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‘It’ll take about an hour to get to Sunrise Island,’ he barked out over the headphones.
‘I... I can’t wait to see it. Is there a reason why you decided to settle there?’ she asked, making desperate small talk again, trying to ignore the sudden drop in her stomach.
Am I actually doing this? Travelling to a private island for a one-night stand?
The hum of the engine cut through the silence. She turned to look at him, wondering at the sudden pause in the conversation, only to realise he had the same frown on his face he’d had back in the park, when he’d told her about his island home.
‘I like my privacy,’ he said at last.
The rest of the journey went by in a haze of stunning night-time views as the coastline meandered north. The lights marking their way in the darkness turned from clusters into sprinkles as they journeyed into Oregon. But as Cassie stared at the coastline the buoyant sensation which had been driving her decisions all evening turned into a leaden lump in the pit of her stomach...
‘I like my privacy.’
What was she actually doing? Taking him up on the offer of a one-night stand when the reason she was in San Francisco, the reason why she’d been at the wedding of his friends in the first place, wasn’t as it appeared to him?
Should she tell him about Temple’s interest in investing in Broussard Tech? Wouldn’t it be hopelessly unprofessional to bring up work now?
Yeah, Cassie, almost as unprofessional as climbing aboard his bike, kissing him senseless and agreeing to spend the night with him on his private island?
She blinked into the darkness, her newfound adventurous streak tempered by a cold, harsh dose of reality. And the spontaneous choice she had made at the marina didn’t seem quite so simple any more.
* * *
After landing Jezebel on the sheltered east side of Sunrise Island, Luke drove the plane into the small secluded cove below the house. The right float bumped against the dock as a sprinkle of rain hit the fuselage.
‘A storm’s brewing.’ He glanced at his passenger, who had been silent for the last half-hour of their journey. She hadn’t been the only one.
Why the heck had he invited her to Sunrise? It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision driven by an organ other than his brain—and by the transparent wonder on her face when he’d shown her the city view from his favourite spot in Buena Vista Park.
Something about her unguarded, refreshingly artless reaction had made him want to show her more. And the next thing he knew he’d been heading across the bay towards Sausalito.
He had a penthouse condo in San Francisco less than a mile from the Botanical Gardens. A nice place—sleek and modern and expertly furnished at an eye-watering cost by an award-winning design team in one of the city’s snootiest neighbourhoods. It was the place he always took the women he dated.
But once they’d got across the bridge the feel of her wrapped around him like superglue had driven him a little nuts, and he’d found himself taking the road to the marina where he had his plane docked.
Now her small white teeth worried at her bottom lip and the heat landed back in his lap.
Not much point trying to figure out the dumb decision to bring her to Sunrise now. With a storm brewing they were stuck here for the night, so they might as well make the most of it.
‘We should probably get inside before the storm hits,’ he said, unclipping his belt. ‘The weather in
this region can get nasty fast,’ he added, unfastening her belt too, because she’d made no move to do it herself.
He turned to open the door to the aircraft and she grasped his forearm.
‘Wait, Luke. I need to tell you something,’ she said, and the glare from the plane’s interior lights illuminated the shadows in her eyes before her gaze darted away. ‘Something I should have made clear to you before I agreed to come here...’
She looked more than worried now. She looked guilty and freaked out.
The heat twisted and burned in his gut. But a kick of disgust at himself wasn’t far behind, reminding him of a man he had always despised.
‘Hey, Cassandra,’ he said, touching her chin and lifting her head so their gazes connected. ‘There’s no pressure here.’ His gaze dipped to take in the hint of cleavage revealed by his open jacket as he reminded himself what tonight was really all about. ‘I’m not gonna lie...’ He took a deep breath, deciding to give it to her straight. ‘I want to explore every inch of you tonight, and make you moan and sigh and gasp a lot more...’ His lips quirked as hot colour flooded into her face. ‘And make you blush so hard your cheeks feel like they’re on fire.’
‘Actually, they already are,’ she murmured.
The wry rejoinder surprised a laugh out of him in the middle of his big speech. He touched his thumb to her burning cheek and grinned, happy to be back on solid ground. Their chemistry was real and immense—this invitation wasn’t about anything more than that.
‘Yeah, I can tell,’ he said. ‘But here’s the thing,’ he added. ‘You don’t owe me anything. There’s five bedrooms in my home and no expectation that the one you sleep in tonight has to be mine. You got that?’
