Читать книгу Island Fling With The Tycoon - Therese Beharrie - Страница 12

EMMA’S BROTHER WAS not quite as mythical as she’d made him seem. He was very much human, Piper thought, unashamedly studying him as he drove.

His jaw was locked, the sharp angles of it more pronounced because of the tension. Most of his expression was still obscured by his glasses, though she could tell he was glowering. The glasses seemed necessary for that—or, rather, the expression seemed necessary. She hadn’t seen anything other than it since they’d met.

It wasn’t her fault he’d had the wrong sign. And maybe she should have asked him, but she never approached strange men. She steered away from men in general, actually. Found it to be a good rule since she didn’t trust her own judgement.

The first man she’d trusted had manipulated her whenever she’d allowed it. When she hadn’t, too. The second man she’d trusted had abandoned her; she still hadn’t forgiven her brother for that, if she was being honest. As for the third man...

She’d chosen Brad, and somehow he’d ended up being exactly like her father. She’d paid for that. Was still paying for it in the form of caution and rules and the constant fear of falling for the wrong person again.

She sucked her lip in, looked out of the window. Her trip down memory lane had extinguished her curiosity about the man beside her. Instead, she focused on the actual lane they were driving along. It was an apt description for the narrow road they were rattling down. Caleb handled it with a confidence she wasn’t sure the road warranted.

She wanted to tell him to slow down, to give way to the large buses driving the curves of the narrow road. To watch out for the scooters zooming past them at what felt like every turn. But her voice wouldn’t work. She suspected it had something to do with feeling vulnerable, and the fact that she didn’t want him to know she was.

It seemed to be an unofficial mark of their short relationship, this vulnerability. Her inability to speak because of it. Back at the airport, when he’d assumed she’d wanted him to carry her bag without asking, it had kept her from accusing him of taking control like the men in her past. It had also kept her from blurting out a thank you when he’d told her he believed she could do it herself, unlike the men in her past.

That difference was why she’d been surprised he’d given in so easily. Nevertheless, her entire body had braced for the argument she’d thought would come. They’d been inevitable before, with Brad. And he’d disguised control with gentlemanliness, which was part of why it had taken her years before she’d seen it. It wasn’t the only reason, but still, she was careful because of it. She didn’t take anything at face value any more. She couldn’t trust herself to.

The car jerked to the side as a bus took a narrow corner wide. A sound escaped from her lips.

‘We’re fine,’ he said curtly.

‘I didn’t say anything.’

‘You made a noise.’

‘It was involuntary.’

‘We’re still fine.’

‘So you say,’ she muttered, refusing to look out of the window on his side as the bus loomed over them.

‘You shouldn’t have come to Mykonos if you’re afraid of tight roads.’

‘I couldn’t get out of it.’

‘You tried?’ he asked, surprise making his voice lighter.

‘Everything. But Liam had an answer for every concern.’ She looked at him. ‘Some of that was because of you,’ she said accusingly.

‘I didn’t do anything.’

‘Aren’t you paying for the extravagant wedding?’

‘Well, yes, but—’

‘I couldn’t afford to come here by myself.’ She sighed at the idea. ‘It was a legitimate excuse. Then Emma’s magical unicorn of a brother swoops in and suddenly I have no reason to back out.’

Caleb made a strangled sound that would have been amusing had another bus not rounded the corner. She hissed out a breath.

‘You didn’t learn your lesson from the first bus?’ he asked darkly. ‘We’re fine. This is how people drive here.’

‘Doesn’t mean I have to like it.’

‘That’s true.’

He pulled back onto the road. She closed her eyes when it seemed as if he was still too close to the walls keeping them from falling off the edge of the cliff.

She had an intense wave of nostalgia for home. In Cape Town, South Africa, she had a choice about what kind of road she wanted to drive on. It wasn’t the standard, these narrow and inclined roads. No, the standard was wide open spaces with plenty of lanes to feel safe in.

‘Piper.’

She 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 moment he spent with her. As someone who prided himself on reading people quickly and efficiently, he didn’t like that she was such an enigma.

Then again, he wasn’t buying property from her as he did in his business. That was where he relied on his people-reading skills. Perhaps he needed to calm down. Not that thinking that helped him to calm down.

‘Here you go,’ he said, taking the key from on top of the door frame and opening the door.

‘You left the key there?’

‘It’s safe.’

‘Hmm.’

It was the only comment she made as she pulled her bag into the house.

There was another gasp when she was inside, and he felt a strong sense of satisfaction. He’d done some work on the inside of the villas when he’d bought them. Not enough to change the feel of them, but enough that he could be proud when someone liked them.

It had been no small feat to get Adrian Anagnos to sell this place to him. In Mykonos, businesses remained locally owned for the most part. There were none of the fast food places that had taken over most of Europe. Most of the restaurants and properties were family owned. It was how Mykonos had survived the recession, a fact they were quite proud of.

When he’d learnt of this, Caleb had been determined to get a foot in the door. He’d worked with Adrian when the man had come to South Africa, interested in investing in property. Their relationship had been purely professional until, one day, Adrian’s daughter had been robbed in Cape Town. Adrian had been in America on business. With no one else to assist her, Adrian had called Caleb, who hadn’t given it a second thought.

Things changed then. Adrian invited Caleb on a boat trip one day in Cape Town to thank him. Dinner became more frequent, and Adrian became a mentor. Caleb didn’t use that term lightly—it felt like a betrayal to his father, whose business Caleb had taken over when Chad Martin had died thirteen years ago. But Caleb had grown to like and respect Adrian. The older man felt the same about Caleb.

When Adrian had invited Caleb to Greece for his daughter’s wedding, Caleb had stayed at this very property. It was one of several Adrian owned on the island. Caleb had liked it so much he’d enquired about purchasing it. It had taken two years before he’d finally worn Adrian down. Eventually, the man had stopped laughing at Caleb; now, Caleb was the owner. It was a deep disappointment that Adrian couldn’t make Emma’s wedding.

‘This is... Wow,’ Piper said, drawing him from his thoughts.

‘Yeah, I thought the same thing when I first saw it.’

Piper ran a hand over the couch, looking from the cobbled tiling up to the sea-themed décor. She took the two steps up to the open-plan kitchen, walked out to the small courtyard at the back, then into the main bedroom with its en-suite bathroom. With wide eyes she walked out and stared at him.

‘Are all the rooms in the villa like this?’

‘Pretty much, yeah.’

‘Wow,’ she said again, setting her hands on the small blue table in the kitchen. ‘How could you afford to rent this place?’

His lips twitched. ‘I didn’t rent it.’

She gave him a look. ‘Liam told me you arranged for accommodation.’

‘Technically true, although I didn’t have to arrange much. I simply didn’t hire it out for this week.’

‘You didn’t...’

He could see her brain working as she trailed off. Enjoyed that brief moment of shock when she realised what he meant.

‘You own this place?’

She spoke in a whisper. He smiled.

‘I do.’

‘Holy cow.’ She blinked. Repeated the action in rapid movements. ‘I...guess I understand why Emma went so extravagant with the wedding now.’

‘Liam wanted the wedding to be big, too,’ Caleb reminded her, as if he had to defend his younger sister.

‘Yeah, but Liam wanted it because Emma wanted it.’

‘Why do you sound so judgemental?’

‘I’m not judging anyone,’ she said, straightening her spine. ‘I’m only saying that if I had access to literal paradise—’ she lifted a hand, gestured around them ‘—I’d want to have a big destination wedding, too.’

‘You’re definitely judging her.’

She met his eyes. ‘If you tell me you’ve never once judged Liam because of his choices, personal or professional, I’ll tell you the truth about whether I’m judging her.’

Caleb thought back to all the things he’d seen Liam do—things he hadn’t agreed with. Two failed business ventures in the year and a half since he and Emma had started dating. A lack of a spine when it came to even the vaguest prospect of conflict.

The only reason Caleb had felt comfortable with the wedding going ahead as planned was because Liam was completely in love with Emma. And he made Emma happy. Otherwise, Caleb might have had to step in, like his father would have, had the man still been alive...

Piper was smiling when he looked at her again.

‘I’m going to get ready for the party. Please close the door on your way out.’

* * *

Piper dusted a hand over the olive-green dress she wore. It was simple, with thin straps, and revealed more of her breasts than she’d ever shown before. But it had pockets, ended mid-shin, and the colour popped against her skin. She couldn’t bring herself to change, despite the situation with her breasts.

She lifted her hand to her hair, which she’d had to tie up into a ponytail since she’d worn it that way on the flight over. There had been no time to wash and blow it again. She’d tied it up, flattened the front of it with gel and straightened her ponytail until it was a sleek curtain to her mid-back. With one last look in the mirror, she grabbed her clutch and opened the door.

Right to Caleb Martin.

They both took a step back. Both sized each other up in the silence that followed. He wore light blue pants and a white shirt. It accentuated the brown of his skin, the broadness of his shoulders, the dark black of his hair. He’d shaved since they last saw one another, so the sharp angles of his face were even more striking than they’d been that afternoon. Or perhaps that was because he no longer wore sunglasses, and for the first time since they’d met she could see his eyes.

When her stomach flipped at them—they crinkled at the sides as he patiently waited for her to finish her perusal, done with his own—she wished he’d brought the glasses again. His eyes were kinder than she’d thought they would be. They were also sharp, light, and the combination of that expression as well as his outfit...

It was a good thing she’d practised her self-control. Fanning herself would have been inappropriate.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked when she was finally done staring. No, that wasn’t true. She wasn’t done. She simply knew what was proper.

‘Emma asked me to escort you to the party.’

‘Why? Is it complicated to get to the beach?’

‘It is not.’ Amusement shimmered across his face, a potent addition to the gorgeousness she was already distracted by.

‘Is she trying to set us up?’

His eyes widened comically, the determined shake of his head following in a similar manner. ‘No. No, of course not.’

‘You’re denying this a lot.’

‘Doesn’t mean it’s not true.’

It would probably annoy him if she disagreed—so, of course, that was what she wanted to do. She walked out of the door, closed it behind her. Primly, she folded her hands around her clutch.

‘I don’t know. You came to fetch me from the airport. You showed me to my room. Now you’re escorting me to a party. This must be a date of some sort.’

‘It’s not a date,’ he said. ‘It’s...being courteous. Which I’m deeply regretting.’

‘You’re the least courteous person I’ve met, Caleb. You telling me you regret being courteous proves that.’

‘Has anyone ever pointed out how contrary you are?’

Why can’t you do as you’re told, Piper?

A question she’d heard far too often in her twenty-six years, in various forms.

‘All the time,’ she said lightly. Fighting for that tone. ‘Though you think it an insult. It’s not. I try to be contrary whenever I can, so someone pointing it out to me is a compliment. Shall we?’

She started walking, not bothering to check if he was following. She could almost hear his irritation with her. It thrilled her in a way it shouldn’t have.

To be fair, some of what she’d said had been for the sake of contrariness—he was so easily riled!—but some of it had been true, too. She’d spent most of her life obeying people. Her mother had died when she was young, leaving her and her brother with a father who didn’t want to be one. Keaton Evans had never said so, but she could only assume that was the reason for his awfulness. People who wanted children didn’t force them into behaving in certain ways, did they? Surely they allowed their children to become whoever they wanted to be. They let them test the boundaries, drawing them in when the child went too far.

But not Keaton.

Keaton had a strict routine for them to follow. So strict, in fact, that if either of them strayed from it they were punished. No outside time. Food in their rooms. Being kept separate from one another. Since they had no friends, not really, Piper and Liam had become friends. At least they had been in those first few years. Not talking to one another was torture then, which their father knew. It was how he’d kept them in line.

There was no testing the boundaries in the Evans house. There were only the boundaries. If they were broken, Piper or Liam would be punished. At least Keaton had been simple in his cruelty.

As they’d got older, Liam began to rebel more, and things got bad. Eventually, Liam had got a bursary to university and moved out. Their father had forbidden him from coming back. Forbidden her from seeing him. They’d lost touch, even when she’d joined Liam at university two years later. By then she’d allowed her father to crush her spirit of rebellion. Of independence. She’d only got it back three years later, when Keaton had died.

Then she’d welcomed another manipulator into her life.

‘It’s hard to insult someone who doesn’t have the decency to be insulted by things that normal people are insulted by,’ Caleb commented from beside her. She hadn’t even noticed he’d caught up. Now that she had, she could feel his presence like the light breeze caressing her skin.

‘That’s the point,’ she replied. ‘I don’t get insulted, and that way I take away the power from the person trying to insult me.’

‘Sounds like you’ve practised it.’

‘I have,’ she told him simply, before stopping at the top of a steep decline. She let out a breath. ‘I knew these heels were a bad idea.’

‘I wouldn’t say so,’ his voice rumbled.

Her flesh shot out in goosebumps. And she remembered, for the first time, that she’d forgotten to put on the nipple covers she’d bought for the dress when she’d realised she couldn’t wear a bra with it. She resisted angling her body away so he wouldn’t know the effect his flirtatious remark had on her. It would be giving him power. On principle, she couldn’t allow that.

‘Well, I do,’ she said determinedly. ‘How am I supposed to make it down this path without breaking an ankle?’

‘Take them off.’

She wrinkled her nose. ‘Then I’d have dirty feet when I have to wear my shoes again.’

‘You could wipe them off.’

‘That won’t help.’

He stared at her for a moment. ‘You’re strange.’

‘Tell me something I don’t know.’

‘Well,’ he said, ‘you do have another option, though I don’t think you’re going to like it.’

‘What is it?’

He turned to face her, his expression so satisfied that she wanted to give him whatever answer he didn’t expect from her. Until she heard his suggestion.

‘I could carry you.’