Sandcastle Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story (17 page)

I came to the turn in the path to get to the restaurant and made the mistake of looking at the beach where our sandcastle had been. I couldn't stop my feet from heading toward the water. The castle was gone. Destroyed. All that remained was a mound of white sand. Even the shells had been scattered by the rain, wind, and waves. My chest ached with the loss.

I bent down to touch the sand, feeling the fine grit between my fingertips. Maybe today Noah and I could come back and rebuild it. Make an even better one. I smiled at the thought. It was just what I needed. To rebuild something and make it even better. If I could do it with a sandcastle, then I could do it with my research. I could start again.

I dusted off my hands and stood, feeling hopeful for the first time in hours. With a smart turn, I ran headlong into the reporter whom Noah had been trying to avoid. I stumbled back, apologizing and feeling suddenly off kilter.

The woman was beautiful up close. She was thin, but with curves in all the right places. Her khaki shorts showed off firm, strong legs, and her bright blue v-neck shirt gave just enough hint at cleavage to draw the eye. She wore sensible, but pretty, sandals today instead of spiky heels. Dark hair spilled attractively around her shoulders in soft waves. I could see how she had gotten exclusive interviews with powerful men. It was hard not to look at her and be impressed.

She smiled, but there was no warmth in her eyes. They were shark eyes. Predatory. And I was now the fish she had set her sights on.

“No hiding from me this time,” she said. Even her voice was sexy. “You care to make a statement, Isabel?”

“How do you know my name?” I asked, thrown completely off balance. I smoothed my shirt self-consciously. It was an old shirt that smelled like sunscreen. Normally, that didn't bother me since that was the best thing to wear out on the boat, but standing next to this perfect, model-like woman, I felt incredibly inadequate.

“It's a small island. I asked around.” She shrugged and tossed a lock of silky hair behind her shoulder. “Contrary to your boyfriend's opinion, Danica Lewis is actually pretty good at her job.”

So she was one of those types of people who referred to herself in the third person. Awesome. She definitely had confidence in spades.

“No comment.” Isn't that what all the people in the movies said? I didn't want to talk to her, so I side-stepped her and returned to the path.

“No comment?” She made an incredulous noise. “The man you're sleeping with goes and buys your nature preserve out from under you, and you have no comment?”

I froze in my tracks. “What?”

The woman sashayed over so she could face me. She raised perfectly groomed eyebrows in mock innocence. “Oh, you didn't know?”

“What are you saying?” I asked. The world was threatening to spin out of control again. I couldn't handle another life-changing shock this soon. I wanted her to be lying. I wanted to walk away and not hear what she had to say, but my feet didn't move.

“Noah Black, owner of Diamond Hotels, just bought the property that you and your scientist friends wanted to turn into a nature preserve.” She smiled smugly.

“I'm afraid you have my Noah confused with someone else,” I said, forcing my feet to take a step forward. She blocked my way.

“There's no confusing Noah Black with anyone but Noah Black.” She smiled with her perfect lips. She had a bone, and she wasn't going to lose it. “You do know he's going to build timeshares on the property, right? I can't imagine you'd be too happy to see the flux of people coming in and out of those. I hear that's hard on the local ecology.”

I didn't want to talk to her. I didn't want it to be true. I hadn't eaten yet, and I wasn't ready to deal with another giant problem until I at least had a cup of coffee. I started walking, bumping her with my shoulder when she didn't move out of my way. It couldn't be true.

“He didn't tell you who he was, did he?” She called out. I tried my best to ignore her, but her voice cut through me like butter. “He's charming, isn't he? Makes you laugh. Feel comfortable. You trust him instinctively. Enough that you didn't even feel the need to figure out what he did for a living.”

I stopped. I didn't want to believe her words, but the little voice in my head was listening. She hadn't said a single thing that wasn't true yet.
But she hasn't said anything that she couldn't have guessed
, I argued with myself. She walked slowly to my side again.

“Did he tell you about the trial?” she asked, her tone seductive. “Or did he say he didn't want to talk about it because he liked the way you looked at him?”

Her words hit their target. I swallowed hard. That was almost exactly what he had said.

“Don't feel bad. He's done it before. The land-stealing part. That's actually what the trial was about.” She shrugged as if it meant nothing. I stayed quiet, and she took it as her cue to continue. “It was a couple of years ago, but the parallels to this are interesting. Basically, he found out, through a lovely girl like yourself, that some prime real estate was up for auction. The girl wanted to turn it into a bird refuge and was getting donations to do so.”

My heart was pounding so hard I could barely hear Danica. She had to be mistaken or lying, and yet her story rang true.

“Anyway, he bought it out from under her. There were some issues with zoning, but the man's made of money and just bought everyone off.” She moved so she could look at me better. Her lipstick was perfect and made her mouth lovely to watch, much the way a cobra is beautiful before it strikes. “Sounds familiar, doesn't it?”

She waited for me to say something, but I remained silent. This couldn't be true. It couldn't.

“There was some question as to the legality of what he had done. The girl sued him, and their case went to trial.” She brushed a windblown strand of dark hair off her cheek. “I was there for the whole thing. I'm actually surprised you didn't recognize him. It was all over the news for weeks. Such a scandal.”

I faintly remembered seeing something about a hotel land-buying scandal on the news, but I hadn't paid any attention to it. It was one of those news stories that was always on at the oil-change place. I had watched it more because there was nothing else to do for thirty minutes besides read old magazines about cars. Could that really have been my Noah? Could the man who had comforted me, let me cry on his shoulder, and held me like a child been the one to do this? There was a small voice in the back of my mind, the one that always thought the worst of everything, that whispered yes.

“He didn't win the lawsuit, by the way.” Her eyes watched my expression like a hawk. I knew my face was betraying my every thought, but I tried my best to mask them. Her lips turned up in a sinister smile. “He settled. Which means, he knew he was guilty. He knew. Just like he knew he was buying your property.”

I cringed like she had punched me in the gut. Anger started to swell. I didn't have to listen to her lies. She just wanted a news story. A nice quote to go above her byline. I knew my Noah. I knew he wouldn't have intentionally hurt me. It had to be a different Noah. It had to be.

“I don't have to talk to you,” I said crossly, forcing my feet to move forward. She stepped back and held out a business card.

“You're right, you don't. But here's my card in case you change your mind,” she said, voice smooth as honey. She moved out of my path, and I didn't take her card. “But, I know more about Noah Black than anyone else. He's not what he appears to be. I thought you should know.”

“Thank you for your concern,” I replied, sarcasm dripping from every word as I walked faster. If I got to Adele's, I would be safe. I could think there without her bothering me. Adele would make sure I was okay.

I hurried into the restaurant and took a deep breath, inhaling the soothing scent of baking sugar and butter. It was still early, but Adele's was starting to get busy. Danica had followed me up the path, but she wasn't coming in the restaurant. I had a moment to think.

“Hey, honey,” Adele greeted me, setting a carafe of coffee on an empty table and coming over to give me a tight squeeze. “I heard about the sale.”

I sighed. The news was out. “Did you hear who bought it? Doc didn't have much information last night.”

Adele's sweet face smiled gently, her eyes full of pity. She patted my cheek before turning and picking up the morning paper from a recently vacated table. I had to read the headline twice.

Diamond Hotels Buys Island Property
. Next to the article was a picture of Noah, smiling and dressed in a trendy business suit with Beth in the background. My heart sank. It
was
my Noah.

I scanned the article, feeling tears form behind my eyes. The lump in my throat threatened to suffocate me.

Noah Black, President and owner of Diamond Hotels has purchased beach front property on Key Island. An inside source confirms that hotel/condo plans have already been drawn up and submitted.

This comes as a blow to local scientists who had been hoping to turn the property into a nature preserve and conservation area. A city council member, who has asked to remain nameless, stated that, “the increase in tourism and tourism related dollars is worth far more than another nature preserve. We are simply looking out for the economic well being of our island.”

I handed the paper back to Adele, my hands shaking. I didn't want to read any more. I actually couldn't because of the tears I was struggling to keep inside. Adele held the paper up and frowned at it.

“Isn't this the man you came in with the other day?” she asked. My stomach clenched.

“Yeah. It was.” I felt like my life was on repeat. Yet another tourist was breaking my heart and making a fool of me in front of the community. Only this time it was way worse.

“And he didn't tell you he was buying the land?” Adele pressed.

“No, it didn't come up,” I said sharply and instantly felt bad. This wasn't Adele's fault. I didn't need to take this out on her. I needed to go home. I needed to think. “You know what, Adele? I'm actually not hungry. I'm just gonna go home.”

Adele nodded and wrapped her arms around me again. She smelled like cinnamon. “I understand, dear.”

No, you don't,
I wanted to tell her, but I just smiled meekly and quickly broke away. I couldn't get out of the restaurant fast enough.

The door closed behind me and I gave serious thought to going back in. Waiting patiently for me in front of the restaurant was Danica. I wanted to punch the smug smile off her face. She had seen me look at the paper through the window, and I could only imagine what was going through her head.

“Leave me alone.” I glared at her and turned to walk in a different direction, but she just moved to intercept me.

“Why do you think he stayed on the island after the party?”

“I told you to leave me alone.” I clenched my jaw and worked my fingers into a ball. I really wanted to hit something, and she was looking like a good target.

“Did he tell you it was because of you?” she asked sweetly. “Because, if I were you, I'd think it was so he could sign the papers before you and your scientist friends had a chance to do anything.”

The truth struck me like a baseball bat, but I didn't want to give the evil reporter the satisfaction of seeing me break. I couldn't breathe again. The air was too thick to get past the lump in my throat and the knot in my chest. I was glad I hadn't eaten anything, because if I had, I would have been sick right there.

“I'm not going to give you a sound byte,” I said, doing my best to keep my voice level. I even impressed myself by managing to keep it steady. “Leave me alone.”

I pushed past her; every muscle in my body was wound too tight. She moved out of my way, eyes dark and full of derision.

“If you think he'd do the same thing for you, you don't know Noah Black,” she called after me. I ignored her, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. I needed to get to where I could think and cry. I needed to be alone.

The buying of the land, I almost could have forgiven. I hadn't said anything about it to him, and I could give him the benefit of the doubt. But it was the rest of what Danica had said that irritated me and rubbed like salt in a fresh wound. It had truth to it. Why else would he stay on the island? Bring his personal assistant? He needed to be on the island for the sale. I was just a convenient way to pass the time. That thought hurt more than the loss of the land. I wasn't sure if his love for me was real or just a comfortable lie.

I hurried up the walk to the house, desperately trying to keep my tears at bay. One of the boats was missing, and I hoped that meant everyone was off on an expedition. I wanted the house to myself. I just wanted to curl up in bed and pretend this was all a terrible dream. I was going to wake up and find out that Doc had gotten the property and that Noah was here for me and not his business. Things were going to be the way they were supposed to be, which wasn't like this. This had to just be a bad dream.

T
he house was mercifully quiet as I stumbled to my room. I opened the bedroom door and felt a rush of gratitude that Brooke's bed was empty. I had the place to myself. The sob I had been holding in finally escaped as I clicked the door shut and slid down to the floor. I felt so heavy with betrayal I couldn't stand anymore. Everything hurt. How could he have done this to me? He had said he loved me! I had loved him, and truthfully, I was still in love with him.

Every beat of my heart hurt. I cried into my hands, sobs wracking my body with every strangled breath. I wished I could stop breathing and just let the heartache die out. I wanted to cry until I was empty and it didn't hurt anymore, but somehow I just kept finding more tears.

I cried until my butt went numb from sitting on the floor, but even then, I still felt miserable. There was a box of tissues on my nightstand. The bed looked like a better option than the floor. At least there I could cry myself to sleep. With far more effort than I had expected, I hauled myself away from the door and up onto my bed. I felt a little better with a cleared nose and a cushioned bottom, but not by much.
Small steps
, I told myself.
Small steps.