Billionaires Runaway Bride (A Standalone British Billionaire Romance Novel)

by Claire Adams

  Telling Delilah about the loss of my son had shocked me a little. Not that I told her because I had told other women in my past – it shocked me at how easily I told her. I had never met a woman who had such an equally painful loss in her past, and I hadn’t suspected Delilah would have been a widow. She was ten years younger than me and had already lost her husband; that was a huge thing to have to deal with.

  After hearing about her loss, I knew I wanted to spend more time with this girl. I didn’t just want to go have a bagel with her; I wanted to actually spend some time with her. I was glad she had agreed to come to the beach with me.

  “This is so pretty,” she said as we pulled up to Planter’s Pier.

  “Not many people know this exists, but see that little island out there? We are going to swim over to it.”

  “What? That looks really far away.”

  “It’s not that far. Can you swim?”

  “Yes, but I don’t want to be eaten by sharks, either.”

  “Trust me, we won’t get eaten. It’s about 500 yards out. I could get a canoe if you’d like.”

  “Promise me I won’t get eaten,” she said as she held a firm finger out toward me.

  “I promise,” I said firmly. “I mean, if I’m wrong, you’ll be eaten, anyways. So, it won’t matter that I broke my promise.”

  “Brandon!” she exclaimed and pushed me.

  “What? It’s the truth.”

  Delilah had such a beautiful energy about her, and I felt myself staring at her almost every moment. I physically had to look away just so I didn’t look like some sort of nutcase. The energy between the two of us was palpable and if it would have been acceptable, I’d probably have already kissed her.

  She smiled more than most women I knew, yet she had experienced such loss. She was also extremely witty, which was a rarity. I enjoyed a good jokester and someone who could take a joke, too. Delilah seemed like just the type of woman for me.

  I was going to make love to her. There was no doubt in my mind. I wasn’t going to screw this girl; when the time came, I was going to make slow, passionate love to her – something I hadn’t done that since my wife and I divorced.

  I already knew that Delilah wasn’t the kind of woman I had ever dated before and that turned me on more than I thought it would. She was a real woman – kind, funny, and sweet as hell.

  “Have you been out to the island before?” she asked as we finished changing into our swimsuits and walked to the end of the pier.

  “Yep, lots of times. It’s my favorite place to go to think.”

  “Are you sure we are allowed to go there? It seems like it’s a private island and we aren’t supposed to be there.”

  “I think it will be all right.”

  “I’m glad I texted my friend and told her I wasn’t coming to the gym. There’s no way I’d make it all the way out there and then back in and still want to work out.”

  “Yeah, I think you’ll get enough of a workout in. Are you ready to jump?”

  “It seems sort of far down. Isn’t there a ladder?” Delilah said as she looked nervously down at the water.

  “We can still take the canoe if you’d like. It’s right down the beach.”

  “No, I can do this,” she said as she reached for my hand and held onto it. “You don’t let go of my hand, though. If I’m getting eaten, so are you.”

  “Deal,” I said as I pulled her closer to me. “Ready?”

  “Yep.”

  “One, two, three, go!” I yelled as we jumped into the water.

  Of course, when we hit the water, we both had to let go of our hands so we could swim. I did stay right beside her as we slowly made our way over to the island. I knew the water well and was fairly confident there weren’t sharks in this area, but I kept my eyes peeled just in case.

  We took our time and stopped a couple of times when Delilah flipped over onto her back to float and rest a little. She didn’t complain, though, and quickly turned back over and continued to swim toward the island.

  “Man, for a girl who works out five times a week, I feel really out of shape,” she said.

  “Swimming is a total body workout and uses your lungs differently than you’re used to,” I said. “Trust me, it takes a little getting used to, Delilah.”

  “Del, you can call me Del,” she said as she flipped over and tried to catch her breath. “My friends call me Del.”

  “Okay, then Del it is. Although, I do really like Delilah; it sounds very beautiful rolling off my tongue.”

  “Do you bring a lot of girls out here? It seems a little creepy that we are swimming to a deserted island on our first date,” she laughed as we kept moving forward.

  “Nope, never brought another woman here ever.”

  “Wow, okay then. I’ll race you,” she said as she started to swim full force toward the beach.

  I let her stay a few feet ahead of me as we made it to the beach and walked up on shore. I wasn’t really sure why I had wanted to bring Delilah to my island so badly, but I just wanted to share my secret place with her.

  “This way,” I said as we walked up a path toward the main house.

  The island wasn’t technically livable, but I had built a small, outdoor cabana and no one had complained. So, then I built a small house next to the cabana. I knew that someday the city would complain and there was zero ways I could keep the house secure, but it was still a fun project and I loved to come out there to relax.

  “There’s a house,” she said. “Oh, no, we should go. I don’t want to get in trouble.”

  “Come on, it’s fine,” I said as I grabbed her hand and we continued up the path.

  “Is this your house? Wait, is this your whole island?” She stopped and pulled her hand away from me as she stood still.

  “Yes and yes.”

  “Oh my God. You own an island?” She shook her head back and forth and refused to move forward.

  “If it’s any consolation, I actually own another much bigger one in the Caribbean,” I teased her.

  “I’m going to go up to this house with you, but not because you own the island. Purely because I’m exhausted and I need to sit down. Understood?”

  “Yep.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at how serious she was. Her cute lips curled up in a smile, though, and I knew she really wanted to smile bigger. When we got close to the house, I let her walk in front of me up to the main building, and I got the best look at her ass.

  I bit my lip as I tried to hold back from grabbing hold of her while her hips swayed back and forth in her string bikini. She had a body to die for. Every curve was perfection, and I wanted to let my hands run along them and explore every inch of her.

  “How do you keep people from coming onto your island?” she asked as we grabbed some bottled water and fell onto the oversized couch.

  “I don’t. Technically, anyone could come and hang out here and I wouldn’t know it until I showed up.”

  “Do you always swim out here?”

  “No, sometimes I use the canoe,” I winked at her.

  “It’s a really beautiful house.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “After my son passed away, I needed some place to go and just get away from everything and everyone. I bought it on a whim, and now I just love it.”

  “You don’t have internet, or a phone, or anything out here?”

  “I’ve got electricity from solar panels and a little bit of water to run a shower, but that’s it. Nothing fancy.”

  “I love it.”

  Delilah leaned into me and cuddled up as she guzzled down her water. I pulled a blanket from the side of the couch and wrapped it around us as we sat there in silence for a little bit and watched the waves hitting the beach.

  “It’s nice here, isn’t it? I love how quiet it is and that no one can find me,” I said as I let my arm pull her tighter against me.

  “It is pretty cool to be somewhere that is isolated, yet civilization is just a few feet away.”<
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  “Are you all right being here without your cell phone? I wasn’t thinking about your son and if there was an emergency. I’m sorry, we should have brought the canoe.”

  “No, no, I’m fine. He’s with his grandparents. If there was an emergency, they are some of the only people I would trust. I’m trying to give Connor more time away from me. I think I’ve gotten too attached to him. School was hard for him to start this year, probably because I cried all the time when I dropped him off. He’s really loving it now.”

  “That’s really good to hear. I know how kids can struggle with change. How old was he when his father passed away?”

  “Oh, he was only one. Connor doesn’t remember his dad, except he knows him because I show him videos and photos.”

  “I’m sorry for asking. I’m not really the best at this first-date stuff.”

  Del laughed as she sat up and wrapped the blanket around her. She curled her legs up to her chest and leaned on the couch as she smiled at me.

  “I doubt you’re that bad at dating.”

  “Oh, trust me, I am. I’m really good at the one-night stand thing, though,” I laughed.

  “They are easier than real relationships, that’s for sure.”

  “Are you hungry? I’ve got some food in the freezer. Nothing too fancy, but I could whip us up some pasta.”

  “I’m starving; that sounds great.”

  I pulled out some meat and frozen sauce I had in the freezer. Luckily, the solar panels had held up. One time I had returned to the house and everything was rotten because the connection from the panels to the house had been broken; the memory of that smell still haunted me.

  “I do have a throw away cell phone that I keep here if you want to call your family to let them know you’re here. Or give them the number? I don’t mind.”

  “Yeah, I’d feel better, thanks,” Del said as she jumped up off the couch and grabbed the old cell phone I had placed on the counter.

  I wasn’t really sure how the prepaid phones worked, but I had purchased one in case of an emergency. I didn’t want to keep a nice one at the house because it was so easy for others to break in. Actually, I tried not to keep anything too valuable there just to put myself at ease when I wasn’t around.

  It wasn’t very often that I saw signs that people had been up near the house, and even when I had seen signs of people, they seemed to stay out in the cabana area. Only once had I had an actual break in to the house and they seemed to have stayed for a while and slept there, but they were gone when I arrived and I hadn’t had a break in since that time.

  “Hi, Mary, I just wanted to check in with you guys and give you the number where I’m at. I don’t have my cell phone right now,” Del said as she talked to her family. “It’s 818-555-9898. I’ll be here for a little while and I’ll text you when I’m back at my phone. How is Connor doing?” She read the number off the paper I had set near her.

  I listened in as Del talked to her son for a bit and then back to his grandmother, Mary. Del was sweet and very grateful to her family for watching Connor and my ears perked up when I heard her say her goodbyes.

  “I’ll be over tomorrow afternoon to pick him up; you guys have a great weekend. Love you,” Del said as she hung up.

  “He’s staying the weekend with his grandparents?” I asked with a sly smile.

  “Yes, they are my late husband’s parents. I’m so lucky to have them in my life, and they have really wanted to take Connor to this theme park made out of LEGOs. I finally agreed.”

  “Very convenient that you don’t have to get back to town tonight,” I jokingly said as I filled our plates with some spaghetti. “I mean, there is a bed here, we could always hand out.”

  “Ha, I don’t think so. I’m not sleeping with you,” she said, totally unconvincingly.

  “I didn’t say you had to sleep with me. I’m just saying we don’t need to hurry, and if we happen to stay the night here, I could sleep on the couch. That’s all,” I lied.

  Of course, I wanted to sleep with her. All I could think about as she walked past me in that tiny bikini was that with one pull of a string, I could make the tiny cloth fabric fall to the ground. It was taking a lot of self-control not to pull that string and start kissing every inch of her body.

  “Sure, sure. By the way, you’re a horrible liar,” she laughed.

  “What? No, I’m not; I’m a great liar…” I started to say and then realized that sounded horrible.

  “I wouldn’t be so proud of that,” she joked.

  “So, tell me about your job. How did you get into computers?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

  “I kind of fumbled my way into the field. I’m sort of a nerd at heart and happened to pick things up rather quickly in college. I ended up helping a lot of my friends fix errors and things like that and before I knew it, I was working as an IT consultant.”

  “You’re a nerd?”

  “Don’t look so shocked. I actually play those war games on my phone and have a PlayStation at home.”

  “What’s your favorite PS4 game?”

  “Call of Duty,” she responded and totally won over my heart.

  “If you are lying to me, I’ll know it,” I said as I moved my chair closer to hers so I could look her in the eyes. “Are you telling me that you actually know how to play Call of Duty?”

  “Yep, and I could probably kick your ass at it,” she said as she casually took another bite of her spaghetti.

  “Wow, I’m sitting here with one of the hottest moms I’ve ever met. Who can wear a bikini better than a super model, and she knows how to play Call of Duty. I’ve got to be dreaming,” I teased.

  “You better be careful with all those compliments; I’m going to think you’re flirting with me.”

  “Oh, I’m flirting.”

  I turned toward her and pulled her chair as close to mine as I could. My hand gently moved her chin toward me, and I let my lips press against hers. She gave her lips to me fully and I felt my body spring to attention at her willingness to let my tongue slide between her lips.

  I was just about to pull away from her when she wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned in closer to me. I grabbed her hips and pulled her into my lap so I could feel her bare skin pressed against mine.

  Her small, bikini-clad body fit perfectly on my lap. I let my hands move up and down her as I explored her exposed skin. Our lips continued playing with each other, and it took all my willpower not to lift her up and bring her to the bedroom. The moment was gentle and genuine, though, and I didn’t want to ruin that by pushing it too far.

  Kissing was enough for me. Some heavy petting would be even better, but I wasn’t going to push things. I already knew I would be seeing this girl again; there was no hurry. I was in no hurry.

  “Your lips are amazing,” I muttered as I pulled away from them and started to kiss down her neck. “And, you taste amazing.”

  “Salty?” she asked.

  “A little.”

  “Do you have a shower?”

  Oh, holy hell, did she just ask me to shower with her? No, maybe she was just asking if she could use the shower? I tried not to get ahead of myself.

  “Yes, I have one; the water can be cold sometimes. Do you want me to show you where it’s at?”

  “Show me,” she whispered as her lips pressed against mine again.

  Her arms wrapped tightly around me as I brought her to the standing position with me. I felt my body bulging out of my swimsuit and wanted to pull my hips away from her, but she pressed her body against my bulge. It was as if she relished the idea of making me so hard.

  “This way,” I said as I finally pulled away and walked her toward the small bathroom. “It’s right there.”

  “How does it work?” she asked from behind me.

  “Turn this knob and the water comes out. It’s from a catchment, so it heats it up from the sun. Sometimes it’s nice and warm, it just depends how long it’s been in there, I think…” I stop
ped dead in my tracks as I turned around and saw she had removed her swimsuit.

  “I think you should join me,” she said with a smile that controlled me.

  “Yes, that’s a very good idea,” I agreed and quickly slid my trunks off and got into the shower with her.

  “I’m not normally this forward,” she whispered as she pulled me into the water with her. “But I’d really like to kiss you in this shower.”

  “I think that’s a great idea.”

  Her lips were delicate as the water ran between us and we embraced under the warmth. It felt good to have the warm water on my body after swimming in the ocean. Even though it was plenty warm out, the ocean was still cold.

  “I like your house,” she said as my hands began to explore her body.

  “I’m glad I brought you, then.”

  “This is the best bagel date I’ve been on,” she giggled, and I fell in total lust.

  Her giggle was infectious – something out of a movie that could get men from miles away to run after her. Yet there I was, me, the broken-hearted, one-night stand guy, falling for this girl I hardly knew.

  PART 2

  Chapter Seven

  Delilah

  His hands were like a drug that I couldn’t refuse. I felt like an addict as I kissed him, wanting more and more.

  It had been years since I’d felt a connection with a man like I was feeling with Brandon, and I just wanted to take full advantage of it. The pleasure that rushed through my body was so invigorating that I could have stayed there forever.

  Our date had started out with me thinking I’d barely make it past the bagel, but somehow he enjoyed my awkward humor, and somehow I enjoyed his witty banter. We had a connection: there just was no denying it. What I had hoped would end up as a fairly decent date was turning into one of the best days I’d had in a very long time.

  Although I hadn’t planned to sleep with him, the moment was all consuming and I just couldn’t stop myself as we walked into the bathroom and I slipped out of my swimsuit.