Page 38 of Last Ticket to Paradise

He lifted a shoulder. “You got what you wanted. Everyone at the resort thinks you’re easy. Whether or not that’s going to earn you a place on the Palarosa sacrifice rock is another story. We don’t even know if that’s what happened to your sister.”

Her chest rose and fell with her sigh, and Jake dragged his eyes away from the curve of her breast spilling out of her little bikini top.

She murmured, “If it did, I’m giving them plenty of reason to choose me next.”

He curved his arm around her waist. Might as well keep up appearances. “You know what puzzles me? Ever since you morphed into your sister, the threats against you stopped. It would seem the people warning you to get off the island aren’t concerned about you anymore.”

“You’re right. Maybe because they already have me pegged as the next sacrifice.”

Jake drew his brows together. He still didn’t believe this was all about Palarosa. Something else was happening on the island. Why would someone threaten Georgette when she came down here asking questions about her sister and then stop when Georgette seemed to settle into the abandoned life of a tourist?

Georgette kissed his forehead. “You’re supposed to look like you’re enjoying this.”

He wrapped his hands around her waist and shoved her off his lap and burgeoning cock. Then he slapped her ass. “I am. Too much.”

***

Georgette glided back to the pool and slid into the water, her bottom stinging from Jake’s palm. She could’ve lounged in Jake’s lap all afternoon, feeling his strong hands on her body. She’d never felt comfortable sitting on a man’s lap. She was too tall. But Jake topped her by a good five inches, and his large frame accommodated her easily.

She smoothed her palms over the ripples of water. Jake ignited every nerve ending in her body. That night at the spa was the first time a man had given her an orgasm. She was too embarrassed to tell Jake that, but he’d probably figured it out from her scream.

Ingrid, a young woman from Germany, paddled up to her. “Were you shot down by the big guy, too?”

“What?”

Ingrid gestured toward Jake studying his laptop screen. “Jake. He’s a tease. He’ll flirt with you, act like he’s up for a good time, and then he doesn’t deliver.”

Georgette hid her smile behind her hand.Oh, he delivers all right.She shrugged. “If he doesn’t, there are plenty of men here who do.”

Gunther and Nicole dragged lounge chairs up to the side of the pool and waved her over.

Georgette ducked under the water and swam to the edge, popping up in front of them. Gunther must’ve been mistaken that night when he’d thought he’d seen Jake in the pool with Jamie. This resort was a hotbed of gossip, and Gunther and Nicole seemed to be on the cutting edge. Georgette was counting on it.

She slicked her hair back from her face. “Hello.”

Nicole tipped her large sunglasses to the end of her nose. “Is that a new bikini, darling? It’s wicked.”

Gunther clicked his tongue. “Seems our girl next door from North Dakota is indulging in a taste of decadence.”

Georgette splashed water on her face to hide her blush. “Oh, I don’t know. Just thought I should enjoy myself while I wait for Jamie.”

Gunther shook open his newspaper. “And how long do you intend to wait for her?”

Georgette hooked her heels on the edge of the pool and floated on her back. “At least until the end of this month. If she’s not back by then,” she pushed off from the edge of the pool, “she probably won’t be returning at all.”

Nicole looked up from her magazine. “What do you mean by that?”

“My sister has a lot of money at her disposal. It means she’s probably off to some other playground. Maybe Europe. She mentioned the South of France.”

Nicole pouted. “She should have told me. I could have given her all the right introductions.”

Gunther grunted. “How many ex-husbands do you have scattered across the beaches there?”

But Nicole wasn’t listening. She shoved her sunglasses on top of her head and stared across the bar. “Maybe you’ll be leaving sooner than you expected, darling.”

Georgette followed her gaze to a compact, dark-haired man hovering at the edge of the patio. “Who’s that?”

Nicole tipped her glasses back down and returned to her magazine. “That’s Jean-Claude.”

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