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“No. Just mutual affection. And if I can’t have that, then at the very least, I deserve some respect.” She wished the words had emerged with more confidence. Instead her voice was small and uncertain, which was exactly how she felt.
She needed to get better at shielding herself from his casual cruelty. She didn’t even think he meant to be cruel, he likely thought he was being honest, straightforward, but everything he said and did left wounds ranging from shallow cuts to deep slashes on her heart.
But Lilah welcomed the pain, she needed it… every hateful barb, unintentional or not, hardened her against him. The wounds would heal and leave protective scars around her heart and when that happened, he would never be able to hurt her again.
He laughed, the sound genuinely amused, and shook his head, something akin to affection shining in his eyes.
“You’ve always been such a dramatic little thing,” he said, his tone indulgent and warm. “It’s early days yet, you’ll see… this will work out between us. I promise you. And you know I always keep my promises, right?”
The supreme arrogance of the man. There was no point in arguing with someone who was so absolutely set in his opinions. There was only proving him wrong. And that meant staying the course and never wavering from her principles.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Shower.”
“Should I order breakfast?”
“I’m heading out. I’ll get something at one of the restaurants.”
“Heading out where?”
“Who knows? Maybe I’ll finally check out those turtles. Or the dolphins. I’ll find something to do.”
“I’ll come with y—”
“No.”
“Lilah, be—”
“If the next word out your mouth is reasonable, I won’t be responsible for my actions,” she interrupted him furiously.
His eyebrows shot to his hairline and his lips curled in that infuriatingly sardonic way. It was an expression that always made her feel about twelve years old. He held up both hands in a gesture of surrender and lifted his broad shoulders.
“Suit yourself, but take your inhaler. And keep your phone with you in case I need to reach you.”
“I don’t see why you’d need to reach me.”
“Just indulge me, okay?”
She didn’t respond, but when she left the room half an hour later, she had the phone tucked into her camera bag next to the inhaler she would’ve been carrying anyway. She used the phone to text her hoes and Blake. Occasionally she’d message Gramps whose replies were few and far between.
Ben messaged her twice. Once to ask if she would have lunch with him and then again to ask about dinner. She didn’t join him for either, and after spending an evening taking long-exposure shots of the creamy, full moon above the black ocean, she reluctantly made her way back to the villa.
“Did you eat?” It was the first question he asked her when she stepped through the door. She carefully placed her camera bag on the floor next to the door, before kicking off her flip flops and walking barefoot to the minibar to retrieve a bottle of water.
“I ate.”
“I hope you used enough sunscreen, it was a scorcher today.”
“Will you ever stop treating me like a child?” she asked. There was no heat in her voice, just sadness and exhaustion.
His eyes flickered and he shoved his hands into the pockets of his blue cargo shorts.
“I’m just concerned.”
“Stop it. I don’t need a nursemaid.”
His lips tightened and he nodded curtly.
“Fair enough.”
Well, wasn’t he being amenable as hell tonight?
“So what did you do all day?” he asked, approaching her cautiously, as if uncertain of her reaction to his encroaching closeness.
“Explored, took pictures.”
“It’s a small island, you must have walked the entire thing in just an afternoon.”
“I explored. I don’t rush when there are so many beautiful things to see and photograph. I think I covered maybe a quarter of the western part of the island.”
“Seriously?”
“Not everyone is always rushing through life, Ben. Some of us like to take the time to enjoy the beauty around us.”
He didn’t look too impressed with her response and merely grunted in reply.
“And what do you want to do now?” His glance ambled up and down the length of her body. Lilah immediately became aware of the fact that she wore a pair of minute white cotton shorts, combined with just a blue bikini top. She was tempted to cross her arms over her chest, but refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing that his staring was making her feel all hot and bothered.
“Take a dip. Shower. Sleep.”
“We could unwind in the hot tub,” he suggested, his voice completely lacking in any inflection, and her gaze flew to his face, which matched his voice. Nothing to be gleaned from those handsome, impassive features at all.
The hot tub sounded tempting as hell though.
