Barefoot Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story (12 page)

“Were you watching me sleep?” I asked, drowsily.

“Maybe.” He smiled and set his phone to the side. “You just look so peaceful and happy.”

“Probably because I am.” I stretched my arms up over my head, keenly aware of his eyes taking in the seductive motion. “What time is it?”

“A little past eleven,” he said, checking his watch. “You want some breakfast?”

Panic woke me from my happy, lazy morning slumber. “I can't! I have a meeting and Kathryn asked me to make sure she's prepped!”

I stumbled out of bed, pulling the bed sheet with me and wrapping it around my nakedness. I knew he had seen me naked, but that had been in the forgiving moonlight and with wine. I wasn't sure I was ready for the harsh details of daylight.

Aiden let me take the sheet, chuckling as I wrapped it around me like some sort of oversized toga. He stayed on the bed, stretched out and gloriously naked. He looked even better in the sunshine. Moonlight was good, but sunlight revealed so many more wonderful things about his body. There were freckles across his shoulders and a trail of golden hair from his belly button south to heaven. If I had been wearing panties, seeing him naked in my bed would have melted them.

I ran to the drawer where I had put my underthings. I had to get out of the room before he could seduce me with the delicious V his hipbones sat at the top of. He put his arms behind his head, chuckling when I nearly tripped on the sheet. With his arms up above his head, his biceps flexed and his broad shoulders stood defined against the dark wood of the headboard. I forgot what I was doing.

His mouth twitched upwards and he displayed himself even more as I stared. I dropped the sheet and chucked it at him. “You're distracting me,” I informed him as I slipped into a bra and matching panties.

“I can do more than just distract,” he teased. His mouth curled into a naughty, seductive grin that matched the desire in his eyes.

“That's tempting...very tempting,” I moaned as he showed me just how distracting he could be. I shook my head, hating that I was going to leave this perfect specimen of a man alone in my bed to go to a meeting. “I'm going to be late!'

He laughed and tried again, his masculinity rising to tempt me. My body ached to have him fill me again like he did last night. I wanted to feel that again and again and again. My resolve weakened and a little whimper of want escaped me.

“Don't you have to go to this thing too?” I whined, wanting to drop the suit I had picked out and jump on the bed with him instead.

“Nope.” His eyes were dark with lust as he looked at me. “This one is just for you lucky lawyers.”

I closed my eyes and pulled up Kathryn's face. What would she do? She would go to the meeting. I could do this. She was counting on me to be there.

I put my shirt over my head and then peeked open an eye to look at him again. Who was I kidding? Any woman in her right mind would have gone back to that bed as soon as she saw him naked. I put on my pants and a pair of flats, trying not to think about what I was doing.

“You have some serious willpower,” he said as I quickly brushed my hair and threw on some mascara. He sounded impressed.

“You have no idea how much I want to stay here instead.” I came over to him, leaning over so I could kiss him before I left. He tangled his fingers into my hair, pulling my mouth into his and showing me with his tongue just what I would be missing out on. When he released me, I was breathless and flushed. “Will you be here when I get back?”

“Maybe. Depends on if I find another hot lawyer walking around shoeless,” he teased.

I forced out a laugh as I turned to face the window. I knew he was just joking, but it felt all too possible. He was so incredibly handsome, charming, and amazing in the sack. Women must fall into his bed all the time. I had no idea what had made me one of them, and I was terrified that he would find someone else to fall with. There was nothing that made me special.

I went to the door and looked back as I put my hand on the handle. He was still splayed out on the bed in all his muscular glory. If I looked much longer I was going to spontaneously combust with want. “I'll see you later, then?”

“Count on it.” He smiled from the bed, making my knees weaken. “Have fun at the meeting.”

I stepped outside and leaned against the closed door, trying to put my wits back together. I was still strongly considering abandoning Kathryn and going back in there to lick those abs like they were candy. The idea made me all warm and gooey in the all the right places, but I had a job to do. Kathryn was counting on me and I refused to let her down. Besides, I wanted to keep my job and the future it promised more than I wanted an hour or two of pleasure. Though, the pleasure was certainly giving the future a good run for its money.

***

T
he conference room was dimly lit as I set up Kathryn’s laptop for the PowerPoint presentation. Several of the representatives from the other law firms were already there, but they were sitting quietly sipping at strong coffees. The party last night must have been wild. I was overdressed compared to their casual shorts and t-shirts, but that was fine by me. I looked the part of a lawyer here.

Kathryn came in five minutes before the meeting was supposed to start. I had woken her up and gotten her coffee on my way to get things set up. With her big sunglasses still on in the dark room and clutching her coffee like a lifeline, she looked miserable. The rest of the lawyers stumbled into the conference room behind her, several of them hung over or possibly still drunk.

“Have a good night?” I asked, handing Kathryn her notes.

“I haven't drank like that since law school,” she admitted, shaking her head and then wincing at the motion. “Probably because I haven't drank with William since law school.”

“William?” I raised my eyebrows.

“The cute one in the dark gray shorts,” she whispered, pointing to a man in the front row.

“The one that looks like Robert Redford?” I asked. She grinned and I could see the sparkle in her eyes even through the dark glasses.

“Except William has aged even better.” She sipped her coffee. “Do you know if the representative for Travel, Inc. is on the island yet?”

“Yes, he has,” I informed her. “I actually had dinner with his assistant last night.”

“His assistant?” Kathryn frowned and then shrugged it off. “I didn't know he had one.”

“His name's Aiden.” I couldn't keep the smile out of my voice. I looked at Kathryn to see if she recognized the name, but she was too busy making eyes with William. I wasn't even sure she had heard me say anything. I touched her shoulder to get her attention. “You ready for the presentation?”

“I could do this in my sleep,” she replied, finally taking off her sunglasses. “ Besides, half the people here are too hung over to remember it anyway. Remind me to schedule this meeting in the afternoon next year.”

I handed her the clicker for the slide show and took a seat in the back.

“Attention, everyone,” Kathryn announced. Her voice was clear and commanding. “Time to at least look like you're earning your paychecks.”

I chuckled and leaned back in my chair to watch. Even hung over, Kathryn was a force to be reckoned with.

I
hurried back to my room, hoping to find Aiden still stretched out naked on my bed. The meeting had been relatively quick, and now the idea of walking in and jumping on the bed with him had me practically sprinting.

I stepped into the room with a huge grin on my face, only to have it fall off. The bed was made and he was gone. I had only been away for a little while and the meeting had gotten out early. Maybe he did go find another barefoot lawyer. My shoulders slumped.

The room phone rang and I shuffled my feet to answer it. Probably just housekeeping asking if I wanted turn-down service. “Hello?”

“Lena?” Aiden's voice crackled across the line.

“Aiden?” I hoped the almost absurd amount of happiness in my voice didn't scare him off.

“You want to go fishing with me?” he asked.

“Fishing?” I repeated, making sure I had heard the correct word.

“Do I have to answer in the form of a question?” I could hear the smile in his voice. “Yes, fishing. I have a boat at the docks and the weather is beautiful.”

I thought about it for a moment. I had never really understood the appeal of putting worms on a hook and hoping something ate one, but the idea of spending the afternoon out on the water with Aiden sounded absolutely fantastic. “Sure! Let me change and I'll be right there.”

“Okay,” he said, sounding excited. “Dock two. I'll see you soon.”

I hung up the phone and did a happy dance across the room. I had the rest of the day to play with my new favorite person. I quickly changed into a cute, red two-piece with polka dots, a pair of board shorts, and a light t-shirt. Sunscreen and a towel went in a bag and with a pair of sandals on my feet, I was out the door in no time.

I easily found the dock on the water's edge. Aiden waved to me from the bow of a speed boat and I hurried over to him. The boat was painted a sparkly, deep blue and had two leather seats in the front and a larger square area in the back where we could sit and fish.

“Ahoy, matey,” Aiden called out as I came over. I grinned.

“Ahoy,” I repeated, feeling like a pirate. “Permission to come aboard?”

Aiden grinned and reached a hand out over the boat. “Permission most certainly granted.”

I took his hand, soaking in the warmth and strength as he helped me up onto the boat deck. My sandals slipped on the smooth surface of the deck, but he kept me up. I gave him a bashful grin.

“It's easier if you just go barefoot,” he advised. I noticed he wasn't wearing shoes either, so I slipped them off and tucked them into my bag. “Ready?”

I nodded and together we sat down in the two leather seats in the front of the boat. The engine purred to life and he carefully navigated us out into open water.

“Where'd you get the boat?” I asked, pulling my hair up into a ponytail. “It's nice.”

“I rented it from the resort,” he explained. The water was darker as we went out further, but still just as clear. “I know a great little fishing spot not too far from here. Ready?”

“Sure,” I replied, peering down at the water. It looked like I could reach out and touch the bottom of the ocean the water was so clear, but I had a feeling that it was far deeper than I could reach. “I hope you're not spending all your money on me.”

“Don't you worry about what I'm spending,” he chastised. “It all gets written off by the company anyway. Just enjoy yourself and don't think too much.”

Aiden revved the engine and the boat took off. I squealed in delight at the sudden speed as we zoomed across the water. The wind and spray of the ocean were exhilarating. I giggled as he zigged and zagged through the waves, turning tight circles and catching air off some of the waves. My hair streamed out behind me and my eyes watered from the speed, but I didn't want him to stop. I loved it.

All too soon he slowed the boat to the original slow putter before stopping it completely. I could just barely see the faint outline of the island on the horizon. Other than some birds and the fish, the two of us were completely alone in a world of blue sky and sapphire water. It was suddenly very quiet without the roar of the engine and the wind rushing past my ears.

“That was awesome,” I said breathlessly. My face hurt from smiling so wide. “Where did you learn to do that?”

“One of the guys I went to college with had a brother who was really into sailing. I spent a lot of time out on the water with him.”

“This isn't exactly a sailboat,” I said, looking at the very important lack of sail on our speedboat.

“I know,” Aiden replied with a grin. “His brother and I would specifically take out a speedboat just to piss him off.”

Aiden stood from the driver's seat and went to the back of the boat. I followed him with my eyes as he lifted one of the seat cushions in the back and pulled out a picnic basket. “You hungry?”

My stomach growled, answering for me. “I guess so,” I replied with a laugh.

I moved carefully to the back of the boat to sit on the bench next to Aiden. He placed the basket on the floor and began to pull out food. There were sandwiches, chips, several cans of soda, cookies, and a big bowl of fresh fruit.

“I didn't know what kind of sandwich you would want,” he told me as he pulled out more sandwiches than we could possibly eat. “So I got turkey, PB&J, and ham. Condiments are all on the side.”

“I'm a PB&J kind of girl, but turkey is a good second,” I said choosing one of the plastic wrapped sandwiches. “This looks wonderful. Thank you.”

“You are very welcome. I guess that means more ham and cheese sandwiches for me,” he replied with a grin. He picked a ham sandwich up and immediately squirted four packets of mustard onto the bread. I raised my eyebrows and gave the sandwich a sidewise look. It was a lot of mustard.

He shrugged. “What? I like mustard.”

I laughed, and I dug into my peanut butter and jelly with gusto.

“So, I told you about my brother and father,” Aiden said after a moment of quiet. “What about your family? You said you have a sister?”

I swallowed the last bite of my sandwich and reached for the bag of chips. “My parents, Lou and Mina, were high-school sweethearts. My sister, Louisa, just started college. It's a three hour drive, so I haven't seen much of her since she left home.”

“Your parents are Lou and Mina,” he repeated, enunciating their names carefully. “And they have two daughters named Louisa and Lena?”

“Yup.” I nodded slowly. We had gotten plenty of grief through our lives on the similarity of all our names. “They wanted to name our dog Lucina, but Louisa and I decided to name her Casey.”

Aiden laughed, taking out another sandwich and again applying a ridiculous amount of mustard. “You close with your parents?”

I shrugged. “I guess. They live just outside Chicago, so I try and see them when I can. Work keeps me pretty busy, though.”

He nodded. His work must keep him busy as well. He pulled out another sandwich, drenching it with mustard before digging in.