and getting into the limousine to take us to the special beach I wanted her to see.
“I thought when you said we were taking a helicopter that you’d hire a pilot. I didn’t realize you’d be flying it yourself.”
“Did I surprise you?”
“Everything about this trip is surprising me.”
“Good,” I said, and raised her fingers to my lips. “I’m sorry we couldn’t sail out here, but well, we spent so much time in our suite that I was worried we’d run out of time. I know how concerned you are about the environment, so our return will be under sail power. No gas expended at all.”
“That—that’s very thoughtful . . .” she looked confused. “Hey, are you trying to seduce me? But . . . you’ve already done that.”
I had to laugh. “I think you seduced me.” She wanted to argue, I knew. “You kissed me first, not that I minded.”
“So then, what is all this?”
“I’m romancing you. Hasn’t anyone ever romanced you before?”
She shook her head. “And I’m not sure I like it.”
My Mona, so suspicious. “Would it help if I let you call me jackass?”
“I think it would.”
“Then I’m your jackass.”
“That—that doesn’t work. Not if you want me to call you that. That sounds like an endearment.”
I shrugged because we were here. I helped her out of the limo and carried our bags. The best part was watching her face light up. “Oh, Jack, it’s so beautiful!” The sky was a perfect blue bowl arching over the turquoise water, and the sand was white as sugar and soft. Tumbled boulders dotted the beach. But it wasn’t as beautiful as she was.
“What do you want to do first? Visit the rocks or go snorkeling? When we’re done, that sailboat out there will take us back to the resort where we can go for dinner.”
“That’s quite a day.”
“I hope so.” I hoped it was enough. She chose to explore the rocks first, and, though I started out holding her hand and leading her, eventually, she was the one who took the lead, always intrepid, mocking me for everything under the sun. When we found ourselves in my favorite part of The Baths, a part of the shore where the rocks met overhead at a sharp angle to make almost a cave-like spot, we waded out underneath the rocks and stood there, surrounded by the grandeur of the Earth. Mona got tears in her eyes.
“You okay, Mona?”
Her brown eyes were huge and round as she took it all in, then, she took a step toward me and threw her arms around me. “Yes. Oh yes. Thank you, Jack. It’s so magnificent. I don’t think you understand how much this means to me.”
Emotions choked my throat. Did she understand how much it meant to me that I could give it to her? I shrugged, not able to answer, and her face softened.
She kissed me then, there, with the soft sugar sand under our feet and the warm Caribbean waters caressing our bodies, with the blue sky outside and the weighty, tremendous rocks all around us. It was magical. We were magical.
I couldn’t get enough of this, of her. I would never be done. My hands wandered over her body, and hers wandered over mine. Then, we heard laughter echoing through the rocks. Someone was coming.
I’d forgotten this was a public beach. “Next time I’m renting the whole beach out for the afternoon so no one can interrupt us,” I growled.
She slapped my shoulder half-heartedly. “You can’t do that, you dumb billionaire. You can’t have everything you want.”
“What if I just want one thing?”
She smirked at me. “That depends on what it is,” she said as her fingers teased the waistband of my shorts. “And if people are around.” She laughed and broke away from me as another group of people came around the rocks.
“Are you ready for snorkeling?” I asked and she nodded, happily taking my hand and leading me back to the beach. I happily followed.
We snorkeled over the rocks and watched the fish. She nearly drowned me when a school of bright blue fish swam by, and she got so excited she forgot where she was. Otherwise, it was wonderful. We got to the sailboat and climbed on board, and our muscles were lazy with sea and sun. We were served champagne, papayas, mangos, and coconut cakes while we sailed back to the resort, making out on the ocean where nothing in the world mattered but us.
We got back to the resort and changed—she wore a slinky black thing with crisscross laces all up her bare back . . . I was really loving all the bare skin the Caribbean was inspiring in her . . . and then, we went to the finest restaurant in town and followed our ears to a reggae band playing at a bar on a beach. We drank, laughed, danced, and stared out at the sea—and kissed, and kissed, and kissed.