The Billionaire's Proposal (Scandal, Inc Book 4)

by James, Avery

  “I’m not really sure,” Harry said. “Let’s walk for a little while. That way you can at least see the town. Otherwise we could have just stayed in Havana.”

  “I don’t think I would have slept with you if we had stayed in Havana,” Maggie said.

  “Like I was saying, I’m glad we didn’t stay in Havana, but if you insist on going back, all I ask is that we spend a little more time here.”

  “Deal,” Maggie said. She pulled on a dress and sandals and followed him out to the beach. They splashed their feet in the water as they walked along the long stretch of sand toward town. It felt like they had the entire island to themselves, the whole world, even. Maggie felt like she was walking in a dream. The sun was shrouded by a thin cover of clouds, and the air was comfortably warm. There was a nice breeze blowing down from the hills that kept it from being too hot, and the cool water at her feet made everything perfect.

  Still, by the time they made it into town, the breeze had died down and Maggie had worked up a sweat. When Harry asked if she wanted something to drink, she quickly said yes. The small beachside town was nothing like Key West, where there had been a bar every fifteen feet. The streets were broken and dusty, and there was almost no one around. Here and there, a few kids played in yards. There was the drone of a dirt bike somewhere in the distance, and Maggie could swear she heard a song she knew at one point. She and Harry wound their way through the streets until they found a small corner market.

  The paint on the bodega’s exterior was chipping and flaking, revealing the raw concrete below. The glass on the door was hazed over. Inside, the air was still despite a ceiling fan whining overhead. An old man sat behind a long counter. Behind him, a stack of nearly empty shelves loomed over the space. There were a few bottles of liquor, and some dry goods: sugar, salt, flour. The prices for each were handwritten on notecards and tacked to the shelf.

  There was an old telephone on the wall. It was like the sight of the phone had brought back all of her worries. She thought back to their earlier conversation. Even if Harry hadn’t given her the rule, she wouldn’t have felt a need to call back to the office. After all, how would she explain what she was doing? She could barely explain it to herself. The night before, she’d been overwhelmed by her feelings for Harry. That wasn’t exactly something she could report back.

  Then there was the money. She had to figure out some way to convince Harry not to go through with his plan, or at least to change it enough to protect himself. He was risking too much, never mind the risk it posed to her job. If he got caught bribing an official, she’d lose her job in an instant. At least then she’d be free to pursue him—but that might be difficult with him in a Cuban jail. No, she had to handle the situation, keep it under control for his sake.

  Harry seemed completely unaware of her inner turmoil. In fact, he looked particularly unstressed and unworried as he looked around the bodega. Maggie envied that about him, the way he seemed so sure of himself, the way he always seemed comfortable with whatever he was doing. A small cooler buzzed away in the corner, and Harry walked over to it and pulled out two cans of Tu Kola. When he placed them on the counter, the man asked Harry where he’d come from.

  “America,” Harry said. “We’re calling this a pre-honeymoon.” He left out the part about his marriage being to someone other than Maggie. The man smiled at Maggie.

  “America? I have family in Miami. You picked a good place to visit. We do not get many tourists here, especially in hurricane season, and though our women are beautiful, not many can compare to your wife,” the man said as he made change for the drinks.

  “The weather’s been beautiful,” Harry said. “I guess we got lucky.”

  The man tapped his elbow. “The joints don’t lie,” he said. “A storm’s coming, a bad one. You’re staying out on the point. You need candles for when the power goes out.” It was a statement, not a question. “My son lives nearby. If the storm gets bad, you will lose power. I will send my son to check on you.”

  “Hurricane?” Maggie asked.

  “Just a storm,” he said. Harry thanked the man for the advice, but told him it shouldn’t be necessary. He bought a pack of matches anyway and handed them to Maggie along with one of the drinks. They headed back outside, cracking open the drinks as they walked. Maggie hadn’t realized how thirsty she was until she took her first sip. The clouds started to roll in as they made their way back to the house.

  “Do you think everyone in town knows we’re here?”

  “My guess is they don’t get too many visitors,” Harry replied. “It’s one of the reasons I chose this place. There’s less chance of running into someone we know.”

  “And why don’t you want to do that?” Maggie asked.

  “Do you really need to ask?” Harry said. “To be honest, if it wasn’t your job to keep me out of trouble, I wouldn’t care so much about keeping out of sight, but someone decided that what happened here has to stay here.”

  The wind started to pick up as they walked back to the house. Maggie watched the palm trees swaying back and forth. The water, which had been almost as smooth as glass the night before, chopped against the shore. “Looks like the old man was right,” Maggie said. She held her drink in one hand and Harry’s hand in the other.

  “About you being beautiful?” Harry said. “Without a doubt.”

  “I meant the weather,” Maggie said. “We should really leave soon if there’s going to be a storm.”

  “If it rains tonight, we’ll get back on the road in the morning,” he said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

  There were a thousand things that could go wrong, but in truth, she liked the idea of spending another night alone with him, without even the chance of contacting the outside world. Maggie felt the first fat drop of rain fall on her shoulder. Then she felt another.

  “What were you saying?” she said. She looked down at the droplets on her shoulder.

  “Maybe a storm is coming,” Harry replied. “In that case, we should probably stay the night.”

  “Did you plan this?” Maggie asked.

  “How could I have planned this?” Harry said. “I’d have to be able to see into the future.”

  “Or have access to a weather report.”

  “Or have arthritic joints.”

  “Or that,” Maggie said. “Maybe it will hold off.” She felt another drop of rain on her skin. And another. Soon the rain was pelting out of the half-blue sky, drenching their clothes and their hair. Harry gripped her hand tighter as they walked.

  “I don’t know,” he said, unable to hide his sheepish grin. “Maybe it will pass, but I’m not sure we should take that risk.”

  “You’re happy about this, aren’t you?” she said.

  “If it means more time here with you?” he said. “Let it rain for the next week.” As if on cue, the rain intensified. Maggie could feel it soaking through her clothes. Her hair was soaked. She pulled Harry along as she started to run back to the house. The wind picked up, gusting hard enough to knock her off balance, but Harry helped her steady herself. She could see the house in the distance, and she ran even faster. It would have been easier without a half-full soda can in her hand. Finally, she decided she was already completely soaked and a few more seconds wasn’t going to make a difference. She slowed to a walk.

  “Giving up?” Harry said.

  “Accepting facts.”

  “Like the fact that you’re secretly glad you get to spend another night here?” he said. Maggie had to focus to hear him over the sound of the rain.

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  “You know, when I was a kid I used to love storms,” Harry said as they finally reached the house. “I liked to watch them. There’s something beautiful about it. I used to like when we were at one of my father’s hotels and a big storm would hit. I’d get to find a good place to watch the wind and rain roll through.”

  “My parents used to let us go out on the back patio during storms,”
Maggie said. “We’d sing at the top of our lungs and dance and be little weirdos.”

  “Well, if you’d like, you can dance with me,” he said. “We can be regular-sized weirdos.” He took her drink from her hand and placed it down. “What do you say?”

  Through the driving rain, Maggie could see the ocean crashing against the shore with new intensity. She wondered what the shoreline would look like when the storm passed. She wondered what she would be like after Harry had passed through her life and moved on to something else. Maybe that didn’t matter. The waves looked beautiful as they roared in the distance. There was something pure and unfettered about the way they crashed again and again. It didn’t matter what would happen tomorrow. She wanted to fully feel the beauty of the moment.

  She looked at Harry, the rain soaked through his clothes. He was focused solely on her. The storm could have been a hurricane and he probably wouldn’t have looked away from her for a second. How long can something that intense really last? she wondered. Part of her wanted to avoid the question, but another part needed to know.

  “Okay,” she said as she took his hand. “Let’s dance.”

  Chapter 15

  Harry looked into Maggie’s eyes as he wrapped his arms around her waist, and they started to dance. Even as the sky grew darker overhead, her eyes were full of light and life. He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to stare into those eyes for hours, wanted to lose himself in her. He wondered how it was possible that he’d only known her for a few days. It felt like a lifetime since he’d seen her across that lobby in Key West. When he looked into her eyes, he felt a warmth inside he’d never known before. He was falling for her.

  He wasn’t dumb enough to think it was love after such a short time, but he also wasn’t dumb enough to rule it out. He thought back to their first night in Havana, when he’d brought her to the club and danced to salsa music. He’d promised her another dance, and now they were dancing in the middle of a storm.

  “What are you smiling at?” she asked.

  “I was just thinking that this moment is almost perfect,” he said.

  “Almost?” Maggie asked.

  “We’re just missing one thing,” he said. “Don’t move, I’ll be right back,” he said. He ran inside and turned on a light. He wondered when it had gotten so dark. As soon as he found it, he grabbed the radio from the kitchen counter. He pulled it over to the window and plugged it in. When he turned it on, there was the hiss of static, but he quickly found what he was looking for. He pulled the window higher and let the music pour out into the courtyard.

  He stepped back into the rain and took Maggie’s hand. “This is everything I want in the world,” he said.

  “Rain and wind and salsa music?” she said.

  “You. Me. Us,” he said as they started dancing. They danced back and forth across the courtyard, their bodies locked together as they danced. It felt like everything, even the wind and the rain, was moving to the same rhythm. Harry felt like even his heart was in sync with the beat. This was everything he wanted—that feeling of complete connection and oneness. He spun Maggie around as the wind gusted, and he placed his hands on her hips, pulling her close again.

  For song after song, they danced, fast and slow, holding each other close and then spinning around. He loved the way Maggie’s laughter sounded over the wind. He loved the way her eyes lit up when she looked at him. He wasn’t falling for her. He’d already fallen. He couldn’t tell her that, though. It would sound like a line. It would seem like he was just trying to find some excuse to keep from going back to reality, but this was the most real thing he had ever felt.

  His attraction to her was more than some infatuation, more than a fling, and he wanted more time to figure out what it meant. Maybe he could find a way to buy himself more time. He wanted to give her time, too, time to figure out how she felt about their relationship and about him. She challenged him. No woman had ever managed to make him like her more with every argument, yet whenever they disagreed, that’s exactly what happened, and the way she reacted when she was annoyed with him was even better.

  “You’re smiling again.”

  “No, I’m not,” he said.

  She thumped her hand against his chest. “Liar,” she said as started laughing. “What is it? Is it my dancing?” She stopped dancing and looked at him. She crossed her arms. “Come on, what is it?”

  “No, your dancing is great. It’s something else,” he said. He tried to hold his lips together to keep from smiling more, but he couldn’t help himself. “I was just thinking about something.”

  “Gavin Harris Howard, am I going to have to wring that answer out of you?” she said.

  “I like the sound of that,” he said.

  Maggie grabbed his shirt and stepped up on the tips of her toes so that her mouth was just inches from his. He could smell her sweet scent and feel her breath, and all he wanted to do was kiss her.

  “Well, how are you going to get that answer out of me?” he asked.

  “I am right now,” she said as she inched imperceptibly closer. He wanted to kiss her badly, and it took him a moment to realize she was toying with him. She traced a finger down his chest and gave him a wink. “Well…” she said. “Go on.”

  “I was thinking how much I’d like to kiss you.”

  “You’re always thinking that,” she said.

  “Doesn’t mean it isn’t true,” he replied.

  “What else were you thinking?”

  “I was imagining how you’ll react when I ask you to marry me,” he said.

  The smile vanished from her face. She did not look amused. “That’s a joke, right?”

  “Yeah, I was thinking of how nice it would be to run off together,” he said, “just you and me.”

  “It’s just you and me right now,” she said. A hint of a smile returned.

  “Yeah, and I’m having a wonderful time,” he said. “Aren’t you?”

  “You know the answer to that,” Maggie said. The wind was blowing her hair around, and Harry felt like he’d die if he didn’t kiss her then and there.

  “What if we left it all behind?” he asked. “Would you consider it?”

  “You’re crazy,” she said. “It’s a terrible idea.”

  “One you’re considering,” he said.

  “If you don’t kiss me right now, you might lose your chance,” she said. “Or we could stand here for the rest of the night waiting to see who kisses who first.”

  Harry didn’t need to hear another word. He leaned forward and kissed her. In that moment, he felt like everything else had fallen away. The storm, the music, the island. All of it was gone from his mind, and all that was left was Maggie and the sweet taste of her tongue against his.

  He’d worry about the future at some other point. Right now, he wanted to enjoy this moment. He ran a hand down her back and pulled her tight. Even with the wind howling, he could hear her quick gasp of excitement. He deepened the kiss.

  The storm was still raging around them. The rain blew sideways as if it were rising from the sea itself. Harry could taste the salt on Maggie’s lips, on her skin. He kissed her neck and worked his hands over her curves. He felt his desire taking over.

  “Harry,” Maggie said between sighs. “The music stopped.”

  “Do you mean that figuratively?” he asked. “I thought that was going well.”

  “No, I mean the music stopped,” she said, pointing towards the house. The house was dark and the radio silent. The power was out.

  “Does it make a difference?” Harry asked, hoping to steal another kiss from her lips. As the rain poured down around them, he felt like he was rooted in place. He didn’t want to let go of Maggie. He didn’t want to break the spell that seemed to hold them in the moment. He leaned in again, gently kissing her. Her lips were soft, and she delighted him with the movement of her tongue against his. He could feel every inch of her body pressed against him. Heat was building between them, driving Harry wild. He needed he
r.

  “Not in the least,” Maggie said.

  She slid her hands beneath the waist of his shorts and rubbed his bare skin. He was getting hard, and he wondered if she would let him take her right there in the courtyard.

  “Maybe we should take this inside,” she said.

  Harry leaned down and picked Maggie up in his arms, carrying her into the house like she weighed nothing. He placed her down on the couch and looked around. It was dark inside the house, dark enough that he could barely see what he was looking for. He found his way to the bedroom, and looked through the darkness for protection.

  “Do you have those matches?” Harry asked.

  “I think they’re a little wet by now,” Maggie said.

  “It’s fine. I’ll just take a second,” he said. He searched through the room, looking everywhere he could. Finally, he found the condoms. When he did, he heard a sound from behind him, the unmistakable sound of a match taking flame. When he turned, he saw the most beautiful and alluring sight he’d ever seen: Maggie, holding a pillar candle, her features bathed in soft light. She had pulled off her wet clothes, and was standing before him like a vision, naked and beautiful. Every inch of her was perfect, and his heart raced as she took a step into the room.

  She stood there with the candle in her hand. He was half-afraid to move. She looked so beautiful, standing there, waiting for him. He wanted to commit that beauty to memory, to hold it forever. He felt almost sad as he thought about how little time he had with Maggie, how he wanted to be with her in every way possible, and soon he’d lose her forever. He stood up and took a step toward her, watching the way the flickering candlelight played off her curves, the way the light caught and reflected in the beads of water that clung to her skin.

  “Maggie, you look gorgeous,” he said. He wanted her more than ever. He wanted to kiss every inch of her body. He wanted to pull her onto the bed, spread her arms wide and lock his fingers between hers while he kissed her. He wanted to slide himself inside her. He wanted to watch that look of desire turn into one of complete bliss. The closer he got to her, the stronger his desire grew. He didn’t know what the future would bring, but for tonight, she was his.