Page 9 of The Reluctant Billionaire

“It’s not mine,” Jace confessed, “I think it belongs to… the owner of the villa. I found it in the closet.” He’d almost saidmy fatherthen, but bit the words back just in time. He’d told Nessa the villa belonged to a friend. An uncomfortable feeling curled in the pit of his stomach; he didn’t like misleading her. But then, he rationalized, he wanted her to get to know him without knowing who he was, about his wealth, his family name. It was very possible nothing would come of this, that they would go their separate ways in a few days and she would never even need to know.

Still, as he looked into her smiling, carefree face, Jace had the sinking feeling things weren’t going to be quite so simple.

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, making him jump. The boat had started moving, and he twisted around to find Cory had slipped into the seat behind them and was giving him the evil eye.

“Knock it off with the big brother act, Cory,” Nessa said, shoving Cory’s hand off Jace’s shoulder. “I’m a big girl, y’know.”

“Just making sure he knows there are folks looking out for you,” Cory said, his tone perfectly amiable even if his eyes weren’t.

“I had no doubt of it,” Jace said with a friendly smile in return. “I’m sure Nessa’s the kind of person who inspires intense loyalty in her friends.”

Cory nodded, apparently satisfied with his answer. “Good. Well, in that case, have a good day!” He slid out of the seat again and strode up to the front of the boat, easily maintaining his footing against the sway, plucking up a microphone from the side of the pilot’s chair. “G’day folks! Let me tell you about the awesome day we’ve got in store for you…”

Jace and Nessa both listened with interest as Cory talked, telling the group the itinerary for the day, including snorkeling at three different sites and lunch on the world-famous Whitehaven Beach.

“With any luck we’ll see some humpback whales too, since they’re passing through the area at the moment on their annual migration,” Cory concluded, “so keep your eyes peeled.”

The other tourists started chattering excitedly as soon as Cory put the microphone down. Nessa looked at Jace, her eyes shining. “I’m really looking forward to this. Thank you so much for inviting me.”

“I’m looking forward to it too. The snorkeling… and your company.”

Small fingers curled over his. Startled, Jace looked down at Nessa’s hand, then up at her. She was still smiling at him. He turned his hand and laced his fingers with hers, feeling like a boy with his first crush finding out the girl he liked was interested in him, too.

They held hands the whole half-hour it took to get to the first snorkeling site, a secluded cove in the lee of one of the other islands in the chain. Cory informed them the island was completely uninhabited, a wildlife sanctuary, and they weren’t permitted to swim ashore.

Jace had shoved his bag under the seat when he’d boarded. He pulled it out now and stripped off his Hawaiian shirt. Catching Nessa eying his chest, he grinned at her. He was picking up some color to his skin after a few days relaxing by the villa’s pool, and though he was still thinner than he’d been before his illness, it only threw his muscles into higher relief.

“I could leave the rash vest off if you want to admire the view,” he offered, the stretchy swim shirt hanging from one hand.

Nessa laughed at him. “Put it on. I don’t want to be distracted from the sights underwater.” She rose to her feet, grasped the hem of her dress, and swept it up and over her head in one graceful movement.

Jace almost swallowed his tongue. “You thinkyou’llget distracted?”

Nessa grinned, walking past him to scoop up a pair of flippers and a snorkel mask from the stack Cory had spread out on the deck. “Hurry up. No time to waste!”

Jace was all fingers and thumbs trying to get his rash vest on, then grabbing a mask and flippers. Cory laughed at him as he hopped on one foot, trying to wrestle a flipper on.

“She’s right there, man. Wow, you’ve got it bad, huh?”

“Are you dead? Did you see her in that bikini?”

“Not dead, just very happily taken.” Cory grinned at him before reverting to business mode. “Remember, don’t touch any of the coral. You want to climb down the ladder?”

Jace shook his head. “I’m good. I’m a strong swimmer.” Checking nobody was directly beneath him, he fitted his mask and snorkel before diving smoothly off the back of the boat.

Nessa wasn’t far away, floating face-down on the surface of the water in a deadman’s float position, obviously looking at something beneath the surface. Jace swam up beside her, swishing his flippers gently, peering into the clear blue water to see what she was looking at.

Nessa turned her head slightly to look at him without taking her face out of the water, reaching to touch his wrist lightly before pointing.

It took Jace a moment to see what she was gesturing at; she appeared to be telling him to look at a surprisingly plain patch of sand in the midst of some bright corals. Frowning, he peered closer, but then the sand shifted and he gasped, almost losing the rhythm of his breathing through the snorkel, as a stingray almost as long as he was lifted up out of the sand and sailed majestically off into the blue.

Jace looked at Nessa, eyes wide, sensing rather than seeing her amusement at his shock.

She touched his wrist again before swishing her flippers to move on.

They surfaced for a proper breath a few minutes later and Jace spat to clear his mouth of the salty water. “My God, that was incredible! Did you see the size of that stingray?”

“A spotted eagle ray, I think,” Nessa said, laughing at his excited expression. “You’ll have to meet our marine biologists sometime.”

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