The Girl Nobody Wanted Lynne Raye Harris

by Lynne Raye Harris

  Leo looked up then, caught her staring at him. Her first instinct was to glance away, pretend she hadn’t been looking, but he smiled and her insides melted. It was so easy being with him like this. Being out here with no one watching, with no fear of prying eyes and lying voices.

  Did they even know she was missing yet? Was anyone curious? They knew she’d gone with Leo, so what were they thinking?

  Anna frowned. She was pretty sure she knew what they were thinking.

  And they weren’t wrong, were they? Which was beside the point, because she couldn’t really afford for the press to get wind of such an idea. If she was humiliated now, what would happen if they decided to report that she’d spent the night alone on an island with a famous playboy overnight?

  “Regrets, Anna?” His voice sliced into her thoughts.

  She shook her head. “You?”

  “One. That we didn’t have a bed.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

  He looked so serious. “You deserved a bed. Flowers, candles, dinner and hours of kissing first.”

  She shivered in delight. What would it have been like to go on a real date with Leo? To be wined and dined and made love to in a soft bed with fluffy covers they could snuggle into afterward. “Is that how you usually go about it?”

  He frowned then, and she wished she hadn’t said it quite like that. Jealous, possessive. A clingy virgin. Former virgin.

  “I did try to warn you,” he said mildly, and yet she got the impression he wasn’t in the least bit relaxed when he said it.

  She was not jealous. Not at all.

  It was simply her competitive side coming out, the part of her that always had to be the best at everything. The part that planned and made charts and notes and calendars and felt triumphant when everything came off exactly as she’d envisioned.

  There was no chart for this, no plan that would see her through. This thing with Leo simply was.

  She waved a hand airily, as if it were a trifle. They both knew it was not.

  “Forget I said that.”

  He blew out a breath, and she got the distinct impression he was disappointed. In her. “I wasn’t with a woman last night, Anna. I was working on a business deal. When you found me this morning, I’d never actually gone to bed.”

  Anna’s heart pounded. She imagined him at his computer all night. And then, because she couldn’t quite help it, she imagined him with a woman, some svelte gorgeous thing who wrapped herself around him and wouldn’t let go. She called it being real with herself, when in fact it hurt more than it should.

  She knew all about wrapping herself around Leo. She wanted to do it again. She was greedy where he was concerned. She felt such a sense of urgency, as if she needed to experience everything she could in this one night. Before her real life intruded.

  “There was lipstick on your collar,” she told him matter-of-factly. “Not that I care, of course.”

  He frowned as he thought about it. Then his expression cleared. “Ah, that would be from the drunk woman who launched herself at me in the men’s room of the hotel last night.”

  Anna blinked, scandalized. She may have acted with complete and utter abandon today, but she was too much of a lady ever to make a fool of herself in public. At least, not on purpose. “And what were you doing that she followed you into the men’s room?”

  Leo shook his head and laughed. “Mistaken identity. She was after another fellow, who’d ducked into a stall to hide.”

  Anna couldn’t stifle a giggle. Odd, since she was not ordinarily the giggling sort. “And what happened when she, um, attacked you? Did he come out of hiding?”

  “No, the bastard. Fortunately, she passed out before she did too much damage.”

  “And then what?”

  “I carried her to the lobby and informed the staff they would need to see her to her room.”

  “Oh, my,” Anna breathed. “You are quite the white knight.”

  “I do what I can,” he said, that cocky grin of his making her heart twist. For the first time, she thought the grin might actually be genuine and not a part of the armor he wore to hide the darkness within.

  “But, Anna,” he went on, turning serious. “You don’t have to worry about me embarrassing you. When we’re back on Santina, we’ll do everything properly. I won’t see anyone else while we’re together.”

  Her blood beat in her ears. A current of dread uncoiled in her veins. She didn’t want to think about Santina, didn’t want to think about what would happen when they returned. It was another world, another life, and she didn’t want it intruding on her happiness right now. She couldn’t think of them there, couldn’t imagine him taking her on a date, much less coming home with her for sex.

  No, when they got to Santina, it was over. It had to be. Anguish threatened to eat her from the inside out. She wanted to rage that it wasn’t fair, that she’d only now allowed herself to be free, but she knew that the fishbowl of her life wouldn’t permit her to see Leo once they left the island. She was brave out here where no one could see them. But when she reached home again?

  “Let’s not talk about that yet,” she whispered, gazing into the fire and watching the flames leap and dance. She didn’t want to give him up, and yet she had to. For both their sakes. He was Allegra Jackson’s brother. What would the media have to say about a romance between the jilted bride and the brother of the new bride? She shuddered to think about it.

  It would shame the Santinas. Her parents. And she couldn’t do that to them, could she? Not after everything else. They’d counted on her to unite their houses, and she’d failed.

  Her parents would be astonished if they could see her now. Horrified. Her mother had often told her when she was a little girl that her impulsiveness would be her downfall if she weren’t careful. So she’d always been careful.

  Until today.

  Leo put a finger under her chin, forced her to look at him. “Why shouldn’t we? I want to see you again, Anna. Not just here, not only like this.”

  She put her hand on his, gloried in the feel of his skin against hers. A current passed between them, left her aching with renewed want. How much longer did they have together?

  “I’m not ready to talk about it. I don’t want to spoil anything.”

  He looked perplexed. “Spoil anything? I’m trying to tell you that I want to see you when we get back. How is that spoiling anything? I want to see you, Anna, for as long as we enjoy each other. I thought you’d be delighted.”

  “Leo, please.” She turned her head to the side, pressed a kiss into his palm. He smelled like the smoke from the fire, warm and woodsy, and she closed her eyes to breathe him in deep.

  His hand snaked behind her head, drew her toward him. He looked angry, but he was planning to kiss her anyway. A little thrill leaped to life in her belly.

  His lips touched hers, softly, lightly. She strained toward him, wanting more, but he withheld himself from her.

  “We will talk about this,” he growled.

  “Yes,” she breathed, her heart aching. “But not tonight. Please. I don’t want to talk about anything tonight. I just want to feel.”

  His breath was warm against her skin as his lips skimmed her jaw. “Fine. Tomorrow, then.”

  “Thank you.”

  His voice was a purr against the column of her throat, her jaw. “What do you want from me tonight, sweet Anna?”

  Anna hesitated only a moment before she put her hand on his groin, shocking herself with the bold maneuver. But he was hard, ready, and she shivered with anticipation. She ran her fingers along the bulge of his erection, enjoyed it when he sucked in his breath. “You have to ask?”

  He smiled against her lips. “I like this side of you,” he said, though his voice still contained a note of anger. “It’s such a contrast to the buttoned-up side. Rather like a naughty librarian.”

  A thrill washed through her. “And do you like naughty librarians, Mr. Jackson?”

  He kiss
ed her until she couldn’t think. “I might.”

  “What do you do with naughty librarians?” she asked breathlessly, leaning toward him.

  “Ah, wouldn’t you like to know?”

  “I would. I most definitely would.”

  His hand spread across her thigh, slid upward beneath the hem of her skirt while she held her breath in anticipation. “You enjoy playing with fire, don’t you, Anna?” His fingers found her, stroked her over the thin lace of her panties.

  “But what happens when you get too close to the flame?”

  “Show me,” she said on a moan. “I want you to show me.”

  He did. Thoroughly, completely, devastatingly.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THEY slept entangled in each other’s arms, waking when the morning light streamed through the trees and pierced the veil of sleep. They ate food from the packets again, and then Leo took a signal mirror and went out into the sun to send blinding flashes into the sky at regular intervals.

  Afterward, they stripped down and went for a swim. Anna could hardly believe she was skinny-dipping with a man, but Leo made her laugh so much when they were together that it all seemed perfectly normal. Who needed schedules or protocol or social engagements when they had this?

  And then they made love in a shadowed cove with the water flowing over them and the sun dappling their naked bodies through the rock. Anna had never felt so free or so happy as she did when she was with Leo. He moved inside her so expertly, so beautifully, taking her to the peak again and again before they collapsed to catch their breath. She fell asleep on the beach with Leo holding her close.

  “How long was I asleep?” Anna asked when she woke and looked up into his handsome face. He’d been watching her, and she blushed to think that she’d probably snored or looked decidedly unsexy while she’d been sleeping.

  “Not long. Twenty minutes or so.”

  She stretched and yawned. She felt so decadent, so hedonistic. She wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing, and she didn’t care. She’d even taken her treasured pearls off, tucking them away with her clothing beneath the shelter. She felt like another woman, lying on the beach with her lover, her body sated, and slightly sore, from his amazing lovemaking. Part of her never wanted to go home again.

  “Do you think they’ll find us today?” she asked. She almost hoped they didn’t, and yet a change of clothing and a hot shower would be welcome. A hot shower with Leo.

  No, she couldn’t think like that.

  He traced a finger over her lips. It was a light caress, nonsexual, and yet her core flooded with renewed heat and moisture. What a revelation it was to be a woman with appetites.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I hope so. But we have to accept the possibility no one has yet raised the alarm.”

  “I imagine they would have, since we did not return last night.”

  He simply looked at her with that combination of sultry and naughty he was so very good at. “You’re with me, Anna. No one will be surprised we didn’t return.”

  “Ah,” she said, realizing what he meant. That he was Leo Jackson, famous Casanova, and she was a woman who most certainly had been unable to resist his fabled charm. A sliver of helpless anger filtered through her.

  And yet it was the truth, wasn’t it? She had been unable to resist, like countless other women in his life. In spite of the fact he’d said he wanted to see her when they returned to Santina, she was still only temporary in his life. He wanted her until he tired of her. She was merely another in the parade of women who’d graced his bed.

  She’d known it, but it was the one thing she could not be in the real world. The reason this had to end here, on the island, and not later.

  “Perhaps now is a good time to talk about what happens when we get back,” he said, as if he sensed her turmoil. His dark gaze was so serious and intent as he hovered over her on one elbow.

  Anna swallowed, a pang of uneasiness twisting in her stomach. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

  “Nothing at all?” he pressed.

  She sighed. “Oh, Leo, you know it won’t work.”

  “Why not? You’re a single woman, I’m a single man. Who says we can’t see each other?”

  She pushed herself upright, turned to look at him. “I can’t, Leo. There are … expectations.”

  He was beginning to look angry. She could see the heat flare to life in his gaze, but it wasn’t the kind of heat she liked. It was dark, piercing, scouring her senses. “Expectations? Meaning, I suppose, that I am not quite good enough for those lofty expectations?”

  “That’s not what I said.” The sun had moved higher in the sky now, and the light that had dappled them before was now a strong shaft of sunlight creeping into their cove. Leo’s body was golden, hard and lean and perfect. The dragon on his abdomen was fierce, snorting flames that fanned across his hip bone and groin. She’d wanted to trace the line of the dragon with her tongue, but had not been brave enough to do so.

  Now, she reached out and traced it with a finger. His muscles clenched beneath her touch. “Where did you get that?”

  He caught her hand. “You keep trying to distract me, Anna.”

  She peered at him from behind lowered lashes. “Is it working?”

  “Hardly. Now tell me why we can’t see each other on Santina or Amanti or wherever in hell we choose. You aren’t marrying Prince Alessandro now. You can do what you want with your life.”

  She shivered to think so, and yet she knew she had to be careful. She might have been carefree on this island, but she could not afford to be so when they returned. The press would have a field day with this, if they knew, and she refused to be the target of their humiliation any longer. Leo might not be affected by bad press, but she had to live her life the way she always had or be annihilated by it.

  “I need time, Leo. I can’t just start dating and having affairs. I can’t do that to my parents or to the Santinas. Don’t you realize what the coverage would be like if we were to start dating? Especially since we seem to have skipped the date part and gone straight to sleeping together? Are you willing to drop me at my door every night with a chaste kiss?”

  His eyes flashed. “You are giving them far more power over you than you should.” He swore then, shocking words that sounded so coarse and angry coming from his lips. “Why do you care what the headlines say? Don’t you know that the true secret to getting them to leave you alone is to do whatever in the hell you want to do? They want a victim, Anna—and you have made yourself into a perfect victim.”

  His words sliced into her, carved themselves into her soul. It hurt. “My reputation—”

  “Your reputation,” he ground out, “is ruined. You’ve spent the night on this island alone with me. Once your precious newspapers figure that out, and they will, the headlines about us will make everything up until now seem like a flattering portrayal. You have to show them you don’t give a damn what they think.”

  Her heart throbbed at the anger in his voice. Not only that, but she feared he was right about her reputation. She just had to hope their disappearance together was kept quiet. “It’s easy for you, Leo. No one cares that you’ve slept with your thousandth woman or broken some poor model’s heart. They cheer you, applaud you, think you are clever and handsome and fun. But I was supposed to be a queen. They will not be so forgiving of me.”

  He got to his feet, his body simmering with tension as he looked down at her. “And why do you think you need anyone’s forgiveness? You aren’t going to be a queen, Anna. It’s time you stopped acting like you were.”

  No one came for them that day. Leo signaled with the mirror at regular intervals, but nothing happened. He was tense, angry, and he wasn’t quite sure why. It should be so easy, shouldn’t it? A beautiful woman who wanted to have hot sex with him and then go their separate ways without any commitment?

  He should be ecstatic. It was, after all, his usual modus operandi. He should be buried in her soft, tight body right now, m
aking her moan and scream his name. He should do it as often as they could both tolerate, right up until the minute their rescue arrived. He should, and yet he couldn’t.

  He was irritated, and that wasn’t quite like him. He should be congratulating himself on a lucky escape, but instead he was brooding because the virgin he’d recently bedded only wanted him for sex. And only while they were marooned together.

  Pure irony, wasn’t it?

  He’d never considered that she wouldn’t want to see him once they were rescued. No, he’d actually been worried that in spite of her heated pronouncements otherwise, she would want more from him. He knew her kind—wide-eyed, idealistic and inexperienced. A sure recipe for disaster in his book.

  She was supposed to be the kind of woman who wanted forever. She was supposed to want children, a house, a normal family life that included walks in the park, trips to family vacation destinations and a barking dog that tracked mud into the house and shook its wet fur all over the furnishings.

  She was supposed to want all the things he didn’t, and he was supposed to be the one who pulled back.

  But it wasn’t happening quite that way, and it disconcerted him more than it should.

  He had to admit, the more he thought about it, that it was probably for the best if they didn’t see each other again. Less messy for them both if they made a clean break here on the island. If they didn’t, Allegra would quite possibly be unhappy with him for dating her husband-to-be’s former fiancée. Not that he typically allowed his sister to have a say in his personal life, but for once it would touch her directly.

  Because, yes, the press would have a field day with the news. Anna wouldn’t like that at all. Neither, he suspected, would Allegra.