“Another reason we’re incompatible.” She widened her thighs when he kissed the inside of her leg.

  Good girl.

  A thrill of electricity surged through him. Weird. It zapped between his balls and heart like a pinball.

  “Baby, I have plans. Big plans.”

  Plans he fulfilled spectacularly.

  He lifted damp hair from her shoulder, leaned forward, and kissed a line of freckles on her neck.

  He’d made a decision, but something like nerves bounced in his gut.

  “Daisy.”

  She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I’ll have a ten-minute power nap here.”

  “Daisy,” he said, a bit harder, a bit louder.

  Her head shot up.

  He tangled his fingers in hers and rested his forehead against hers. “We need to talk.”

  …

  “About what?” Daisy’s throat dried.

  Zan’s serious eyes held hers.

  Damn. Nowhere to hide, not when intense dark green eyes scanned her. She tried to pull back, but the grip of his fingers strengthened.

  “Okay,” she said, trying to work his angles and coming up with nothing. Lines crinkled his forehead, the lips that owned her earlier were now pressed into a thin line. Only his beautiful eyes held a question. She reached for the Zeppelin T-shirt, the need to cover herself urgent.

  Zan stepped aside. She instantly jumped down, smoothed her hand down the old cotton, wondering how she could steal his T-shirt. He led her to the couch and pulled her down beside him. “I can’t get you out of my head.”

  Same.

  She blinked up at him. Malibu_Man_Loves_Cats would be her first date since she’d arrived back. She’d been hanging around the house, missing Zan when she’d given herself a pep talk that if she wanted a relationship, she needed to pop back on the pony.

  “Every time I turn around I feel you beside me. I can taste you on my lips, feel your hand in mine, I can’t sleep.” He again dug his hands into his hair. “And it’s fucking killing me.” She read the anguish in his stormy eyes, covered the distance between them, and hugged him.

  Was she an idiot for wanting more in a crash-and-burn scenario?

  Yes.

  Did a little part of her wish upon every single star in the sky that this could somehow work?

  Yes.

  Did she want to fall into this man and not know where she started and he ended?

  A thousand yesses.

  “I want more.”

  She blinked.

  Determined eyes held hers. “I want this.”

  “We can’t,” she said, her throat clogged and raw. She stood then backed away.

  Damn. More tears. What was up with the waterworks?

  “We can.” He pulled his hand through his hair. “What we’ve got going here is the best I’ve ever had, and I’m not letting us go. I’m not letting you go.” He stalked to her, and she backed away, hitting the cold of the fridge door. Her heart was a tangled mess of want, desire and hope. “Never felt like this before.”

  Nor had she.

  She wanted this man. She fell into him deeper every minute. When they weren’t together all she thought about was him. His bossiness, his smile, the way he held her like she belonged to him.

  Everything about him was perfect.

  Everything about them was wrong.

  “All I know is for the last few days all I’ve wanted to do is walk through any door and see your smile and hear you whisper my name.”

  Reality, that ever-present bitch, gave her a check.

  “But aren’t we playing house here? You’ve said you’re not the stick around kind of guy and you’re not looking for a relationship, and I am. I want the whole white picket fence, maybe not now, but in the future, I do. I’m an all-in or all-out kind of girl.”

  She swallowed as silent tears slid down her face.

  He cupped her face with his hands. “Baby, I don’t have a crystal ball. I work a lot, but coming home to you will be the sweetest thing in my life, so can’t we wing this? See where it goes. Compromise and take a chance, you know, be impulsive?” A smile hovered on his lips, but his eyes were serious.

  A million questions flew through her mind. Could they give this a shot? Would the bad blood between their families complicate them? Would the infighting, the accusations between the rival families, pull them down until they hated each other? She sucked in a sticky breath. Or was the real reason lurking in the back of her mind that she was scared to try and walk away from the man she knew was hers?

  She wanted a relationship, the commitment, the whole working toward something. He wasn’t. He’d maybe think about it, but would probably become bored. He traveled a lot. She didn’t. When would they even see each other? She thought about her profile and the man she hoped to find. Not one tick for Zan. Easygoing? Nope. Flexible? Not a chance. Holidays to sandy beaches? The man didn’t vacation, so a big double X marks the spot there.

  She gnawed on her nail. The horrified faces of her sisters and mother stared at her in her mind. Poppy wouldn’t understand; she doubted Brayden would be thrilled that Zan and her had hooked up.

  “Nothing about us works.” There was a fluttering in her voice she couldn’t hide.

  “I know.”

  “I live by rules and lists, and you charge in.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Our families hate each other. They’ll never understand.”

  “Yeah, there’s that,” he said with a sigh.

  “We’ve been rivals since our first hotel went up. Do you think with all that history and hostility between our families we’ll end up looking at each other with hate-filled eyes? We’ll question each other’s motives, and wonder if we’re playing each other.”

  His fingers on her shoulders flexed. “We’re past that.”

  “But what if we aren’t? I don’t want to have to choose between you and my sisters. I couldn’t do it. So why start something that will only end in disaster?” A funny little quaver in her voice had his eyes locked on hers.

  His forehead rested against hers. “Everything you’ve said is right, but for all that’s wrong there’s a shit load that works. Don’t ask me how to explain, because I can’t. Chemistry? Failed that in high school, but we fit.”

  “But our families will never forgive us.”

  He wrapped his arms around her, and she lay her head on his shoulder. It felt so right to be here with him. Held in arms that made her feel safe, wanted, and cherished.

  “Do you want to try?” He smoothed his hand down her hair.

  She did. The blowout would be huge, but she was falling for this man, and if she walked away for the reasons she’d thought about and they’d said, she could be walking away from the one man put on the planet for her.

  “I do.”

  He let out a long breath. He led her to the couch and pulled her down next to him and held her hand.

  “You must promise me that our business and personal lives will always be separate, and whatever happens nothing comes between us.”

  A cold chill invaded her. She went to move back, but his grip was firm. “That’s a lot to promise, considering we’ve been rivals for a long time.”

  His hand tightened around hers. “Promise me.”

  The fierce look on his face made her pause.

  Her heartbeat thumped against her breastbone. “You’d never do anything to hurt me, would you?”

  He dragged a hand through his hair. “I’d rather cut out my heart than hurt you.”

  A chill swept through her body. “Zan, is there something going on here that I don’t know about?”

  The grip on her hand was stronger. “If shit happens in the future we can’t let it come between us. We stay and talk it out. You don’t run or back away.”

  Her breath caught at the back of her throat. She doubted her legs would hold her if she tried to stand. “You’re scaring me,” she whispered.

  His eyes drilled into hers. “We will always talk everything out.”

  “And if we can’t?”

  He pulled her into his lap. “I’m making a rule.”

  “Wow. You are a changed man.” She wanted to lighten the mood because it had become somber very fast and although she wasn’t going into this naively, she wanted trust laid as a foundation.

  “We don’t talk about work.”

  His phone buzzed, he plopped her back on the couch, walked into the kitchen where he’d thrown his phone on the counter, walked back into the room, the ringtone stopped. “When we’re together, no phones.”

  “That works,” she murmured. “What about our families?” She twisted her hands in her lap. Rose may come around eventually, but she doubted Poppy would be onboard. She couldn’t hurt her sisters.

  “Thought about that. Let’s keep it quiet for the time being. It will cause a shit storm with my brothers, and I don’t believe that it will be different with your sisters. Don’t misunderstand me. I want nothing more than my arm around you showing everyone you’re mine, but I don’t want to share you yet.”

  “I agree.” She didn’t want to share him, either. She wanted to stay cuddled up in their cocoon, tucked away from the outside world until it was time to explain to her sisters that the only man on the planet for her was their bitter business rival.

  He grabbed the finger she didn’t know she’d been chomping on and kissed it.

  “I’m going to have to find a way of distracting you.” He kissed the top of her head. Her arms instantly went around his waist, and she kissed the hollow in his throat, the beat of his heart strong under her lips.

  “I can think of a way,” she murmured.

  “You are incorrigible. Thank God.”

  She swatted his shoulder. “Food, you fool.” Her stomach now grumbled. “You don’t have any Lean Cuisines, do you?”

  “Jesus. No.” He looked confused. “Wait. What are they?”

  “Three-minute calorie-controlled microwaveable meals.” She smiled. “They are awesome.”

  He frowned. “No. And you don’t need calorie-controlled meals, either.”

  His hand swept over her shoulder, brushed the side of her left breast, traced her waist through the cotton, and came to land on her hip. Her skin heated under his touch. She melted into his warm, hard chest.

  “I’ll order Thai.”

  She should call him out on picking the restaurant without consultation. That could go on the master list, or she could let it go because she loved Thai, and she’d bet the food would be excellent. She let it go. While he was on his phone ordering, she wandered into his living room and moved toward a bookcase.

  Her fingers brushed over spines of Stephen King, Clive Cussler, and the complete works of Shakespeare. She traced her fingertips over the old volume of Byron. Two arms circled her waist and turned her. She squealed when she landed upside down on his shoulder, her T-shirt rode up, and his hand splayed across her bare butt.

  “Clovis put me down,” she said, giggling.

  He strode from the living room as if she weighed nothing then took the stairs two at a time and headed toward his en suite bathroom. He set her gently down on a marble counter. He turned on the taps of a huge shower that could hold a party of thirty and pulled the denim jeans from his body.

  Her mouth watered as it always did at the thick column of this throat. Her gaze roamed over the vast expanse of his shoulders A six-pack Thor must have gifted him. Slim but powerful hips. Runner’s legs made up a lickable package. Her eyes strayed to his nipple ring. And it was all hers.

  Her heart burst, and a grin exploded on her face.

  “See something you want?”

  “Yeah.” She raised her eyes to meet his. “You.”

  “You’ve got me. But only for twenty minutes before the food arrives, so clothes off.”

  “So bossy.” She pulled off the T-shirt and stepped into the shower.

  “I’ll show you bossy.”

  Zan had tipped the amused delivery driver wearing only a towel. Daisy had wolfed down a tofu pad Thai which Zan wouldn’t touch while he’d slain fish cakes, chicken satay, and had tried her vegetable curry. They’d chased the meal down with a Corona and were curled up on his bed watching What Would You Do? Not a lot of people returned the hundred-dollar bill to a harassed looking businessman on his phone; slightly more returned the money to his female equivalent. The homeless guy scored high, and everyone gave it back to the teenager trying to buy her prom dress.

  “I’d give it all back.” Daisy twisted in Zan’s arms.

  He kissed the top of her head. “I know.”

  “Do you want to come to my house tomorrow night and meet the other man in my life. Virgil?”

  “I can’t tomorrow. I have back to back meetings,” he said, sounding regretful.

  Disappointment slithered through her.

  “After that, I’ll be in Sydney, then Fiji, but after that, yeah, I’d love to meet Virgil.”

  Her heart swelled in her chest until it hurt to breathe. Maybe they could have it all.

  Chapter Eleven

  Zan took off his jacket as soon as the Fiji Airways touched down in Nadi. He pulled his phone from his pocket and waited for the signal to kick in.

  It was 12:30 p.m., and he had a meeting at two before heading back to L.A. tomorrow. Tristan had booked the plane and was checking out a resort in Kona. Zan’s phone buzzed; he flicked through the texts, looking for the name Clovista and finding nothing except updates from his brothers and his assistant. Disappointed, he’d been enjoying the texts flowing back and forth before he left for Sydney. Now there was radio silence. He’d kept trying but came up with dead air.

  The limo had dropped him at his hotel, and he headed up to his room to shower and shave before the meeting in the conference part of the hotel. He threw his bag on the bed, picked up his phone when it buzzed, and let out a giant breath.

  Clovista: I hear you have a thing for red bikinis.

  He tapped out a reply.

  Clovis: Only if they’re worn by a sexy brunette with a biteable ass.

  He smiled as bubbles appeared on the phone.

  Clovista: I’ve been really naughty.

  Fuck.

  He was hard as granite and across the other side of the world. His fingers stabbed the glass.

  Clovis: How naughty?

  Clovista: You wouldn’t believe how naughty.

  Clovis: Jesus woman, do you know what you’re doing to me? If you were here, I’d pull you over my knee and spank that beautiful butt of yours then kiss it.

  More bubbles appeared.

  Clovista: Promises, promises.

  Clovis: Wait until I’m back. You’re going to pay for making me either hit the shower or a meeting with a boner.

  Clovista: Why wait?

  His heart rate spiked. He stalked to the window and dropped his phone. There, lying on a deckchair wearing the red bikini he’d dreamed about, lay Daisy. A straw hat on her head, a fruit juice by her side, and a group of men tripping over themselves when they walked past her.

  He picked up his phone.

  Clovis: Get your gorgeous butt up here.

  She picked up her phone, her fingers flying across the screen.

  Clovista: Give me ten.

  Clovis: Ten seconds!

  Clovista: So bossy.

  Clovis: Yeah, and you love it.

  Clovista: I think I do.

  She threw a sarong around her waist, saluted him with her drink, pushed flip-flops on her feet, and started walking toward the entrance of the hotel.

  A few minutes later he paced around the room, then stopped. Anticipation and something else he wasn’t going to name rattled his heart.

  Shit, I didn’t give her my room number.

  A knock on his door.

  He pulled open the door, hauled her into his arms, and kissed her, long, deep, and hard. She melted into him. It took him seconds to remove the bikini, pick her up, and deposit her on the bed.

  “How’d you find out my room number?”

  “Your horny girlfriend is making a surprise visit.” She grinned up at him.

  He groaned. “Please don’t tell me you told the check-in guy you’re horny. The poor man would have split his pants.” He tapped her nose when she giggled.

  “I’ve missed you.” He meant it. He’d missed her in ways he’d never thought possible. He drank her in, removing his own clothes. His eyes were drawn to her tan lines. Her chocolate eyes sparkled, her nipples hard, and a smile on her face that left him in no doubt what she wanted.

  “My very own Captain America.”

  “I can’t say my very own dirty nun.”

  He leaned down and kissed her, swept her hair from her face, and after joining her on the bed, he took his time worshiping her body until she called his name and came undone around him.

  “Wow,” she whispered.

  He pulled damp hair from her head. “Yeah.”

  They’d had great sex. They’d had mind blowing sex, but that was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. She’d held him with her whole body, kissed him until he’d nearly lost control. She’d now tipped on her side and started tracing his ink, something he loved. He also loved that she didn’t cover herself with a sheet. He adored her soft belly, the flare of her hips, and an ass he could stare at all day.

  Christ, does that make me a stalker?

  But something pulled deeper into his heart.

  “You flew out here to be with me?”

  Her eyes sparkled. “Yeah. And after a welcome like that, it was totally worth it.”

  “I can welcome you like that anytime.” He drew circles on her shoulder, loving the way goose bumps cascaded down her body. “Are you cold?”

  She shook her head.

  So, not from the air conditioning.

  That pleased him a lot.

  “Just so you know, I am now in touch with seven gods, so Saturday and Sundays are going to be out for me for a while.”

  He chuckled.

  “The woman next to me thought I was coming here for a religious experience.” She widened her eyes. “If she knew the sort I just had, I think she’d have a different opinion of me.”

  “It means a lot that you did this.” He kissed her shoulder, tracing his tongue down the column of her neck.

 

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