The Billionaire's Masquerade Page 0,56

arms. He heard the rest of the crew scrambling to catch up to him, but he didn’t pay any attention to them, needing to hold her and find out what was wrong.

“Rachel, I’m here. Just tell me what’s going on, honey. What’s wrong?”

Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for dear life, not sure she hadn’t been dreaming the monster on the side of the boat. “There’s something over there,” she said. “It’s huge. And it looks…” She shook her head, burying her face in his warm neck. “It’s just not right!” she hiccupped.

Emerson nodded to one of his crew members, indicating that he should investigate. But as soon as the guy came back with a smile on his face, Emerson relaxed, knowing that everything was okay.

“It’s a sunfish,” the guy explained. “A big one, and it looks like it’s been hurt a few times.” The guy shook his head, trying to hide his amusement. “I can understand why that would be a bit frightening.”

Emerson kept his arm around her back, holding her close to him while he too tried to contain his amusement. “Rachel, I’m sorry, honey. A sunfish is pretty big and it looks scary, but it won’t hurt you.”

She pulled back and looked up at him, still shaking as she tried to assimilate his words. “A sunfish?”

He nodded his head, his hand against her shoulder so she would still feel secure. “They’re big and not very pretty. What makes them look even funnier is they are so slow and like to sun themselves on the surface so boats hit them, scraping them up. Their normally terrifying profiles are made worse by the scrapes and deformities caused by unobservant boaters.”

She laid her forehead down on his shoulder, wishing she hadn’t been so crazy about her reaction. “So I made a fool of myself again,” she sighed, wishing she could just hide somewhere.

He laughed – a deep, husky sound that made her feel intensely better for some reason. “Not a fool, honey. Just a normal reaction to something unknown. The first time I saw one, I had almost the same reaction.”

She looked up at him, her eyes telling him that she didn’t believe him for a moment. “It’s true,” he asserted. “I might not have been as vocal, but they’re not the most handsome creatures found at sea.”

She still didn’t believe him, but it made her feel better that he was trying to soothe her pride. “I guess I overreacted a bit.”

dpgroup ;)

He hugged her close. “Not at all. And I’m glad you slept for so long.”

“What time is it?” she asked, feeling warm and comfortable in his arms, she didn’t want to pull away. She knew she should, but something wouldn’t let her.

“It’s almost five o’clock,” he replied.

With a sigh of resignation, she pulled out of his arms, relieved that he allowed her the space. “Shouldn’t we be getting back? I need to find a hotel room if we’re staying here for very long.”

Emerson glared down at her, his arms crossed over his chest. “There’s no way you’re staying in a hotel, Rachel. Just get it out of your mind.”

She almost laughed out loud, feeling good that she’d finally gotten to him. All those soft, warm feelings she’d had a moment ago about him were now gone and she was firmly back in control of herself. “Emerson, there’s no way I’m staying at your place.”

“You’ve been living with me for the past four weeks. What’s different now?”

She threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. “Everything is different!” she said as if that were obvious. “We’re not going to be a couple,” she stated firmly. “I don’t trust you and I don’t even know who you are. So no, I’m not staying at your place. I don’t care if you have a bazillion guest rooms, I’m staying at a hotel.”

He bent down lower to emphasize his point. “You’re not staying in a hotel, Rachel. You’ll be staying at my place. Preferably in my bed but otherwise, in my house, in one of my other beds and I will take care of you.”

“I can take care of myself!” she snapped back at him.

“Really? Like you’ve been doing for the past month?”

“That was different!”

“There’s no difference!” He didn’t yell, but his voice was menacing, unequivocal.

She couldn’t believe what he was saying. “First of all, I stayed at your place in New York because I didn’t have the time to find any other place to live. And secondly,