The Billionaire's Birthday Love

by Ginny Sterling

  A lurch of panic hit her as she glanced up to see Max pointing upwards and holding something in his hand. Nodding, they both began swimming upwards towards the shadow of the boat bottom. As they got closer and closer, Jolie watched as the propeller of her craft spun, causing a horrifying flurry of movement in the water.

  Screaming silently with her respirator, she pumped her legs harder. Someone was actually stealing her darn boat! Jolie knew there were runners between Florida and Cuba, but it never dawned on her that someone would dare take the large boat. Max swam along right beside her, his own legs moving hard through the water. As they broke the surface, she yanked her respirator from her mouth and let out a string of curses as the stern of her ship disappeared from sight.

  They were stranded in the middle of the ocean.

  Chapter 4

  “I am guessing this is not a part of the experience, is it?”

  Jolie just glared at the man who was treading water beside her. The concern in his eyes made her want to lash out once again, but she needed to focus and think instead of using her energy for something like that.

  “No. Not at all.”

  “How far to the coast?”

  “We are miles and miles away from shore.”

  “What about one of the islands you mentioned?”

  “There should be one fairly close by, but if we swim the wrong direction we will head into open water.”

  “Then we need to use what we can to guide us.”

  “Duh.”

  “So, the Keys are which direction?”

  “West of here.”

  “Then we need to head towards that direction.”

  “How are you so sure?”

  “The position of the sun… and I thought I saw something off the horizon before I jumped in the water earlier,” he confessed, smiling at her. “Are you okay?”

  “Not really.”

  “If you are too tired to swim…”

  “It’s not that. I’m mad. I can’t believe some darn thief stole my boat,” she said angrily, and feeling tears burn at her eyes. Mad, she yanked off her mask and wiped her eyes.

  “I’m not crying,” she bit out. “I’ve got something in my eyes.”

  “I knew that,” he said gently.

  “Don’t patronize me.”

  “I would never dare.”

  “I feel you are doing that right now,” she snapped.

  “Let’s get to land and then we can talk. Should we ditch our tanks?”

  Nodding, she shucked her ankle weights quickly and felt them fall away in the water. Unstrapping the tank from her chest, she felt almost guilty at leaving them here, but getting to safety and shelter had to be their utmost priority. They would need freshwater and a place to rest while they waited for rescue. Thank goodness she logged her travels whenever she left for sea.

  Max quickly followed suit, shrugging off the tank from his back and losing his own ankle weights. At her quick nod, they swam towards the west and Jolie uttered a silent prayer that they were going in the right direction. They swam hard, cutting through the current for quite a while. Her arms were aching terribly, and she was growing tired.

  A terrifying thought.

  “Are you all right, Jolie? You are slowing down.”

  “I think we are going the wrong direction,” she said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. What he said about heading west made sense and the sun was getting lower in the sky in that general vicinity, but part of her was full of doubt and worry.

  “Why don’t you hold on to me for a bit and rest?” Max offered; swimming closer to her. Jolie shook her head, and he rolled his eyes. “I used to do long distance swimming in college so I am used to this. Wrap your arms around my neck.”

  He turned his back to her, treading water easily. Jolie was tired and knew she had nowhere near the upper body strength that he had. His arms and shoulders had been amazing at the glimpse she’d seen—and part of the reason she’d asked him to put his t-shirt back on. She didn’t want to look at him like that and couldn’t seem to help herself either. Nervously, she wrapped her arms around his neck, careful not to pull too much. She felt him against her and remembered the speedo, swallowing a bit of water and sputtering.

  “Jolie?”

  “I’m fine,” she gasped, trying to clear her throat of the saltwater. It was humiliating to have someone see her at a low spot. She felt exhausted and now was ungracefully hacking up seawater.

  “Hang on, I’ve got you.”

  Max began swimming through the water and she felt his legs kicking underneath her as they glided along. Sighing heavily, she laid her cheek against his shoulders and the back of his head as he propelled himself forward. In no time, she saw one of the smaller islands ahead on the horizon.

  “Do you see it?” she asked. The sun was almost blinding on the horizon, and she didn’t want to be in the water any longer than necessary. Once it got dark, they would be swimming blindly.

  “I do,” Max said quietly, and Jolie hesitated.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Just getting a little tired myself,” he admitted.

  “Let me swim beside you so you aren’t having to haul my body through the water too,” she said, letting go of him. She immediately tried swimming forward and cramped up at the lactic acid in her muscles.

  “I’m fine,” she bit out quickly, shaking her head at his sudden glance of alarm. “Let’s just get there and pass out cold on the beach, okay?”

  “That sounds great,” he agreed.

  Twenty minutes later, they were dragging themselves onto the sandy shore of a tiny island that looked uninhabited. The grasses, a few small shrubs, and one or two small trees were all that were there from what she could see in the dying light. Jolie collapsed to her knees in the sand, unsure of what to do next. They would need shelter, fresh water, and food soon.

  “I’m beat,” Max admitted, his hands sluicing the water off his body before sitting down in the sand. “I think the furthest I’ve ever swam was a ten-mile distance, and I don’t think I hurt this badly.”

  “I think my muscles are Jell-O. I might collapse right here.”

  “Let’s get away from the water’s edge and try to find some sort of shelter.”

  “Under that teensy tree, you mean?”

  “It’s better than nothing if there is a storm. I would prefer not to have waves come up over me, and we assume that we’d be safe at high tide on this little island.”

  “Oh gosh, don’t even joke about that,” she groaned. “I think I’m stuck.”

  “No, you aren’t,” Max said, getting up and letting out a grunt of pain himself as he stood. “There is enough left in you to walk ten more feet. C’mon, you’ve got this,” he urged, putting a hand under her arm and helping her get to her feet. They staggered forward towards one of the taller trees that had a few leaves on it to provide some sort of shade when the sun rose tomorrow.

  That was tomorrow’s problems.

  Right now, it was nightfall and getting cooler awfully fast.

  “Lay down and let’s stay warm during the night,” she said carefully, “No funny stuff either, buddy.”

  “I’m too tired for funny stuff,” he confessed, lying down in the sand. Jolie laid down behind him, snuggling up towards his back and let out a heavy sigh. Max did the same, making her feel infinitely good about the idea of them snuggling together to stay warm.

  “Same here.”

  Jolie awoke early the next morning with a jerking motion, as if her body slammed into awareness suddenly. She was lying on her back in the sand, and Max was half draped across her like a blanket. He hadn’t awoken yet, but the sun was definitely coming up and they would need to find some way to signal for help, give away their location, or be able to survive the next few days until they were discovered.

  “Max?” she grunted, lifting his arm, painfully aware that this handsome stranger was cuddling with her through the night… in his Speedo. There was no hiding the fact tha
t there was absolutely nowhere to store anything on either of them. No matches, no tarp, no weather blanket, not even one soggy granola bar. She was in a swimsuit and tank top; he was in even less. Neither of them had identification—it was on the boat.

  “Ughhh,” Max groaned and rolled over in the sand, throwing his arm over his eyes and lying there. “Everything hurts right now.”

  “Happy birthday?” she said, painfully aware that today was supposed to be her guest’s birthday. She even had a cupcake waiting on the boat in the small fridge within the lower decks.

  “Thanks, I think,” he replied, smiling sardonically. “I have to say this is still better than last year’s birthday, even if I’m stranded on an island and feel like someone ran over me.”

  “Was last year the birthday with the forty cousins?”

  “You read my answers, I see.”

  “Yes, they sent me a copy with the check.”

  “How much did they pay you to take me out diving?”

  “Not enough,” she grumbled before breaking into a smile as she looked at him lying there beside her. “I’m kidding. You seem halfway decent and a superb swimmer, so there’s that working for you.”

  “At least there is something positive about me,” he teased. “Are you hungry?”

  “Unless you are planning on whipping out a Pop-Tart out of somewhere, I can’t think of anything in the area that can be eaten raw and while the sand is chafing me in certain places, I didn’t realize existed, its not enough to start a fire… I’m fresh out of firewood except for our little buddy providing a teensy bit of shade.”

  “No Pop-Tarts,” he admitted with a smile. “We have those in Greece. I was thinking of finding something else nearby. Urchin, oysters, maybe a fish or something?”

  “Ewwww! That sounds terrible.”

  “You’ve never eaten sushi?”

  “Yes, but it didn’t have eyes or a face when it appeared on my plate.”

  Max threw back his head and laughed, making Jolie stop and stare at him. He had the most beautiful and joyous look to his face when he smiled or laughed. It was enchanting, and she felt almost surprised to see something as simple as that touch her so deeply.

  “Jolie, you are amusing.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “I don’t plan on dying out here on this little island in the middle of nowhere, so if I need to eat roe or raw fish to be strong enough to swim to the next island—I will do so. We need to pray for rain,” he grimaced. “Do you have your goggles still?”

  “Actually, I left them in the sand.”

  “Me too. Let’s find them in case it rains so we can collect some freshwater to drink.”

  Jolie got up and staggered down to the sand where they’d crawled out of the water. Sure enough, both sets of goggles were there and covered with sand. She rinsed them out with seawater and heard a splash as Max dove in to the ocean once again, this time searching for food. It was some time before he returned, holding a few shells of a variety of sizes in his hands.

  She was hiding out under the tree, her skin was painfully pink under her tan already. As Max walked up, she turned her head away to keep from gawking at him. He was breathtaking, and she was really starting to notice how handsome the guy was… on top of it all, he was turning out to be genuinely nice.

  “I’m glad you are in the shade resting. You need to keep up your strength,” Max said graciously, dropping several shells in the grass and sitting cross-legged beside them. “You’ve eaten oysters, right?”

  “Got a lemon stuck somewhere?”

  Max chuckled, making Jolie smile.

  “No lemon or cocktail sauce, but you get the idea.”

  “Yes, I’ve had oysters once.”

  “We’ll we are about to have them again,” he said proudly, pulling out a rusty-looking knife.

  “Where’d’you find that?” she said pointing. “You’ll need a tetanus shot with that thing.”

  “I found it in the sand near this,” he grinned, holding up a tarnished coin. “We found a bit of treasure after all.”

  “Gold doesn’t tarnish,” she teased, looking at the coin he handed to her. “You found a knife? That’s incredible.”

  “The better to shuck… these… things,” he grunted, prying the oyster open with the knife. It finally slid in-between the shells and he was able to open it. Inside was a glistening, sloppy mess that looked terribly unappetizing.

  “You first,” she immediately said, watching him with a frown.

  “Are you sure? I’ve only got five of them.”

  “Oh, I am completely positive. You go ahead.”

  Jolie grimaced as he turned the shell up to his lips and let the oyster slide into his mouth, swallowing it whole. He grimaced slightly and then smiled at her.

  “Needs lemon.”

  “Or a deep fryer?” she retorted.

  “Maybe I just need to take you out for dinner to a proper sushi restaurant? Then you can enjoy your meal and not have to worry about where it came from,” he said quietly, not looking up as he worked on opening another oyster. Jolie caught her breath as she watched him, as he glanced up for the briefest moment before focusing on what he was doing once again.

  “Did I misunderstand you?”

  “My English isn’t the best, but I thought I said it correctly,” he admitted. “I’d like to take you out when this is all over with. Would you have dinner with me?”

  “I think I might like to go - yes,” she confessed, wincing as the oyster opened with a horrific sucking noise. “You go ahead and eat that one too.”

  “Jolie you will need to eat something.”

  “Do you have anything else?”

  “I found conch?” he asked, looking at her skeptically. “Have you had it?”

  “No, and it sounds horrifying.”

  “Have the oyster then,” he coaxed. “If you let it slide down your throat and don’t think about it, it’s not that bad. Come here and I’ll help you.”

  Jolie stepped towards him and sat down in the grass nearby warily.

  “Close your eyes and open your mouth,” he instructed quietly.

  “You will not put a bug or something in my mouth, right?”

  “Just the oyster and I want you to tilt back your head, swallowing quickly.”

  “Oh gosh, I’m gonna puke.”

  “No, you won’t. Don’t think about it or focus on it either.”

  “That’s easier said than done.”

  “Jolie, trust me.”

  “Fine,” she said with an exaggerated sigh. She arched her head back and opened her mouth, wincing as the shell touched her lips. The oyster landed with a plop on the back of her tongue and just as she was getting ready to vomit, she heard Max snap at her.

  “Swallow it! You can do it!”

  Jolie felt her throat work as the cool oyster slid down. She felt a shiver of disgust ripple through her body and then opened one eye to see that Max was grinning at her puckered face.

  “You did it,” he praised her.

  “That was nasty.”

  “But it will help keep up your strength. I will try to find a few more later after we finish these.”

  “Oh golly, should we?” she asked sweetly sarcastic, batting her eyelashes at him. He grinned and grabbed another oyster, sliding the knife in with practiced ease.

  “For that, you get the next one too,” he teased. “In Greece, we eat oysters quite often, as well as a lot of different treasures from the land, like leeks, olives, artichokes, and dates.”

  “I bet it’s lovely there,” Jolie said wistfully. She’d seen photos of the bleached white buildings on the sides of the cliffs, the stone streets that gleamed in the sun, and the bright blue décor that seemed to outline windows. In the pictures there were flowers everywhere, and the bright ocean made everything seem to glow in almost a surreal atmosphere.

  “Part of it is, but there are good and bad parts of town just like anywhere else in the world. You should travel the world an
d explore before settling down,” Max said sagely, opening the next oyster.

  “No one should have to live with regret,” he tacked on absently.

  “Do you?”

  “I try not to, but I am not ready to be what my family wants me to be.”

  “What is that?”

  “They want me to marry and carry on the name and take over my family’s business. I want to have an adventure, something that I will treasure in my heart and know that I’ve lived my life to the fullest before settling down.”

  “…And eating raw oysters on a deserted island, isn’t it?”

  “It’s certainly making an impression,” he admitted with a shy smile, holding out the next oyster to her. “I do believe it’s your turn this time.”

  “Be still my beating heart,” Jolie said flatly and caught her breath. She knew she was referring to the nastiness of the salty oysters, but another part of realized that even though they were stranded on what barely qualified as an island, she was enjoying herself with the man before her. He was witty, polite, sweet, and engaging… something she didn’t want to consider or think about.

  Chapter 5

  It stunned Jolie to see a boat pass the island later that evening. They practically made themselves hoarse, screaming and waving desperately. She was jumping wildly with renewed energy, ignoring the pain of her skin as it crinkled painfully from the sunburn.

  Today was one of the rare instances that there was not a speck of rain on the horizon. Usually it would rain for a few minutes every afternoon and be gone two seconds later. Florida weather was always muggy because of the humidity, so she was certain they would have mocktails (water) out of their goggles at some point or another.