by Natalie Ann
He was charming.
He was friendly.
He was the least reserved person she knew.
She wanted him to be that way with her.
Not an obligation or a job to do.
But maybe to look at her as a woman.
That thought brought a flush to her face again.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“What? Nothing, why are you asking?”
“Because you’re blushing.”
Caught. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Says a woman when they’ve got something on their mind.” He stood up. He’d been sitting on the couch in her suite. “I’m going to leave before I find myself stuck in a Venus flytrap though. I’ll be in touch later about shopping tomorrow. It will be fun.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?” she asked. “You don’t have to. I can go alone.”
“I find I need to spend more time with you. Now it’s like a challenge to see if I can figure out where that blush came from that you don’t want me to worry about.”
It just deepened with those words. “You’re a smart man,” she said.
“I am,” he said back. “See you tomorrow.”
Oh boy. She might have just started something she wasn’t sure she could handle finishing.
7
Reserved and Classy
“So now you’re going shopping with the woman you had me fly to Boston last week?” Egan asked him on the phone an hour later.
“Yes,” he said. “I just need a ride over. I can take the ferry if you’re going to give me shit about it.”
“Not shit. Just asking.”
“You never just ask,” he said.
His younger brother laughed. “So you’ve got a big spender there that has caught your eye. She didn’t seem like your type other than the blonde hair and smoking body.”
“What are you doing looking at her body?”
“Please,” Egan said. “You get the best of it all in your job.”
“You visit the casino more than most and have taken a guest back to your place a time or two. Probably more than you would ever admit.”
“Got to take after my older brother,” his brother said. “So, what is going on with this woman? Bella, right?”
“Nothing,” he said. No reason to say more at this point. It wasn’t anyone’s business.
“Doesn’t sound like nothing to me when you are taking a day off of work...to shop of all things. Sounds more like you need to keep an eye on her.”
Definitely not commenting. “Bite me, Egan,” he said. “I’ll see you at nine thirty tomorrow.”
And when nine rolled around the next morning, he was knocking on Bella’s door. Before she answered though, he’d put his middle finger up to his chin to scratch his jaw knowing Griffin would see it. He’d gotten shit from Griffin last night on this trip too. Worse than his brother had given him.
The door opened fast, Bella standing there in a pair of jean shorts and comfortable sandals with a pink fitted T-shirt. Damn, he hadn’t expected that. Nor the ponytail in her hair.
“Look at you trying to fit in as a tourist.”
She turned full circle for him, giving him a great view of her toned hamstrings and ass. Holy shit, there was a body he hadn’t seen coming. Griffin had told him she’d been on the beach this week reading a book but not in a swimsuit, just a sundress sitting under an umbrella. He’d always thought she was too reserved and classy, but not today.
“Do you think it works?”
“Oh yeah,” he said.
“Same with you. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you in shorts. Since I’ve been here it’s been a suit or your version of one.”
He always had tailored pants and a shirt on. Never a tie. He loathed them. Why bother? His suit jacket wasn’t on much either, depending on his mood most times. It’s not like he had to carry a concealed weapon on him like Griffin did.
Or at least that anyone knew of. Yeah, Griffin made him wear one on his ankle at night. It’d taken time to get used to it, but he understood the need.
Also the shooting lessons. He’d never be as accurate as Griffin and didn’t want to be. His family didn’t even know he wore one around the casino when he was working. But off site, he ditched it.
He wasn’t worrying today either. Griffin had been monitoring Bella’s room and her on the premises and not one person had crossed her path more than two to three times and it was always innocent enough. Staff or other guests.
“It’s going to be a warm one today and we’ll be walking around. Might as well be comfortable.”
He had on flat front shorts that stopped a few inches above his knees, a T-shirt and casual sneakers. Not athletic ones he wore when he worked out, but stylish ones. He could still look the part of his wealth if he wasn’t on the casino floor. He wouldn’t call himself preppy like his brothers did. Just...fashionable. That sounded better.
“I agree,” she said. “Not too much though? I guess I took your words to heart to have fun since I’m going to start working soon.”
“Don’t remind me,” he said, frowning. He didn’t want her to feel like she had to but knew he would have been bored in a few days like she’d said. It was the least he could do and it’s not like she didn’t know the ins and outs of a casino.
“Don’t pout,” she said. “It doesn’t look good on you.”
He grinned. Her personality was coming out with her wardrobe change. “I’d like to think everything looks good on me.”
When she blushed he realized he might have embarrassed her. “Sorry. Just a figure of speech.”
“Oh no. Don’t go back in your shell. I like you being playful like this.”
She laughed. “Well then. Maybe it is the clothes bringing that out. I’m always more reserved.”
“Because you’ve felt you had to be. This is Amore Island. Not Monte Carlo or Paris or anywhere else you’ve been. It’s America and we aren’t as reserved here. Especially in Boston. That’s wrong. Parts of Boston are still reserved, but not around my family and friends.”
“Let me get my purse.”
She turned and he walked into the suite, looked around and noticed there wasn’t a pillow out of place. He knew the cleaning staff was in daily, as he saw them coming and going from her room on his phone, but it still looked like she didn’t do much here. Then he realized she probably didn’t have much to do other than watch TV, read, or look on her computer.
“All set?” he asked. The crossbody purse hung across her chest as she slipped her sunglasses on her face and pushed them over her hair. She might look like a normal tourist, but her Gucci purse and Cartier sunglasses hinted at her wealth.
“Ready for my shopping trip.”
They left her suite, went down the hall and got in the elevator, then stopped at the main floor. Rather than go out the front, they went through the back access that only staff could enter with him swiping his card, then down another passage only for a selected few, stopping at his Lamborghini.
He hit a button and the doors unlocked and popped up. “Get in.”
“Really?” she asked. “I shouldn’t be surprised this is your car.”
“A boy has to have fun,” he said. “Not that I get to drive it all that much. I rarely leave the casino.” They left his private parking and he turned to look at her. “Don’t take insult to this question. Do you need money? I should have asked earlier.”
“No,” she said.
“Are you sure? You can tell me. I know your uncle had you leave in a rush. I’m assuming he set you up, but just in case.”
She opened her purse and pulled a card out. “I should have given this to you before and I forgot. I don’t need to carry both with me. Uncle Oliver gave me this bank card. I told you he had an account set up for me. One card is for me to carry, the other in case I lose it. I should keep it in a safe place. Or if I run out of money in the first. Which I highly doubt. I’m not frivolous and both had fifty thousand on them.”
He reached over and took the card, looked at the name. “Izzy King.”
She laughed. “I know. He is the only one that called me Izzy as a child. My mother hated it.”
“What is the name on the other card?” he asked.
“I B Kings,” she said, laughing. “I sign my name IB King and then draw a line to finish the rest of the name off. The same signature would make sense for both cards and he’d know that.”
“Keeps it simple,” he said.
They turned down the road to Egan’s office, parked in the back and then went into the building. “You actually look almost relaxed,” Egan said to him. “You must be something special to get my brother in shorts.”
Bella smiled. “I said the same thing. It’s the first I’ve seen him in shorts.”
“Hmm,” Egan said.
“Stop,” Eli said. “Your job is to get us in the air and out of here.”
Egan laughed and grabbed his aviators. “I’ll be on several flights until three. Can you keep yourself busy until then or do you need longer? If not, you’ll have to wait until six before I can get you back with as much as I’m sure you are going to buy.”
He rolled his eyes at his brother. “Three should work. We can leave most of our packages at the docks to be brought over on the ferry with my staff in the morning, if it comes to that.”
“I don’t think I’ll buy that much,” Bella said.
“It’s not you, it’s Eli. He’s worse than a woman when it comes to shopping. He should have been the daughter my mother never had.”
“Ass,” he told Egan. “You’re just jealous because you’ve got no fashion sense.”
The three of them got in the chopper and were in the air five minutes later and on their way to Boson.
“Mom is going to be calling you soon,” Egan said. “She was complaining about not having us all together lately.”
“I’ll check my schedule,” he said.
“This Sunday,” Egan said. “Be there.”
“I’ll try,” he said, looking at Bella.
She was grinning at him. “You shouldn’t ignore your mother. You never know when they won’t be there. If it’s because of me, don’t worry. Go be with your family.”
He turned and looked at Egan who heard the comment. They might all have headsets on, but they were able to hear the words spoken throughout. Egan wouldn’t say anything now, but he would at another point. His middle brother never kept quiet for long.
“I’ll check my schedule,” he said again.
When they landed on Bond property near the docks on one of their private parking pads, Egan jumped out with them. “Text me if you’re running late,” Egan said.
“Will do.”
“Where is he going?” Bella asked.
“To get his clients is my guess. We’ve got offices on the docks to pick people up in Boston. Our shipping and receiving office is there too. Among many more in the family. But right now we are getting a car.”
“You’re not going to have us driven around?” she asked.
“No. I like to drive.” He walked up to the large building with many garage doors and punched in a code to get in. “The family leaves a lot of cars here for anyone’s usage. It’s not just my immediate family but others as well. We’ve got a large family.”
“So I found out.”
They made their way to a Mercedes SUV. This was his winter vehicle that he’d keep on the island to get around and store his Lamborghini back here. “Are you reading up on the island?”
“I have,” she said. “I bought a book from the store in the lobby.”
He grinned. “It’s fairly accurate.”
“Did someone in your family write that book?” she asked.
“No. We wouldn’t. I believe some might have been interviewed, but none of us would go that far to write a book on our heritage. We’d rather verbally tell the story.”
“So do I get a history lesson today?” she asked when they pulled out and were on their way.
“Maybe another time. Today is for shopping. So tell me what you’re looking for and I’ll take us there.”
“I’m looking at a lot of things,” she said, her eyes on his.
Yeah, there was a double meaning there for sure.
The question was—was he willing to explore that too?
8
Prim And Proper
Bella had never been on a shopping trip like this before.
Normally she had a driver take her and pick her up. She went alone more than with friends. At least in the last several years.
And when she shopped, it was for a specific item, not a day’s worth of going from store to store.
Nor having a man with her. Never that.
It started out a little uncomfortable for her having Eli watching what she was looking at and she’d told him he could go do his own thing.
He did. Or was, but he always ended up back at her side.
“That dress is nice,” he’d said to her while she was browsing. She’d bought several pairs of pants and shirts already she could wear while she worked. Some of the clothes she’d brought with her would do too.
“It is,” she said of the blue dress. “It might bring out my eyes. Not too bold for work?”
“I thought it might be a nice dinner dress,” he said.
“I don’t see me going to too many fancy dinners while I’m here.”
“You never know,” he said, pulling it off the rack. “Go try it on.”
She was having too much fun not to. This side of Eli was one she wanted to see more of and wasn’t about to do anything to lose it.
Once the dress was on, she realized it fit her almost like a second skin but not in a sleazy way. More like elegant with the belt at the waist, her toned arms showcased with the sleeveless top, the hem hitting her right at the knees. She suspected it should be above the knees, but her five-foot-two-inch frame made some dresses hard and there wasn’t a lot she liked in the petite section.
“Very nice,” he said. “It might be a little long on you, but with the right heels, it’d be killer.”
“I get a lot of my clothing tailored. I was lucky to find pants that would be fine with heels today.”
The more fitted pants were okay if they were longer at the ankles as long as they didn’t gather much.
“I know a tailor in town if you want to stop there when we are done. They could get everything finished in a day or so and sent to the island if you wish.”
She should have figured that. “If you don’t mind, then yes. Knowing that makes it easier for me to find more.”
He rubbed his hands together like a child getting a new toy. “Then let’s get moving.”
By one, Eli’s SUV was loaded down with everything imaginable. More clothes and shoes than she would need, but she was having a ball and not about to say no. She had no clue how long she’d be here and something told her it could be awhile.
She was fine with that as long as she had something to occupy her time. Anything to not be worrying too much about her uncle.
If she was wishing Eli would occupy her along with work, she wasn’t letting on.
“Looks like you’ve got everything from casual to work wear. Even footwear. The only thing missing is underclothes.”
She felt her face flush. She’d been thinking that too. She hadn’t sent anything down to be laundered yet, but she was going to have to soon.
“You don’t need to go in with me for that,” she said.
“Bummer,” he said with a boyish grin. “But I know the perfect place.”
“Why am I not surprised you would?”
He winked and didn’t comment. “I’ll go to the men’s side. I could always use a few new things myself.”
If she thought of him in his underwear she was keeping it to herself too.
It was bad enough she was struggling to take her eyes off of his muscular legs and biceps. Who would have thought he had that body under his suit? Where would
he find the time to work out?
They met back at the front of the store fifteen minutes later. Both of them with bags in their hands. Hers much bigger. “I was going to ask if there was a place I could do my laundry.”
“We’ll have it done for you and brought back to your room,” he said.
“Yeah. I just don’t feel comfortable with that,” she said when she put the bag in the backseat of his SUV.
“I understand. Would you feel comfortable if I had it done with mine?”
“What? You want to do my laundry?”
He laughed so hard she thought he might start coughing. “Please. I don’t do my own. But I’ve got one staff that handles my penthouse. I don’t let just anyone up there. She cleans and does most of my grocery shopping, even cooks some meals for me.”
“So she is your housekeeper?” she asked.
“More or less. She only does the penthouse and a few other high-end suites. If you want, I’ll have her pick up your laundry and take care of it. There is no mixing it with anyone else’s other than mine. Maria is smart enough to know the difference between your panties and my boxers.”
“Boxers?” she asked before she could stop herself. She really did believe her casual clothes were letting her tongue run away from her.
Between their conversations while shopping and listening to him and his brother bantering in the chopper, she realized the fun she missed out on so much in life.
It seemed wealthy Americans weren’t as prim and proper as she was used to being around. And that made her start to wonder more about her father’s side of the family too.
She knew he was from Georgia and she knew her grandparents and aunt’s name. She’d even found their law firm and some cousins she didn’t know she had.
Old Southern wealth, that was what her father came from. And from what she’d seen, Southern wealth could be prim and proper too. Just like her father was. Her mother, from what she’d heard, hadn’t been until she was married.
Did her father’s parents not like her mother? She had no one to ask other than her uncle and when that topic came up, he changed it. Had she heard whispered words from behind closed doors growing up? Yeah, she had.