Sandcastle Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story (7 page)

“Too deep with what?” A strong masculine voice asked, surprising me.

I yelped and spun around to see Noah leaning up against the building. I wondered just how long he had been standing there watching me with that crooked grin. He took my breath away. The sun glinted off his dark hair, and his blue eyes matched the sky. A crooked half-smile made his face somehow more handsome. In a nice, light blue polo shirt and expensive-looking tan shorts, he looked good enough to eat. I hoped for a second he was what was for dinner.

“Nothing,” I said, hoping I wasn't blushing too badly. “Just talking to myself.”

He straightened from the wall and offered me his arm like I was royalty. “You look beautiful, Izzy.”

I blushed as I took his arm in mine, feeling the warmth of his skin under my fingers. His muscles flexed slightly as I touched him, sending a thrill up my fingers and down my spine.

“What are we having for dinner tonight?” I asked. I realized I didn't actually care. I would have been happy to eat sand if it meant that I got to sit at the same table as Noah. I would have eaten it with a smile on my face.

“It's a surprise,” he answered, leading me back behind the bar and down a path that ran along the beach. I rarely used the path because it ran down to the beach houses, which would make sense why Noah had used it instead of driving to the restaurant. He was staying at one of those beach houses.

“Are we going to the house where the party was?” I asked as he guided me along the path.

“Yes,” he answered. I faltered slightly in my step, remembering all the people at the party. At least some of them must be staying at the giant home. I was hoping for a slightly more romantic dinner than that.

“Don't worry.” Noah must have felt my hesitance. He put his hand gently over mine, his voice soft and low. “I'm renting a little bungalow on the property. We aren't actually going to the house.”

“Oh, so you're taking me to your place then?” I batted my eyelashes up at him. “Maybe I
should
have made you run the coworker gauntlet.”

The path ran through a grove of banyan trees. I had always liked this part of the path because it reminded me of being in a big tree fort. The brown, woody limbs tangled above us, creating a sky of green. The sunlight flickered through the gaps, dappling the ground and casting warm shadows across our bodies.

“My intentions are mostly honorable.” He winked.

“Mostly?”

“Well, there might be some things I would like to do with you that an older brother wouldn't necessarily appreciate.” Noah's eyes caught mine, their blue depths holding a dark warmth that sent shivers of desire all the way to my toes. “But I can guarantee, you'd enjoy it.”

I let out a slight gasp of want. The idea of doing things that my 'older brothers' wouldn't approve of stirred the coals deep in my belly. I wanted to kiss him again right there, and possibly just take him in the trees to be my own.

“Shit,” he murmured, making me frown. With a strong tug, he pulled me off the path and behind a tree.

“What are you doing?” I gasped, but my words were muffled by his hand as he concealed us from the path. I fought him slightly, but his grip was sure and strong. It would take a good fight to break free, and I wasn't sure what was going on yet. Through the tree branches I could just make out the path. I tried to see what was going on, but I was too distracted by the feel of his body pressed against mine. He was solid and warm on my back. Despite my best efforts, my body was melting into his. His arms were wrapped tightly around me, his scent enveloping me with its deliciousness.

He held a finger to his lips, asking me silently to be quiet. I nodded and he released me, but kept me pressed against him with his arm. I wondered if he could feel my heart pounding out of my chest. I could escape him now if I wanted, but I was glued to his body as if he had me tied to him with ropes.

The woman with the khaki shorts came down the path. I was beginning to think she was following me since she kept showing up wherever I happened to be. The angry look plastered on her face told me that I did not want to run into her.

“I swear I saw them come this way,” she muttered under her breath as she passed in front of our tree. I held my breath, afraid that she might hear it and find us. She continued on down the path, her mumbling growing quieter with every step.

We waited for a long time, silently pressed against one another until he was sure we were safe. Thoughts ran through my mind. Why was he hiding? Who was that woman? And of course, my mind went to the darkest places it could while we waited.
Maybe he's a wanted criminal and she's a bounty hunter. It's his wife. It's his boss. He owes her money. She was his last girlfriend and she followed him here and she'll kill me out of jealousy
. Each thought was more absurd than the last, but in the quiet of my mind, my imagination ran wild.

The sun began to touch the horizon, deepening the shadows of the branches. Noah stepped onto the path, motioning me to stay put while he checked it out. He took a few steps and then smiled and waved me back to the path.

“I think she's gone. The path loops around past the house, but she shouldn't have a reason to turn around.” He reached out his hand for me.

“Who was she?” I didn't immediately take his hand. “Why were you hiding from her?”

Noah ran his outstretched hand through his dark hair, the muscles in his arm stretching the fabric of his shirt. “Danica Lewis. She's a reporter.”

“A reporter?” That possibility had not been one of the billions running through my mind as we hid behind the tree.

“Yeah.” He sighed and took a step toward me, his eyes honest as he spoke. “My company just went through a big lawsuit. We won, but we weren't popular because of it. She wants an interview. I think she believes that a scathing interview with the 'Devil of Real Estate' will jump-start her career. I told her no. I have no idea how she followed me here.”

“They call you 'The Devil of Real Estate?’”

He gave me a small smile. “Figuratively speaking.”

I nodded, and he reached for my hand. I let him take it, his large hands wrapping my smaller ones with his warmth. I loved the way his hands felt.

“I'm sorry if I scared you.” His thumbs caressed the back of my hand. “I just don't want my vacation ruined by an over-eager reporter. She's not exactly a nice person.”

“Have you interviewed with her before?” I asked. Noah tucked my arm into his elbow, starting us down the path again. The setting sun glimmered through the tree branches and made the world into gold and silver shadows. We walked slowly, not wanting to risk catching up to her.

“She covered the lawsuit.” The corners of his mouth went down in disgust. “I dreaded walking past her every morning because she had the most bitter things to say to try and get a good soundbite.”

“She sounds like a lovely human being,” I cracked. Noah snorted and gave me a small squeeze. “You know, this does tell me that you actually are successful and not just good at stealing cell phone minutes.”

“I was afraid you might come to that conclusion, but why do you think that?” Noah asked, his eyes on the path.

“One, reporters don't hound unimportant people. Two, you have multiple billionaire friends. And then three, the fact that you have a functioning phone on an island in the middle of the ocean.” I ticked off the reasons on my fingers.

“All right,” he said slowly. “I might be a
little
important.”

“You aren't going to tell me, are you?” I asked. He shook his head. “Well, then I'll try and figure it out. What was the lawsuit about?”

Noah stopped in his tracks and turned to face me. “You really don't know? It was all over CNN for a good week.”

I shook my head from side to side. “I don't have much time for TV, and we don't have cable at the research facility. If it isn't about an approaching hurricane, then I don't follow it.”

A soft, slow smile came over Noah's face. His eyes danced as his smile grew. “Well, isn't that something...”

“So, are you going to tell me, or what?” I asked impatiently. His smile just grew wider.

“If you don't know, I'd rather not tell you. It wasn't a pleasant experience, and it's really nice to talk with someone without constantly being reminded of your failures.”

I thought about that for a moment as we started walking again. I thought about my own failures and how much it would suck to have a reporter hounding me for more. Having some of them reported in the local newspaper when I was a kid had been bad enough, but the idea of having them broadcast to the world was terrible.

“I understand.” I gave him a squeeze and leaned into his strong arm. “Failures suck. I know they're supposed to teach you some sort of lesson, and that it can work out for the better, but they still suck. They leave a bitter taste in your mouth. I guess that makes success that much sweeter, but
ugh.
”

Noah chuckled at my disgusted noise. “Between the lawsuit and the wedding, I've had enough failures.”

My heart sunk to my toes and threatened to continue on down through China.
Wedding?
My brain rebelled against the word.
He's married. He's been leading me on this whole time. I kissed a married man.
A panic went through me and I dropped his arm and pushed him away. No wonder he was so charming. He had a wife to practice all his lines on first.

“What do you mean, 'wedding?'” I asked coldly.

Noah's shoulders slumped, and his face fell. The shadows of the trees crossed his features, darkening them. He put his hands in his pockets and kicked at the ground, his eyes following a small stone on the path.

“I forgot you don't know about that either.” He looked up at me, his eyes full of hurt and his brow pinched to almost pain. “I was recently left at the altar.”

“So you're not married?” I mentally slapped myself for being tactless as relief flooded my voice. I wasn't the other woman after all.

Noah gave a bitter chuckle and kicked the stone again, sending it spinning into the roots of a tree. “Nope. She didn't even bother going to the church. She came from a big society family, so it was supposed to be the social event of the year. Even the mayor was there. She made one of her poor bridesmaids walk up the aisle and tell me she wasn't going through with it. In front of the whole congregation.” A spiteful smile danced briefly across his face. “I don't think they're friends anymore.”

My hands went to my mouth in shock. I’d always thought that kind of thing only happened in movies. “That's terrible! I'm so sorry!”

He shrugged, obviously trying to pretend that he didn't care despite the pain etched all over his face. Whoever she was, she had hurt him. I was halfway surprised he was even willing to talk to another female again.

“I really thought she was the one.” He looked up, his eyes full of unshed tears. “You know, growing old together and spending cold nights cuddled up next to the fireplace kind of thing. I was wrong. I didn't see it coming.”

I took another step forward. We were almost touching again. “I'm so sorry. I can't imagine doing that to someone. Did she give you a reason?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I grimaced a little. Tact was just not with me today.

“Money.” He spat the word out like it was a vile, bitter thing. “I found that out later. She learned that I had turned down a job with Jack's father. It wasn't what I wanted to do and I had bigger and better plans, but she didn't believe in me. She just wanted the paycheck.”

“I'm sorry,” I said quietly. He looked up and over at a tree branch above my head.

“She ended up marrying some banker. They divorced as soon as he went bankrupt.” The corners of his mouth turned up in a bitter smile, but his eyes stayed cold.

I wasn't sure quite how to respond to that. Another 'sorry' just didn't seem adequate. 'Good job dodging
that
bullet!' didn’t seem quite appropriate either, so I just stayed silent.

Noah's eyes returned from the branch to my face. The last few rays of golden sunlight caught the angles of his face, making him look older and more stern. I liked the carefree and happy Noah better.

“It was one of those failures that turns out to be a good thing in the end,” he said quietly. “But the fact that it was such a disaster still stings. It's on my Wikipedia page now. I'm the 'left-at-the-altar guy.'” He found another rock to kick, sending it hurtling down the path. I took his arm and pressed my cheek into his shoulder.

“And here I thought it was bad being the 'always-falls-for-tourists girl,'” I said without thinking. I cringed a little once the words were out, but I started walking, hoping that he wouldn't catch it.

“The 'always-falls-for-tourists girl?'” He turned and grinned at me, and I could feel the blush heat my cheeks.

“It's just a nickname,” I said lamely. “Not interesting at all.”

“Oh no, it's very interesting,” he insisted. “Besides, I just told you my dirty laundry.”

I fidgeted for a moment, wishing I could devise a way out of telling him. It wasn't so much that it was a horrible thing, just more embarrassing than anything else. Especially when I had to tell it to a tourist I was interested in. I looked over at him, and he just raised his dark eyebrows, waiting.

“Fine,” I sighed. “The majority of eligible men on the island are tourists, so the past few guys I 'dated' weren't exactly locals,” I explained. “Anyway, the last one promised me the moon and the stars. I believed him and told everyone I was going to go back to the mainland with him.”

“And he didn't take you with him?”

“Worse. He was actually here for his bachelor party. I was his last hurrah,” I said, sickened at how gullible I had been. “It was all a lie.” I looked down, feeling the insecurity and shame bubble up again. “I had told everyone. I had practically bought my plane ticket.”

My voice faltered at the end. I didn't want to tell Noah how the jerk had laughed at me. How I had trudged through the town and everyone had shot me pitying looks. The shame of everyone finding out that I had been duped and dumped. The well-meaning but awkward questions from my mainland friends asking when I was going to come visit them. My mom's reaction. I cleared my throat and tossed my hair behind my shoulder. I was stronger now.