Page 8 of The Reluctant Billionaire

“What are you, a mind-reader?” Nessa dug back into her waffles. “Yes, I met someone,” she mumbled when Olivia prodded her.

“A resort guest?” Olivia’s eyes widened.

“No! Come on, you know me better than that. He’s staying at one of the private villas. It belongs to a friend of his.”

“Oh, okay.” Olivia nodded. “Is he cute?” Her grin widened cheekily.

“Well, I think so.” Nessa grinned back. “But paws off. You’re taken.” She pointed her fork at Olivia sternly.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m more than satisfied with my catch.” Olivia looked like a cat licking cream off her whiskers.

“And where is Cory this morning?” she asked, referring to the resort’s activities manager.

“Oh, he’s taking the snorkeling trip out. He already ate and went down to help prep the boat. So don’t tell me, if you don’t want to, but be warned I’ll get all the juicy details out of Cory later. Can’t escape the gossip network, darling.”

Nessa wrinkled her nose with disgust and sighed. “Well, it’s a first date. So there won’t be much to tell.”

“Apart from the fact that your date will no doubt be eating you up with his eyes. Are you wearing your red bikini? You’ll knock his socks off.”

She already had it on underneath her light sundress. Living on a tropical island, she owned half a dozen bikinis, but she never considered wearing any of the others when she opened the drawer this morning. The red bikini was a halter-neck, framing and lifting her breasts, the fiery color a great contrast to her dark skin. Ties at the sides of the brief bikini bottoms were a wicked temptation, luring a man’s attention to her hips, making him think about tugging on the ties to pull them free.

Nessa wanted that kind of attention from Jace. She’d done a fair bit of soul-searching after impulsively agreeing to go on the snorkeling date with him. She wasn’t an impulsive person by nature, but in the end she’d had to conclude her subconscious had already decided. Jace was an attractive man. He wasn’t the only one to show interest in her recently, but he was the only one in a long time who’d provoked a matching response from her. She’d spend the day with him and see how things panned out, but at the moment she provisionally intended on taking him back to her place that evening. Or going back to the villa where he was staying, if he invited her. She’d never been in any of the fancy private villas and found herself curious about what they’d be like.

“Earth to Nessa!”

She blinked, startled back to herself. She’d drifted off into a daydream thinking about Jace. About letting him pull the ties on her bikini. He had nice hands, she’d noticed when he was at the bar, with long, capable fingers. She’d had more than a few thoughts about those fingers caressing her skin, finding her most sensitive spots.

“Sorry, I was somewhere else.”

“I could see that.” Olivia smirked over the rim of her coffee cup. “You’d better get moving, sugar, or you’re literally gonna miss that boat.”

“Argh!” A quick glance at her watch and Nessa abandoned the remnants of her breakfast, scrabbling under her chair for the beach bag she’d brought with her.

“Have fun!” Olivia called after her as she hurried for the exit. Nessa waved hastily and set off for the boat dock at a fast trot.

Chapter Four

She wasn’t coming.It was eight twenty-eight, and the boathand was preparing to cast off the lines. Jace bit down on his lip, wondering if he could ask them to wait five more minutes.

“We’re one short,” the tall blond man in resort-uniform polo shirt and shorts said, looking at the clipboard in his hand. “You’re Jace Weller, right?”

He’d given his mother’s maiden name as his surname when booking, not wanting anyone to clue in to his real identity. “That’s right.”

“And you booked for two?”

“Yeah, my friend should be here any minute--” He spied a figure hurrying along the path toward the dock. “Here she is now!”

“Hold off on that line, Ben.” The man took a half a step back. “Whoa, Nessa?”

“Hey, Cory,” Nessa grinned at him as she hurried up to the boat. “Hi, Jace.” To his pleased surprise, she went up on tiptoes and brushed a kiss on his cheek.

“I… see.” Cory blinked, looking from one to the other of them. “Okay, well, I guess that makes everyone, then.” He made a final tick on his clipboard. “Take your seats, everyone.”

There were several other guests on board and only a couple of seats vacant. Nessa sat down and Jace joined her; she dropped a bag at their feet and gave him a bright smile.

“You look beautiful,” Jace said impulsively. She was wearing a light cotton sundress in a turquoise blue which looked utterly amazing against her deep brown skin. Her long black braids were hanging loose to her waist, brushing against his arm; he suppressed an inappropriate urge to take one in his fingers and play with it.

“Thank you!” Nessa held his gaze, her smile widening even further. “You’re looking pretty good yourself. Like the threads.” She flicked lightly at the lapel of the loud Hawaiian shirt he was wearing.

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