Page 84 of The Billionaire's Teacher

My whole body warmed. “I’m not saying no. I—”

The call dropped.

I stared at my phone. “I love you.”

I sighed and set the phone on its cradle. I wasn’t going to call back right away—if they’d lost signal, who knew how long it would take to come back. But I would text Megan and make sure they picked up Sunshine’s tab on everything. I could settle up with them later.

In fact…I reached for my phone and sent the text right away. No point in opening the door for it to get weird.

I put the phone back on its cradle and started the engine. I’d go home. Fix some supper. And then maybe send Sunshine an email and sign it “With love.”

22

SUNSHINE

Itiptoed out of my room and into the suite’s spacious living area. Just this part of the room was bigger than my entire cottage, and that didn’t take into account the three other bedrooms, all with their own bath. Just like mine.

The girls had been thrilled to have me join them at the resort. It grated some to call them that instead of women, but it was how they referred to themselves, so it probably wasn’t anything I’d be able to change; and in fact, it would probably qualify me as unnecessarily stubborn. They were so excited about the idea, they’d called Zee up and said they were just going to base themselves here and if they needed the boat back to feel free to come get it.

I wasn’t privy to how that conversation went from Zee’s end, but I’d gotten a text message with about sixty question marks for the entirety of the text, so I could guess. I’d responded with a shrugging emoji. Client is king? Zee was usually on board with that. At the end of the day, the boat was still in its slip—I could just make it out through the wall of glass that looked out over the private beach to the water—and I was under orders to have a good time.

I wasn’t sure what that would translate to in terms of getting paid, but maybe it didn’t matter. I wasn’t racking up expenses here, thanks to Wes, and I was doing okay financially otherwise.

Thanks, again, to Wes.

I owed him a lot, it seemed.

I watched other early risers leave their rooms, snag chairs, and drag them down into the sunshine. It was mostly couples, although I saw one other group made of older women—older even than me. I smiled. What would it be like to have a group of friends who you traveled with every year, regardless of your age?

“You’re up early. Want coffee?”

I turned and spotted Jenna pulling the door to her room closed. She and Kayla had both ended up solo. Megan and Whitney had said they were happy to share.

“I do. I wasn’t sure if the noise of making it would wake anyone.”

Jenna’s gaze flitted to the kitchenette and she bit her lip. “It’s a good question. Darn it.”

I chuckled and nodded toward the beach. “The tiki bar looks like it’s doing a brisk business. I bet they have coffee. Maybe even some eats.”

“That works for me.” Jenna glanced down at herself. “Is this okay, do you think? Or should I change?”

“I’m guessing you’re fine. Shorts and T-shirts are the unofficial uniform of the island.”

“Yeah? What’s the official uniform?” Jenna slid her feet into flip flops.

“Swimsuits.” I grinned and unlocked the sliding portion of the glass I’d been looking out. The breeze that came in brought the scent of the ocean with it. I breathed deeply. “Ready?”

“Yep. It’s weird not needing a wallet.”

I nodded. “All-inclusive isn’t usually in my budget, either.”

“The guys aren’t crazy spenders, but they do like to treat their wives.” Jenna shrugged. “I’m caught between getting used to it and feeling like I shouldn’t do that. I don’t want to take it for granted.”

How was I supposed to respond to that? I couldn’t imagine having access to money like that. And, despite the conversation with Wes last night, I still didn’t think I was in danger of being a billionaire’s wife any time soon. So I settled on a noncommittal “Hmm.”

Jenna snickered as we crossed the sand. “You say that now. I think maybe you don’t realize how gone Wes is over you.”

“I…gone over me?” I shook my head. “I don’t think you’re reading him right.”

---