Island Fling With The Tycoon. Therese Beharrie

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СКАЧАТЬ opened her eyes at the sound of her name. She hadn’t expected it. Hadn’t expected to like the way he said it either.

       Piper.

      She heeded the warning of her inner voice and steeled herself.

      ‘What?’

      ‘Worrying about traffic means you’re missing the view.’

      ‘I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I’ve seen views.’

      ‘Just look.’

      She did, but reluctantly. Made sure he knew it, too, with a little exhalation and roll of her eyes. The sharp intake of breath she took once she looked out over the stone walls wasn’t contrived though. She hadn’t been lying when she’d told Caleb about the Cape Town views, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate new ones.

      This one was particularly stunning, the vast blue ocean stretching out, broken up by rocks and islands in the far distance. On the island itself, white buildings stretched up at different layers, marked by the blue shutters she associated with Greece though she’d never been there before. Interspersed were stretches of brown land, green trees, pink flowers. It was striking and, she had to admit, it distracted her from the drive.

      When they went down a curving gravel road she held her breath. Moments later he stopped the car, and she exhaled.

      ‘What if the place had been further down?’ he asked dryly.

      ‘I probably would have fainted and you could have done the gentlemanly thing and left me in the car to fend for myself.’

      There was a beat before she thought she heard him chuckle, but he climbed out of the car before she could check. Good thing, too. If she saw him smile, or do anything other than glower, she might have to pay attention to the buzzing that had been in her body since they’d met. At the moment, she was blissfully ignoring it.

      She’d practised hard on that ability for the last two years. She was pleased it was working.

      ‘Would you like me to get your bag out, or do you want to do it yourself?’ he asked when she joined him at the back of the car.

      Oddly, the question touched her. It made her feel...understood, though that made no sense.

      ‘I’ll do it,’ she answered, to be safe.

      She climbed in, pulled at the bag. Pulled again when it didn’t budge. It took her a second to realise it was stuck. Panic made her fingers clumsy as she tried to loosen the bag. Pride prevented her from asking for help.

      She waited for Caleb’s sigh. For the dip of the car that told her he was coming in to help. To take over because, obviously, she couldn’t be trusted to do anything herself.

      ‘This is why you should leave things to me, Pipe,’ Brad had told her whenever something like this had happened. ‘You can’t do it by yourself.’

      It was funny that she’d heard versions of that from her father all her life. When Brad had outright said it though, she hadn’t listened to the alarm going off in her head.

      Gritting her teeth, she pulled with all her strength. The bag came loose, but the momentum had her falling back. A hand pressed against her back, but was removed as soon as she was steady. She got out of the car, her face burning despite the triumph of exiting with her bag.

      ‘Nice job.’

      She lifted her chin. ‘Please don’t make fun of me.’

      ‘I wasn’t,’ he said sincerely.

      There was a shriek from somewhere behind them, ending the conversation before she could think about why his answer warmed her.

      * * *

      ‘Caleb, you did it!’ Emma exclaimed, launching herself at him as he turned to face her. ‘The caterers arrived an hour ago and everything seems to be going smoothly.’

      He pushed at a braid that had flown over her face when she finally let go of him, and smiled. ‘Of course, Em. What choice did I have?’

      ‘Ha,’ she said, poking him in the stomach. Then her eyes moved to Piper and softened. ‘Piper! It’s so lovely to see you!’

      Emma went to hug her future sister-in-law. Caleb expected Piper to wince. To put distance between her and his affectionate—sometimes overly so—sister. But she opened her arms and squeezed Emma tight. His heart squeezed, too. He ignored the sensation.

      ‘Em, you look beautiful,’ Piper said when she leaned back.

      Emma beamed at her, smoothing the strapless blue dress she wore before flipping her hair over her shoulder. ‘I still have to have these styled,’ she said, lifting a free braid.

      ‘And I have to have the whole of this styled,’ Piper replied, waving a hand down her body.

      Emma laughed.

      ‘Em, it’s less than an hour before the party starts,’ Caleb said. ‘You need to get your hair done and leave. Your guests will start to arrive soon and you and Liam have to be there.’

      ‘Yeah, yeah,’ Emma said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. ‘It’s not like my hair is going to take long.’

      ‘Is Jada doing it?’ Caleb asked, thinking of his baby sister.

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Then you need as much time as you can get.’

      Emma’s expression turned thoughtful. ‘True.’ She kissed Piper on the cheek before doing the same to Caleb. ‘Show her to her room, please, Caleb. Liam’s already at the beach, welcoming guests.’

      She stuck her tongue out before Caleb could say anything, leaving behind a restlessness in the silence.

      ‘You should probably show me to my room,’ Piper said eventually.

      He acquiesced without reply.

      He heard her intake of breath when they walked onto the Pleasure Villas property. It was like when she’d seen the view of the ocean, the island of Mykonos earlier. A gasp at the beauty. So simple, too, as if she hadn’t seen something like it before. Or perhaps as if she could still appreciate beauty like it, despite seeing it in her home, as she’d claimed.

      But even he, jaded as he was when it came to beautiful places, appreciated Pleasure Villas. Tall white buildings with blue shutters surrounded a bright blue pool. At almost each of the assortment of buildings, green leaves and pink flowers pressed against the white paint. Some crept up, along pillars. Others stretched over from one building to another. The greenery around the pool created an oasis he’d never had the opportunity to enjoy, too concerned with privacy than to strive for relaxation.

      He wondered if that would be the case for Piper. She seemed closed off, private, though her tongue was sharp. But then he thought of how eagerly she’d opened her arms to his sister, how she didn’t seem to be hesitant or resistant with Emma, and he didn’t know. His first impression of her was challenged by almost every other СКАЧАТЬ