Newport Billionaires Box Set

by Amy DeLuca

  Hunter held his tongue, shooting her a knowing grin.

  Contrary to Kristal’s expectations, they didn’t proceed to the end of the dock, where a tall, white-sailed schooner was waiting, or to the right, where one of the double-decked tour boats was moored. Instead, he directed her to a private slip where a huge, white yacht was docked.

  “Here we are.” He indicated she should precede him up the ramp to its deck.

  “Whose is this?”

  “A friend’s. Reid’s actually. He’s lending it to us, along with his captain.”

  “I didn’t know he had a boat. Or a captain.” Of all the guys, Reid Mancini had been the most difficult to get to know. As attractive as he was, he put out an emotional deflector shield that kept others at a distance. Or maybe it was just her.

  Hunter nodded. “He loves fishing. He hasn’t used it much lately because he’s been basically doing double duty with my company and his own. He’s stretched pretty thin. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to keep him. StillYours-dot-com is really blowing up. Eventually he’s going to have to devote full-time attention to it.”

  Kristal chuckled. “It’s still hard to believe someone as cynical as he is created one of the world’s most popular social media sites—and it’s all about love. I read it’s on the verge of eclipsing Facebook.”

  “Pretty crazy, huh? Okay, watch your step.”

  When they entered the main cabin of the yacht, Kristal forgot all about Reid’s business. She was too overwhelmed by his floating mansion.

  The ship’s interior was spectacular. She’d been a guest in many glamorous homes, and none was any more impressive than this.

  With spectacular skylights and ocean views from every room, the yacht was the picture of understated elegance.

  There was luxury everywhere she looked, from the white wool and silk carpet in the sunken living area and media room, to the marble bathrooms, custom made lintels and columns of natural wood, and fully equipped gym.

  In the dining room, the soft glow of recessed ceiling lights glanced off the gleaming burled wood tabletop and sparkling crystal and silverware.

  “Mmmm. It smells amazing in here,” Kristal said. “So we’re having dinner onboard?”

  “Yes, in a little while. I thought you might like to be out on deck as we leave the harbor and go out into the bay. I asked the captain to keep it close to the shore for a while in case you wanted to get some shots of the mansions and lighthouses, or maybe the Pell Bridge at sunset.”

  Kristal beamed at him. “You know I do.”

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  Though it was winter, the day was unseasonably mild. Kristal was comfortable in her down jacket as she snapped shots of Fort Adams, Castle Hill, and Clingstone, Narragansett Bay’s famous House on the Rock.

  The three-story, twenty-three room, ten thousand square foot home had been built in 1905 atop a small rocky island and was beautiful in its rustic solitude.

  The captain also sailed them past Hammersmith Farm, the childhood home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. President John F. Kennedy spent so much time at the seaside estate it had been nicknamed the “Summer White House.” The owner of the Fruit of the Loom company had since bought the place.

  After giving her a perfect vantage point for photographing some of Newport’s other well-known mansions, the captain turned the yacht out to sea. The chef texted Hunter to tell him dinner was ready to be served.

  “Thank you,” Kristal said as they went back indoors and into the beautiful and delicious-smelling dining room. “That was worth the trip even without dinner—though I am starved.”

  “Me too. Not sure if the food can live up to the view though.”

  Hunter needn’t have worried. The chef he’d purloined from one of the area’s top restaurants for the evening had prepared a sumptuous feast.

  The appetizer course consisted of tiny crab cakes served atop mixed baby greens, fresh asparagus, and edible flowers, and drizzled with the most delicious sauce.

  Next the chef brought out bowls of lobster bisque with espresso cream.

  The main course was lobster flown in from Kennebunkport, Maine and prepared with a champagne glace, caulilini, gnocchi, fennel, and morel mushrooms.

  For dessert, blueberry pie soufflé with Vanilla Crème Anglaise.

  “Oh my gosh—blueberries are my all-time favorite,” Kristal exclaimed, her mouth watering at the sight of the gorgeous dessert in spite of all the delicious food she’d already consumed.

  “I know.” Hunter looked quite pleased with himself.

  “You do? How?”

  He shrugged. “I might have done a little recon. I called Cinda today.”

  “Wow.” She shook her head, amazed. And then she lifted the first bite of the sweet souffle to her mouth. All conversation ceased.

  When she finally came up for air, Kristal said, “I think I might have just embarrassed myself there. I’ve never eaten so much so fast in my life.”

  “I have to admit… that was pretty impressive,” Hunter joked. “And I live with six large men.”

  She gave him a chiding glance but laughed. The sound of his rich laughter joined hers, and for a moment, Kristal felt suspended in time, as if watching the two of them together from outside her own body.

  He’d removed his sweater and now wore just his dress shirt. The top two buttons were undone, giving her a glimpse of his throat and the beginning of his muscled chest.

  The sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, and the interplay of muscles and tendons beneath the masculine skin of his arms and hands was nothing short of fascinating. There was no getting around it—Hunter was devastatingly handsome.

  But more than how he looked, it was the way he was acting tonight that was a revelation. He’d smiled more, laughed more, and talked more than she’d ever seen him.

  Relaxation looked good on him.

  After dinner, they went back out on deck to take in the 360-degree water view and starry skies. The yacht moved at a leisurely pace, stirring a light breeze that ruffled Hunter’s dark hair.

  Kristal longed to reach up and touch it, to stroke his clean-shaven jaw and run her fingertips over the plush lips that had drawn her eyes like a magnet all evening long. It had been hard not to stare at them.

  She wanted to take pictures of him to keep and enjoy, to stare at as long as she wanted to when he wasn’t around.

  Well that wouldn’t be weird at all now, would it?

  The wind kicked up, and Kristal shivered.

  “You cold?” Hunter asked. “Come here.”

  He drew her close, and now the scent of him was all around her, fresh and intoxicating and warm, like him.

  “Better?” he murmured, his breath tickling her cheek.

  She nodded, feeling a bit like she was in a dream. As they pulled apart slightly, their gazes connected.

  His was filled with intensity, tiny rushlights springing to life behind the extraordinary blue irises. Her breath caught then picked up pace, moving in and out of her lungs in shallow streams.

  And then he kissed her, and there was no dream that could match it.

  Hunter’s hands slid from her back to her sides, clenching the heavy fabric of her sweater desperately as his lips moved over hers in ways that had her mind racing and her body pulsing with an energy she’d never felt before.

  From the way he was breathing and the tension in his hands and body she could tell he felt it too. Nothing had ever been better than this, being wanted by Hunter Bestia.

  She never wanted this feeling to end, but all too soon it did.

  Hunter took a half step back, his breaths hard and fast. He held his hands up and slightly to the sides in the classic gesture for surrender.

  “I’ve gotta… I need a little break here. You are too…”

  He didn’t finish the sentence, just stood there staring at her and shaking his head as if in disbelief. “What are you doing to me? You’re amazing.”

  Blushing from embarr
assment and pleasure, Kristal searched for a response. All she really wanted to do was kiss him again.

  “This is amazing, this whole night,” she said. “I’ve never been on a date that’s come even close to this.”

  Hunter’s expression soured. “I find that hard to believe.”

  “No, honestly, no one I know would ever have planned an evening so special, so… perfect for me.”

  “I would have thought Harry wined and dined you every chance he got.”

  “Not really. I mean, yes, we went out to some nice places, but he was like my dad, busy all the time, working. Even when it was just the two of us, he was distracted.”

  In contrast, Hunter seemed completely focused on her. It was flattering to have the full attention of a man like him—brilliant, successful, charming, and so handsome he took her breath away.

  Still wearing a frown Kristal couldn’t account for, he said, “I would have loved to take you on a date like this in high school. I didn’t even have a car most of the time, much less the money to plan a sunset dinner cruise.”

  She stepped close again and lay her hand on his arm. “I wouldn’t have needed anything like that. We could have gone to the movies, or on a picnic, or even for a walk. I would have just loved spending time with you. If you’d invited me to go bowling tonight, I’d have been just as excited to go.”

  “Yeah, right.” He sounded cynical enough to give Reid, Mr. Grumpy himself, a run for his money.

  “Hunter… it’s true. I mean, this is nice…” Kristal gestured at the incredible view. “But money isn’t everything.”

  “Maybe not, but it does matter. I mean, there was a reason you chose to go out with Larson Overstreet, a reason you were dating Harry McAllen of the Bellevue Avenue McAllens instead of, say, the guy who caught the fish we ate tonight… or grew the vegetables.”

  “I’d have no problem dating a fisherman or a farmer,” Kristal insisted, feeling a little insulted.

  “Money can come in handy, for sure. But it’s just a means to an end, a tool. If you let it rule you, then you wind up like Margot, who’s one of the unhappiest human beings I’ve ever known. Even Harry. I’m fairly sure the reason he dumped me right after my dad’s stroke is he knew of our precarious financial situation. He started dating the daughter of one of the firm’s other founding partners, whose parents own half the prime waterfront property in the state. Trust me, money doesn’t make someone a good person.”

  At his unconvinced expression and hmmph noise, she went on.

  “Once when we were in high school, I think we were seniors, I saw you buy lunch for that kid Elliott who used to eat just one sad little peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day for months. I didn’t realize it until later that day when I asked someone, but that’s what they gave the students who weren’t paid up on their lunch accounts.”

  “Yeah. I knew what it meant.”

  “Well, I was aware at the time that your family didn’t have much money…”

  Hunter’s face flushed. Clearly, she’d made him uncomfortable, but she persisted. What she had to say was important for him to hear.

  “I watched you deliver a full hot lunch tray to that kid, and you told him you had to go and didn’t have time to eat it. You walked out without eating at all that day.”

  She shook her head, reliving the admiration she’d felt for him in that moment.

  “You made me want to do something. I went home and talked to my dad about what could be done to stop the lunch-shaming situation, and he got involved. Hunter… that’s the reason I liked you… because of your heart. You were always looking out for other people, doing kind things. I’m here tonight because you’re still that same guy. You may have more money now than you could ever spend, but you’re still the same person inside. You’re still that sweet, skinny, big-hearted kid. At our core, we never really change who we are.”

  Instead of making Hunter happy, her words seemed to bother him. He took a step back and gestured toward the cabin.

  “We should get inside. It’s getting colder out here, and the captain’s going to want to increase the speed to get us back to harbor.”

  Eighteen

  Bad Timing

  Once they were inside, Hunter busied himself with going to the bar and getting Kristal a drink.

  Afterward he sat with her on the buttery soft white leather sofa but kept a respectful distance. He didn’t attempt to kiss her again or even hold her hand.

  What had happened? Over the course of a few minutes his demeanor had changed from relaxed and happy to quiet and tense.

  “Hey—you okay? Did I say something wrong?” she asked.

  A sense of foreboding grew inside her like the fog beginning to build on the water.

  Hunter smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He looked… haunted.

  “Of course not. Last night’s lack of sleep is catching up with me. Why don’t you gather your things and get ready to disembark? I’m going to check in with the captain.”

  He left the room, and she didn’t see him again until the yacht had docked. He returned and led her down the gangway to the dock and toward the parking area.

  A strong odor of fish permeated the chilly air.

  “We’re going to have a hard time hiding where we’ve been tonight, reeking like fish,” Kristal quipped, trying to break the new, uncomfortable silence. “Might as well just go ahead and confess to the guys when we get back, although I assume Reid already knows what’s going on with us.”

  Hunter stiffened beside her. “Listen… about that. I’ve thought about it, and maybe it’s not the best idea to talk to them just yet.”

  “You mean you want to keep us a secret?” Kristal didn’t like the idea of hiding their relationship from their housemates. It felt too much like lying. “Why? Are you ashamed of me?”

  “Of course not.” He sounded fierce. “I could never be ashamed of you. It’s just not a good time to rock the boat. We’ve got to finish up the show. Work on Chipp is crazy busy.”

  A cold sensation washed through Kristal and remained even after they’d gotten into Hunter’s pre-heated car where she turned his words over in her head.

  “Are you saying you don’t think we should date?” From his expression she realized that was exactly what he’d been getting at. Wow. One minute he was full-speed ahead, and now he was slamming on the brakes.

  “What happened Hunter? What changed between that kiss in my room last night and right now?” She paused. “Talk to me. Where did you go during the night? What did you do?”

  He shook his head, wearing a frown. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter. It’s just… I don’t think we should say anything to the guys. They’re not just my friends. They’re my co-workers. They’re my housemates. We all have to work together every day. Live together. And this company we’ve built… it means everything to me. I can’t let a rift with them slow it down. I’ve clawed and scraped and sacrificed to get where I am—I can’t go back.”

  His voice increased in intensity as he white-knuckled the steering wheel. “I can’t risk losing it all when I’ve finally made it. Can you understand that?”

  Kristal nodded, feeling numb. “Yes.”

  She did understand. Not the part about why he’d pursued her so avidly if he was worried having a relationship with her would destroy his friendships and his company. But she understood the part about his company meaning everything to him. About putting work first.

  He sounded just like her father.

  Suddenly she was ten years old and hearing her dad’s voice as he explained why he couldn’t make it to her soccer game… her spelling bee… her school arts night.

  “I wish I could be there, sweetheart,” he’d said. “But this case is very important. My clients are counting on me. I can’t let them down. There will be other events.”

  There had been, and he’d made it to precious few of them.

  Harry had been on the same track, one paved with good intentions and excuses and resulting in
lonely nights for her and a pervasive feeling that she was an afterthought—or a bother—for having any needs that went beyond what money could buy.

  He’d made work his priority, which left her begging for scraps of his time. It was one reason she’d been slow to pick up on the clues he was seeing another woman. She was used to him not being around.

  What was wrong with her? Why did she keep falling for career-obsessed workaholic men?

  She’d thought Hunter was different. He’d claimed to have always wanted her, to have been obsessed with her since high school. Yet now that they had a chance to finally be together, he refused to open up to her and really be there.

  Even Larson Overstreet, the only other man she’d gone out with since Harry, had a demanding career and said his work hours were ridiculous.

  Apparently, she had a type. And it was time to break the pattern.

  “I understand,” she said as Hunter made the short drive from the marina to Bellevue Avenue.

  “Your company is your priority, and it should be. You need to keep your focus on it. You also made a promise to your friends and partners, and you should keep it. I’m moving out soon anyway, possibly out of state, so it doesn’t make sense to start anything. Chalk it up to bad timing.”

  “Wait, Kristal…” he protested weakly.

  “No, let me finish. It’s fine, Hunter. We’ve been friends for a long time—let’s just keep it that way. We’re better as friends.”

  His grip on the steering wheel didn’t loosen, but he uttered a tight response. “If that’s what you want.”

  Though her suggestion had made sense to her when she’d said it, her heart shriveled at his easy acceptance. It wasn’t what she wanted at all.

  “Yes,” she managed to whisper. “I think it’s for the best.”

  Tucker was the only one awake when they returned to the mansion. He was sprawled out on the couch with his laptop, snack wrappers piled on the table beside him.

  “Hey guys. Where ya been?” he asked in a friendly tone.