Island Affair (Escape Into Romance) (4 page)

The following morning found them travelling into Tyljon village in Jonathan's sleek, black Porsche 911. He had the top down and the wind was whipping Lacey's hair about her face. She looked in Jonathan's direction and shivered with the memory of their lovemaking last night and again this morning. He had been everything she had imagined, and more.

She had always thought that he was probably very passionate in the bedroom but she hadn't reckoned on him being so sweet and gentle also. It had taken her by surprise. Her breath hitched when Jonathan flicked a quick look at her with a beaming grin. His eyes were crinkled and sparkling; he looked happy.

The village was alive with all the colors and smells of Christmas Eve. The market was particularly congested as people went about their last minute Christmas shopping. Lacey had almost forgotten that it was nearly Christmas. She had been so wrapped up in what was happening between Jonathan and herself that she had hardly given it a thought.

She must remember to give her father a call tomorrow. He would be busy with the Christmas rush at his bed and breakfast establishment in Tempest Beach but he would be very hurt if she didn't remember him. He still believed in the Christmas spirit even though her mother had died the day before the holiday when she had been just ten years old.

Jonathan tugged on her hand and said, "Hey, where did you go to?"

She smiled at him. "I was just thinking about my father."

He nodded. "Oh okay. Are you and your father close?"

"Yes, we are. It's just the two of us and we have a special bond. How about you? Are you close to your family?"

"No not really. Hey come and have a look over here?"

He dragged her in the direction of a produce stall and the conversation about family was effectively ended.

They spent the rest of the day wandering around the village soaking up the atmosphere. They ended the day by eating dinner at the world famous restaurant, Azumeru. Lacey was overwhelmed by the glamorous interior with its high ceilings and crisp white table linens. Thick, luxurious carpeting muffled footsteps and the whole place reeked of affluence.

Jonathan helped Lacey into her seat before sitting down himself. They dined on a wonderful selection of oysters Kilpatrick, Caesar salad and eye fillet steak served with pan tossed seasonal vegetables. All this was washed down by fine Australian wine. By the time they finished the meal they were both almost too stuffed to move.

"That was incredible. I'm completely stuffed." Lacey sat back in her seat and patted her hands on her stomach. "Do you come here often? They seemed to know you."

Jonathan chuckled at her antics and she looked at him with shining eyes. He thought that he had never seen her so relaxed. The effect on her was to make her look even more beautiful. He was quiet for a few moments just drinking in the sight. "No not that often. I don't utilize the estate nearly as often as I should. There is always some pressing matter at work to take care of that stops me from coming here."

"You work too much, you know?" She flushed a little. Where had that come from? The wine must have loosened her tongue.

He speared her with a sharp look. "Why do you say that?"

The mood had turned serious all of a sudden and she cursed herself for bringing it about. "I don't know. You just don't seem to have any fun. You're at work all of the time."

"Well, I am the CEO of the company. I have to keep an eye on the running of the place to make sure it stays profitable."

"Yeah, but don't you have a second in command for that? I thought the idea was that if you're the boss then you don't need to work as hard as everyone else." Lacey cursed her runaway mouth once again. Where was all of this coming from? She was trying to keep things on a casual, friendly basis for the time she was here and now she had to go and get all personal.

"I guess that is true but I am a hands on type of guy, as you should know."

"Yeah, but you don't have to be, do you?" Why was she pushing this? Why didn't she just shut up already?

"No I don't have to be. What would you suggest I do with my time if I am not working?"

"I don't know. Relax and have more fun, whatever." She decided to let the subject drop before things got out of control. She turned away from him to look at the surrounding diners.

Feeling shut out and a little hurt he sighed. She was a hard one to read sometimes. "I think it's time we left." He stood up abruptly and held his hand out to her. She looked at him with a puzzled expression but didn't say anything. She took his hand and stood up. They left the restaurant without speaking another word to each other.

Jonathan was up early the next morning after spending a sleepless night tossing and turning alone in his bed. When they had returned home Lacey had immediately excused herself and gone to her room. He was a bit confused by her attitude. She seemed to be shutting him out and he didn't know why.

He took his cup of coffee out onto the patio to drink. He leaned up against the fence and watched the early morning surfers catching the waves. He used to be a carefree surfer once upon a time. What had happened to that man? He wasn't sure when he had gotten so caught up in work that he had stopped living his life.

Maybe he should slow down a bit and start enjoying life again. Perhaps Lacey was right about relaxing and having more fun. What the hell was he making all this money for if he wasn't going to enjoy having it?

His coffee finished, he headed back inside and came face to face with Lacey as she was making her way into the room. They stopped and stared at each other for a few moments until Jonathan started to feel ridiculous.

"Good morning, did you sleep well?" He looked into her tired eyes and knew the answer to that question without being told.

She conjured up a wan smile. "No, not really. I'm sorry about last night. I'm not sure what got into me. I think it might have been the wine."

He smiled at her and said, "That's okay. You've actually got me thinking about my life. I think you're right. I do need to relax and have more fun. I am working too hard. So I should be thanking you."

Her face brightened. "That's great Jonathan. I'm glad I didn't put my foot completely in it."

He laughed out loud at that. "I've been thinking that we could take the motor yacht out for a spin today. I know a great little cove where we could have a picnic lunch and do some swimming and relaxing. Or whatever..."

"That sounds wonderful."

"Great. I'll make the arrangements while you go and get ready." As she was about to walk away he said, "Oh and Lacey...?"

She turned back to face him. "Yes?"

"Merry Christmas."

She smiled at him. "Merry Christmas, Jonathan."

When Jonathan had talked about taking his yacht out for a spin Lacey had imagined a modest sailing boat. So she was very surprised when they reached the dock and Jonathan led her to a massive Azimut Leonardo 98 Motor Yacht. She had seen pictures of this type of craft but had no idea that she would be spending time on one.

She whistled under her breath as she got closer to it. It was huge; it must have been easily a hundred feet long. A uniformed man climbed down from the yacht and shook Jonathan's hand. He must be the captain. She moved over closer to where the two men were talking.

Jonathan smiled at her as she approached. "Shall we get on board? It's all ready to go when we are."

"Okay." He helped her up onto the deck and she waited while he climbed aboard after her. They settled themselves into the luxurious seats that were lining the deck; sitting close together but not quite touching. Lacey was very aware of the heat radiating off his body. She tried to refrain from squirming in her seat and it took all of her willpower not to reach out her hand and touch him.

The big craft cut through the water easily as they headed out to sea. It was a perfect day for sailing. The water was almost flat and the sky above was a brilliant blue.

They stayed silently sitting close together for the entire thirty minute journey to the cove Jonathan had talked about. Lacey's nerves were stretched taut by the time the yacht came to a complete stop. Jonathan nudged her and said, "Let's go."

He stood up quickly and moved away. She stood up much slower just watching his retreating back. It felt like they were doing some sort of stupid dance where they would take one step forward and two steps back.

She followed him to the side of the yacht where the crewman was preparing the dinghy for use. She looked out across the bay towards the beach. It was deserted. She and Jonathan would be completely alone. That thought made her both excited and scared at the same time.

With all of the essentials loaded into the dinghy they set out to motor across the bay towards the beach. Lacey was a bit alarmed to hear the large motor yacht fire up. Where were they going?

She flashed a look at Jonathan and he grinned at her. "Don't worry, they aren't going too far away. I asked the Captain to anchor the yacht just around the bend there so that we would have more privacy. I didn't think you would appreciate having the crew as an audience today."

She breathed a sigh of relief that they weren't going to be stranded on this small island. "That's good to know."

Jonathan beached the dinghy and they jumped out. After grabbing the gear out of the boat they made their way up the beach a bit to the dry sand. He pulled a large blanket out of the bag and unfolding it, let it drop to the sand. He flopped down on top of it patted the space beside him. "Come on, take a load off."

Lacey grinned at his antics and flopped down beside him. He seemed to be in a better mood now. They both stretched out on the blanket, silently looking at the bright blue sky.

"You know, I think that this is the best way to spend Christmas day. All the family togetherness crap can get a bit much." He sounded really bitter. What had happened that made him feel that way about his family? Lacey wasn't sure whether she should try broaching the subject once again. He had cut her off yesterday when she had asked about his family.

He rolled over onto his side to look at her but he didn't touch her. "You're very quiet. You want to share what you're thinking about?"

She turned her head to look at him. "I'm not sure you would appreciate it."

A frown crossed over his face. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

She turned away from him and sighed. What the hell. "I was wondering what had happened to make you so anti family? And why you're anti your family in particular."

He sat up quickly, making her jump. "I think we should go for a swim." He started removing his clothes as he was talking. Before she had time to say anything else he was sprinting down to the water line. She watched as he dove into the surf. With powerful strokes he swam out to sea for a bit and then trod water for a while.

He looked back at the beach and saw that Lacey hadn't moved. She was just sitting there looking in his direction. He felt bad that he kept avoiding her questions about his family but he just did not want to get into it right now. He was here so that he didn't have to think about all of that.

He swam slowly back towards the shore and when he reached the shallows he stood up and said, "Are you coming in? The water is great." He splashed around a bit to show her what she was missing. She didn't move for a few moments and then with a slight shrug she stood up and started taking her clothes off.

His eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw that she was wearing a very skimpy two piece bathing suit. Whoa. Even though the water was on the cool side his temperature skyrocketed. He watched as she sashayed down to the water's edge and dipped a toe in.

She jumped back quickly and yelled, "The water is freezing."

He laughed. "No it's not. Okay, yeah it is at first but when you have been in for a while it's really pleasant."

"Yeah right." She needed more convincing.

"Yeah right? It's the truth. Would I lie to you?" She gave him a disbelieving look but started to work her way slowly into the water.

"Oh my God. It's so cold." She was turning around and he was afraid she was going to get out again so he quickly cut his way through the water to her. "Come on, dive under. It's less painful if you do it all at once." He chuckled and she gave him a dirty look but pinched her nose with her thumb and forefinger and quickly ducked down under the surface.

Seconds later she came up gasping. "You lied. It's just as cold doing it that way as it is going in slowly." He laughed out loud at her outraged expression but he could see her eyes gleaming with repressed mirth.

They spent the next twenty minutes just frolicking in the shallows. It had been really calm for most of their swim but as the morning wore on the waves started getting bigger and they decided to get out and have lunch.

Jonathan was feeling particularly lazy after eating and was lying back on the blanket with his eyes closed. He was so relaxed and it felt good not to be worrying about some little drama at the office.

He cracked an eye open to see what Lacey was up to and found her in a similar position also with her eyes closed. He let his eye fall shut again and sighed.

"I have to say that this is the best Christmas day I have had for years. Last year I spent the entire day in the office. Well, of course, you know that because you were there, weren't you?"

He heard her shuffle about a little before saying, "Yes, I guess I was." She sounded sleepy and he smiled. He was glad that she felt like she could relax in his company. It gave him a warm glow inside.

"So what's your excuse for avoiding the whole family Christmas thing?"

She let out a long sigh. "It's too painful. My mom died the day before Christmas when I was ten and well..." She stopped abruptly and he heard a quiet sob escape from her. He rolled over onto his side and put a hand on her stomach area and rubbed in a soothing motion. There wasn't anything overtly sexual about it but it made his hand tingle just the same.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "There's only my dad and myself now and ever since that Christmas things have never been the same. Oh, dad tried to keep it going for my sake but his heart just wasn't in it for the longest time. But now he does do the whole Christmas thing for his guests." He threw her a puzzled look.