Her Bad Boy Billionaire Lover (Billionai - By Bretton, Barbara Page 0,17

low buzz of conversation.

The corner of his mouth quirked upward. She knew that smile intimately. Half invitation, half wry amusement. The same odd combination that had kept her off-balance throughout their marriage.

Maybe this wasn't such a terrific idea after all. They'd been divorced for years. She'd made a life without him. She didn't need him. She didn't love him. But, dear God, how very much she wanted him.

She stepped outside, seeking the cover of darkness. He was next to her in an instant. "We need to talk."

She nodded. "Yes."

He slipped a large hand under her elbow and led her toward a pair of deck chairs in the corner. If she'd expected him to claim the adjacent chair, she was sorely mistaken. His thigh brushed hers as he sat down next to her and it was all she could do to keep from running for her life.

A hot flush rose up from her breasts, over her throat, and across her cheeks.

"We have some unfinished business, Megan."

"I know."

At the very least he'd expected a coy laugh or polite demurral. He got neither. Those beautiful green eyes of hers met his head-on. There was a flinty strength in the set of her chin that had nothing to do with the spoiled-little-rich-girl behavior he'd known during their marriage. She knew what he was about and she'd made her decision.

She lowered her eyes and looked away for a moment, an odd note of submission in a woman as fiercely independent as his ex-wife now seemed to be. Again he caught that look of vulnerability, the sense that all was not as it seemed. Her lashes fluttered briefly against the curve of her cheekbones and when she met his eyes again he knew exactly what she had decided.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?"

"Sleeping late." She didn't trust her voice to say more.

"We dock around eleven tomorrow morning for the beach party." He looked into her eyes. "You'll meet me at the gangway at eleven-thirty."

"I don't think--"

He placed a finger against her lips and she shivered at his touch. This was her one chance, maybe her only chance, to relegate Jake to memory.

"Don't think," he whispered. "Thinking always got us in trouble." He brushed her chin with his hand. "Be there, Megan. Give us one day for old times' sake."

Their gazes locked. Once again his eyes held a challenge. One day, she thought. Twenty-four hours to put the past to rest and get on with it.

Maybe the way to reclaim her soul was to give him her body. Maybe if she discovered once and for all that he was only a man, no different than any other man, she would finally be free.

Chapter Four

"Do you know what time it is, Megan?" Ingrid's voice, heavy with sleep, crackled through the phone line.

"Late," said Megan apologetically. "You know I wouldn't call if it wasn't important."

"You already told me you aced the assignment," Ingrid said through a yawn. "Don't tell me they've offered us the franchise already."

"It's nothing to do with business," she said. "Jake's here."

There was a long silence from Ingrid. Then: "Jake as in Jake-your-ex-husband?"

"That's the one."

"You're kidding me, aren't you?"

"He's here, Ingrid. He works on the ship."

"Omigod. How...what is he--?"

"I don't know. All I know is that he's here in the flesh." The gorgeous, incredible, dangerous flesh.

"The ship's not that big. Where has he been hiding?"

"He hasn't been hiding. I met him the first night."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I had other things to think about, Ingrid." Winning the franchise, for one.

"Did you tell him about Jenny?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Don't you think you should?"

"Jenny is none of his business," Megan said firmly. "She belongs to me."

"He's her father."

"Only biologically."

"That's usually more than enough to qualify."

"Not in this case."

"Look," said Ingrid, "we're doing fine without the Tropicale franchise. If you want to take the next plane home I'll understand."

"Why would I take the next plane home?" Megan asked, bristling. "Let him go home." Wherever that might be.

"I'm here to work."

"You've done your work." Ingrid paused a beat. "You're not thinking of--"

"What if I am?"

"You've got it all wrong, Megan. You have a fling with someone new, not with your ex-husband."

"I know what I'm doing."

"I don't think you do."

"Is Jenny okay?"

"You're changing the subject."

"Is she okay?"

"She's asleep."

"Don't tell her about Jake."

"Of course not!" Ingrid sounded horrified. "That's none of my business."

Megan laughed out loud. "That's the first time I've ever heard you say that, Ingrid."

"Be careful," Ingrid said, her voice filled with concern. "Don't think ex-husbands can't break your heart just as