By the time my assistant had finished, the room was filling up with my staff members who were here for the meet and greet. I played my part as well as I could, smiling and shaking hands and lying through my teeth about how happy I was to be here. The truth was that the deep anger I felt bubbling just beneath the surface was threatening to boil over.
I would never say I hated my brother. He was a good guy, and he meant well. But I couldn’t help but feel a little bit ragey about the fact that he’d made the townspeople hate him so much. If he hadn’t done that, then maybe Julia wouldn’t have brushed me off so easily.
I was also a little bit angry at Julia. Who did she think she was, judging me by my brother? Just because we were twins and looked a lot alike didn’t mean that we were the same person. Here I was, trying to do something nice for her and give her business, and she was accusing me of not helping locals. I freaking bought out her entire inventory today, for crying out loud. What more should I do to prove I cared about her business?
By the end of the meet and greet, I felt like I was going to explode from anger. I needed to get out and get some fresh air, somewhere far away from the resort and far away from people. Despite the fact that I’d had a long day of travel and would have an early start tomorrow morning, I decided I was going to actually go beyond the resort’s boundaries for once.
I snuck back to my room as quickly as possible, and changed into swimming trunks, a t-shirt, and a baseball cap. I pulled the cap low over my eyes, hoping that I might be able to escape out of the hotel’s lobby without anyone recognizing me. I made it to the taxi line and hopped into the first available cab, just as one of the bellhops noticed me.
“Mr. Evans! Can I assist you?”
I ignored the bellhop, slammed the door shut and told the taxi driver to “Drive. Just drive.”
He chuckled as he pulled away from the resort’s front entrance. “Long day, eh?”
“I’ll say. Where can I go on this island to be alone for a bit?”
He chuckled again. “Lots of places. My favorite though is Sunset Lagoon. It’s a rocky outcrop that almost completely surrounds the beach. There’s only one way in, a short, narrow path. Easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there. It’s one of the locals’ favorite places.”
He glanced over his shoulder and winked at me, like he was sharing some deep secret. He must not have recognized me as one of the Evans brothers. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t dare tell me about one of the locals’ favorite hot spots.
“Take me there, please. I could use a secluded beach right about now.”
“Of course.”
He sped away from the resort, and soon he was driving along the road that wound in a circle around the island’s entire coastline. Just seeing the open ocean, glittering in the late afternoon sunshine, helped calm me down. This is just what I needed. Open space. Quiet. And maybe a quick dip in the ocean. About ten minutes later, he pulled off onto a dirt road that would have been easy to miss if you didn’t know it was there. He drove right up to what looked like a solid wall of rock, and pointed to a spot that jutted out extra far about a dozen feet from where he’d parked.
“Right past that rock jutting out right there is a narrow path that’ll take you right smack into the secluded beach.” Then he reached and grabbed a business card from the center console of his car. He handed it back to me with a warm smile. “If you need a ride back later, give me a call. I’ll come out and get you.”
“Thanks,” I said, reaching into my wallet and pulling out double the amount of the fare shown on the meter. I didn’t dare use my black Amex, for fear that he’d glance down at the name on the card and realize who I was. He’d probably leave me stranded out here all night if he realized I was an Evans.
“Keep the change,” I said as I handed him the cash and jumped out of the car. I started walking at a brisk pace, eager to get past the rocks and to the quiet of the beach. I just wanted to be alone, with no one around to remind me of who I was, or to remind me of the fact that Julia wasn’t going to give me a chance, just because I happened to be a billionaire resort owner.
Maybe, if I gathered my thoughts and calmed down enough, I could figure out a way to change her mind. After all, no woman had ever been able to resist me before. Why should she be the first?
With an angry, determined gait, I stepped past the rocks and to the beach. Julia would cave. I would figure out her weak spot, and use it to convince her that I wasn’t someone you passed up.
Chapter Five
* JULIA *
I pulled onto the dirt road of my favorite beach, relieved to find that the parking lot was empty. I hadn’t really expected anyone else to be here, since on a Friday night almost everyone would be downing beers over at Joe’s Sandbar. But this beach was a favorite of many of the locals here on Driftwood Island, so you never knew when it would randomly be full of people.
Tonight, I didn’t want to be around a bunch of people, and I wasn’t in the mood to throw back beers with Megan. I just wanted to be alone. The day had been long and confusing, and despite the fact that I’d sold out of my inventory at the Conch Shell Café for the first time, I didn’t feel happy. I felt angry at Logan for whatever game he was trying to play, and I felt angry at myself for being attracted to him.
“Go ahead, Decaf,” I said as I hoisted the giant Lab from the backseat of my beat up old coupe and set him down on the ground. “You can head to the beach. I’ll catch up in a minute.”
Decaf wagged his tail and started hobbling toward the path to the beach. We’d been here hundreds of times before, so he knew the place well. It broke my heart to see him in so much pain, and yet still so happy. How did dogs do that? It’s like everything could be going wrong in their lives and they still found the strength to wag their tails. I wished I could be more like Decaf.
I glanced quickly up and down the road to make sure no cars were coming, and then I quickly stripped out of my work clothes and into my favorite red bikini. I tossed the clothes onto the front passenger seat of my car, grabbed my beach tote that contained a towel and a large water bottle, and started heading down the same path Decaf was walking down. It was about seven p.m., but the summer sun was still fairly high in the sky. I had about two good hours of daylight left, and I planned to stay out here and enjoy those two hours to the fullest.
Decaf walked just ahead of me as we slipped through the gap in the rocks that led to the beach, and I closed my eyes for a moment to breathe in the fresh, salty air. This place was heaven. When I opened my eyes again, I froze.
Halfway across the beach, a man stood, stripping off his t-shirt. A man who looked very much like Logan Evans. I had no idea how he knew about this place, or how he’d gotten here without a car, but I did know one thing: I did not want him to see me here. I didn’t want to talk to him, and I didn’t want to share a beach with him. I was bummed that I’d have to sneak away from my favorite beach, but it was fine. There were plenty of other amazing beaches on the island. Beaches that would truly be empty, with no obnoxious billionaires to ruin my mood.
“Decaf,” I hissed. My overly friendly dog had spotted Logan and was hobbling toward him as fast as he could, tail wagging furiously at the sight of a new friend. I sighed. Usually, I loved how friendly Decaf was, but right now that friendly streak was about to get me in trouble. If Logan turned around and saw me, I’d never be able to get out of here without talking to him. It’s not like I could even run back to my car and drive away, because Decaf wouldn’t be able to run with me. He was slow, and there was no chance I could carry him that far. Lifting him out of the car was enough of a struggle as it was. “Decaf! Come back. We have to go.”
Decaf’s ears pricked up, and he turned back to give me a confused look. He was probably wondering why I was whispering. He must have thought it was some sort of game, because he wagged his tail at me, and then—horror of horrors—he barked.
My heart sank as I saw Logan turn toward the sound. I tried to retreat back into the
rock passageway before he saw me, hoping that there was still a chance to get away. After all, he didn’t know Decaf was my dog. Maybe Decaf would follow me and Logan wouldn’t bother to come after the random, hobbling dog.
“Julia?”
I groaned. No such luck. Logan had seen me. Decaf was looking at me uncertainly now, wondering why I was holding back from the new friend waiting just across the beach.
“Come on, Decaf. We have to go,” I insisted in a low whisper. Decaf stared at me another moment, then barked again and turned to hobble back toward Logan as fast as his legs would take him. Which admittedly wasn’t that fast, but it didn’t matter. As long as Decaf was heading toward Logan instead of away from him, my plan to try to escape was ruined. I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth together, and followed my dog. I would just have to exit this awkward situation as quickly as possible.
“I’m sorry,” I called out as I caught up with Decaf and grabbed his collar, tugging on it to pull him back toward where my car was parked. “I didn’t realize that there was anyone else out here. We’ll just be going, then. I don’t want to disturb you.”
I tugged on Decaf’s collar again, and that stubborn beast refused to move. “Decaf, what is wrong with you?” I hissed in a low voice so Logan hopefully couldn’t hear me. “Of all the times for you to decide to be a stubborn ass! Trust me. We need to get out of here.”
Then I made the mistake of looking up at Logan. Shirtless Logan. Shirtless Logan with the blazing afternoon sun shining down on his perfect, sculpted chest. I felt my knees go weak, and any words I was trying to form in my head immediately turned to gibberish.
“I…I…” I gave up and stared at the man god in front of me. How was it possible for any human to look that good? That fluttery feeling in my stomach was back, and I once again felt myself growing wet between my legs. Oh, good lord. I really needed to get out of here. When was my body going to get the memo that Logan might be the most attractive man I’d ever met, but he was also completely off limits?
Despite my efforts to think of all the reasons I hated Logan, I found myself imagining lying down on the sand with him right then, tearing off our swimsuits and losing ourselves in each other. These thoughts only made the warmth in my belly worse, and I was pretty sure my cheeks were flushed a bright red at this point. Logan, meanwhile, seemed totally unflustered and completely at ease.
“This is your dog?”
I nodded dumbly. “This is Decaf.”
“Decaf?” Logan laughed with delight at the name, and I couldn’t help but smile. It might seem a little cheesy, but it fit. Logan seemed to think so, too. He reached down to scratch behind Decaf’s ears. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Hip dysplasia,” I said sadly. “He needs surgery but…” I let my words trail off. I wasn’t about to stand here talking to a billionaire about my money problems. He would never understand what it felt like to have nothing. To my surprise, though, Logan finished my sentence for me.
“But it’s expensive, huh?”
I glanced up, my eyes widening. “Yeah. Really expensive. But I have a plan for paying for it. I just entered this cake sculpting contest at the Summer Fair. If I can pull off first prize, the money will be enough to cover the amount I’m currently short for the surgery.”
I wasn’t sure why I confided in Logan that I had just entered the cake sculpting contest. I guess I was just so excited about the possibility of the prize money that I wanted to tell someone, and Megan was already off at the bar, letting all the local boys buy drinks for her even though they all knew she wasn’t going to let any of them come home with her tonight. Megan was like me—she wanted a man, but not one of the locals who we’d known since we were all in diapers.
Logan was staring back at me now with a slightly confused look on his face. “Summer Fair?”
I bit back another sigh. Of course he didn’t know what it was. The Summer Fair was only the biggest event of the year around here, but why would he care about it? He only cared about his resort and its profits. “It’s just a big fair we have at the end of June every year. No big deal, I’m just excited about the potential prize money. Anyway, I’ll just be going. I don’t want to bother you. Decaf, come on!”
Decaf ignored me, choosing instead to lie down on the sand by Logan’s feet. Logan laughed.
“You’re not bothering me. And it looks like Decaf is quite comfortable here. Stay. Please.”
“Mr. Evans, really, I’m trying to be polite but—”
“Logan. Call me Logan. When you call me Mr. Evans it makes me feel so old. And look: I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I promise I’m not trying to take over your café. I just genuinely liked the coffee and pastries there. And, if I might be so bold as to say so, the employees don’t look half bad either.”
He let his eyes slip down from my face to my body, and I suddenly felt horribly self-conscious. I’d been prancing around town in tiny bikinis like this one my whole life, but I’d never thought much about how I looked because no one had ever looked at me besides the local boys, and I didn’t really give a shit what they thought of me anyway. But now, under Logan’s intense scrutiny, I found myself feeling a bit shaky. I knew I should put my hand on my hip and indignantly tell him that I worked at the café to sell coffee, not to be on display for the local billionaire asshole. But I couldn’t quite bring myself to speak. Not when his eyes were sending fire through my whole being. Besides, it’s not like I wasn’t checking him out, too. His chest was impossible not to stare at.
Decaf thumped his tail against the sand in a very self-satisfied wag, and I turned to glare at him. That dog had known exactly what he was doing, dragging me out onto the beach next to Logan. The hip dysplasia might keep Decaf from running as much as he used to, but he was still just as much of a rascal.
“Logan, I should go. Really. It’s been a long day and I really just want to be alone. I know a dozen more beaches just down the road from here. It’s no trouble for me to leave.”
“It’s no trouble for you to stay.”
Something in his voice sounded strangely authoritative. Like he was ordering me to stay, without explicitly doing so. The effect was strangely sexy, and I found myself pausing and looking up into his eyes.
Oh my. Those eyes were intense. The blue was unlike anything I’d ever seen, and I’d seen a lot of different shades of blue in my lifetime. Living around the ocean meant I’d seen both the sky and sea in just about every possible blue hue imaginable. But there was something different about the blue in Logan’s eyes. It was so deep, and it was flecked with spots of honey gold, something I hadn’t noticed earlier today. The shaking in my body intensified, and I found my eyes inadvertently dropping to his lips. I had never wanted to kiss anyone so badly in my life, but this was wrong. All wrong. Wasn’t it? Logan was an Evans. He was the enemy. And he was a bit too self-entitled, thinking he could just give my café a little business and then order me around.
But damn it, his body was so undeniably irresistible.
And when he leaned in for a kiss, I did not resist. Instead, I let myself melt into him. I closed my eyes as his palms reached up and cradled my cheeks. I breathed in deeply, relishing the way the scent of his aftershave mixed with the scents of salty sea and sun baked sand. For a moment, there was no one else in the world but him.
He slipped his tongue past my lips and let it dance with my tongue, and any hope I’d had of cooling down the warmth in my core was lost in an instant. Fire spread from his kiss to every part of my body, and I could feel my bikini bottoms quickly becoming soaked. If this was so wrong, why did it feel so right?
But no. No, no, no. I couldn’t do this. I had spent my whole life being taught to hate outsiders. Us Driftwood Island locals had to stick together. And here I was, making out on the beach with the biggest outsider of them all. An Evans brother! It was okay to have a summer fling with a tourist, but not with an Evans brother. Had I lost my mind?
Apparently I had. Pulling away from hi
s kiss was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life, but I did it. I reached up to push his hands down from my face, and I took a step back. Every cell in my body protested. I wanted him like I’d never wanted anyone, but I could not have him.
“Julia,” he said, his voice low and husky. I nearly groaned at the sound of it. There was so much desire in his tone. So much passion. I had no doubt that if I really wanted to right now, I could have my fantasy of losing my virginity to him right here on this beach, with a brilliant azure ocean as the backdrop. But I had to be strong. I had to step away.
“No,” I said, my voice barely more than a hoarse whisper. “No. I can’t.”
“Why not?” he sounded exasperated. “Do you already have a boyfriend or something?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter.” My voice was growing stronger as the spell of his kiss began to fade slightly. “You’re an Evans, and I’m a local. You don’t care about us, or our island, or our businesses. How could I ever trust you to truly take care of me? To truly respect me?”
“Julia, look. I don’t know exactly what my brother has done, but—”
“Don’t blame your brother. Your name is on the resort just as much as his. And we’re done here.”
Before he could answer, I turned around and began to run. I didn’t bother waiting for Decaf. I knew my dog would catch up eventually. I just needed to get to my car and close the door behind me. I didn’t put my clothes back on over my bikini. I just hopped into the driver’s seat and locked the doors, waiting for Decaf and cursing the fact that the poor thing couldn’t run. I knew Logan would easily keep up with the dog, and would probably follow him up to my car. I vowed to just ignore anything Logan said or did, and drive off as soon as I managed to help Decaf into the car.
When I looked in my rearview mirror and finally saw Decaf, though, I couldn’t keep my heart from melting a little bit. Logan was indeed coming toward me with Decaf, but he wasn’t following along as Decaf hobbled. Logan was carrying Decaf. My giant Lab, who weighed over eighty pounds, was nestled in Logan’s arms like a baby. The sight was so sweet that for a moment I was tempted to let go of my anger a bit, and give Logan a chance.
Craving Him: A Billionaire Beach Island Romance (Billionaires of Driftwood Island Book 1) Page 4