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***
The sun was just peeping out on the world and the birds were beginning the morning’s serenade when Erin woke to feel warm hands on her breasts. Eyes still closed, she sighed and turned to give Dare greater access to her and when he replaced his hands with his lips she moaned beneath his caress.
They made sweet love that morning and although her body ached from the vigor of Dare’s attention, it was a pleasing ache that came with a feeling of total satisfaction. She’d never experienced anything like this in her life.
When he turned his head on the pillow and looked over at her she felt the blush rise in her face. She’d actually spent the entire night in this man’s bed. Who would have thought that she’d have had the courage? She, who had avoided men like the plague? She felt a giggle rise in her throat as her thoughts went to her roommates. They would rib her mercilessly when she got back. Her first ‘sleep over’ with a man. She could hardly believe it herself. She would just have to put this down to ‘island fever’.
But it was more than ‘island fever’. Since the day they met there was something about Dare that had drawn her to him. Maybe that was why she’d picked him out of all the men at the bar. It was almost as if she’d had no choice in the matter. And then they’d had this night together. This wonderful, wonderful night. At first she’d been scared but then she’d relaxed in his care, feeling that for the first time in her life she’d found a man she could trust.
She was still curled up beside him in the bed, lost in her thoughts, when Dare’s voice pulled her out of her reverie.
“Well, you’ve served your purpose. Time to go.”
At Dare’s words Erin’s eyes snapped back into focus and she stared up at him. “Excuse me?”
“Time to go,” he said again. He leaned back on his pillow and locked his arms behind his head in a gesture of relaxation. “You wanted a taste of a billionaire and I wanted a taste of you. We both got what we wanted so now it’s time for you to get out.”
Dear God, what was he saying? Eyes wide, Erin clutched the sheet to her breasts and sat up. “Are…are you throwing me out?” She held her breath, praying he would burst out laughing and tell her he’d been pulling her leg. But no, to her horror he was nodding, a smug expression on his face.
“Yep,” he said and this time he did laugh but it was a bitter laugh that sounded mean and ugly to her ears.
“I know girls like you,” he said, his voice harsh and brittle as brass, “gold-diggers on the lookout for the richest man they can find. You get him to sleep with you, get him to fall for you and then you take him for all he’s got.” He chuckled. “I’m on to your game, babe. This is one rich dude you’re not going to take for a ride.”
The blood turned to ice in Erin’s veins. If he’d hauled off and slapped her across the face she could not have been more shocked. Or hurt. Or devastated.
She now realized the truth. Dare, this man she thought she had come to know, had never been attracted to her. He’d never felt anything for her. All he had wanted was to get her into his bed, use her, and then toss her away like disposable dinnerware.
Heat rushed to her face then drained away leaving her cold and shivering and dazed. Then as the chill of his words encircled her heart, turning it into a solid block of ice, she dropped the covers, no longer caring, and stumbled out of the bed. Almost blindly, she fumbled around on the floor reaching for her bra under the chair, her panties under the bed and her dress, now a crumpled mass of black silk on the floor. It looked like exactly how she felt – trampled, damaged and discarded.
With a sob she kneeled on the floor and put on her panties and bra then pulled the dress over her head. Her purse and her shoes were nowhere to be seen.
Slowly she got up and walked on unsteady feet across the room. She wanted to cry. She wanted to throw herself on the floor and bawl. But she would not. She would never give this man the satisfaction of knowing how much he had hurt her. Even though she was dying inside she lifted her chin and without a backward glance she walked out of the room.
She found her shoes and purse in the living room. She retrieved them and then she walked out of Dare’s villa and out of his life.
***
A heel. That was what Dare felt like as he lay on the bed staring up at the ceiling. It had been over twenty minutes since Erin left his villa and still he had not moved. The look on the girl’s face, the sight of her dejection had floored him.
Had he made a mistake? Had he been wrong in how he’d judged her? It couldn’t be. She’d come on to him at the pool and just like he’d expected she’d found a way to conveniently bump into him again, this time at the bar. She’d even jumped at his invitation to dinner. And even more telling, she’d had no objection when he had taken her to his place. She’d given him every indication that she was after something and he’d been right to cut her loose.
Then why did he feel so low? Was it because of the panic he’d seen in her eyes? Was it the way she’d clung to him each time they made love? Was it the hurt he’d seen in her eyes?
Dare shook his head. No, she couldn’t be feeling hurt at his rejection. Anger, maybe. Disappointment. But not hurt. She’d gone into this with her eyes wide open, knowing the risk of trying to seduce a man. She must have been prepared for either outcome.
This was what his brain was telling him. He just wished that other side of him, that weaker part that dealt with his emotions, would just shut up and accept. He’d been right in doing what he did. The girl needed to pay.
So why did he feel like such a jerk?
Chapter 4
It was just after six in the morning when Erin sneaked into the villa, quiet as a cat, and hid herself in her bedroom. Thank God the girls were still fast asleep.
She went into the bathroom and locked the door and there, in the privacy of that space, she slid down to the rug on the floor, hid her face in her hands, and wept.
She had never been so humiliated in her life. To think that she had trusted this man, had felt an emotional connection with him, and then he’d turned out to be the same as the jerks she’d known all her life. She would never trust a man again. Life was infinitely better when she was alone.
With a sniff, Erin got up from the floor. She stepped out of her shoes then stripped off her dress and underwear, removing from her body all memories of the night before. From here on Dare would be a distant memory, just someone stored away in her collection of experiences. That was all. She stepped into the tub, turned on the shower and submerged herself in the cleansing flow.
Erin was relieved when the girls got up later that morning and seemed to have forgotten about her date. They must have come in late last night, half drunk as usual. They seem to have totally forgotten that she’d even gone out. Only Robyn seemed to be regarding her with some interest. Finally, as Erin was packing the plates back onto the room service trolley, she spoke.
“So,” she said, dragging out the word as she eyed Erin from across the room, “how did it go with lover boy last night?”
“L…lover boy?” Erin’s heart sank as she realized she hadn’t escaped. Robyn wanted answers and what Robyn wanted Robyn got.
“Yeah, your date. What? Did it bomb?” The girl looked almost eager to hear bad news.
“Yes. Yes, it did.” Erin seized on the direction the conversation had taken. All Robyn wanted to know was that she’d had a terrible time and then she’d leave her alone.
“Aww, that’s too bad.” Tammy went over and put her arm around Erin’s shoulder. “Don’t let it get you down, though. We can still have some fun tonight.”
Tonight. For her there would be no fun. It would be their last night on the island before heading back to Vancouver and she planned to spend it hidden away in her room.
If she’d spent her time as she normally did, alone and lost in an art history text, she would not have fallen into the trap set by the devil himself. She’d learned her lesson. Home was the safest place to be.
She said none of this out loud, though. She kept her thoughts to herself and pasted a brave smile on her face. “Sure,” she said brightly. “There’s always tonight.”
After breakfast Maria, Tammy and Robyn went down to the beach to take advantage of their last opportunity to tan under the hot Caribbean sun and dip in the ocean. It was also their last chance to preen in front of the many available college guys who had come to the island looking for fun. When they’d hounded Erin to come along she had flatly refused. She would not risk running into Dare again.
As long as she stayed in the villa she would be safe. Thank goodness she’d never told him her last name. He would have no way of finding her. Not that she thought he’d be looking. She had absolutely no desire for him to even consider looking for her. That was what she told herself but the puddle of pain at the pit of her stomach was testament to the lie she’d been feeding herself. She was hurting and there was no denying that.
