Her Bad Boy Billionaire Lover (Billionai - By Bretton, Barbara Page 0,26

hair back with his long fingers. His index fingers rested on the tiny pulse that beat on either side of her forehead.

The look in his eyes was dark, compelling. She wanted to look away, to prove to him that his power over her was only as strong as she allowed it to be, but even she knew the folly of that idea.

There was no place to hide.

#

Her pulse beat pounded beneath his fingertips. He cradled her head in his hands. She raised her smoky green eyes to meet his. He recognized the invitation.

"Megan?"

She nodded.

He moved closer.

She tilted her head.

He bent low.

Her lips parted.

He--

"'Scuse me, but you-all look to be Americans, right?"

The intruder wore a plaid cotton shirt, cut-offs, and sandals. A big black camera, complete with zoom lens, dangled from a strap slung around his neck. The fact that he didn't kill the poor guy was a testament to Jake's self-control.

"Say, I don't mean to butt in, but my wife and I got ourselves a bit of a problem." The man pointed toward a tiny blonde woman in a demure pink pants outfit who stood by the guardhouse. "You are Americans, right?"

"One of us is," Jake said.

"Sue and me are on our honeymoon and we'd appreciate it if you'd snap a picture of us over there. We'd be much obliged."

Jake looked to Megan who nodded.

"You got it," said Jake with reluctant grace.

The guy handed the camera to Jake. "It's all set," he said as he positioned himself next to his blushing bride. "All you gotta do is push the button."

The pair broke into enormous grins and Jake snapped three quick shots. They were so happy it hurt to look at them. Megan tried to remember if she'd ever been that happy in her entire life.

Last night, a voice whispered. Last night in his arms....

There was something terribly innocent about new love, a certain fragile beauty that rarely withstood the onslaught of the outside world. Most couples managed to find something deeper, a love more resilient to the ravages of time. Sometimes she wondered if, given time, she and Jake might have managed a miracle of their own.

"Ma'am?"

She glanced up to find the young bride smiling at her. "If you give us your camera, we'll take pictures of you and your husband."

"Good idea," her groom said. "What's a honeymoon without snapshots?"

The right words just wouldn't come to her. How did you tell a starry-eyed young couple with rice in their hair that this man was your ex-husband and the only thing you had in common with him was a physical compatibility that defied logic. They'd find out soon enough that marriage wasn't all moonlight and roses.

To her amazement, Jake seemed to understand. "Come on," he said. "One picture for posterity."

He sat next to her on the ledge and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Smile pretty," he said. "It'll make the kids happy."

Sitting in the brilliant sunshine in the ageless serenity of El Cielo, she had no trouble smiling pretty for the kids.

"Now you just give me your address," said the bride to Megan, "and I'll make sure to send you two a copy the minute Kevin and I get home."

Megan scribbled her work address on a slip of paper. "That's just the most adorable little pendant," the bride said, gesturing toward the four-leaf clover. "Where did you get it?"

Megan froze for an instant. "A good friend," she said, as Jenny seemed to materialize between her and Jake.

The bride smiled and pocketed Megan's address. "Now you can count on these pictures."

"Be happy," Megan said, impulsively hugging the surprised young woman. "Take good care of each other."

The newlyweds left and once more Megan and Jake were alone.

Jake fingered the four-leaf clover pendant. "Since when do you travel without diamonds?"

Megan shrugged, feeling the pull of home. "No one travels with their good jewelry these days, Jake."

"That little bride had her good jewelry on." He laughed, but there was no malice in it. "Her diamond was even smaller than the one I gave you."

"They're so young," Megan said softly. "I don't think we were ever that young."

"You were," Jake said.

She shook her head. "Not like that."

"You were wide-eyed and innocent," Jake said. "I'd never seen anyone like you before."

She lifted her chin. "You don't stay innocent long in Palm Beach, Jake."

"You did."

Her body heated at the memory. "It seems so long ago."

She tried to remember how it had felt to be young and hopeful but that particular memory eluded her. To her amazement Jake seemed