by Amy Knupp
“Didn’t she take a job in the Bahamas before you were done with high school?” He remembered Ezra talking about it, trying to figure out how to help his sister. There’d even been a brief discussion about Ezra taking a break from his senior year in college to move back to Nashville with Mackenzie so she could finish her last year of high school. She’d ended up living with a friend’s family.
“Yep. That one was a man-and-job combo she couldn’t pass up, and I like to think it was where she finally found some contentment. I know a lot of kids have it a lot worse than I did. I had a decent place to live and a loving family. I didn’t realize until later how much moving all the time affected me. Not until I was on my own in LA.”
“Where you moved a bunch more times.” She’d mentioned it the night she’d moved back. “But that couldn’t be because of your mom anymore.”
She held up her hand, counting on her fingers. “There was freshman year, moving into the dorm. Summer after freshman year, subleasing an apartment. Sophomore year, my same roommate and I got a campus apartment together, which we shared until I dropped out junior year and had to move because I was no longer a student.” She held up three fingers, added a fourth. “The roommate I found when I quit school turned out to be crazy, so after ten months with her, I moved in with a guy—”
“What guy?” Drake couldn’t help asking. She’d lived with a guy? “Was he a friend or…?”
“A mistake. I dated the brother of one of my clients. I stupidly thought I was in love and I unstupidly needed to get the hell away from the crazy roommate.”
“He didn’t work out, huh?”
“He couldn’t make it six months without cheating. Even though he was the one who asked me to move in.”
Drake narrowed his eyes and felt a strong urge to make a stopover in LA on the way back to pound the guy’s face in for hurting Mackenzie.
“After that, more roommates, more apartments. I’ve been saving to buy a house since I quit school. I have a decent bit saved up. Just not enough for LA real estate. I can afford a house in Nashville, and once I find it, that will be the last time I move.”
“Ever?”
“For a long time, at least. I’m dying to have my own place. Buying a house may sound not that big of a deal to someone like you who could buy six houses if you wanted to, but I crave stability the way a homeless person craves a cheeseburger.”
“Fair enough. You’ve moved a dozen and a half times in twenty-some years.”
“I need my place,” she said. “I need steady and predictable and certain, and people are none of those and—no offense—but especially you. And this all sounds incredibly stupid because all you want to do is sleep with me.”
He laughed quietly, even though her words made him uncomfortable, because though he wasn’t sure what, exactly, he wanted, he was pretty sure it wasn’t just sex, and that had been fucking with his mind since San Francisco. “You make it sound so crass.”
She exhaled, and it was noticeably shaky. “I’m attracted to you, Drake. I think that’s obvious. I thought, by seducing you that night, I would give in for one evening and move on, but here we both are on the island of Jiva all the way around the world two weeks later. The attraction is crazy hot between us, but you’re the opposite of stable and settled and peaceful. You’re the last guy I should have in my life if I were going to break my own rules and have a guy in my life.”
As much as he wanted to focus on the crazy hot attraction part of her diatribe, he was more caught up on the last bit. He couldn’t argue with a word of it.
He wasn’t stable, life-wise. He’d never wanted to settle down. He didn’t lead a peaceful, predictable life. He wasn’t the man Mackenzie needed, not long-term.
But that didn’t negate the fact that he wanted more time with her. He wasn’t ready to let her go, didn’t want to move on just yet. “I get it. But we’re on this big adventure in paradise. We want each other. We like spending time together. So why not make this trip a time-out from reality and indulge ourselves, knowing full well there’s an end date when we go back to the real world?”
Mackenzie crossed her arms and slowly rubbed her hands up and down her upper arms, gazing outside but, he suspected, lost in thought and not seeing what was in front of her. She was considering his proposition, thank God.
He needed her to say yes. He wanted to snorkel and deep-sea fish and sunset watch with her, absolutely, but even more, he needed to touch every inch of that sun-kissed, baby-soft skin and run his tongue over her and in her to see if she tasted like the coconut tropical scent she gave off today and sink his body into her until his eyes crossed and he didn’t remember what planet they were on. If she said no now…
“Just while we’re here?” she asked in a lower, huskier voice.
“Just the next four days. As soon as we step off the plane at BNA, we go back to just friends. You go back to your promise to yourself and focusing on house and job, and I go back to my happy, commitment-free existence.”
She turned from the view to face him fully, met his gaze head on, still looking thoughtful and so damn pretty. “This is supposed to be a working vacation for me.”
“You can work.” In between orgasms.
He’d never been one to not use every tool he had to get what he wanted, and now, at what felt like a crucial moment, would be a foolish time to start. He ran a finger up her arm, from her elbow to her shoulder, then over her sexy collarbone. Then lower. He traced the outer edge of her bikini top over the curve of her breast, then he dipped his thumb below the green fabric, lightly massaging in little circles, veering toward her nipple but never quite touching it, just enough to tease her.
Her eyes dilated and she stuttered out a shallow exhale. “Okay. Until Nashville.” Her lids fluttered shut momentarily as she took hold of the biceps of his other arm. When he inched his thumb farther and finally rubbed it over the hard, distended tip of her nipple, she sucked in her breath.
With his other hand, he reached around to her back and untied her top, first the bottom tie, then the one at her nape. The green fabric fell to the floor, and the sight of his thumb on her silky pink nipple… Yeah. Thirty-four hours of travel was worth it for this.
He kissed and swirled his tongue over the exact spot his thumb had been as he drew the bottoms of her swimsuit down to her ankles and she stepped out of them. He reached around her and palmed both cheeks of her ass, then lifted her and carried her to the bed.
After lowering her to the middle of the thick mattress, he went to his messenger bag, dug deep for the condoms he’d packed, set them on the nightstand, and shucked all of his clothes off, his cock throbbing painfully. He climbed onto the bed and sat up, his back against the dozen pillows in front of the headboard, and lifted Mackenzie on top of him. With a lust-dazed look in her eyes and the heat of her center rubbing against him, she leaned in to kiss him deeply, sensually, thoroughly, and his eyes rolled back into his head. He pulled her to him, their hands all over each other, teasing and exploring and enflaming.
This woman was perfect. Perfect for him. Perfect for right now.
He couldn’t allow himself to think beyond that as he matched up their bodies and pulled her down onto him and lost himself in an ocean of divine sensation.
Chapter Twenty
Mackenzie had succumbed to the magic of the tropical island hours ago, maybe the second she entered Drake’s casita, and she refused to worry about it.
This, with Drake, was temporary, and that fact made it just about perfect.
She was in Drake’s arms, fully clothed now, in a casual black dress. The dance floor was an area on the patio cleared of tables and chairs, and they were the only ones on it right now. The Fijian musicians—two guitarists and one playing a ukulele—on the tiny stage of the outdoor lounge area were winding down a love song they’d played at Drake’s request. Their style was island music all the way, with a bit of a reggae beat to it—upbeat, happy songs that would forever take her back to tonight in he
r mind.
“Those guys are incredible,” she said, smiling up at him, “but I’m not sure what makes this a love song compared to the others. It’s not like a sappy American ballad.”
“It’s the lyrics,” Drake said matter-of-factly, which made her laugh because the words were in a different language, and though he’d gotten Felise, their server, to teach him please and thank you in Fijian, she was sure he didn’t understand any of the song. He laughed with her, and then he lowered his lips and kissed her as the music ended, lingering over her mouth for just long enough to spike her pulse with the unspoken message that this was a prelude to more, later, when they were alone.
Someone started clapping, drawing their attention to the stage. The ukulele player grinned widely and aimed the applause at her and Drake. Hamming it up, Drake bowed, then gestured with a flourish to Mackenzie, who, playing along, attempted an awkward curtsy. They all laughed, Mackenzie included, and Drake nodded his appreciation to the musicians as he wove his fingers with hers and led her back to their table.
There were several other couples scattered around the lounge deck, most at tables and one of them heading out to the “dance floor.” The atmosphere was laid-back yet romantic. How could it not be with the sound of the distant surf audible in between songs and the scent of the sea and tropical flowers hanging in the warm night air? There was a straw-roofed cabana along one side that served as the bar, with a bartender working the counter and Felise, the one and only server, handling table service.
Early that afternoon, Mackenzie and Drake had eventually passed out into a long, deep jet-lag nap after a couple of rounds of life-changing sex. She’d woken to an island breeze blowing over Drake’s bed and an atmospheric twilight temporarily disorienting her until she remembered where and when—and with whom—she was.
The resort offered personal chef services and a choice of eating in the room, out here at the lounge tables, or anywhere else on the private island. They’d chosen the lounge, in part so Mackenzie could experience as much as possible for professional reasons. All thoughts of her job and To the Stars slipped away when she’d tasted the exquisite citrus coconut cream fish baked in banana leaves and the greens and the coconut bread on the side. Her mai tai had a mini yellow umbrella sticking out of it and no shortage of rum. All that, plus sitting across from Drake, with him as the main scenery, made for an unforgettable evening.
When they returned to their little table for two now, Felise had replaced their beverages with full ones, as they’d requested. They sat and each took a drink to quench their thirst after dancing to a half-dozen songs. As Mackenzie set her glass back down on the table, she spotted Giovanni heading their way and managed to bobble her glass enough to spill a little. She soaked up the spilled cocktail with her napkin.
“Good evening, Drake and Mackenzie,” Giovanni said warmly as Drake reached to her side of the table and interlaced their fingers possessively.
“Hi, Giovanni,” she said. “Want to pull up a seat?”
Drake’s fingers stiffened a bit in hers, and she saw annoyance when she glanced at his face. She gave him a quick shake of her head and squeezed his hand.
“Only for a minute,” Giovanni said.
When he went to the next table to grab an extra chair, Mackenzie whispered to Drake, “Be nice. I want to do business with him.”
His eyes sparkled with a moment of mischief, and then he squeezed her hand, let go, and sat back in his chair, as if acquiescing.
“Drake, you’re a lucky man,” Giovanni continued, “and I’m pleased to meet you. Mackenzie, I’m sorry to put you in the position I did.”
“What position is that?” Drake asked.
“Sometimes I may seem”—he searched for a word—“dense, but I observe many people, and I believe your embrace this morning, upon Drake’s arrival, was for my benefit, to show me that you were not receptive to my…personal interest. Am I right?”
“Drake and I have known each other since we were kids,” Mackenzie said. “I didn’t expect him to show up here. The hug was real.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt your feelings for each other,” Giovanni said, his mouth sliding into a grin. “The affection between you is undeniable. But I’m taking the tiniest bit of credit for pushing the two of you together because I believe your relationship has deepened since this morning.”
“Giovanni—”
“I am wise about some things,” he said knowingly, and Mackenzie figured it wasn’t worth arguing about. “And I am hoping for the best for the two of you.” He nodded slowly at Drake.
Drake eyed him, and Mackenzie waited to see how he would respond. “Thank you, Giovanni.” His gaze shifted to Mackenzie, and the look in his eyes made her feel melty inside, nearly as much as his next words. “Mackenzie is a special woman. I can’t fault you for noticing that.”
“Keep Bellamore in mind for the honeymoon, yes?” Giovanni said with an even wider grin, and they all laughed, even if Mackenzie was a bit thrown by the idea. “If not Bellamore, then my family has numerous island resorts I can connect you with.”
“Really?” Mackenzie said, sitting up straighter as she snapped into business mode. “Why haven’t you told me of these before, Giovanni? Are you holding out on me?” She kept her tone light.
Giovanni leaned his forearms on the table and steepled his fingers, his gaze falling to his hands. “I suppose I will let you in on the secret. I have six brothers and I am the youngest.”
“Your mother had seven boys?” Mackenzie said with a combination of awe and horror. “Any sisters?”
“No. My parents were blessed only with boys,” Giovanni said with a little grin. “We grew up on Malta, in the Rossi Resort—”
“The Rossi?” Mackenzie said. “You’re one of those Rossis?”
With a humble laugh, Giovanni said, “My parents are those Rossis, and I suppose we seven were too, as we lived and worked there. Have you stayed with my family before?”
“Not personally, but I’ve had clients stay there,” she said. “It’s a beautiful place, from what I’ve seen, and it has an impeccable reputation.”
“Thank you. My parents have been very successful there. They have groomed each of my brothers and me to run our own resorts and have financed each property. But they did not want us to infringe on their Mediterranean Sea territory,” he said with a laugh, “and so we’re all here, in this part of the world.”
“So you’re all in competition,” Drake said.
“For everything, not only customers. I will admit I wanted to keep a beautiful girl like Mackenzie away from them. They are much too old for you anyway,” he said to her.
Mackenzie laughed. “Giovanni, you’re going to hook me up with information on their properties, right?”
“Yes. I have conceded on a personal level, and I will also open up the field for business, even though the competition between my brothers and me is cutthroat. You are welcome,” he said with humor.
“Thank you. Keep in mind I can send you all lots of business. No need to feel competitive about my company.” Mackenzie couldn’t wait to see which places were owned by his family. It could be six other strong business relationships for her. Seven if she included his parents. But she was getting ahead of herself.
“I will put together a list with all their contact information and websites,” Giovanni said. He pushed his chair back and stood. “In the meantime, I have outstayed my welcome at your table. I’m going to check in with the other guests before I retire to my residence for the evening. I look forward to doing lots of business together, and I hope we are friends.” He offered a hand to Drake.
Drake stood, all hints of jealousy now gone, and shook Giovanni’s hand. “Friends,” he said. “And I hope you and Mackenzie have a business relationship that benefits both of you.”
They all said good evening, and the resort owner made his way to another couple.
“Thanks for being friendly,” Mackenzie said once Drake sat back down and it was just the
two of them.
Drake shrugged. “He’s not so bad, as long as he knows where we all stand.”
“It must be lonely to be him.” She plucked the pink umbrella out of her drink and spun it between her thumb and fingers. “Most of the people who stay here are probably couples. He seems to work every day, so he doesn’t have a lot of ways to meet women.”
“But look at this place. The dude literally lives in paradise. I don’t feel too sorry for him.”
With a laugh, Mackenzie said, “Ha. It might be beautiful here, but you couldn’t live without your twenty thousand women, paradise or not.”
“Twenty thousand. I’m flattered.” He took a drink of his bottled beer and set it back down. “That many women sounds like a lot of work,” he said with a wink.
“Speaking of work…” Mackenzie glanced at the time on her phone, which she’d left on the table under her clutch. “This is a working vacation for me. I’d planned to work this afternoon instead of sleeping like the dead. I need to get a couple of things done yet tonight.”
Drake frowned. “What is this working vacation you speak of?”
“Reality for those of us who don’t have a trust fund or whatever it is you North brothers have.”
“No trust funds here,” he said, smiling, and that was a technicality because she knew he had millions. “I read up on things to do in this part of the world during my flight. Cave exploring, waterfall hikes, seaplane and helicopter tours, shark diving, kayaking, snorkeling… Are we going to get to do any of that together?”
“Shark diving is an easy no,” she said.
“I’d keep you safe,” he said, the low, intimate timbre of his voice resonating deep inside of her, taking her thoughts from business dedication to that big, comfortable bed in the center of his room. Or hers. She wasn’t picky.
A faint alert sounded in her brain. She could have some fun, spend some time with Drake, but what she couldn’t afford to do was blow off work altogether.
