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As she strolled along the golden beach, the old 60s song about Galveston kept rolling around in Vivian’s head. Her dad was a lifelong Glen Campbell fan and she’d been raised on a steady diet of his songs. She didn’t have the heart to tell Steve that the main reasonSouthern Nightswas her favorite was because it had been in one of theGuardians of the Galaxymovies.
It was good to be back on assignment and staying at a familiar hotel. The Silver Havens resort had recently undergone a thirty million dollar upgrade, and Vivian could see where the money had been spent. Unlike her last resort review, not only was this one going to be favorable, it wouldn’t come with any messy personal entanglements.
The title of the article was already forming in her mind. ‘A grand lady reborn.’ “Or something like that,” she muttered.
Another thing that was different from her last assignment was the fact she had a car at her disposal. It was quicker and easier to drive from Hobby Airport than take a cab. While only a few major airlines serviced this airport it was closer to Galveston than flying into the main airport in Houston. Like many New Yorkers, Vivian wasn’t a regular driver, so this trip was a good opportunity to get some practice in behind the wheel.
She stopped on the sand and turned to gaze at the sea. It was strange to find herself staring out over the wide blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico, so far away from her last resort assignment in California.
Laguna Beach, what a trip that had been. From wonderful to nightmare in the blink of an eye. “Stop thinking about him,” she whispered to the sea breeze.
No matter how hard she tried, Bryce popped into her mind at least a half dozen times a day. Bryce, the man who had given her the most amazing night of her life. Bryce, whose smile lit up her world. Bryce, the billionaire. Bryce, the bully. Bryce, the liar. She struggled to reconcile all the different versions of him that she knew. The last one hurt the most.
The sun was slowly sinking into the sea, its red fire stirring memories of the night she had first met him. That sexy smile of his as he stood close to her on the beach. How he’d charmed her over breakfast the following morning. The afternoon by the poolside. Dinner. And then that night in his hotel suite.
Vivian shook her head. If only she could let it all go. But men like Bryce Royal were impossible to forget.
He had struck out at her. Taken aim at her weakest spot, then fired. The fact that only a handful of people knew what Bryce had done didn’t help. Her humiliation, while private, was still deep and painful. At least here in Texas she could spend some time alone and try to rebuild her self-esteem. This wasn’t the first time a man had disappointed her, yet she was still unable to fully process why with him it had hurt so much.
Around her on the beach families were gathered, children played at the water’s edge. Other people were walking their dogs. She spotted a fellow guest stepping out from the resort path and making his way onto the sand. Several of the large cruise ships which sailed from the port of Galveston were visible on the horizon. The sea breeze was warm and gentle. It was a perfect evening.
I wonder if Lionel would ever consider letting me review a Caribbean cruise.
Surely there had to be one or two which met the luxury threshold for featuring in LHRW magazine. Not all cruise ships were ocean going mega-buffets. The thought of food set her stomach rumbling its interest.
I could do some serious damage to a large plate of nachos right now. Extra guacamole, please.
She pulled her cell out from her cross body satchel and snapped off some pics, sliding one into her Instagram feed. #gorgeousingalaveston
“Shoot I misspelt Galveston, now no one will see it.”
The next few minutes were spent editing the post and fixing her hashtags. Her two hundred and thirty three followers deserved some decent content, even if half of them were bots. Only Lionel and a couple of professional photographers were allowed to post to the magazine’s official Instagram page. Vivian stuffed her phone back into her bag and turned to leave.
The man who had appeared on the beach a few minutes earlier was fast approaching. His long strides eating up the distance between them. He gave her a small wave.
It was hard to see his features clearly in the fading light. Vivian narrowed her eyes.No. It couldn’t be.She was seeing things. Her fingers curled into tight fists as he drew closer and the truth of who he was settled heavily in her heart.
“Bryce.”
Lying awake late at night staring up at the glow of the New York street lights as they shone on her bedroom ceiling, Vivian had practiced all the clever lines she would use on Bryce Royal if their paths ever crossed again. None of them were polite. Most involved threats of bodily harm. Now as he stood before her in the flesh, all those cutting and clever remarks fled, leaving her to barely grind out his name.
No matter how much she hated him, Vivian couldn’t stop herself from gazing up into his warm brown eyes. These were the deep pools of emotional longing which she saw every time she tried to close her own eyes and sleep.
“How did you find me?”
“I’m a billionaire, we have our ways.”
Smarmy prick.
His gaze dropped to the sand, and he slowly shook his head. “Actually, I groveled to someone who knew someone, who then called someone who told me where you were.”
All the swagger in his stride and posture had fled. Bryce looked for all the world like a teen who’d been caught reading smutty literature while smoking in the back of the school library. Bookish and dangerously sexy.
No. He doesn’t look like that, he’s an asshole. Stop fantasizing and get angry.
“Why are you here?” she demanded.
If he thought to come causing her more trouble, he was going to find himself on the receiving end of some instead. She might be struggling with her bruised heart, but she could stand up to a spoilt bully.
