Her Billionaire Lifeguard

by Sophia Summers

  Thoughts of Cason flashed in irritation across his mind. “Everyone seemed really pumped about that. Thank you.” That was a small opening at least. And a tour of her store seemed positive. So much rode on the hope that he could convince her he wasn’t whatever type of guy she was trying to avoid. He’d never been more interested in a woman. If only something about him could catch her eye as well.

  Chapter 8

  Breathe. Breathe. Trey was a businessman. He was loaded. He was a tourist. He’d deceived her. Was he Damian all over again? She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

  No.

  Maybe.

  Ugh. She had no idea.

  She turned away. If he wasn’t so handsome, she could concentrate. Armani. She was a sucker for a guy in a suit coat. And it had been months since she’d even been on a date. She turned back to him, her eyes traveling over his face, his hair, his jawline. Oh, she had a thing for jawlines. The line of his jacket, his shoulders.

  He chuckled, watching her.

  She didn’t even care he knew she was totally taking his measure. And he wasn’t even worried about it, or he didn’t seem to be. Not cocky, no, more…sure. He was ten times more of a man than Damian had ever been. He just carried himself better. Confident. At ease with himself, with her. Even now, he was amused at her blatant perusal of his person. She laughed. “Okay, Trey. You lost some major points when I found out you weren’t a starving lifeguard, spending the summer in Mexico.” She laughed again at his chagrined expression. She held up her hand. “But you gained a few points since you aren’t a twenty-something guy lifeguarding in Mexico.”

  “Yes, that’s what I was thinking.”

  “So, maybe…” She chewed her lip, not sure what she was offering, not even sure what she wanted. “I think I’d like to show you my work. We’ll start there.” They pulled up in front of her store, its bright yellow and blue front welcoming her and boosting her confidence. She reached for his hand. “Come on in.”

  They climbed out and she led him to the front door.

  “This is perfect. Did you design the front?”

  “I did.” She was so proud of it, of all that she had accomplished on her own. Not a gift from her father, not on the heels of his name or products, but on her own. Start to finish. “Sea and Song.”

  “This is so you. It fits.” He stood back to take a good look.

  And she glowed under his approval. She’d had no one to share her successes with, no one who would understand. She’d missed her father terribly. He’d always said, “Put yourself in your work. It will be all the more beautiful.” Which is why getting kicked out of her father’s business had torn her heart in two, because so much of him, so much of her was in every piece of that company. She couldn’t think about it or she’d start crying in front of Trey. But she’d taken that advice to heart and Sea and Song was all her.

  She led him inside. The renovations were almost complete, and the showroom was everything she’d hoped it could be. She flipped on the lights and sucked in her breath. “Oh, they did it just right.” She’d been waiting to see how the spotlights on the pieces would look.

  Trey wrapped his fingers through hers, and they walked the perimeter of the small show room. Large conch shells she’d blown out of glass, miniature seahorses dancing on stands, everything beautiful she’d made laid bare before them and she held her breath for his response.

  He stopped in front of the anemone, one she’d completed last month. “This.” He walked around it, ducked down to see it from many angles and shook his head. “Is supremely beautiful. How do you even design such a piece? It’s incredible.”

  She squeezed his hand. “I see them on the reef, take pictures and then make them my own.”

  He nodded like that made perfect sense. “Put yourself in your work.”

  “Pardon me?” She raised her eyebrows.

  He nodded. “And it will be all the more beautiful. A wise mentor once told me that.”

  Her father’s words. Her heart hammered through her. “What line of work are you in exactly?”

  “Let’s talk about me later. There’s more here I want to see.” He led her farther around the room.

  She nodded, equally ready to show off her place and discover how he had quoted her father. Did he know the man? Or was he coincidentally of the same mind? She hoped either were true.

  They came to the small corner of the shop where she displayed her paintings. “I hope to broaden my painting collection some time, but the blown glass has taken over a lot of my time. It sells better too.”

  He nodded but seemed totally focused on her work. His eyes held the unique intensity she’d come to expect in him. He lifted a hand as if to touch but didn’t. She drank it in. How oddly exhilarating to share her creativity with someone she knew, even as little as she knew Trey. It felt intimate. She stepped up beside him, molding into his side. He put his arm around her. “I’ve wanted to be able to paint like this since high school.”

  “What? Really?”

  He nodded. “I tried a few pieces back then in art class.” His eyes darted away, his lip making a self-conscious curl at the corner. She wanted to pull him closer, kiss away the vulnerability. “I tried to take some art classes in college, just for fun, but most of my creativity went towards graphic design, marketing and business.”

  “A good use for it.”

  “True, but this…” He studied an image of a girl, standing on the edge of a cliff, staring out over the ocean. The day looked stormy. Her clothes whipped around her. In her profile, she hesitated.

  “I could get lost in her expression. You’ve captured something remarkable there.”

  “It’s me.” She didn’t know why she told him. No one else knew.

  He raised an eyebrow and searched her face.

  “Yes. I’ve made a major move down here to Mexico, but I’ve never been sure of myself. I don’t know if this is a stepping stone, a temporary reprieve or if this is my new path.” She shrugged. “It’s in her face, the way she holds herself.” She pointed to the girl in the painting, the tension she’d tried to create. “See how she’s uncertain?”

  “Yes, and there’s so much energy in her stance. She’s ready to move, but where? What?”

  “That’s exactly it.” No one, ever, had understood her so completely as he just did with that one comment.

  He pulled her tighter. “I’d say Mexico was a good move, if only so that such beautiful art could be created. Your stay here, no matter how long, has produced some remarkable pieces.”

  She nodded against him, unable to speak without emotion. What was she getting herself into with Trey? He was quickly, too quickly, inching his way into her heart. And she knew nothing about him. And he was leaving this week. Her lonely heart couldn’t handle the thought.

  Chapter 9

  Trey waited for Scottie to grab her things. They would meet the guys at the launch marina to go to Isla Mujeres. The more he got to know her, the more fascinated he became. No one could produce such beautiful art without a beautiful mind. He longed to know her, to hear her thoughts, to understand what made her tick.

  But she was skittish and unsure. She didn’t trust him. He wasn’t sure exactly what happened with Within Cosmetics, but he was certain it left its mark. Why wouldn’t she go back? The industry needed her. He needed her on a business level. And quite possibly on a personal level as well.

  Her long legs stepped down on the top stair from her upstairs apartment. And besides all of that, he could look at her all day. She was the most attractive woman he’d seen, probably ever. Attractive to him. Just like Jake had said, she was his type. In every way so far.

  She stood in front of him at the bottom of the stairs, strappy sundress over her bathing suit, flip flops, hair in a bun on top of her head. He was suddenly way too far away. Closing the distance, he reached for her deck bag. “I can take that. I think our guy should have everything else. Even wine if we want it, sunblock, a light dinner.”

&nb
sp; Her smile gave her away.

  “Ha! I knew you couldn’t stay disappointed too long that we aren’t living off a lifeguard budget.”

  “I don’t know. Tio’s was something.”

  He led her outside and waited while she locked up the store. “Don’t knock Tio’s. There’s nothing like authentic.”

  “I know. I’m not knocking it. Best guacamole I’ll probably ever eat.”

  They climbed into his limo again, and she adjusted the temperature. Then she reached in the hidden cooler to grab herself a drink, changed the angle of incline for her seat back and scooted the whole thing forward.

  He watched with growing amusement through the whole process and when she was finished, crossed his arms. “And you’ve seen your way around a limo or two.”

  Her mouth opened and then shut and she laughed. “True.” But she didn’t explain.

  “And…”

  “What? And nothing. I’ve been in some limos.”

  “So I don’t get to know anything about where you came from? Why the mysterious isolation in Cancun?”

  She stared him down, eyes sparkling, challenging. “I don’t know anything about you except that you’re not a lifeguard.”

  “Okay, you have me there, but I have the perfect solution for that.”

  “I’m sure you do.” She took a long drink of soda.

  “See me again. Date me. Talk to me. I’ll stay in Cancun an extra few days, send the guys home.” He leaned forward. “I’m interested, so distractingly interested in everything about you.” He searched her face, hoping she’d trust his sincerity.

  She eyed him, hesitated, and then started to nod. “But I didn’t come down here just so I could drudge up my past. Let’s just get to know each other, present tense, okay?”

  Disappointed and elated, he grinned. “You got it, and anything you want to do, you got it.”

  She lifted one shoulder. “You’ll find I don’t want much.”

  “I do have one request.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “Already. Should I change my mind about you?”

  “Not at all.” He reached for her hand. “These hands do beautiful work. Teach me to paint.”

  Her breathing stopped and she swallowed. He reached his finger forward to feel her pulse, but she pulled it away before he could. “I would like that.”

  “And can I help in your store?”

  “You want to help? Like what? Sell things?”

  “Sure, or close shop, or open in the mornings, run the cash register. I want to be in a store on the ground level. Especially yours.”

  Her smile grew. “Okay.” She wiggled in her seat. “I think I might like this arrangement.”

  “I hope so.”

  Their car pulled up into the marina. The guys stood on the sidewalk as if they’d just unloaded themselves.

  Scottie approached and crossed her arms. “So are any of you actually lifeguards?”

  They laughed, and Miguel raised his hand.

  “Miguel.” She linked her arm in his. “Show me the way.”

  He puffed out his chest.

  The guys razzed her and Trey, but everyone made their way down to the end of the dock where their yacht, the Milagre, sat waiting.

  “Oh, she’s beautiful.” Scottie stepped on board and made her way to a latch in the decking, opened it up and climbed down inside.

  “Hmmm.” Jake lifted his chin. “Not a stranger to yachts, then?”

  “You’re not gonna believe it when I tell you.”

  “I always believe you, bro.”

  Jake gave instructions to the captain and they all made themselves comfortable. The front of the boat had seating, facing the sun, and it was windy, so most everyone followed Scottie down inside. The inner cabin living area was comfortable, roomy, and had full windows on both sides. She was already sitting in a corner chair chatting with Miguel. In Spanish.

  “You speak Spanish? On top of everything else?”

  The corner of her mouth lifted, her eyes flashing back a pleased sparkle. “Si.”

  “Claro que si.”

  “And you speak Spanish?”

  Miguel snorted.

  “The truest Spanish.”

  “That’s right, your lisp.”

  Miguel fist-bumped her and they continued chatting while Trey looked through the gear. His assistant had done well; all Trey’s requested equipment was there. When he went scuba diving, he would be ready. He checked, and they had enough for Scottie too, if she wanted to join them later this week.

  The yacht hummed forward, out of the marina and out into the no-wake channel.

  Cason made his way over and stood in front of Scottie, holding on to a doorframe as the boat began to bob in the waves. “I just want you to know, I had nothing to do with the whole lifeguard thing. I even told Trey we should come clean.”

  Trey laughed. “What’s this? Cason?”

  “I’m just clearing my name.”

  Scottie smiled. “I would think nothing less of you.”

  Trey coughed. “And the rest of us? You do recall that you assumed we were lifeguards. We never actually said anything about it.”

  She frowned. “You know, you’re right. Why would I assume you were lifeguards?”

  Miguel tapped his fingers.

  “Ah, because of your builds, you’re handsome, and you fit right in with Miguel here.”

  His grin was ridiculously large, but Trey was happy for him.

  The captain’s voice came over the intercom. “We will be arriving in five minutes.”

  She was back to ignoring him, but this time he knew she was aware of him. If he moved to the back, her eyes flitted to his. And when the captain announced they were almost there, she stood and walked over to him. Her expression was warm, expectant. “Stick with me. There’s something I want to show you.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Chapter 10

  Scottie felt her heart race just a little faster, her smile grow and her mood lift higher than it had in months. Trey was enticing in every way, and she found that even being next to him was doing things to her she hadn’t experienced in a long time, not since Damian. She pushed thoughts of him away because comparing the two was distressing, to say the least. The similarities were there, the same business mind, the competitive drive to success. She saw it all, but Trey had a depth, ironically, given how they’d met, an integrity that she trusted. He was solid. Or he seemed to be, and she clung to that more than she should at this stage in getting to know him.

  Everyone stood on deck. Jake, who seemed to be Trey’s right-hand man in everything, joined them. “We don’t anchor to avoid damage to the reef, but the captain will be close and we can board at any time.”

  They sat on the edge of the deck platform, putting on flippers, then masks on the tops of their heads. Everyone wanted to start at MUSA, the underwater people museum. She’d join them, but she hoped to see more of the reef. The museum was shallow enough to appreciate by snorkel, and she knew some of the statues acted as a man-made reef.

  Trey sat by her, and she tried to ignore the feel of his thigh pressed against hers, but she couldn’t hope to stem the energy that rushed through her just at his nearness. He tipped his head so his mouth was next to her ear. “This is nice.”

  The smile graced her lips without any effort. But she stopped trying to hide or resist. Instead, she turned her face to his, inches from her own, and enjoyed the further rush of magnetic pulling between them. “So nice.”

  His eyebrows lifted, and for a moment, she thought he might air pump with his fist, with the amount of boyish satisfaction she saw in his face. “So, where to?” He nodded to the guys who were sliding into the water ahead of them. “I’m guessing this isn’t your first choice.”

  “No, it’s great though. I think we can have an interesting perspective from up above, especially with the light filtering down through the water.” She adjusted her mask so it fit over her eyes. “You might seek some inspira
tion to start your painting. Light. Watch what happens as it fades, and watch what reflects it and notice the darkness.”

  He pulled his mask down also and almost jumped, but Scottie held his arm. “Look.”

  A ray billowed out her graceful flowing ripples below them. “Beautiful.”

  She nodded. When the animal passed, they both jumped in and kicked to join the others right above the sculptures. She waved to Trey and took a deep breath, submerging as deep as she dared. A girl statue sat near the bottom and she wanted an upper angle of her. The statue laid on her stomach, knees bent with feet crossed behind her. Her hands were holding up her chin. Scottie found her charming.

  Trey followed her. She turned in the water and pointed up. Streams of light poured down from the surface, lighting different parts of the sculptures below.

  The whole area seemed creepy at first dive, like a cemetery with lines of people ready to be awakened and fight, almost in military stance, until you looked at their faces. Some stern, some smiling, some silly. And the mood always shifted at that point, but she couldn’t get over the initial shock of seeing them, lined up on the bottom.

  She and Trey both went back up for air, clearing their snorkels of water. She motioned to him to follow. The area they were visiting was only three-and-a-half to four meters deep, so they could explore more than she expected to. The statues themselves were used to encourage coral life, almost as a reef itself. So she kicked farther away from the others, hoping for a quiet place. An older, crumbly-looking area seemed perfect. She prepared herself and took a deep breath, kicking down to see. When Trey joined her, she held up a finger. Wait.

  He nodded and she held her hands out so she could float with the current, as silent as possible. Just when she was about to give up, feeling the need for air, the color started to pop. She pointed. They could only stay another moment, but the plants had peeked out, the animals too, fish, eels out of holes, as she’d seen before. Trey kicked closer, but she needed to surface.