“This is amazing,” Becca said for what was probably the five hundredth time since they’d arrived on the island a couple days ago. Between the beautiful land, Josh’s staff and the way Josh had been treating her during their trip, she was on cloud nine.
They still hadn’t talked about their relationship, but things had been going so well that Becca hadn’t wanted to bring it up. She’d never been the type to need labels and Josh was treating her better than any so-called boyfriend ever had. And you’re the only woman he’s ever brought here... She still hadn’t figured that one out.
They were leaving the island later that night and Becca really didn’t want to leave. On Purity Haven, she felt like anything was possible. The island had a way of making any problems back home seem minimal.
“Check that out,” Josh said, pointing to a tropical bird in the sky that was swooping down to get a fish from the water. They were canoeing in what Josh had called Tranquility River, which was basically a stream of water from the ocean that had been carved through the land to form a canal.
“Don’t be nervous, but we’ll be in slight darkness for a short while as we go through this cave.”
“Okay.” As promised, they were only in the darkness for a couple minutes. When they came out on the other side, the vision took Becca’s breath away.
“I call this area Tranquility Cove. Not too creative, but it fits.”
“It’s perfect.” Becca looked on either side of the intimate cove and noticed the same lush greenery and tropical flowers that were everywhere on the island.
Josh hopped out of the canoe when it hit the sand and pulled it onto shore. Becca immediately looked at the brilliant blue sky when she stepped out of the canoe. That, combined with the aqua waters and colorful flora, made this entire section a hidden paradise. She smiled at Josh, who was already watching her intently.
“I knew you’d love it.” He grabbed her hand. “You’ll love this even more.” She followed him to a small body of water.
“Can you tell what it is?” he asked. She shook her head. “It’s a natural pool, created from the river and terrain combined. When the tide rises, most of the beach sand, as well as this particular area, get covered by water, which fills this hole. It’s only about four feet deep, but with the natural minerals, it’s like a cooler version of a hot spring.”
Becca dipped her hand in the water. “You’re right, it’s warm, but not too hot.”
“Sure is. Want to get in?”
“Of course I do.” Becca removed her tank and jean shorts so that she was only in her white-and-black bikini. Josh took off his T-shirt and tossed his sunglasses on top of it. In his swim trunks, the man looked as if he’d just stepped out of a catalog.
“You surprise me, Becca,” Josh said once they were both submerged in the warm water and leaning against the rocks.
“How so?”
“Take now for example. I thought you would have asked me more questions about why the water was so warm before you got in.”
Becca thought about Josh’s comment. He was right. There was a time when she would have never agreed to get into a pool of warm water without solid scientific evidence backing what Josh had told her.
“I could say the same about you. From all those articles I read, I thought you were such a playboy and ladies’ man. Yet I’m the first woman you’ve ever taken here before.”
Josh grinned before leaning his head on a soft part of the terrain. “There’s a reason for that.”
Becca squinted her eyes. “And what reason might that be?”
Josh glanced into the sky before meeting her gaze again. “Remember how I told you I was close to my dad’s father before he passed away?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“Well, my mom’s parents are still living. Unlike my dad’s side of the family, we were never close to my mom’s parents growing up. Her father, in particular.”
“I take it you still aren’t close.”
“Forget close. My grandfather and I don’t even speak. He won’t even acknowledge he has grandkids.”
“Why wouldn’t he acknowledge you and your brothers?”
Josh sat up a little straighter. “Because in order to acknowledge us, he’d have to acknowledge my mother, and he wrote her off the minute she decided that she didn’t want to follow the path he’d laid out for her, and instead wanted to marry the mechanic she’d fallen in love with.”
Becca nodded her head in understanding. “Your father.”
“Yup. I meant what I said. My father was one of the most hardworking men I’ve known, but no matter how hard he worked, or the fact that he went from a mechanic to owning several shops across Florida, my mother’s father always considered my dad beneath her and her family. And the man who took his baby girl from her Louisiana roots.”
“But I’ve talked to your mom and I’ve never heard two people sound more in love than she and your dad were.”
“I agree, and I grew up in a very loving home, but I watched my dad bend over backward to make his father-in-law happy, only to die knowing that he never did accomplish it. My mom came from money and my father was never welcome. Even after he passed, my mom went to her father to try to make amends because apparently, it’s what my father had always wanted. Even then, that jerk refused to speak to her and I had to sit there and watch her hurt over a situation that never should have been an issue in the first place.”
Becca could see anger in Josh’s eyes. “You went to him, didn’t you? You went to your grandfather after you became a millionaire?”
“I did.”
“But it didn’t make a difference?”
“Not a damn bit.”
“That’s ridiculous. You’re a millionaire now, making a name for yourself. You were invited to join a prestigious organization. Yet it’s still not good enough for him?”
“Nope, not even close. And to top it all off, he’s a member of one of Louisiana’s Prescott George chapters. But since he disowned my family, according to the organization we’re not related and I will never be a legacy. Which is fine with me. I don’t need his last name, nor do I want it. My father was a DeLong. His father was a DeLong, and I’m building the DeLong brand without the assistance of my maternal grandparents.”
Becca waded to Josh’s side of the pool, stopping in front of him. “Josh, the DeLong name would be a great one no matter if you were a millionaire or not, because it’s yours and it belongs to you and your brothers, who will pass it down for generations. Never allow anyone to define you based on their own biases. The saddest part about your situation with your grandfather is that he missed the opportunity to get to know a remarkable daughter, four charismatic grandsons and an amazing son-in-law. He lost so much more having never had the privilege of getting to know you.”
The crease in his forehead eased. He pulled her closer to him. “Have I told you how amazingly brilliant you are?” He kissed one side of her neck before kissing the other.
“Not in those exact words.” She giggled when he hit her ticklish spot behind her ear. She slipped her hand into his swim trunks to get him to stop. His eyes darkened.
“You shouldn’t have done that, Becca.”
She nipped at his bottom lip. “Why not? What are you going to do about it?” Taunting Josh was slowly becoming her favorite pastime.
Without warning, he untied her bikini bottom and top in about three seconds flat. At her gasp, he captured her lips with his as his fingers found her sweet spot. Taking her cue from Josh, Becca untied his trunks until they were loose enough to pull off.
Becca tossed her head back in gratification as his fingers went to work, prepping her for what was soon to come. She smiled at the sound of paper ripping as Josh protected them both. Is he ever not prepared? Not only was Josh an attentive lover, but he was a skilled lover. She didn’t have to wonder if he was on top of things when it came to sex or question if he knew how to please her. With Josh, it was guaranteed pleasure.
Instead of dwelling on all the questions she still needed to ask him, she banished all thoughts from her mind as she slowly eased him into her core inch by inch.
* * *
“Becca, are you okay?”
Becca looked up from the blank screen on her phone to her sister, Allison. “Yes, I’m fine. I was just thinking about something.”
Allison frowned. “You’ve been daydreaming all night. How long are you going to make me wait before you give me details on your trip with Josh?”
“Let’s finish helping Mom with the table first.”
Becca had been home for four days and all she could think about was Josh. The trip had been nothing short of amazing, until he received an urgent business call when they were an hour away from Miami. Although Josh had tried to act like the call hadn’t put a damper on the last hour of their ride home, she could tell his mind had been preoccupied.
When they finally docked, he told her he had to go to LA for a day. One day had turned into several and even though he video chatted with her every night and texted her throughout the day, Becca had to face the harsh reality that she’d gotten accustomed to seeing Josh in person on a daily basis.
“Okay, let’s eat,” Becca’s mother said.
Becca sat down next to her sister, wishing that her brother-in-law hadn’t taken her nieces and nephew to Georgia to visit his parents. She needed a buffer...or four. Her father was no help. After living in a house with so many women for over twenty years, her father, who sat at the head of the table, had learned to block them all out.
“It’s so nice having both my daughters here,” Patricia Wright said. “The only thing that would have made tonight better would have been Becca inviting Joshua DeLong to dinner.”
“Mom, I already told you—he’s out of town and I haven’t even seen him since we got back from vacation.”
“How was it by the way?” Allison asked. “You still haven’t said.”
Becca glared at Allison. “It was great.”
Their mother frowned. “Great? That’s it? What did you do? Where did he take you?”
Why did I agree to come tonight? This was a lose-lose situation. If she told them the truth, they would be even more in love with Josh. If she lied to them, they would know, because her mom and Allison always knew when she was lying.
“It was...” Her voice trailed off as she tried to think of something she could tell them that would do minimal damage.
“Well?” her mother asked. “Tell us something.”
“Patricia, leave Becca alone,” her father said. “If she wants to tell you and Allison what happened, she’ll tell you at her own pace.”
Patricia’s eyes grew wide as they always did when she was about to be dramatic. “Well, excuse me for wanting to know how my daughter’s trip went with a man who may be my son-in-law one day.”
“Mom, it’s not even like that.”
“How would I know what it’s like?” her mother asked. “You talk to your sister, but you won’t even talk to me, your own mother.”
The doorbell rang and Becca’s father was all too eager to answer it.
“Do you realize how old your father and I are? Don’t you want us to be able to enjoy our grandchildren?”
“Of course I do, Mom.” Becca shuffled her food around on her plate. The truth was, she wanted to tell them all about the trip, but she couldn’t exactly lie and say she and Joshua were in a relationship. Yes, she knew that they liked one another and the time they’d spent together so far had been nothing short of amazing, but Becca didn’t know what would happen after the gala next month. Would she and Josh still see each other? Did they need to categorize what they were or was she satisfied with keeping things the same? Was she even in a situation to ask him to define what they were?
She decided to be as honest as she could. “Josh and I had a great trip, but I don’t even know where we stand with one another. He’s an amazing man and we work really well together. He’s nothing like I thought he would be, yet somehow, he’s turned out to be so much more than I ever imagined. If I let myself get wrapped up in everything, I will fall for him harder than I have ever fallen for any man in my entire life. The only reason I won’t gush about Josh is because I don’t want to get your hopes up by telling you how amazing the trip was, just to realize that it didn’t mean as much to him as it did to me.”
“It did mean a lot.”
Becca turned toward the entryway of her parents’ dining room and gripped the table to keep from bolting out of her seat. “What are you doing here?”
Josh’s eyes stared intently at her. “My flight just landed an hour ago and when I tried to call you, it went straight to voice mail.”
“My phone died.”
“Oh, that explains it.” He glanced at her mom and sister as if he were debating whether he should continue. “I called the office and Haley answered. When I told her I was looking for you, she gave me your parents’ address. I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s fine.” Becca sat up straighter in her seat. “You just surprised me, that’s all.”
“I guess it was a bit impulsive.” Josh glanced at her lips and his gaze lingered there for a while. Out of nervousness, Becca licked her lips.
“I like impulsive.” At least, I do now.
Even though her family was in the room with them, Becca couldn’t take her eyes off Josh. It was as if they were two magnets drawn to each other by force.
“For the record,” Josh said, “our trip to Purity Haven meant a lot to me, too. Probably much more than you realize.”
She smiled at his statement before it dawned on her that he probably heard a lot more of her conversation with her mom and sister than she’d expected.
“Purity Haven?” Allison asked before Becca could go into full freak-out mode over the fact that she’d basically admitted that she was falling for Josh and he’d practically been standing a few feet away when she’d said it.
“It’s my private island,” Josh said. “It’s located in the Bahamas and that’s where I took Becca last week.”
Becca chanced a glance at her mom and sister, who were surprisingly well-behaved considering the fact that they’d been asking her about Josh for weeks and suddenly he’d appeared in the doorway. Maybe they finally understand that I can muscle through my own love life without their input.
“I’ve always wanted to plan one of my daughter’s weddings on an island. Since Allison is already married, that just leaves Becca. Lucky for me, her future husband already owns an island.”
Spoke too soon! “Mom, I can’t believe you said that. It’s not even like that.”
“Says who? You just admitted that you’re falling for the man and here he is in my dining room drooling over you like a love-sick puppy. You both are too cute for your own good. Josh, how about you take a seat and make yourself a plate. I need all the details about the island for future planning purposes.”
As Josh stepped farther into the room, Becca had only one coherent thought.
Kill me now.