Saltwater Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story (The Kisses Series Book 1) (6 page)

“Good morning, Sleepy-head. I thought you were going to sleep the day away,” he said setting the book down. His smile was even better in the morning light.

“You’re still here,” I said stumbling over the words. “I woke up and thought you had left.”

“After a showing like last night? I may never leave,” he replied with a mischievous grin. I bit my lip and grinned at him.

“It was pretty good, wasn’t it,” I said. He stood up and crossed the porch in a single step, his arms wrapping around me like they had always been there.

“Better than good,” he whispered before leaning forward to kiss me. I felt the heat rise inside of me again, and I was about to drag him back into the bedroom when his pocket began ringing loudly. He sighed and let me go, stepping back reluctantly to answer his phone.

“What is it?” Jack said harshly into the phone. His voice was full of power, but none of the sensuality from the night before. I stepped down and sat on the porch step, pushing my feet out of the shade of the porch and into the sun. Jack growled into the phone and leaned against the far railing. My feet played in the hot sand as I waited for him to finish his call, trying my best not to listen in on his conversation. Instead, I stared out at the endless ocean. The sky was a bright blue that merged almost seamlessly with the dark water in the distance. It was going to be another perfect day in paradise.

“Emma,” Jack said sitting down next to me. I liked the way my name sounded when he said it. “I have to leave for a little bit. There is something I have to take care of that can’t wait. Business.”

“I understand,” I tried to sound like it didn’t matter. My voice cracked, betraying me. I had been in this spot before; he wanted to get away while he still could. He pushed a tendril of hair behind my ear and turned my face to look at him. His expression was soft, but his eyes told me he was in complete control and he knew it.

“I will meet you here in two hours. Don’t be late,” he said right before he kissed me. I knew it was a goodbye kiss. I hoped it was only goodbye for two hours and not forever.

***

I
watched him hurry off down the beach, talking forcefully into his phone, and then he slowly disappeared. My heart ached to see him go. I didn’t know what scared me more, the idea that he was never coming back, or that he would be back in two hours. Jack evoked such a range of emotions that I felt confused by them all. I searched the horizon for a single stationary object to help me keep my emotional balance, but found nothing. I wanted him to come back, but I was scared of what it meant if he did. The level of attraction I felt towards him wasn’t something I was ready for. This was only a vacation after all, and I was going to have to say goodbye to him eventually. I didn’t want to think about it.

I ate a small breakfast at the resort cafe and then hurried back to our spot on the beach. The tide was going out, so I passed the time looking for shells and shiny rocks. It was such a simple thing to do, but I found myself chasing the waves, trying to catch small stones and pieces of drift wood before the ocean could reclaim them. I giggled, feeling like a wonder-filled child, as I found a small shell and released it onto a wave, watching it drift away. I looked at my watch. It had been a little over the two hours, and I looked around full of hope. My hope quickly turned to an emptiness as I looked up and down the beach and couldn’t find him. My little floating shell had sunk quickly in the waves and I didn’t want to play anymore.

I bit my lip, ashamed that tears were forming along the edges of my eyes. I squeezed my eyes shut as hard as I could and took a deep breath. Last night had been amazing and I would always have that. Jack was obviously a busy man, and this was only a vacation after all. This wasn’t real life.

“Sorry I’m late,” a deep voice said behind me. I turned to see Jack wading into the water, the cuffs of his shorts already damp from the waves. He smiled and my heart pounded like a drum in my chest. He came back. He had come back... for me.

“I was beginning to think you weren’t coming,” I said quietly. I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice. He looked at his hands and I realized he was breathing hard. He must have run the whole way here.

“Sometimes I hate my job. Even on vacation, I don’t really get a day off. I apologize for making you wait,” he replied somberly. His eyes shone with honesty as he reached my spot in the water. “What are you doing out here?”

“Chasing the waves,” I said. I had completely forgiven him. When he looked at me like that, I think I would have forgiven anything. “What would you like to do?”

He smiled and kissed me softly. My hands pressed against his strong chest as the water swirled around our knees. “Walk with me?”

He grabbed my hand and led me out of the water. My skirt clung to my wet legs as we walked along the beach. His hand felt strong in mine, like he would never let me go again. I wished that he didn’t have to, that we could stay in this sunshine filled moment forever. We walked for a while, the sand feeling good under my feet. There were some locals in tents along the beach hocking their trinkets, bobbles, and treasures. Each tent held gems, jewelry, liquor and paintings in all shapes and sizes.

“A pretty necklace for a pretty lady?” A strongly accented local called out as we walked past a blue tent. He was another in a long line of tents strung along the beach. I giggled and kept walking as the merchants called out their wares to us.

We stopped several times to look at the beautiful things for sale, but I never saw anything that I wanted until the last shop in the row. It was a simple silver pendant in the shape of a dolphin, but something about it called to me. I hadn’t seen another like it in any of the shops. Jack smiled as he saw me pick it up and admire it.

“The lady has excellent taste,” the shop keeper cooed as he saw me pick it up. “Put it on. See how it feels.”

Jack took the delicate chain from my fingers and deftly placed it around my neck. The dolphin fit perfectly in the hollow of my throat. Jack stepped back and smiled.

“How much for the necklace?” he asked the shop keeper. The old man frowned and looked at the necklace before answering.

“$100 American dollars. But for you, I sell it at $85,” he smiled, his teeth bright.

“$85? That is too much. Thank you though. It is beautiful,” I said quickly. I reached up to undo the clasp and return it to the jewelry tray. I knew that I could negotiate him down, but I had to act like I was going to leave it.

“No. The lady will have it,” Jack interjected, placing his hand on the back of my neck so I couldn’t reach the clasp.

“What are you doing? It isn’t worth that,” I hissed at him. He ignored me and fished money out of his wallet and handed it to the man.

“Thank you, sir. Enjoy the necklace, miss,” the shop keep said with a grin as he counted the money greedily. I shook my head slowly, but the proud smile on Jack’s face kept my mouth shut. If I didn’t know for sure he was rich before, I certainly knew it now.

We stepped out of the merchant’s stall and were immediately swarmed by the neighboring tents’ merchants. Every single one of them called out in sweet voices, trying to coax us like sirens to their wares. Every stall we passed had a salesman trying to pull us into their shop. One physically grabbed my arm to pull me under his tent to look at his jewelry, making me squeak and stumble away. Jack’s face twisted as though he tasted something sour, and he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the water. The merchants still kept hawking their wares, but at least they couldn’t pluck at our clothing. We walked through the waves, still following the white sandy line of the ocean. I secretly hoped we would walk around the entire island instead of turning around.

“I buy one thing and they all go crazy,” he said, looking back at the tents like they might follow us out into the ocean.

“That’s because you paid full price,” I said with a giggle. He looked at me and furrowed his brows. “I willingly admit that I am not the best haggler, but I could have gotten him down to at least $30. You flashed your money and now they know you don’t haggle.”

“Oh, come on, $85 isn’t that much! It isn’t something to justify the feeding frenzy of salesmen. Now I know how chum feels when the sharks gather.” He glanced back over his shoulder like they still might be chasing us.

“$85 is a lot of money to spend on a necklace, no matter how pretty it is.” I couldn’t help but smile at the look on his face, his head tilted slightly as though I had said the sky was made of chocolate.

“It isn’t that much,” he said. If I didn’t know better, I would have said a pout crossed his handsome mouth.

“It is to them. It certainly is to me. $85 is almost a full day’s pay.” I shrugged like it was nothing, but he stopped walking and dropped my hand in surprise. I fiddled with the silver charm, sliding it up and down on its simple chain. I hadn’t meant to bring up how different our economic situations were. He stayed quiet for a moment and then cleared his throat. I had a horrible feeling that he was thinking of bolting. “Thank you for the necklace though. I really do like it, even if it is a little extravagant.”

Jack’s face relaxed and he smiled at me. His shoulders dropped from his ears and he reached out a hand to me again.

“You deserve even more. The charm suits you. I like it on you,” he said waiting for me to take his hand. I played with the cool silver charm in my fingers for a moment before grinning at him.

“It does look good, doesn’t it?” I reached for his hand. A spark of energy flowed through his fingers into mine. It made my heart speed up and my stomach do happy flips. He smiled and squeezed my hand and we continued down the beach and away from the shops. I felt like a princess wearing something sparkly, hand in hand with her knight in shining armor. A girl could get used to extravagance.

T
he afternoon sun shone down on the two of us and we walked alongside the waves and giggled at stupid jokes. I felt more comfortable with him than I had with anyone in my life. He seemed to relax the longer we walked. I wished I could have more days like this, but both our vacations were going to have to end soon. I pushed the thought as far from my mind as I could.

“What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” Jack asked as I bent down to pick up a seashell. I studied the shell for a moment before casting it out into the ocean.

“You are going to make fun of me,” I said, squinting out at the horizon before looking at him. He grinned mischievously.

“I’m going to make more fun of you if you don’t tell me,” he said, his eyes sparkling. I glared at him before answering.

“I went skinny dipping in Old Man Smith’s fishing pond. A bunch of us did it one night,” I said finally, a blush creeping into my cheeks.

“That doesn’t sound that crazy,” he scoffed gently.

“Well, it wasn’t... until he came out with a shotgun and threatened to shoot us all for scaring his fish,” I giggled. “I nearly ran the whole way home before I realized I was naked and had forgotten my clothes by the pond. To top it off, my parents had dinner guests that night. I had to sneak in, naked, past three different sets of dentists.”

“Did any of them see you?” he asked, his sides quivering as he tried not to laugh.

“I hid in the garage until I found a winter coat. One of the guests saw me and gave me this weird look as I dashed up the stairs with bare legs and a heavy overcoat, but I made it,” I said shaking my head and laughing at the memory. Jack let his laughter mix with mine as he teased me about forgetting my clothes as we walked hand in hand down the beach.

Up ahead, white gauze streamers caught my attention. Jack followed my gaze to the small arbor decorated with pretty white fabric and tropical flowers. A bored looking attendant in a white dress shirt and pants sat next to it playing on his phone.

“You ever think you’ll get married?” Jack asked nodding towards the awning.

“At the rate I’m going? No. You don’t even want to know the last time I went on a date. I want to, but, no one seems interested. I’ve kind of come to accept that I will be a crazy old cat lady someday.” The admission hurt, but it was freeing to say it out loud. Jack squeezed my hand. “What about you? You think you’ll ever marry?” I asked him as we approached the small wedding area. The attendant fanned himself with a brochure packet as he slid his phone into the pocket of his shirt and watched us disinterestedly.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I would love a family. I want a wife and kids with a dog in a white picket fenced yard, but I don’t think that will ever happen because of my work and the obligations that come with it. The fact that I have money complicates things. If I were to get married, it would have to be to someone who could see past my job and the income. Someone who wanted to be with
me
,” he said it like it didn’t bother him, but the edges of his voice held a deep pain. I wondered who had hurt him over money to make him so distrustful.

“I’d marry you. Even if you didn’t have any money,” I blurted out. He stopped and looked at me, his eyes dark. I bit my lip and looked up at him. “I mean, I don’t know how much money you have, but I know that I like being around you. I think I like you more than anyone I have ever met.”

Jack pulled me so I was facing him. I could feel the blush on my cheeks increasing as he searched my face.

“You’re serious,” he said slowly, a smile blossoming on his face. I nodded and blushed harder. “You want to get married?” he asked, tipping his head towards the white arbor.

“Sure, why not?” I answered with a smile. I wasn’t about to back out of this conversation now. I already said I would marry him and I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to tease him later when he was the one who backed out.

“Let’s do it then,” he said with a wicked smile. I felt my mouth open and I couldn’t quite close it; he wasn’t supposed to take me seriously.

“Are you serious?”

“Sure, why not?” he mimicked me with a grin. He pulled me by the hand towards the awning like he was very serious.

“Wait a second,” I gasped.

“Oh, so you’re backing out?” Jack’s eyes twinkled with amusement.