“I can’t believe I ended up in bed with the devil,” she muttered.
His eyes widened, but he had the decency to look remorseful. “I’m sorry. I understand this isn’t what you expected,” he said, but then his mouth quirked up a little. “But I can assure you I’m not the devil.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Are you laughing at me?”
“Absolutely not,” he said, but he swiped his hand over his mouth, and she was almost sure she caught a smile behind it. “Still, the devil thing is a bit of a jump, isn’t it?”
“To be determined,” she grumbled.
Jessie massaged her temples. What the hell was going on here? Byron was the owner of the ultra-luxury resort she couldn’t come close to affording. The same Byron who’d treated her to the personal, ultra-luxury experience by the pool the night before? Those two just didn’t fit together in her mind. Executives didn’t have the bandwidth nor the inclination to focus on how they affected individuals. Yes, Jillian had gotten mad when she’d voiced this broad, stereotypical sweep, and it was true that her sister’s new executive boyfriend seemed like a good guy so far...so maybe Jillian had a point. Byron certainly hadn’t fit her stereotype. She gave herself a little shake.
When she looked back over at him again, she noted something that threw her off even further. She’d expected coldness after her sharp words, but he didn’t seem upset. In fact, it was almost as if he was...pleased with her reaction?
“You’re not looking very remorseful.”
His smile fell a little. “My...position means that not many people tell me what they’re thinking if they expect I won’t like it.” His brow wrinkled. “But can you tell me why my job makes me the devil?”
“You want my story?” she asked, crossing her arms.
He nodded.
This was turning out to be the most mind-bending vacation of her life, which she supposed she should’ve foreseen, with the amount of money Jillian had paid for it. But Byron was right about one thing: this certainly wasn’t what she’d expected. He seemed to be okay with her laying out her feelings, so fuck it, she was just putting them on the table.
“For two generations, the men in my family have been the mayor of Baja Lake, California. And for two generations, the women married to these men have built their lives around their husbands’ position, much to their detriment. The only thing my mother ever put her foot down about was not having a third kid, just to try again for a boy.” She glanced up at Byron, and he nodded, like he was encouraging her to continue. “So my sister, Jillian, and I got the hell out of Baja Lake as fast as we could. Neither of us were going to be wives of the next mayor.”
“And you didn’t want to be mayor, either?”
She hesitated. “At the time, I didn’t even think to ask myself that question. I’m not sure my father would have endorsed me, either.”
He nodded. “Sorry for interrupting. Please continue.”
She blinked, now a little thrown off by Byron’s manners, but she pushed on.
“So my sister and I vowed we’d never be like our mother. We came to Silicon Valley to make a go at being our own bosses with a great start-up idea. Our previous start-up was a news app for stories written by women, and we grew fast enough that investors came, dangling money in exchange for stability. Or at least that was what they promised. But they took our company public too soon, and when we weren’t showing the kind of growth they wanted—not just profit but growth—they sent in a CEO with a ‘restructuring’ plan, which, as you probably know, was a euphemism for job cuts.”
She’d been so mad when she understood that she had to follow the plan of the new CEO, the one whom the venture capital firm had put in place, the one who laid off all her core staff, so she had quit. Left her stock options, her salary—everything. Not her most practical decision, but it had definitely set the stage for MomJobs.
Byron’s gaze was on her again, his attention full and intense. “I’m sorry, Jessie.”
She had told this story many times before, and most people in Silicon Valley followed up their condolences with rationalizations. Of course a venture capital firm was worried about the bottom line. Some men tried to tell her that was how capitalism worked, as if her lack of understanding of these basic tenets was the problem.
But Byron didn’t give her a single explanation. He just seemed to be focused on listening. This was getting a little intense for a morning-after conversation, but now that she’d started, there was no reason to stop.
“You know what the icing on the cake was?”
He nodded.
“One of those investors asked Jillian out. And after one night, she was in love. Which at first seemed tolerable, but now she’s moved in with him and she’s trying to convince me to cut down on hours and take investment money. Would he cut down his own hours for her if it was a critical time for his start-up? I doubt it.”
Byron was still nodding, but creases had formed across his brow again.
“And you think she’ll end up in the same place as the wife of the Baja Lake mayor?” She could tell he was trying to keep the skepticism out of his question, but she could still hear it. In fact, he sounded a lot like Jillian right now.
“I want my sister to be happy, but women in our family have a long history of shaping their lives around men and then suffering for it, long-term. Jillian and I swore we’d break that pattern, but I can see she’s falling into it anyway.”
The creases on his forehead deepened. “So instead of just avoiding being the wife of a Baja Lake mayor, you’ve now concluded it’s best to avoid...?”
He didn’t finish his sentence, so she did. “Men who wield a lot of power.”
“And I fall in this category, too,” he said slowly, the skepticism still there.
She had never talked so plainly about this subject to anyone except Jillian, and now that she was voicing the ideas aloud, she could hear the connection she was making sounded a little shaky. Still...
“Okay, maybe not all men with power are the devil,” she said, giving him a little smile. “But I don’t like taking chances.”
Jessie leaned back in the seat. Now that she had gotten that off her chest, she was feeling a little better. The car was quiet, warming up as the morning sun shone through the windshield. After a while, Byron took a deep breath. “Do you want me to take you back to the resort?”
She looked over at Byron, patiently waiting in the driver’s seat for her decision. He didn’t seem pissed or irritated with her, the way other men had written off her tirade about the heartlessness of the business world. Instead, he seemed...well, worried about how she was feeling. Which had the strange effect of her worrying about how he was feeling after the way she had basically attacked him personally based on his career. Jessie rubbed her eyes, still sleepy from the early wake-up. She really wasn’t ready to part ways yet, not after such a strange and interesting start to the morning. And then there was that amazing end to the night before. This whole thing was definitely messing with her mind.
Did she want to end this day with Byron? The sun was up by now, and going back would mean missing the best surfing. But she’d be lying if she told herself that was the only reason. Byron was fun and unexpected and she actually liked him—that was why she wanted to stay. Yes, she was pissed and, frankly, a little nervous that Byron was a wealthy resort owner and not a hapless beach bum, which would be so much easier to swallow. But did his job really have to matter? They were just surfing, and she had no doubts about his skills in that department.
“You said you were just my guide for today, right?”
He nodded. “I’m leaving for New York tomorrow night.”
Jessie’s brain quickly translated this thought: it’s only for today. And tonight, if she wanted. But no matter how much fun they had together, this wasn’t enough time to get tangled up with him.
Byron’s
hands were still on the steering wheel, and she was sure that he wouldn’t argue if she insisted on returning to the resort. Just one day. Surfing, possibly with a side of sex?
“I don’t want to go back,” she said slowly. He brightened a little and nodded earnestly, and her heart stuttered in her chest. “But you’re not allowed to wield your CFO powers against me. I’m the guest, so I’m in charge, right?”
She didn’t miss the flash of heat in Byron’s eyes, and he bit back a smile. “As you wish.”
Jessie’s eyes widened. That was her favorite line from The Princess Bride...which featured Westley, a farm boy, who did everything to please Buttercup, even when she was demanding. Maybe this was a coincidence. Or maybe this was his way of suggesting that he was very willing to let her be in charge.
Did she want that, too? Patience was not her strength, and she did tend to tell people what to do, but she always tried her best to play this tendency down with guys she dated. But was this just a personality trait or was she actually turned on by this dynamic? She tried to picture it...
Yes, she could definitely get into that dynamic with him. So just for fun, she narrowed her eyes and infused a little haughtiness into her voice. “I’m ready for my board.”
CHAPTER FIVE
THOUGH THE SKIES were cloudless and blue, the swell was bigger than usual. It rose and fell, breaking in front of them as they paddled through the riptide. Byron turned to Jessie, who was lying on her surfboard next to him. She wasn’t wearing a wet suit this morning, just a bathing suit and a rash guard, and her bare legs stretched out along the board. He was trying hard not to stare at them.
“A storm is coming in,” he said, nodding toward the break. “These waves are a couple feet taller than usual.”
Jessie’s mouth quirked up into a smile. “Looks good to me.”
“This is where the reef gets really shallow,” he said, gesturing just beyond where they were paddling. “The waves break both right and left, but you have to ride left. You don’t want to hit the reef.”
“Have you ever tried the right break?” she asked, eyebrow raised, like she already suspected the answer.
He chuckled. “Yeah, when I first got here. It wasn’t pretty.”
They were close to the break, and a set of waves was coming at them. Jessie sped up, and Byron followed, reaching the peak of the wave just before it broke on top of them. They swam a little farther out, then turned to position themselves where the waves wouldn’t hit them.
Byron sat up on his board, taking in their surroundings. The sun was shining across the water, glittering over the top of the surface, and the wind still hadn’t picked up. It was mornings like this that made the devil’s bargain with his stepfather worthwhile. Yes, building the Kalani Resort meant he was tied to Hayden Properties, but he was also honoring his promise to his father to bring money and jobs to the Big Island. Someday maybe he’d live here full-time, too, even if it was too late to be closer to his father.
“I can’t believe we have this place to ourselves,” Jessie said as she scanned the coastline. “If this was Northern California, we’d be surrounded by twenty other dudes, and ten of them wouldn’t know what the hell they were doing.”
“Not many people live on this part of the island, so it doesn’t fill up until later in the day. It’s a hidden gem.” Byron winked at her. “Are you satisfied with me as your guide this morning?”
“We’ll see.” She was trying to keep a straight face, but her smile slipped through. It was full of humor, tinged with desire and maybe even a hint of happiness. Good.
The conversation in the car had been intense. He’d watched her carefully from the driver’s seat as she weighed her options, using the time to study her, really watch and learn how she wore her emotions on her face. The attraction between them was very strong, but he could still feel her wariness.
He liked to think he wasn’t the same as the men she was lumping him in with. And he got the feeling that he, growing up as the stepson of a wealthy man, had a lot more in common with the daughter of a small-town mayor than he would’ve thought. But despite the loose logic of her conclusions, he did, in fact, sit at a boardroom table just like the one she had faced in that venture capital meeting, not long before her company slipped through her fingers. He got it. His stepfather hadn’t hesitated to use Byron’s love for his deceased father nor his loyalty to his mother to manipulate him and get him to stay with Hayden Properties, long after he had wanted to leave. And soon his stepfather would use them again to move Byron into the CEO position. If Jessie had spent time in the business world, of course she had seen this side of it. Of course she could conclude that powerful stakeholders were the enemy.
Still, for a morning of surfing, maybe it didn’t have to matter. Byron had had to hold himself back from making that point. From what he had gathered about her so far, she would want to come to her own conclusions, not hear them from him. Despite the unexpected complication, the conversation had been a relief in many ways. So far, it hadn’t affected the attraction between them. But this was the kind of thought that he probably should keep to himself.
Byron glanced over at her as she sat on her board, the slow rise and fall of the waves lifting and lowering her. As she looked out at the water, he tried hard not to stare at the curve of her breasts pressing against the tight rash guard, but it was hard as hell to resist. He had worshipped her body last night, and, fuck, he wanted to worship it again. He wanted to please her, even more than before. She hadn’t wanted a man this morning, she hadn’t wanted the president of a real estate empire sitting next to her, but maybe, despite all these strikes, she still wanted him. His mouth. His body. And he was so ready to—
“So how does this surf-off work?” she asked, interrupting his thoughts.
He shrugged, like he hadn’t just been thinking about her naked. “Same as any surf contest. We give ourselves a time limit, maybe twenty minutes. Since there are no judges, we could say longest ride wins? Three chances max. Maybe tricks count for bonus points. What do you think?”
Her smile widened. “Sounds good to me. No stealing waves.”
“Never.”
“We’re on.”
The day before, he had watched her from the beach for a while before he paddled out to meet her. She was good, really good, her skills probably honed through the same grit and determination that had helped her start up her new company even after the disappointment of the last. Was she going to win this contest? He had a strong home advantage on this break, having surfed these waves for the last few years. But he was on a longboard, the board he used the least, which put him at a disadvantage. Part of him, a very persuasive part, wanted to let her win this. He could tell she liked to win...a lot, and he wanted her to feel that victory. But if she knew he let her win, she’d be pissed as hell. This much he already knew about her, too. So what was he supposed to do with this situation?
A set of waves was coming in, and he turned his board, paddling toward shore, anticipating the break, positioning himself. The first wave swelled, and he checked his watch.
“Twenty minutes, starting now,” he called to her as he set his timer.
The first wave of the set was right behind him, growing, peaking, and he was perfectly lined up for it. One more quick glance in her direction told him she was, too. They both paddled, his strokes longer, hers, quicker. Their boards were nose-to-nose when she glanced over at him. He smiled, a little distracted, and in that moment, she popped up to standing. She must have thought he pulled back on purpose because she glared back at him as she glided down the face of the wave.
And then she took off. It was magic, watching her, her upper body stable as she steered the board with her legs, up the face then back down again. Longboards weren’t built for jumps, but they were steady and powerful, with momentum and buoyancy that lasted far longer than a ride on a short board.
Another
wave was coming in behind him, so he hopped on it. The key to a long ride on this break was making it across the riptide, which required a big enough wave and speed. But half his focus was still on Jessie in front of him, and he didn’t carve up the face in time to give himself enough push. As he hit the rip, his board slowed and his wave died.
Byron jumped off into the salty water and watched the end of Jessie’s ride. She knew exactly how to use her board, and she maneuvered through the dying wave, getting the most out of it. Her long white hair blew in the warm breeze, and oh, those legs. She was the loveliest thing he had ever seen. The idea of a mermaid surfaced again in his mind, enchanting with a hint of danger.
The wave died under her, and she hopped off the board, then turned around.
“What the hell?” she called as she paddled out toward him. “This is supposed to be a competition.”
He’d been right. She’d be pissed if he let her win. She’d hate it.
“Just watching to see how far you made it,” he said when she caught up to him. “I got distracted.”
Jessie rolled her eyes as she paddled past him, but that spark of amusement was there, too. Good. But no more losing focus because of sexy mermaids. If she wanted competition, he’d give it to her.
“How much time do we have?” she called over her shoulder.
He looked at his watch. “Fourteen minutes and thirty-eight seconds.”
“You better try to beat me, Byron,” she said, paddling harder.
They found their spots out at the break again, and when the next set rolled in, Byron focused on the oncoming wave. His board hummed under him as the wave caught it, pushing him forward. He stood up, carving in right away, up the face and then down again, building speed. He made it past the riptide, but soon after, the wave died, and his board sank.
Jessie was on the wave right behind his, heading straight for him. At the last minute, she carved around him, smiling, making a show of it, then cut in and caught up with the wave on the other side of him. She made it just a little farther than her last ride before she lowered herself back on her board and paddled his way.
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