Her Bad Boy Billionaire Lover (Billionai - By Bretton, Barbara Page 0,28

knew we were divorced?"

"I guess we can let them have their illusions," he said as they crossed the wide expanse of manicured grass that led back to the road.

She understood all about illusions. Happily-ever-after was an illusion.

But those kisses in the garito, the electricity that had flowed between them--

No.

They had been very real.

And if she wasn't careful those kisses would be her undoing.

Chapter Six

"This isn't going to work," Jake said as they reached the main street. "Half the damn island was in there."

Megan looked at him, eyes wide and curious. He still hadn't grown accustomed to that look of vulnerability. It made her more accessible, less the arrogant girl he'd first loved. It made her more of a woman...and a hell of a lot more dangerous than he'd ever imagined.

Suddenly the whole damn thing seemed insane. Those interruptions back in the garito had been masterfully timed, pulling him back to reality. Jake had never had difficulty separating sex from emotions, but last night with Megan he'd found it impossible. He'd known the sex would be explosive, but this deeper sense of connection between them was something he hadn't expected or wanted.

She was supposed to be the bitch-goddess he'd married. The Palm Beach deb who dabbled in catering while someone back home did all the hard work.

She wasn't supposed to be a flesh and blood woman with insecurities and look of sadness that made him long to tell her he'd take care of her.

So tell her the truth, Lockwood. Tell her he owned the Sea Goddess and Tropicale and houses that put her father's Palm Beach palace to shame. This was the moment he'd been working toward since the day she'd left him and slipped back into the life she'd known and loved long before he'd come onto the scene.

But where in hell was the sense of exhilaration, the sheer burst of satisfaction he'd figured would be part of the mix?

Abruptly he wheeled to the left and propelled her along a cobbled pathway that wound its way through the alley that bisected the shopping district. The damp stones were covered with moss and the smells of earth and heat rose up from the ground and surrounded them.

"Where are we going?" Megan asked as they exited the alleyway and started up a steep hill.

"Some place where we won't be interrupted."

"Jake, I--"

He pulled her into his arms then claimed her mouth with his. She was hot and sweet and he wanted to take her right there in the blazing sun, lay her down on the damp grass and bury himself inside her body. He told her exactly that and she swayed toward him, moth to a flame.

"There's a small marina over the hill where we can rent a rowboat," he said when he was able to form a coherent sentence again.

She nodded, her beautiful face flushed with desire that matched his. She'd never learned the fine art of dissembling--not about sex. From the very beginning she'd accepted the sensual side of her nature with enthusiasm and his fists clenched involuntarily at the thought of another man learning the sweet secrets of her body. The secrets he'd unlocked for her a long time ago.

They crested the hill and, as if on cue, the marinas appeared below them, a small perfect jewel set against the sapphire brilliance of the ocean. Two small schooners, waited proudly in the tranquil waters. A nest of rowboats, their deep green color faded from the unrelenting tropical sunshine, bobbed impatiently, tugging at the ropes that held them fast to the end of the dock.

"Wait here," he said. "I'll get us a boat."

#

Megan stood to one side of the narrow dock as Jake charmed the young girl in charge into renting out one of the disreputable-looking rowboats.

Minutes later he helped her into a boat and, manning the oars, he guided the vessel out onto the lake. She watched as the muscles of his chest and shoulders flexed with each stroke. He rowed the way he did everything else, with power and assurance, and they quickly left the marina behind.

The air was sultry, heady with the scent of exotic flowers and expectations. It occurred to her that this was dangerous, that nothing good could come from living your fantasies, but the thought vanished as quickly as it had come. This was exactly what she needed, to immerse herself in dreams, to give herself up to sensation without regard for the world she'd left behind when she boarded the Sea Goddess a few