by Isla Dean
No, no, definitely not love, she decided. Just a momentary glitch of emotion after an excruciatingly long day and phenomenal sex.
She uncapped a bottle, drank from it as she walked back to the man who stood comfortably naked in her studio. Of course he looked comfortable, she thought as she handed him the water. He was a man of the world and he didn’t belong anywhere, did he?
“What’re you thinking?” he asked after chugging water then passing the last half of it to her.
She took a small sip then handed it back. “You finish it. And I was thinking…” She walked to a window and pushed it opened, closing her eyes to the rush of sea air that streamed in. Dammit, she was falling in love with the traveling businessman, wasn’t she?
Aiden set the empty water bottle on a nearby table and came to stand behind her, his hands gliding over her breasts, feeling her nipples, then down her stomach, and back up her sides.
Tingles ignited under her skin in little erratic pulses as he possessed, taking her in ways that inspired her to give more, take more.
“I was thinking,” she started again, “that I didn’t know sex could be like this,” she told him truthfully. Yet that hadn’t been what she was thinking when he’d asked. At least not totally.
“That sex could be like what?”
His lips lay gentle kisses along the side of her neck, across her shoulders.
“Like this,” she said, the sensation of a heated man behind her and cool breeze in front of her, short-circuiting her system. “I’ve never felt like this before. I mean… Oh God.” Her mouth opened but no more sound came out as his lips lingered here, laid kisses there, all the way down her back.
A blazing rush stormed her system, opened her. And when he stood, he drove into her from behind. She gasped, breath catching, and murmured something but she wasn’t sure what she’d said.
Chapter Twelve
“Five orgasms,” Ivy whispered in his ear as they stood, bodies pressed together behind the closed door to her studio.
“Told you I’d be a good muse,” he said, making her laugh. And he loved the way it sounded—hearty and light at the same time.
He’d put on a different shirt from his bag, had tossed water on his face, ran his fingers through his hair, and was ready to leave.
Well, he wasn’t ready to leave, he thought as he held her, but the company jet would soon arrive just the same.
“I’ll put on some clothes and meet you out front,” she told him.
“Stay naked. I like you just like this.”
Normally she would have felt funny being naked next to a man fully clothed, but for some reason, with Aiden, she felt adored, cherished, and kind of adventurous.
And she smiled because of it.
“The bachelorette party girls have enough to talk about. I’ll be out in a bit.”
“I’ll find Donatella, say goodbye.”
With one more kiss, she pushed him out the door and closed it behind him.
As he trekked back to the villa, he pulled out his phone and skimmed through his emails. With reluctance, he opened the one from his father marked urgent.
He scanned the length of it, then reread it, making sure he didn’t miss any of the details. And after a few quick searches and a couple of phone calls as he wandered the property, his pace quickened with sturdy steps until he located Donatella who was covered in specks of dirt and entwined with the plants in her garden.
“Ouch, merda!”
“Need a hand?”
“Does that hand have wine in it?”
“Not at the moment.”
“Then no. Stupid thorns. You’re going somewhere, handsome man?”
He set his bag down on the cement beside the raised bed of tomatoes. “Next trip calls. But I need to run something by you,” he said as he heard clippers make a clean slice through a thick stem.
Donatella climbed out of the dirt that’d been overgrown by roots and leaves twisting and twining in every direction, then gave Aiden a once-over as she brushed soil from her gloved hands. “Hmm. The handsome man certainly does have something to say. I’m listening.”
“Are you aware that a developer, backed by a group of investors, has made offers on commercial properties in town, about eighty percent of the town from what I can tell, and that those offers were accepted and are currently in escrow?”
Donatella continued eyeing him as she clapped the final bits of dirt out of the crevices of her flowery garden gloves. “There’s an ‘and’ isn’t there?”
“And,” he said, watching her closely just as she watched him. “That developer Warren Townsend is said to be intending to turn the island into an exclusive location by closing up the shops and running out the locals. Which means—”
“That the value of Villa Blue will drop by design to get me to sell,” she finished.
“Did you know?”
“I’ve heard rumblings, si, yes. But there are always rumblings about so-and-so wanting to buy up the town.”
“You’re trying to offload this place before the value plummets?”
She adjusted the wide-brimmed straw hat that sat snug on her head. “If you’re feeling duped, I don’t blame you. But I don’t run my business, or make business decisions, based on rumor. I won’t lie and say I haven’t heard that bastardo has plans up his slimy sleeve. If I had the money, I’d buy the town myself. But the truth of it is that I’m in my seventies and I’m ready to step aside and let new life take over the villa.
“This place, this land has been my life for many years, many decades, and I don’t want it to fall into the greedy hands of Warren Townsend. I want to sell before it comes to that. Sell to someone who cares enough to make it magnificent again.”
“You should’ve told me.”
She pulled off her gloves, traded them for her nearby glass of iced tea. “If you were interested enough, I knew you’d scratch the surface and find it. Just like you did.”
He found a chair, sank in it, along with his mood. “My father did the scratching.”
Donatella watched him from over the rim of her glass as she drank, coming to her own conclusion. “While you’ve been out having fun with my girl Ivy?”
“Something like that,” Aiden said soberly.
“While we’re on that topic, how’s it going having her mom and sister here? When they booked the reservation, they told L.B. it was to be a surprise. Was it?”
“I’ll let her tell that story.”
“All right. You’ve done that girl a lot of good, you know. I was worried about you, can’t say that I wasn’t. But she needed some good hearty sex, that girl.”
“Oh God.” He dragged a hand through his hair.
“You put life back into her and Villa Blue needs the same. Needs new life, beautiful life. La vita bella. Regardless of that son of a bitch who may or may not soon have control over the town.”
“I know Warren Townsend. He is a son of a bitch.”
“Oh?” She slid into the chair opposite Aiden.
“Finance in New York can be a small world. Smaller in the ranks of my father and Warren Townsend.” He leaned forward, put his once-again throbbing head in his hands. “I can’t recommend we acquire the villa with the state of the only town on the island in flux. It’s too risky of an investment.”
She eyed him from the swipe of shade her hat provided. “Are you saying all of this to get me to lower the price? Because you can take your cute, rich buns back to New York if that’s the case.”
He could appreciate that the woman had a keen eye for tactics as well as a sharp tongue and strong mind. And he could also appreciate that she would probably milk him for every dollar she could if given the opportunity. “My father informed me that Warren Townsend wants to eventually privatize the entire island and turn it into an invitation-only playground for celebrities and such. Townsend will likely offer you more than this place is worth just to get his hands on it. First he’ll lowball you, then, if you don’t give in, he’ll give you
more than it’s worth because, ultimately, he wants it all. And if he has to spend time squeezing you and your guests off the island rather than buying it outright…well, time is money.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because if you’re looking to sell, and you end up selling to a testa di cazzo—sorry, but he is—then you should get at least a good chunk of change from him.”
“Are you saying that you don’t want to buy Villa Blue or are you trying to lowball me so I’ll give you a good deal?”
“Neither.” He sat back in the chair. “I’m telling you that if I recommend to my father that we put in an offer on Villa Blue, given the new development, he’ll likely buy it just to one-up Townsend but it won’t be a good move for the company and it’ll be, ultimately, my responsibility if shareholder value drops. Townsend and my father have been competing since their days at boarding school together and they’re both highly competitive. And they both have the means to use money as a game. It could be a nice place for you to be in, actually. A bidding war.”
“Or?”
His mood rough from the turn of events, his eyes narrowed when they met hers. “Or,” he said, acknowledging her annoying perception. “I’ve been thinking through the ‘or’ and I’m not sure about it yet.”
“You want to buy it for yourself?”
His eyes dimmed with skepticism then brightened a few notches with respect. “You’re very good at reading people. Better than most that I’ve negotiated with.”
“Are you negotiating with me?”
“No, I’m not. I’m showing you the cards I’m holding, which throws my negotiating power down the drain. I want this place. I want Villa Blue. I’m not sure I totally understand why just yet, but if Townsend is going to let the city of Parpadeo Harbor go to waste, then it’s not a good investment. Especially for me given that I’d likely need to take on a few investors and I won’t involve other people’s money if I don’t see the value holding.”
Donatella tipped back the rest of her iced tea. “You don’t surprise me.”
“Really? Because I’m surprising the hell out of myself right now.”
“You ever been in love?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
The lines of Donatella’s face lifted. “You’re thinking with your heart and it’s uncomfortable.”
“Do I have to pay extra for the therapy? I already paid my damn bill.” He scooted out of his chair, walked a few steps to the edge of the stone pathway and stood in his naturally strong stance, taking in the view and a cleansing breath.
A hummingbird sped by, its wings vibrating, intent on inspecting the red blossoms in the garden. He watched the bird and its jerky movements, then, restless, returned to his chair. He’d gone in search of Donatella to discuss business, not love. What the hell was love anyway?
“Ah, so you are in love with her.”
“I’m not a man who falls in love. I don’t think I’ve ever really been in love,” he told her, wondering why the hell he couldn’t stop the words from coming out.
“So what?”
“Excuse me?”
“Who you were yesterday doesn’t dictate who you are today unless you let it.”
“Sounds like something Ivy would say,” he grumbled, at a loss.
“She’s got a good head on her shoulders, and she’s a gentle soul, that one. Me, I’m much too loud. But she can hear the subtlety of life. That’s what makes her such a beautiful artist. She can listen and hear, really hear, then paint the music.”
“That’s a good way to put it.” He considered that Ivy’s own mother didn’t even understand that much. And that quick craving snuck up again for family, creating one of his own.
“So, you buy the whole town and Villa Blue. You buy it and let Ivy make it beautiful.”
“I think you overestimate how much money I have.”
“You’re a clever boy. You’ll figure it out. It always starts with a wish, then magic comes in and creates.”
“Magic.”
“Si. Magia.”
He considered for a moment then wondered what the hell was wrong with his brain. He’d gone there on a business trip and now he was thinking about magic helping him find a way to stay.
Was it staying that interested him? Was that really it? Could he really live on a tiny island in the Pacific?
He’d thought maybe he could buy the villa, possibly get his brothers to invest with him, then manage from afar, drop in every now and then like he did on his father’s properties. But staying was something else entirely. “This whole thing sounds like a recipe for disaster.”
“How will you know until you try?”
“I’m going to be honest with you. If you receive an offer from Townsend that is well beyond market value, you should take it.”
“Market value for what?” Ivy asked as she rounded the tool shed and came toward them.
“Told you that you should’ve handed me wine, didn’t I?” Donatella muttered to Aiden then offered a smile to Ivy as she approached.
The sky above them had turned a dusty rose color as the sun began its downward dip. After a day like she’d had—the fight with her mother, painting up a storm, the orgasms, one after another—harsh thoughts had all but evaporated from Ivy’s mind and she saw only the lazy haze of color.
In her pursuit of Aiden and Donatella, she’d found Lorie, one of the maids, who informed her that her mother and sister had left—no surprise there. And when she’d wandered outside, she’d followed the sounds of voices to the garden that hummed with plump bumblebees hovering over a thick patch of lavender.
Feeling the effects of the day, she scooted a chair over then curled into it, pulling her feet up. “You mentioned wine? That sounds great.”
“You’ll need it, bella.”
Puzzled, Ivy looked at Donatella, then to Aiden. “Why?”
“I’m considering selling Villa Blue,” Donatella told her in one clean slice.
Under the sweep of serene sky, the sharp words were tinted in the same misty blush color, cushioning the cut.
“Selling…” Ivy repeated, her stomach dropping into a dark pit. “Selling Villa Blue? But this is your home. You love it here. And…” She trailed off and looked back to Aiden. “You’re trying to buy Villa Blue? That’s why you’re here on the island? You’re trying to buy the home where I live?”
He reached for her hand but she pulled it away as she thought through how she felt, what it all meant.
“Donatella asked me to keep things confidential. And I honored that because it’s important to me to have integrity in business dealings. I’m sorry if that upsets you.”
She seared him with a look. “I might be upset about a few things once I think this over, but one of them won’t be that you didn’t tell me.”
“No?” Aiden asked.
She felt her hued world shut down, leaving only stark streaks of reason. “I don’t have anything to do with the business dealings of Villa Blue. It’s none of my business, the way I see it.”
Aiden and Donatella watched her, waiting for some explanation as to what strummed beneath the suddenly cool surface.
“You’re not mad I didn’t tell you?”
Ivy stood, stalked to the end of the pathway, turned, stalked back. “Do you want me to be mad? Is that it? Because, that’s what normal people would do? Why can’t I just be me, and express however and whatever I feel like expressing? I’m so tired of people holding on to some idea of what I should or shouldn’t do, say or shouldn’t say. If I’m supposed to go through life and only get mad at things I’m expected to get mad at, deal with things how other people want me to deal with them, then why the hell am I here on this earth? Aren’t I supposed to be here to be myself? To do my best to live a life with some sort of purpose that comes from my heart? I have no interest in being society’s robot, doing and saying what I’ve been programmed to do and say.”
Ivy spread her arms wide, feeling the burn-o
ff of old thoughts that hindered her. “Who the hell comes up with this crap anyway? Some committee who determines how all people should behave? Well, the hell with that. I don’t live my life by committee.”
She fisted her hands as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “So, no,” she said, the fire settling into a slow burn. “I’m not upset you didn’t tell me. You said you needed to keep your reason for being here confidential. Fine. And I understand this place is probably a lot to take care of,” she turned to Donatella. “Retiring from work is something you’ve earned in spades. I mean, look at this place.”
Ivy scanned the sprawling villa, the boats dotting the harbor below, the sunset reflecting in the expansive sky. “It’s beautiful. It’s home. It’s more of a home for me than the home I came from when I arrived on the island, and it’s more of a home for me than the one I grew up in. It’s my home.”
A couple of stray tears spilled down her face. “I’m so tired of crying today. It’s been a long one, and I don’t want to think about leaving my home. And right now it feels supremely unfortunate that some company… Wait, what kind of company do you work for?” She looked through watery eyes to Aiden.
“My father’s holding company has diverse interests but the arm that I work for is focused on acquisition and development of global luxury hotel investment properties.”
“So basically he owns hotels around the world and he wants to buy Villa Blue and what? Turn it into some luxury resort?”
“Basically. Well, basically, maybe,” he corrected.
“Basically, maybe,” she repeated, her mind and mood deflating. “I think I’m getting tired of letting go. Or maybe I’m tired of being let go of. I don’t really know. I just want something to stick for once, and I love living here so much that I want home to be the thing that sticks. Though I suppose it’s a greenhouse and how long can someone live in a greenhouse? The mysterious committee of right and wrong probably has something to say about that.”
She paused in her ramble, pushed at tears. “Why is no one else saying anything?”
