Page 13 of The Reluctant Billionaire

“Yeah.” This was probably the most cheaply-appointed room Jace had occupied in the last five years; it was certainly nothing compared to his New York penthouse or the spectacular family mansion in Sydney’s exclusive Point Piper. He was hardly going to mention that at the moment, though, so he took a step back. “I’ll leave you to it. Make yourself comfortable.”

She smiled at him as he backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Blowing out his cheeks, Jace headed for the kitchen. Pumping soap and washing his hands, he wondered what the hell he was doing. He didn’t like misleading Nessa this way, pretending to be something he wasn’t. On the other hand, he had the feeling Nessa would probably take off if she had any idea he took this kind of luxury for granted, that his family owned not only this house but the entire damned island.

With a sigh, he turned to the fridge. When Nessa came out, dressed again in her turquoise sundress, she found him chopping peppers and shallots, wielding an expensive chef’s knife with flashing speed. He’d already grated cheese into a bowl and spread a couple of frozen pastry squares with tomato paste and crushed garlic.

“Pizza? Yum.” She stole a piece of cheese and popped it into her mouth. He smiled without looking up from the chopping.

“I didn’t ask if you have any allergies. And do you eat meat?”

“No and yes. Right now I think I could eat a horse.”

“Haven’t got one of those, sorry. How about some nuts?” He pushed a bowl of cashews in her direction before heading back to the fridge and pulling out a package of pepperoni. Nessa settled herself on a stool at the breakfast bar and watched him tear up the pepperoni before sprinkling the cheese, meat, and vegetables on the pizza.

“What would you like to drink? We’re not quite as well-stocked as your bar, but there is some very nice wine.”

“Sounds good,” Nessa agreed. “Red, if you’ve got it.”

“Sure.” He pulled a bottle from a small wine cabinet set into the kitchen counter, opened it, and poured into what she was pretty sure was a Riedel crystal wine glass. Accepting the glass gingerly, frightened of breaking something which probably cost nearly as much as she made in a week, Nessa took a sip of the wine.

Her eyebrows flew up. “Please tell me you have permission to open this stuff.”

“Free rein of everything in the house.” Jace shrugged. In truth, the wine he’d opened for her was probably the least expensive one he had on hand. The wine cellar under the house had much more expensive ones stored in a climate-controlled vault.

“In that case, I shall appreciate every drop. Since it’s probably my only chance ever to drink wine this good. It’s Grange, right? What vintage?”

He put the bottle down in front of her silently, kicking himself for not having thought to pick up a cheaper bottle when he was at the resort. She was a professional bartender; of course she knew her wine. “Enjoy. I’m gonna go have a shower while the pizza cooks. It won’t be long.”

* * *

Jace was acting a little odd,Nessa thought as he left her alone. Picking up her wineglass, she headed over to the open doors leading out to the pool. Maybe he was a little nervous? She was pretty much a sure thing, after their scorching hot kiss earlier. Surely a guy who looked like Jace didn’t lack for women throwing themselves at him, especially in New York. She hadn’t asked what he did, but he had to be pretty successful if he ran in the same circles as people who could afford to own a holiday house like this.

With a little sigh, she propped one shoulder against the doorframe and sipped her wine, feeling the cool afternoon breeze blowing lightly over her warm skin. She wore nothing beneath her dress, and looked forward to shocking Jace with that fact.

“Hey,” Jace’s voice was soft as he approached her from behind.

Nessa smiled but didn’t turn around, feeling his hands curve gently around her waist as he bent his head to kiss her bare shoulder. One thin spaghetti strap had slipped down onto her upper arm, and his fingers grazed her skin lightly as he lifted it back into place.

“Hey yourself.” She set her glass down on the small table just inside the door and turned to look up at him. His shaggy blond hair was still wet, dampening the collar of the crisp white dress shirt he’d put on but not buttoned. A drop of water ran down the center of his muscled chest, and she couldn’t resist the impulse to lick it off.

Jace’s hands came up, one to cradle the back of her head, the other under her chin to tilt her face up to him. His mouth slanted down over hers and this kiss was even better, even hotter, than the one they’d shared on the boat.

Nessa found herself pressed back against the doorframe, her arms coming up to wrap around Jace and hold him closer. One of his legs thrust between hers and she moaned into his mouth, grinding against his muscled thigh. Her nipples pebbled, pushing at his chest through the thin cotton of her dress. He brought one hand up to palm her breast, grazing his thumb over the aching bud.

Putting her hands beneath his shirt and stroking at his back, Nessa moaned into Jace’s mouth when he pinched her nipple. Lifting one leg, she hooked it around his thigh to try and pull him closer still, not that there was the slightest space in between them. He lifted his mouth from hers only to kiss down her neck, nipping and licking at her throat, his tongue tracing hotly into the delicate hollows of her collarbones.

“Jace.” Her voice was a husky rasp, a plea.

He took it for a request to stop, though, and moved back reluctantly, his hands falling away.

Nessa grasped at his shirt. “Take me to bed.”

He looked down at her for a moment, a muscle in his jaw bunching and releasing, before nodding. “Let me turn the oven off.”

It was a good thing he’d remembered,Nessa thought as he went into the kitchen and flicked a switch before returning to her side and offering his hand, or they’d probably have burned the house down instead of just burning up the sheets. At the very least, they would have stunk the kitchen up with burned pizza. She tangled her fingers with Jace’s and let him lead her back to the bedroom, then draw her over to the beautiful bed with its silken sheets.

Nessa’s long braids swung around her shoulders as she reached down to grasp the hem of her dress, drawing it up and over her head in one smooth movement, revealing she wore absolutely nothing underneath.

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