Page 10 of Booked for Summer

‘Then you should probably skip swimming off Great Point.’

Horror flitted across her face. ‘Are there really sharks in the sea?’

‘That is where they tend to spend most of their time.’

‘Ha ha. I’d love to say something cool, like, I know how to handle a shark, or even better, it’s the shark who needs to worry, but in reality, if I came across one, I’d totally shit myself.’

He lived in a world where people watched what they said around him– Jeremy and his grandma excluded. Jade was refreshingly unfiltered. ‘Relax. If you keep to the main beaches the most frightening sea life you’re likely to come across is the small human variety.’

Her face softened. ‘Now that I can handle. Kids are so funny, they say the things we want to say but are too scared to.’

He thought back over their conversation. ‘You don’t strike me as someone who’s scared to say what they think.’

‘Maybe that’s because I’m basically still a kid at heart.’ Her eyes slid down to her phone and then back up to him. ‘Thanks for the tips. I’ll aim to give everything a go except the shark attack off Great Point.’

Silence descended between them. He’d finished his drink, she’d finished hers. Now was a good time to head back.

‘Would you like another whisky?’ She nodded down to his empty glass. ‘I know you own a fancy yacht and can afford to buy your own, but that doesn’t mean you should have to. My way of thanking you for the tourist tips.’ She gave him a hesitant smile. ‘But no worries if you want to head off. You’ve probably got better plans for the evening.’

‘Definitely not better.’ He waited until she looked at him. ‘Are you offering to buy the drink because you feel you should, or because you want to?’

She blinked, gaze slowing rising to meet his. ‘Because I want to.’

There was only one way his thoughts were now travelling. ‘And if I said why don’t we have that drink on the boat, instead?’

Her breath caught, but the hand that carefully placed her glass back on the table was steady as a rock. ‘I’d say I hope you can make a good cocktail.’

Sex. It hung, hot and heavy in the air between them. He was aware he was acting totally out of character. He didn’t joke with strangers. Had never invited anyone back to his boat, let alone a woman. He also avoided hitting on guests in his own resort, too easy for things to become complicated. Yet for this guest, he was throwing away his rule book. Maybe because she was nothing like the women he usually came across who liked to play games, to be seduced, to pretend they weren’t just out to do something as dirty, as basic, as hooking up for a night.

The less smooth he’d been with Jade, and fuck, he was seriously rusty, the more she’d seemed to relax.

Standing, he reached to take her hand and as her warm fingers clasped around his, he realised his heart was thumping loudly in his chest.

ChapterFive

She was about to do something stupid, yet whether it was the buzz of the alcohol, the punch drunkenness of jet lag, or the heady giddiness of arousal, right now, in this moment, she didn’t give a rat’s arse. She wanted to carry on the evening a little longer, to spend more time with this deeply attractive man with his brooding good looks and magnetic air of worldly confidence. A man so different to anyone she’d ever met.

She wasn’t naïve, she knew he was hoping for sex, but maybe part of her was hoping for that, too. What she knew for certain was she’d enjoyed his company, felt flattered that he’d made the effort to engage with her. Most of the guys who tried to pick her up assumed all they had to do was give her a cocky smile.

Liam cleared his throat. ‘If your sole purpose to come back with me is for a cocktail, you’re in for a disappointment. The range of alcohol I keep on the boat is very limited.’

She glanced sideways at him as they walked back along the beach, her heart beating a crazy rhythm. ‘I don’t think I’ll be disappointed.’ Once again she was at the mercy of that piercing look, the one that made her skin prickle and her belly flip-flop. ‘Not that I’m expecting you to make me a cocktail. I just said that to try and sound sophisticated, like I often get asked by hot guys to go back to their boat.’ She started to laugh at the absurdity of it. ‘Twickenham, that well-known magnet for luxury yachts.’

He quirked an eyebrow. ‘That’s where you live?’

‘Yep, home of English rugby, but not home to many boats. Well not yet anyway. There are plans to develop part of it by the river…’ Oh, my frigging God, what was she doing? ‘But then I don’t suppose you’ll be heading to Twickenham any time soon so I won’t bore you with the details.’

They reached the wharf. It stretched out into the sea, several large sailing boats and two more luxury yachts now moored against it. She recognised his at the end, looking resplendent in the flickering lights from the lamps along the waterfront. Wealth, class, sophistication. It was everywhere she looked… until her eyes dropped to her stained cotton dress. And her Primark flip-flops.

Suddenly she felt inadequate.

No, that’s the old you.

She wasn’t sure who the new one was, but tonight wasn’t the time to find her. It was the time to shove all her insecurities in a box and be the heroine in her very own billionaire romance novel, only the rich guy wasn’t an arsehole. And she wasn’t going to fall for him. Instead she was going to flirt, to enjoy him. Maybe even use him for sex. Definitely use the experience of being chatted up by him to reconfirm she was worth more than the shitty guys she’d been dating. Then she was going to prove she was better than the shitty things they’d said about her. After that, she’d go home and find herself a man to fall in love with who valued who she was.

She felt Liam’s hand rest low on her back. Not pushing her forward, just touching her. Reassuring her. ‘We can go back to the bar.’

She glanced again at him, felt everything inside her tighten with longing. ‘But then I’d never get to nosy inside this fancy boat you threw me off.’

---