Chapter Four

Margaritas on the beach with no one else around—talk about luxury. Adam sipped his and had to admit Nicole knew her way around a blender. If she cooked half as well as she made drinks, he’d probably gain weight while he was here. The swim trunks they’d liberated from the hotel shop’s inventory for him might get tight for an entirely different reason any minute, though, because she sat in the chair beside his, wearing a bikini that showed off every curve. He had a huge bed and hot tub for sex play—maybe even more opportunities in the bathroom. And they could run around naked the whole time they were here if they wanted.

“Enjoying it so far?” she asked.

“What’s not to enjoy?”

“We don’t have maid service. We might have to make the bed and wash the dishes.”

“Do you do those things, too?”

She smiled, but her cheeks colored. “Not very often.”

“Not very domestic.”

“Only for the fun parts.” She lifted her margarita toward him.

“You never married.”

“Don’t make it sound like it could never happen,” she said. “I’m not that old.”

“Still…”

She toyed with the stem of her glass. “Holst turned out to not be very nice.”

Adam sat up straight. “Did he hit you?”

“Once.” Her jaw went tight. “He wanted sex, and I wasn’t ready to go that far.”

“Son of a bitch.”

“It was enough to convince my father to call the marriage off.”

He finished his margarita and set it down beside his chair, burying the base in the sand so it stood upright. “Did you hear what you just said?”

Her eyebrows crinkled in confusion. “What?”

“Your father called the marriage off.”

“Well, he did.”

“What about you?” he said. “It was your marriage to call on or off, not his.”

“He didn’t see things that way.”

“And things were always his way, weren’t they?”

“I’m going to go make some more margaritas.” She started to rise, but he caught her hand.

“Sit back down,” he said.

“Don’t talk to me that way.”

“All right.” He released her hand. It had been a stupid move, but damn it, she was trying to avoid him. “If we’re going to stop hating each other, as you called it, we’re going to have to talk about your father and what happened between us.”

“I think I need alcohol for that.”

“You don’t, Nicole, really.”

She stared at him, clearly not liking what he’d just said. Okay, so maybe he’d been a bit high-handed, telling her what she did and didn’t need.

He raised his hands in surrender. “All right. Do things your way.”

She didn’t get up, but she stewed for a minute, her jaw tense. “My father was the only family I ever had.”

Yeah, she’d lost her mother at a young age. That had to mess with a person’s mind. His own father had disappeared, but what few memories Adam had of him didn’t paint him as any sort of prize. Mom had been better off without him.

“I know he was a difficult man,” she said.

Adam snorted, a completely involuntary reaction. But “difficult” was the understatement of the century. The man had been the world’s biggest tyrant. He mistreated everyone, which created massive turnover among his staff. Every servant who’d been kind to Nicole—and she’d remembered them and missed them all—eventually moved on because they couldn’t stand working for Maurice Westmore. Adam had only managed to make it through the summer because he’d fallen in love with Nicole.

“I’m sorry, baby, but your father was a perfect bastard.”

They both fell silent. Insulting her father was bad enough, but calling her baby made things awkward. Painful, even. Odd. He could enjoy her body now, but true intimacy was off-limits. What a screwed-up situation.

“He only tried to protect me,” she said. “He might have been misguided at times, but he acted out of love for me.”

“He protected you from people like me, and he did a damned good job of it.”

She bit her lip and stared away from him, holding something inside. He wouldn’t push her. This trip wasn’t about the two of them getting back together emotionally. She wanted to show him her resort and call a truce. She didn’t realize his battle wasn’t with her but with her father. Too bad the guy had died and Adam couldn’t fight him directly. But he would blot the name Westmore out of the hospitality business. He’d been planning this since he first came to believe the two of them had rejected him. When she had rejected him. Her father might have put her up to it, but she’d gone along with it. She’d wanted to be a princess.

“You didn’t come back,” she said finally. Softly, as if she didn’t dare say the words aloud.

“I couldn’t. Why won’t you believe me?”

“It’s a free country,” she said. “You could have, if you’d wanted to.”

“First off, your father wouldn’t have let me on the grounds. Second, I was getting an MBA at Princeton. They work you hella hard. I had a main professor who was on me double-overtime for a research project. All I could do was work and sleep.”

“I would have come to you if you’d asked.”

They’d been through all this during phone calls that had become more and more difficult. No, he couldn’t come back for her. No, she couldn’t come to him. She’d have to wait. No, he didn’t know for how long. Maybe now, he could convince her face-to-face. “I was living in an apartment with three other guys. You couldn’t have stayed with us.”

“I would have gotten a place for the two of us.”

“Your father would have cut off your allowance,” he said. “Would you have gotten a job at Mega-Mart?”

“You didn’t try.”

Maybe she had believed he’d rejected her by not coming back. He’d been gone for more than a year, and he still hadn’t been able to tell her how much longer she’d have to wait. He’d finally even gotten impatient with her on their last phone call. Naturally, she wasn’t operating rationally on this subject. All she could see was that he hadn’t kept his promise. She hurt, so she’d hurt him. Hurt all around.

“There’s no point talking about this,” he said. “All that is in the past, and we can’t undo any of it.”

“You’re right.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I didn’t bring you here to dredge up old memories.”

She was right—even if lots of those memories were good ones. The first time he’d laid eyes on her and her beauty had stopped his heart for a split second. When she’d smiled at him so shyly, making him feel about seven feet tall. Their first kiss. The first time they’d made love and he’d realized she’d been a virgin. His mind had reeled with that knowledge for days.

They couldn’t bring any of those back, but they could enjoy the present. A gorgeous resort all to themselves. They ought to start acting like it.

“Why don’t we go for a swim?” he said.

“Not a bad idea.” She rose and stretched. “The water’s warm.”

Here in the cove, they didn’t get breakers but rather small waves that lapped gently at the shore—perfect for swimming.

“See if you can catch me,” she said and took off running toward the water. She already had a second or two on him because he had to scramble out of the low chair he’d been sitting in. By the time he got to the water’s edge, she was already a few yards out and swimming toward the center of the cove.

He did his best to catch up with her, working until his arms burned and he could hardly get a breath. No luck. He could beat anyone he wanted at basketball or racquetball. Swimming wasn’t his sport.

Laughing, she came back toward him and splashed water in his face. “I always was faster than you.”

“You grew up with a pool,” he managed to say between gulps of air.

“You’re so competitive.” She laughed again. “You always hated it when I beat you.”

“I had ways of getting back at you.”

“Oooh, the big, bad man.”

He swam to her and pulled her into his arms. Unfortunately, the water was over their heads, and they sank. He released her immediately, and they both bobbed to the surface.

Now she really laughed at him. “That maneuver didn’t accomplish much.”

“You’ll have to come out eventually, and then, you’re mine.”

She swam some more, and he watched her as he treaded water. She moved so smoothly, completely in her element. A water nymph. According to myth, those creatures led men to their death. But what a way to go. Eventually, she ended up some distance from him, and she stood chest-deep in the water. She was showing him they could stand there. A definite invitation.

…

Ten years earlier

Nicole’s body was burning up despite the cool water all around her. Adam had pressed her up against the side of the swimming pool at her father’s house and kissed her while his fingers slipped into her bathing suit and created magic between her thighs. Moonlight covered the scenery around them and bounced off the water. Otherwise, they were in total darkness, with crickets the only sound.

Air. She needed air. Between his mouth on hers and the movements of his fingers against that spot, she couldn’t breathe. She pulled her head back. “We shouldn’t… I shouldn’t.

“It won’t hurt you, baby,” he whispered. “It won’t make you pregnant.”

“Someone might see.”

“Your father’s out of town,” he said.

“The servants…”

“No one will see,” he said. “I promise.”

It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. She couldn’t stop him now. She’d gotten too close to…something. And it felt sooooo good. She laid her head on his shoulder and whimpered. “You love me, right?”

“Forever. Let me touch you.”

Oh, yes. Something was happening inside her body. Something wonderful and powerful. She was soaring, floating, coming apart as he kept stroking her. “Adam? Adam?”

“Now, baby, now.”

And then she couldn’t speak as her body spun out of control. A rush of pleasure so intense she could hardly bear it. As it tore through her, her inner muscles squeezed and released, over and over. Adam kissed her as she cried out.

When it ended, her mind drifted off so she was only vaguely aware that Adam had pushed her hand against the hardness in his swim trunks. He held it there and pressed against her with some force. After a few thrusts, he grunted and then stiffened. Whatever he’d done for her, she’d now done for him, and he’d had the same release.

Finally, he relaxed, too. “I love you, baby. I swear I love you.”

I love you, too, Adam.

…

Present day

Nicole didn’t run away as Adam swam toward her. The night they’d brought each other to orgasm for the first time in the pool at her father’s estate had had the extra thrill of the possibility of discovery added in. Here, they had the island to themselves. Still, this was forbidden territory he was entering. The emotions had been so intense before. Could he continue having sex with her without risking his heart?

He’d find out, because as long as she offered her body to him, he’d take her up on it. When he got to her, he wrapped his arms around her and captured her mouth in a kiss. She was soft everywhere. Her lips, her skin, and the crush of her breasts against him. As he continued kissing her, he reached behind to undo the fastenings of the bra top of her bathing suit, then eased it from between them and tossed it toward the shore. If they lost it, she could get another from the resort shop.

Now he could cup her breasts and toy with the nipples the way she liked. With a little moan, she tipped her head backward, pushing herself up and into his palms. He could do better than that. Because of the water’s buoyancy, he lifted her easily, exposing her breasts. Now he could take a nipple into his mouth to suck. She tasted of salt from the water, but that wouldn’t deter him. He could happily eat all of her for dessert.

“Oh, that is so good,” she said.

“I’m not even half done with you.” He switched to the other breast, giving each its due. She had an amazing body, with so many pleasure points for both of them. Of course, the real treasure lay between her legs.

He’d hardly known what he’d been doing that night in the pool. Only that there was a secret spot between a girl’s legs that could turn her on the same way stroking his erection did for him. Now he’d learned all about the clitoris and what it could do for a woman. More important—he knew what it could do for this woman. And that her orgasms would enhance his.

With one hand, he held her up while the other tugged at the bottom of her bathing suit. She got his purpose and squirmed to help him undress her. After he got that off, he launched it toward the shore, not paying attention to where it landed. With her completely naked, he slipped his hand between her thighs and touched her sex.

Her eyes half closed, but she gazed into his face as he stroked her. “You make me so hot.”

“The water will be steaming in a minute.”

“You’re not naked yet.”

“We’ll fix that, but first let me touch you.”

“Oh, yes.”

When he found her clitoris, she stiffened and let out a cry. Then she settled back, resting her head on his shoulder. He continued flicking his finger against her hot button until her breathing grew rapid and uneven.

Her rising excitement inspired his own. Already hard, his sex ached to be inside her, but they didn’t have protection. He’d make her come, and then they’d go inside and he’d be able to finish. He just had to maintain control. Normally, that wouldn’t present any problem. He’d had women in pools and hot tubs. On beds and bent over tables. Tied up or tying him up. But he’d loved this woman first, and even though the emotions had died years ago, their bodies’ hunger for each other hadn’t.

She gasped and then let out a shuddering breath. “Don’t stop.”

“Never.” Now, baby, now. He’d said that to her that night years ago. Or something like it. Then, he’d kissed her to keep her from making noise as the orgasm hit her. Today, she could scream loud enough to frighten the birds. They were blissfully all alone.

“Oh,” she said. “Oh, sweet heaven.”

“Come for me.”

“Yes, yessss…” she shouted as she climaxed. He didn’t stop pressing her clitoris as she clung to him through the orgasm.

He let her enjoy some post-climax bliss, even though his body was begging for relief and condoms were many yards away inside the cabin. Maybe if he started now, he could carry her back inside. It wasn’t a half-bad idea, so he scooped her up into his arms and headed for the shore.

She opened her eyes and gazed up at him. “Are we going to fuck now?”

“You never swear.”

“You have to use the real words for some things,” she said. “Euphemisms don’t convey the meaning.”

“In that case, yes, we’re going to fuck.”

“Oh, good.”

He walked past the pieces of her bathing suit as he left the water and headed up across the beach toward the cabin. They could retrieve them later. He wasn’t stopping until he got to a box of condoms and could get one on. Once at the cabin, he pulled the screen door open and headed toward the bedroom. Both of them dripped on the hardwood floor, no doubt leaving a trail of sand, too, as he walked in and tossed her onto the bed. She lay and watched as he stripped out of his swim trunks and then fumbled for a condom. Finally, he sheathed his sex.

Instead of lying on her back, she rose up on all fours on the bed, presenting her ass to him. And what a glorious butt it was. Pale skin everywhere, and between her legs, the folds of her sex glistened. Hot damn.

After climbing onto the bed behind her, he grasped his shaft and guided the head of his erection between her lips. Even through the latex, the ruddy color of his excitement was evident. He wasn’t going to last long, and he’d have to get creative about giving her another orgasm. He watched as he eased himself inside her.

He could hardly keep himself from trembling as pleasure so intense it rivaled pain washed through him. He belonged here, embedded deep inside her. The walls of her sex surrounded him with heat as he began thrusting. He went slowly at first, memorizing the feel of her.

Her groans told him she’d surrendered to the moment, giving herself to him without reservation. She was the same combination of shy and passionate that had stolen his heart before. Though she was now more experienced at sex, she still made each encounter feel like the first time—and made him feel like the greatest lover in the world.

After a bit, they hit on a rhythm, him plunging into her and her rocking back to meet him. He held her hips and watched the miracle of their coupling until his excitement became almost unbearable. This would end soon, and he had to make the next few moments something she’d never forget.

Bending, he wrapped his arm around her and dug his fingers into the hair that covered her sex. He found her clitoris again—hard and primed for another orgasm.

“Oh, God,” she cried.

“Yes, baby.”

“I’m going to come.”

“That’s the general idea.” He kept thrusting as he fingered her sensitive organ. His hips couldn’t have stopped if he’d tried. He’d approached the boundary that led to orgasm. A few more thrusts and he’d hit the point of no return. If he came first, he’d still finish her, but, oh man, she’d felt so good when the walls of her sex pulsed around him.

Then she did it. Her muscles gripped him as she let out a long “ahhh” that built to a shout. The spasms started, grasping at him from the tip of his sex to the root. He hit the boundary and soared past it as he came with his whole body. His lust streamed out of him. Once, twice, and again. He stayed at the pinnacle for long seconds, her cries echoing in his ears.

When it ended, he did the most ungallant thing imaginable—he collapsed in a heap on top of her. They both lay facedown on the comforter, their bodies tangled around each other.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “Can’t move.”

“Don’t. You’re fine.”

He wasn’t fine. He probably weighed sixty pounds more than she did. With some effort, he managed to roll off her onto his side. Then he tugged her against him, her back to his front. She fit against him perfectly.

Everything about her was perfect. Her curves. Her incredible response and passion. She’d even let him crush her when she’d drained him of all his strength. But there was still one big problem. This was Nicole. He’d thought his memories had been enhanced by the passage of time—exaggerated by the fact he’d been in love with her. They hadn’t been. Sex with her was different. More, somehow.

What was he going to do when their little vacation came to an end? How did he go back to regular sex—wonderful but not cataclysmic—when the time came for them to part?

…

The moon came up round and fat that night, its light spilling through the lanai doors of the bedroom so brightly Nicole could make out every feature of Adam’s face. The weather was warm enough for the ceiling fan, which now sent currents of ocean-sweet air throughout the room. The AC would have made things chilly, but this way, she could have the lanai doors open to hear the sound of night insects. Just perfect.

For a while, she lay and watched him sleep. With his face toward hers, she could study the male beauty that had captivated her since the first time she’d seen him. Strong jaw, prominent cheekbones. With his eyes closed, their sparkling blue was hidden, a contrast to the dark brown of his hair.

His nose had been broken—in a fight, he’d told her—but that bit of asymmetry only made him even more appealing. Indeed, he was a man gifted in so many ways, not the least of which became apparent when he was aroused. Any woman would fall in love with him. She had, once. How could she make sure that wouldn’t happen again?

She sighed loudly enough that it might have awakened some people, but not Adam. It was crazy to realize that, as much as they’d sworn their unending love for each other years before and as much sex as they’d managed to sneak in, they’d never spent the night together. Now that she’d done it twice, the importance of the bond that sort of intimacy created became clear. Maybe if they’d had it back then, he might have found a way to return to her. Or she could have found a way to him.

But that was all water under the bridge now. Still, maybe they could become friendly competitors instead of enemies. This time with him put so much on the line, but if things worked out, the effort could prove worth it.

One thing was for sure—she couldn’t think clearly with him sleeping next to her, so she climbed out of bed and headed into the living area of the cabin. Dishes still sat in the sink from the dinner they’d cooked. He’d grilled the steaks while she’d baked some potatoes and made a salad. Tomorrow, she’d take him to the restaurant kitchen, where she could show him some of her mad culinary skills.

The breeze off the cove might be cool, so she grabbed a shawl before going outside. Here, the moon bathed the entire scene in magic—silvering the tops of the gentle waves as they hit the beach and making the opposite shore seem so close she could reach out and touch it. She hadn’t even seen the cove before she’d settled on this island to build her resort. When she had discovered this place, she’d decided immediately to make it the most exclusive part of Savvy. People who’d stay here would leave with memories they wouldn’t be able to recreate anywhere else. And they’d come back.

Gathering the shawl around her shoulders, she took a seat on the bottom step of the porch. How ridiculous, even comedic, that she’d ended up here. She’d been so painfully sheltered. Private schools with a private car to take her back and forth. Then a small women’s college, not far from her father’s home. Naturally shy, she’d had few friends and virtually no boyfriends until Adam had shown up that summer.

Her mother had passed away when Nicole was three, and she’d had four stepmothers afterward, for varying amounts of time. Most of them had ignored her. Louise, number two, had tried to become close, but that marriage had lasted less than a year.

Vivian—just thinking of the woman made Nicole shudder. They’d annoyed each other from the first day, and Vivian had tried to have her sent off to boarding school. Unfortunately, Vivian had ended up with stock in Westmore Hotels as part of the divorce settlement, and so Nicole’s father had suspected she’d plotted with Adam to ruin the company. No matter what, Nicole couldn’t make herself believe that was true. Adam could never be that cruel.

Yeah, living in that big house hadn’t been easy. The servants had come and gone, too. The only ones who took any notice of Nicole hadn’t stayed long. At least Annie had lasted long enough to teach her how to cook.

And then there had been Adam. Someone who noticed her. Liked her. Cared about her feelings. He’d taught her so much, especially about the workings of her own body. How she’d loved him. But he’d left her like everyone else.

Then, she’d gone to work for her father. But just two years ago, he’d died suddenly of a heart attack and left control of his company to her, along with a note begging her to keep it going.

The emptiness had become too much for her to bear after his death. It had grown inside her steadily from all her losses—first of her mother, whom she barely remembered, to Louise, who might have filled the void if she’d lasted long enough. Every departure of a staff member who’d cared for her—Annie, the cook, and Joe, the gardener—added to it. Adam had broken her heart, but even then, she’d had someone—her father. But then he left her, too.

She’d had to fight the nothingness, the total lack of feeling and joy, to save Westmore Hotels. She’d managed somehow, and she’d continue if it killed her. And if she managed to make a success of the business, she might try to build more of a life for herself.

Her father had been difficult. He might have been, as Adam put it, a perfect bastard, but he was hers. Now his company was all she had left of him, and she had to protect it from the only man she’d ever loved. Talk about irony.

The screen door opened behind her. “Here you are.”

She turned and found Adam standing there. Who else? He wore nothing but his pajama bottoms.

“I hope I didn’t wake you,” she said.

“Nope. I just rolled over, and you weren’t there,” he said.

“Sorry.”

He sat on the step above her and wrapped himself all around her—his legs on either side of her and his arms around her ribs—more of the intimacy she couldn’t have shared with him in their life before.

“So, what do you think of Savvy so far?” she asked.

“In what sense?”

“I’m going for a very particular niche in the market—people who want excitement, luxury, and privacy, and can pay for it.”

“You have the luxury part down.”

“Wait until I show you the rest tomorrow.” She turned her head and almost smacked her face against his. The moonlight did wonders for the angles and planes of his features, and now it made his eyes gleam, too.

She turned her gaze away before she turned into a puddle of admiration and lust. “I’ve just hired one of Europe’s hottest celebrity chefs. When I announce he’s on staff, I’ll land in every media market. Everyone will know about Savvy before I have to spend a dime on advertising.”

“So, we’re talking shop now?”

“I guess so.”

He sighed. “The problem, Nicole, is that luxury is your father’s business model, and it isn’t doing very well.”

“Savvy isn’t going to be old and stodgy.”

“Baby, I’m afraid your main building is the definition of stodgy,” he said. “Granite? Really?”

“We get hurricanes here. Granite won’t collapse. Neither will the hurricane-proof windows I’ve installed.”

“All right. Maybe I’m wrong.”

He didn’t say that because he meant it, though. He was only trying to placate her, like so many other people in the business, even in her father’s company. Men, of course. All her life, someone had taken care of her. First her father. Then, when she’d started working in his company, the men who’d been there before her had tried to “help” her, as if she was a child. She still relied on one of them—her dear friend, Peter Baxter. She would always be grateful to him for his help when she’d so desperately needed it, but now, she was ready to find her own identity and make her own mark. Savvy would do that for her.

“What I’m trying to say is that you and I are fulfilling different customer dreams. Your resorts are more about international hotspots. Savvy still offers excitement, but it’s more off the beaten path. People who need privacy will be able to find it here.”

“I suppose.”

“We’re not in competition with each other,” she said.

“You’re wrong there,” he said. “As long as we’re in the same business, we’re competing.”

“You always see things as a fight.”

“Because that’s how life is,” he said.

How little she knew him, really. They’d only spent that summer together, and much of that time, they’d spent making out. He’d been so excited about being admitted to one of the best business schools in the country, and she’d been happy for him. Had he hardened into the cutthroat executive after that, or had the hardness been in him from the beginning?

“I’m going to convince you we can be friendly competitors,” she said.

“Contradiction in terms. There is no such thing as friendly competitors.”

“We can share a clientele. Sometimes they’ll want flash and excitement, like you provide at Finesse and Lit. Sometimes they’ll want to get away from the world and enjoy beauty like…” She gestured toward the cove. “…like this.”

“I don’t want to argue with you.”

Which meant he didn’t agree. Cursed man. Why couldn’t he see reason?

She would impress him tomorrow. He might consider the outside of her resort stodgy, but there was plenty inside to appeal to a young audience—a smart nightclub where they’d showcase the latest hot performers. Great shopping. Trendy food. She even had a casino ship that would go out to sea, where gambling was legal. But she wouldn’t convince him of any of that tonight.

“I guess that’s enough moon gazing for one night.” She rose and turned around. He continued sitting on the step, now staring up at her.

He took her hands in his. “I don’t mean to hurt you, Nicole.”

“No, of course you don’t.” That came out with a hint of sarcasm. She hadn’t intended that, but honestly…he’d done little but hurt her ever since he’d left her father’s house. First by not returning for her, and then by going after her company.

He got the message, because his features hardened. “I’m only sharing the reality of the business.”

“You have your version of reality,” she said. “That doesn’t make it right.”

“I’ve been in this business longer than you have.”

“And my father was in the business before you were born.”

He rose, too. “Let’s stop here before we say something we’ll regret.”

“Good idea.” She walked around him to the screen door. “Are you coming in?”

“Not quite yet. Maybe I haven’t had enough moonlight.”