Mike waved one arm at the main building. His backpack rustled and bumped his thigh. “Hey, I’m just the guy here to look at the shutters.”

  “So go look!” Turning, Karen stomped back into the hotel.

  She headed to the kitchen—the new one—to make iced tea. She needed something that would cool her down. She could hear Mike messing with the shutters, closing them it sounded it. She drummed her fingers on the counter. Why did that guy get under her skin like this? Two minutes back and she was already getting into a yelling match with him.

  Coming in the back door, Mike stopped at the entrance. “Mind if I…?” He let the words trail but he waved a hand at her.

  “I’m paying you, it seems. So how are the shutters, as if I didn’t know? And by the way, yeah, we do hire local. For just about everything.”

  “Ah, good. Then it seems like you’re all set to ride out this next storm coming.”

  She poured him an ice tea. “There’s no storm, Mike.”

  Coming over to her, he put his backpack on the floor and leaned a hand on the counter. “Oh, there is. It’s going to leave me stuck here for a week. Two, or maybe more.” Pulling a cell phone from his pocket, he pulled the battery out. “Look, no way to communicate now with the outside world. Hey, did you see that note on the website—that guests have to turn in their cell phones and electronic devices when they check in? Brilliant isn’t it. Zach’s idea. He thinks they’ll detox in forty-eight hours and hate to get the damn things back.”

  A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She fought it down and shook her head. “You are so not charming your way out of this. You broke our contract.”

  “More like bent. That work order is my invite. Now can I have one of those, or do you leave all your workers thirsty?” He gestured to the picture of iced tea.

  She poured him a glass. Their fingers brushed as she handed it to him, and that spark flared again, sizzling over her skin and diving low into her belly. She pulled her hand back. “What are you doing here, Mike?”

  “I had to see you. I…missed you, Karen. A lot.”

  “So what…this is fling number two? Or just an extension of fling one? Mike, I—”

  He put his hand over hers. “No, I need to talk. I care about you more than I have about anyone—except maybe my family. I know you wanted to call the shots—but what about partnership? Is that something you could work with? And it wasn’t just the sex—it’s the package, Karen. You’re funny and sweet and a damn hard worker. And I…I think I’m in love with you.”

  “Think?” Karen chews on her lower lip. “Only think?”

  He tightened his hold on her hand. “Sweetheart, you opened my eyes up. You put me in these damn overalls and got me back to what really mattered. Not even two weeks with you and I don’t want my old life back. Do you know, I hated New York when I got back there I missed this place, and you, and…and I don’t know what I’m going to do if you send me packing again. So, yeah, I snuck in, because I wasn’t sure if I emailed or called if you’d let me back. And I had to see you. I want to give this a shot. So…what do you say? How about taking me away from a life of storm shutters?”

  She shook her head. “If it doesn’t work out? I don’t know if I could survive that, Mike.”

  “Sweetheart, you’ve got a ton of faith in this place—how about putting some of that in us?”

  Turning, she put a hand on his chest. “What about that storm that’s coming? Think we can ride it out?”

  He smiled.

  Grabbing her hand, he pulled her with him down the hall and to the storm room. Karen had left this unchanged—so much of her parents still existed in this small room. The couch her folks had had brought in, the photos, the fruit her mother had put up and onto the shelves.

  He closed the door behind him, and started unloading his backpack. He set up two electric lamps, pulled out packed food, and two blankets. “Hear that wind howling?”

  She shook her head.

  Leaving the blankets draped over the couch, Mike came over and ran his hands up her arms. She let out a breath. “Mike, I—”

  He put a finger on her lips. “My turn to try and convince you that this is for real.”

  He kissed her, long and deep, his lips soft and demanding by turns. She gave a whimper, and he fell with her onto the sofa. She looked up into his eyes. His pupils had blow dark and black, leaving only a rim of blue. She thought he looked as crazy with need as she felt. She pulled him closer.

  He shifted so he could kiss her breasts, starting with the sides and working his way to her nipples. She could feel them harden. He gently nipped, then bit down on one, making her arch and wiggle. He started to strip off her clothes, unbuttoning her shirt, slipping his fingers up under her shirt. Reaching up, he nipped with his fingertips at her nipple again. She gave a moan and wiggled again.

  Pulling away, he unzipped his overalls and pulled them off.

  “No underwear?” she asked.

  He grinned. “Never wore any before around here.”

  “You work fast, mister.”

  “Oh, I can go slow when I need to.” Going down on his knees, spread her legs, pushed up her skirt, and pulled off her underwear. “Now about that storm…” He put his mouth on her and pushed his tongue inside her. Heat rocketed through her in a quick flame. He moved away, the stubble of his beard rasping over her skin. He kissed her stomach and gently bit the inside of her thigh.

  She put a hand on his shoulder and gave a sigh. “Don’t stop. Ever.”

  Shifting back to the damp spot between her legs, he dove in again. He worked her hard with his tongue and lips, and then slipped a finger inside. She moaned and bucked up against his mouth.

  When she didn’t think she could take much more she felt him pull back. Shivering, she dragged her eyes open. God, he was beautiful—all lean muscle and strength. Some of his tan from the island had faded. She touched a hand to his hip and then stroked his erection.

  “We’re nuts,” she muttered.

  “Long as we’re in it together,” he told her. Leaning over her, he spread her legs wide again, and looked down at her as he began to push his length inside her. She was wet and open and he slipped into her with ease. She gasped, and he kissed her again. She tasted her sent and her juices on his lips. He pushed in until his hips rested between hers. Looking at him, she moaned and lifted her hips to grind up against him. He began to slide in and out of her body, moving slow enough to make her want even more.

  A growl escaped her. Mike chuckled. “There’s my little wild cat. Tell me what you want.”

  He pressed into her with his thumb. The breath caught in her chest as he slipped another finger inside her.

  “Faster. More!”

  “Hey, didn’t you once lecture me about manners?”

  “Please!” she begged and dug her nails into his shoulders.

  He pushed a second and then a third finger inside her and thrust in and out of her faster and faster. She gasped at the sensation that shot through her in a hot shiver. She couldn’t say anything. She had nothing in her head but the pleasure of his body—his heat, his scent, the feel of him filing her.

  “Please,” she whispered again. He sucked her clit into his mouth and pushed deeper. She gave a cry and the world splintered into a flush of pleasure that swept through her time and time again. Just like a storm, it shook her, leaving her battered.

  Mike suddenly pulled away, pulling her up with him. He lay on his back and she straddled his hips. She eased herself onto him until he was fully inside her again. He squeezed her ass and lifted her up off of him and eased her back down. Her hair fell over her shoulder, wrapping around them. She placed her hands on his chest as she started to move faster and faster. She started to make small circles with her hips. Under her, Mike gasped.

  His grabbed her ass and squeezed her cheeks. His hips jerked and Karen wiggled once more. Heat spurted up into her and Mike gave a groan.

  Breathing hard, Karen fell onto his chest. Mike trailed his fingertips up and down her back. She rolled onto her side. “We’ve got to get a bigger couch.”

  Mike fell down on the couch beside her, breathing hard. He leaned up on an elbow to look over at her.

  She touched a hand to his face. “Mike, I’ve missed you, too. But…I’m not going to let you take over my life.”

  He nodded. “Okay.”

  She pushed up a little and wiggled for some space. “I want a guy who’ll stand beside me—as an equal. You’re still Mike Collins, big shot billionaire. You’re always going to push.”

  Taking her other hand, he put it on his bare chest. “And you can’t push back? I sure as hell like it when you do.”

  “With you, I feel like I’m back in high school. No matter how much I achieved, I always felt like I’d come up short compared to the popular kids.” She shook her head.

  “Karen, you’re selling yourself short here. Look around you. You did this. You’ve made this into a world-class resort. You’re going to be running the place. And if you want it in writing, we’ll draw up another contract. This is about what you want—I want to give you that. And more. You took a chance on me once—took in a guy from the storm. How about giving that same guy another shot at it?”

  Chapter Twenty

  Karen decided the hotel was made for weddings. The place looked like a massive cake itself. White flowers of all shapes stood in tall arrangements or hung in garlands around the pool and huts, leaving the air fragrant. The weather cooperated with blue sky and puffy white clouds that provided just enough shade, and the trade winds kept the heat at bay. Most of island locals had turned out, and their regular guests as well. It made for a colorful gathering and not just due to the garments—Karen was pretty sure beach bums were rubbing shoulders with billionaires out there.

  Karen sucked in a deep breath. The intricate pattern of the tapa—the traditional Fijian wedding cloth—wound around her figure in a strapless gown that swept down to the floor. And Seneed kept fussing with her hair, which hung down her back loose. She turned to Seneed. “I can’t do this.”

  Seneed grinned. “Think you kind of have to now. No one’s going to miss this party.”

  Was she really going to marry Mike? The day before yesterday, she’d met Mike’s brother and his wife, Zach and Lucy. She liked Lucy at once—she seemed a solid, sensible woman. Zach looked like a cowboy who couldn’t wait to get home. She also had a stack of paperwork waiting in her office, but the new hotel manager—Judy—had locked Karen out, wagged the key at her and said, “You’re not touching it until you get back from your honeymoon.”

  She wasn’t sure where you went on a honeymoon when you already lived in paradise, but the yacht Mike had hired for them now sat at anchor just off of the hotel beach, looking ridiculously large and absurdly expensive. She wasn’t ever going to ask what that had cost Mike.

  She glanced out the window of her room and glimpsed Mike.

  He had on a white suit and an open neck shirt—he’d refused to wear the tapa, but his shirt had a similar pattern on it. He looked like one of the models in the ads he’d developed to lure wedding couples to Castaway Island. Or more like one of the locals. His skin held a bronze tan that brought out the blue in his eyes, and he’d been letting his hair grow a little longer. It curled around the collar of his suit. He looked amazing.

  Fingers cold, Karen turned away from the window. “Seneed, would you get Mike for me?”

  Hairbrush in hand, Seneed stepped back. “Always with the arguing with you two. Can’t you get through one day without negotiations?”

  Karen shook her head. “I really need to see him.”

  “Okay, it’s your wedding.”

  Five minutes later, Mike knocked on the door and came in. “Isn’t there some rule about not seeing the bride?” He took her hands. “I like you in this thing—you should wear a sarong more often.”

  “It’s bark cloth. And the no-see rule, that’s for a European wedding, but Mike—”

  “Uh, oh, I know that tone of voice. Please tell me you don’t want yet another amendment to our pre-nuptials? I know you don’t want anything from me. Boy, do I know that after all we hashed out about the money and where it goes. But I’m not changing the trust set up for—”

  “Mike, are you really sure about this? I mean, you could probably have your pick of any girl in the world, and I’m not—”

  “Didn’t we talk about this? I did have my pick of girls and I picked you.” He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. “Does that help?”

  “Hmmmmm. Touch me some more please. I like the feel of your hands.”

  He cupped the back of her head and brought his lips down on hers. Slipping his tongue into her mouth, he tightened his hold on her. She gave with a sigh. She couldn’t help but kiss him back. She poured everything into the kiss.

  When he pulled back, she rested her cheek against his chest where she could hear his heart beating. “Do you think I over planned this?”

  “Given that we have a time table with everything marked down to the second, there’s a good possibility.” He held her away from him. “But this is your day, sweetheart. It’s supposed to be the bride who is the star, right?”

  She bit her lower lip and looked up at him. “I know, but…” She glanced out the window again. “I didn’t think it’d be this nerve-wracking. Any chance we could skip this? Elope?”

  He laughed. “Okay, maybe it’s not that much your day. My brother would kill me, my sister-in-law would probably skin you, and our guests would probably sulk, get drunk and maybe burn down the hotel.” He touched the tip of her nose with one finger. “Are you really having second thoughts about this? I mean it’s only taken me three years to get you to the altar.”

  Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down for another kiss. “Mike, the truth is I think you had me from the first day you showed up, soaking wet from the storm. You grabbed my heart before I knew it, and changed everything for me. I don’t know what my life would be like without you—in fact, I don’t ever want to know what life would be like without you. I love you, Mike.”

  “You’re not going to have to know. I plan to make sure of that. I love it here, more than I ever thought I would. And it’s not like I need to head back to the states more than once or twice a year. Besides, who’d be your handyman if I wasn’t around?”

  She gave a laugh and pulled away. “I’ve got something for you.” Walking to her dresser, she picked up a small box. She put it into Mike’s hand. “It took some time to get it reworked.”

  He opened the box. A golden oval glinted from the box. He pulled it out and Karen watched, her breath held, as he studied the golden links—large and suited for a man—with the locket set into one link.

  “It’s a bracelet,” she said, rushing the words. “Well, a man’s bracelet. And the locket—my dad had it made for my mom, but he never had time to give it to her. I didn’t want that to happen with us.”

  Opening the locket, he looked at the picture. “These are you folks?”

  “I wanted them to be part of the ceremony—at least a small part. Dad…Dad always said I’d find peace here. That I’d be happy. I wasn’t sure I could ever be after I lost them, but…I am happy, Mike. And…and it feels like my folks might be watching over us. I never thought I’d find a love like they shared, but I did.”

  He pulled her into his arms. “Yeah, I think they’re here, too. I’ve also been think our kids will be happy here.”

  She blinked. “Kids? You really want kids?”

  “Two or three. Or maybe five. Hey, we’ve got to have someone around who can run this place when we get too old to do that.”

  She punched his arm.

  He grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. “And now, my wild cat, will you please come outside and make me the happiest man alive? Will you share each sunset and sunrise with me as long as we live? Karen Whitaker, will you marry me in front of my brother, and sister-in-law, and with your parents looking down, and the whole island here. And will you be my wife? Without of course, the obey part, which you took out.”

  She gave another soft laugh, her throat thickening and her eyes stinging. “You’re going to make my makeup run.”

  Grabbing her hand, he started to pull her with him. A distant rumble shook the windows and Mike stopped. “Oh, no. No way. Not another storm coming.”

  Tugging on him, Karen pulled him for the door. “So what if there is. We can face anything. Come on, handyman. Come and make me your wife…your love. Make me yours forever.”

  END OF BOOK 2

  BOOK 3 OUT MARCH 2015

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  Julia Thompson sat at the bar and watched the crowded dance floor, once again trying to find her best friend, Tonya, amidst the masses of writhing bodies. She pushed her glasses up on her nose, and her brown hair off her forehead, fanning herself to move the air around.