chose this place as your haven,” I murmured. “With a view like this, how do you ever leave?”
Hadrian’s arms tightened around me, but he didn’t reply.
I wondered if the real reason he’d asked me to come was due to extreme loneliness. There was plenty of beauty in the world, but if you had no one to share it with, what was the point?
Turning in his arms, I pressed my cheek to his chest, willing the dangerous thoughts to drift away like morning mist on a beach.
I shivered, attempting to burrow deeper under the covers. The French doors were still open, letting in the cool ocean air along with sunlight.
“You’re awake,” Hadrian said, coming to stand by the bed. His hair was damp and his chest was bare, and he stood in a pair of dark corduroy pants.
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked.
“Not long. An hour maybe.”
After we’d lingered on the balcony, I’d stripped off my clothes and gotten into bed. Between my raging emotions, jet lag, and the intense coupling against the Shelby Cobra, I’d been worn out. No sooner had I pressed my head to a pillow than I’d fallen asleep.
Now I felt refreshed. I rolled onto my back and tucked my arm behind my head and watched Hadrian close the French doors.
“Take your time getting up,” he said, walking over to the bed. “But I’ll be in the kitchen when you come down.”
I nodded and he leaned over and kissed me briefly before stalking out of the bedroom.
I took a few minutes to myself, enjoying the feel of the pillows at my back and the sheet tucked around me. Finally, I pulled myself out of bed. I found the clothes I’d shed before sliding beneath the covers and hastily put them on.
I went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face and ran a brush through my hair. Hadrian’s master bathroom was a work of art in and of itself, which included a massive porcelain tub big enough for three people and a glass shower with one showerhead. Everything in the bathroom was expertly crafted, but simple, and clearly designed for one person.
He was such a dichotomy. It was clear by the structure of his home that he hadn’t factored in a potential live-in girlfriend. There was one sink in his master bathroom, not two. And yet, Hadrian didn’t seem at all concerned about having me in his personal space. Shouldn’t he have been afraid of the intimacy? Instead, he seemed to be leaning into it. Our clothes shared closet space. That was about as intimate as it got as far as I was concerned.
I knew our time together was finite, but Hadrian wasn’t a normal man. Maybe sharing space was nothing to him. Maybe he didn’t have any stronger feelings for me than wanting pleasure and companionship and six months together wasn’t going to change that for him.
His head was stuck inside the refrigerator when I entered the kitchen.
“What are you in the mood for?” he asked, not removing his head to look at me. “Mutton stew? Left over mutton chops? Mutton and potatoes?”
“I’m sensing a theme,” I said with a grin as I leaned against the island. “Mutton? That seems a bit outdated.”
“Mutton that came from my sheep.”
“Excuse me?”
He looked at me over his shoulder. “I am a self-sustaining entity. I have four islands to produce my own food and food for the livestock. I have farmers who tend to the livestock—sheep, cows, pigs, chickens. I have others who work in the greenhouse growing food. Elgin—who’s married to my housekeeper—is a fisherman, along with his son. Whatever you eat here, I’ve had it produced on the islands. The families that live on the islands have helped create this sanctuary.”
“You mean there are actually other people here? I didn’t see any of them.”
“My housekeeper and her husband, my helicopter pilot, the stable master, and Patrick, my head of security, all live on this island. Everyone else who works for me lives on the other islands.”
“But-but why go through the trouble? You’re a billionaire. You have the money to fly in anything you could possibly want.”
“I hate relying on others for anything. So I vowed that when I was able, when I had enough wealth, I’d hire people to produce my own food. No matter what happens in the world or with my business, I’ll never be without.”
My curiosity went haywire. I wanted to ask him more questions about his wealth and how