He tugged at her hand. “For instance?”
“The theme. We still haven’t discussed the theme. And I only have seven days to coordinate theme and nail down the menu. Not to mention order and ship in supplies.”
Ryker led her into the kitchen, where his staff stopped their work and trained their gazes on them as they entered the room. To be so noticed by everyone by simply walking into a room—she certainly felt like a princess when she was with Ryker. Not that she grew up the kind of girl who pranced around the living room with a tiara on. That little number had been saved for Bits. Avery had been busy taking care of herself. Studying. And making sure she was nothing like her perfect and beautiful baby sister.
The attention, when directed at her, usually made her want to shrink.
“I introduced myself last night,” Avery said. “Good morning, Kyle.”
Ryker looked momentarily impressed. “Well, you might’ve learned a few names, but you’ve no idea what this group is capable of.”
“Is that right?”
“Allow me. Kyle can get anything you want from anywhere with a day’s notice. The man is magic.”
“I believe it. I do. But seriously, for a hundred people—that takes more than a phone call,” she insisted.
“What he can do for one, he can do for a thousand. Right, Kyle?”
Kyle inclined his chin. “Right you are, Chief.” Forget that he didn’t wear the clothing of an employee. And Ryker hadn’t treated him like one, either. Kyle ran his own kitchen. His respect for his boss was evident.
“It’s good to see you again,” Avery said. She truly appreciated that he’d been genuine and kind to her when she’d all but intruded on his kitchen last night and imposed herself on him.
“Well, then, now that you see what good hands you’re in. You can come away with me today,” Ryker said.
“Oh, but I can’t.” Avery shook her head.
Kyle grinned and then winked. “It’s no use arguing with the boss. Better take this with you as well. You’ll get hungry.” He held out what looked to be an overstuffed picnic basket.
Ryker tucked it under his arm with a smile.
Avery didn’t know what to make of all this except she felt ganged up on. “No fair.”
“He’s persistent, this one,” Kyle continued. “He’ll not take no for an answer. But rest assured, whatever you need, I can get it. It’s a phone call away.”
“Well then. Since I have no choice here. I’ll agree. But—”
“And there’s always a but, isn’t there?” Ryker said, his tone now surprisingly light.
“We have to talk a little shop.”
Kyle laughed out loud. “When you take her to the Point, see if she still wants to talk shop then.”
The Point. Avery was certain it would be the perfect spot for seduction. The picnic basket, the Point—all of it looked rehearsed, as though this were simple routine to them. Probably because Ryker had seduced hundreds, no thousands, of women there with this same picnic basket tucked under his masculine arm. Not that a man like him would need a special place. She had to admit to being surprised that he needed any sort of seduction routine at all.
“Where are we going exactly?”
He smiled one of his sexy trademark smiles, took her hand, and then led her outside to his motor bike.
On the motorcycle, she held onto him, looping her arms around his waist. She leaned into his broad, strong back. The sun was just coming up; the cover of nightfall that had blanketed the island lifted like a curtain to reveal the true beauty of the place. And it was breathtaking.
They wound down a long path and stopped at a lighthouse. It was white, looked to have a fresh coat of paint, and had a red stripe that corkscrewed up from the bottom until it circled the top where the light was. He opened the solid wood door and instructed Avery to follow him.
The heavy door creaked and groaned.
“This thing’s survived the test of time. Pretty solid. Held off more than a few invaders.”
He stood at the door, watching as Avery’s mind clicked through all the possibilities. She didn’t want to trust him but decided she had no choice. So she followed.
No less than a hundred lit candles, scattered around, cast the room in a warm glow. In the center of the room, a blanket was already spread out. Avery eyed the blanket.
I don’t think so
. She ran her flat palm along the round, concrete wall. The dimples and imperfections made it feel even warmer and more beautiful. “This place is wonderful. How did you find it?”
And how many women have you brought here before me?
“That’s what keeps me coming back to the island. A surprise around every corner.”
“It is quite unexpected. The beauty.”
He took her hand and guided her to the center of the blanket where he had opened the basket of food and uncorked a bottle of red wine.
She eyed him up and down warily. Talk about surprises. What else did Ryker Li have up his sleeve? Never mind that question. She didn’t want to think about his sleeve at all, because that rounded her thoughts back to the powerful arm inside.
“Let’s see what’s in here,” she said, scanning the contents of the basket instead. Cheese, crackers. Some type of fresh bread. Olives.
Ryker picked up a slice of cheese and brought it to her lips. Rather than allow him to put it in her mouth, she took it from him. She could feel her cheeks warm as she imagined his fingers doing other things.
Focus
.
“We were going to talk work,” she said. His finger grazed her cheek and it lit fires inside her. Uncontrollable fires.
“I’m afraid you’re creating a problem for me,” he said seriously.
“I am?”
“Yes.”
“Why is that?”
“I can’t seem to get you off my mind.” His tanned finger slowly slid down the cleft of her chin. “I think about you when we’re together.” He paused ever so slightly, and his voice was low and gravel-like. “And when we’re apart...”
His gaze rose to meet hers and her heart nearly stopped in her chest. His look smoldered with passion and promise and more than a hint of tightly gripped emotion.
And if she didn’t do something to stop it, she wouldn’t be able to.
Avery rose to her feet. Her knees were weak, and her stomach ached. It would be so easy to melt into his arms. But Alexandria’s suspicions wound their way back into Avery’s thoughts.
This scene has been set up
, they said. In advance. A seduction. Ryker was seducing her like he’d done so many before her. Right here. In this very spot. Those other women probably melted like hot butter in his arms, too. And then he put them right back on the plane and moved on.
“I—uh…can’t do this.”
“We both want it.”
“That’s not the point.” She folded her arms and hugged her elbows. “I should go home.” But this time home meant back to the villa.
Before she could argue, he took her in his arms and brought her in to his chest. “It’s okay.”
Avery felt the earth move under her feet as she momentarily melted into his solid chest where she felt safe. A false sense of security, no doubt, but against his masculinity she felt safer than if she’d been tucked away in Fort Knox.
“Look. I dated the rich and famous back in prep school, and it didn’t end well for me.”
“Someone broke your heart?”
“Humiliated me, more like it. My sister set us up, told him I’d be easy.”
His expression soured. “Your sister would do that to you?”
“Did. She
did
do that to me, I’m afraid.”
“Assholes,” he said, his disgust like a knife tearing through a carcass.
A tear escaped at the memory. Ryker leaned forward and brushed a kiss where it tumbled down her cheek. He cupped her face. “What I want to do with you has nothing to do with humiliation.”
His lips came down on hers with bruising need.
Feeling every inch of the moment happening between them, Avery yielded to his powerful touch. He had the unique ability to make everything right, to temporarily quiet Alexandria’s words.
He pulled back first.
She brought the back of her hand to her lips. Then she bit her bottom lip. Leaning into him, she rested her cheek on his solid chest. Light from the window cast shadows on his face, accentuating his strong jawline. Avery wanted to believe whatever he said. She needed to think whatever was happening between them was real. But wasn’t that exactly the kind of fairy tale she loathed?
Because they never really worked out with a happily ever after like in childish books.
“I won’t see you tomorrow. I’m leaving for a few days,” he said with a stab of regret in his voice.
She stood there momentarily stunned. Was he just saying that to motivate her to action? It would be just like a man like him to know precisely the right words to make a woman’s knees go weak.
His strong hand splayed against the small of Avery’s back, positioning her exactly where he wanted her. His kiss, slow and tender at first, barely pressed against her mouth, deepened with passion as she parted her lips for him.
His tongue flicked inside her mouth for the briefest moment, a mere taste, as though an instant of preparation was needed before surging deeper. The next surge, deep and hungry, was so alarming it robbed Avery’s ability to breathe. Her hands came up to his shoulders for support before sliding down his muscled chest as tingly sensations of awareness coursed through her.
This infuriatingly beautiful man, even with his hard edge, had sex appeal to spare. It was unfair that one person should end up with so much—the heat of which threatened to melt her bones and leave her body a puddle on the ground—when so many ended up with so little. And she was absolutely sure she was one of the unlucky ones who’d ended up without.
Her sensible mind told her to run, to get out of there and get this man out of her life, but her body betrayed her as he braided her fingers in his. His eyes were hungry with anticipation. Everything about this man heightened her senses and brought her body to life. His all male and musky scent. His solid-walled chest. His beautiful bronze-colored eyes.
His fingers stroked her hair as his lips brushed her forehead. Yearning welled up from deep inside, making her head numb. Being so close to him, feeling his skin under her fingers, made her struggle from the inside out. Before she could form an argument in her mind, his mouth enveloped hers, coming down hard and fast. His needy tongue delved deeply.
Avery’s body craved his touch as her hands moved up and down his back. Her fingers mapped the muscles there. Her senses heightened until her entire body pulsed and tingled with the kind of fury that must be similar to face diving.
He stopped suddenly. Too suddenly.
“There. That should hold us both over.”
Oh. Hell. No.
Here she was on an island more beautiful than her wildest imagination, spending time with the absolute man of her dreams, and all she could think about was how to get away from it all and regain her sanity. She could easily see why so many women melted in his arms. He was the kind of man who could make a girl feel like she was the only woman on earth.
“We need to talk.”
“I’d rather do other things.” His broad shoulders rolled. “But we could eat first if you need to.”
A shudder of need roared through her. Avery stopped, folded her arms for fortitude. “I want to know more about you.”
“I grew up in Hong—”
“Not the stuff I can read in a paper.”
“Hmm. Okay. My mom and your mom would make great bridge partners,” he said.
“That what made you angry as a kid?”
“In part. She wasn’t exactly mother material. I know you understand that.”
Avery nodded.
“Mine was much more devious. Much more sneaky when she slipped men in through the butler’s kitchen.”
Avery gasped. “That must’ve been painful for you to know. How old were you when you found out?”
“Young. Six, I guess.”
“And you didn’t say anything to your dad?” she asked quietly, sympathetically.
“No. She tricked me into not giving her away when I was young. I had no idea why she had men sneaking through the back. She said it was a game. The spy who gave away secrets would never play again,” he said and his tone was even. Too even.
“That’s a terrible thing to do to a child. What happened when you got older?”
“Guess I figured out what was going on and didn’t want to break my father’s heart. See, he actually loved her.”
“You must’ve hated yourself for keeping up with the lie.”
“I grew to resent my father for not knowing. Or turning a blind eye.”
Ryker didn’t say more.
They kept silent, allowing the weight of his confession to sit heavy for long moments.
Avery leaned over and pressed a kiss to Ryker’s lips. She knew she was in deep and she had only a thread of reality to cling to. Before she could draw air back in her lungs, his lips, those glorious lips claimed hers once more with bruising need that drained her lungs.
She broke free long enough to say, “This apple fell far from the family tree.”
Avery was exhausted from fighting her feelings for him. So she didn’t. She had never wanted anything in her life more than this moment. He pulled her into his arms, and, without breaking eye contact, gently laid her on top of the folded blanket.
His breath was warm and sensual when it touched her skin so lightly, so devastatingly, that it strengthened her as she yielded. His eyes lifted, locking onto her gaze. She was sure he read every one of her thoughts. His softened expression, his actions, said he’d somehow heard every word, even as she had yet to speak them. He was telling her she was beautiful. Perfect.
And right now, she felt like the most beautiful woman in the world.
Ryker dissolved any lingering doubt and Avery’s reserves along with it. Leaving her defenseless against his touch, his caress, his tenderness, she could do nothing more or less than surrender. All that registered was the desire intensifying inside her, a desire mounting with every stroke of his finger, every thrust of his tongue. He slipped her shirt off and her swimsuit top along with it.
He groaned a low, throaty growl as his fingers stroked the bare skin of her full breasts. Taking a nipple in his mouth, his tongue glided and licked along the crest.