Bedding The Billionaire (10 page)

Sentimental fool
. He turned and swam back in. When he reached the
beach he stood and walked up to the patch of sand where he'd left his towel. Two
women now sat next to his things, invading his personal space. Great, now he
would have to move, or tell them to.

As he drew closer, his heart took a dive as he
recognized one of them
—
Abbey. Of all the beaches in Melbourne,
she'd had to come to this one.

For a long moment, Nick stood frozen to the spot,
watching her. She hadn't seen him yet. She sat with her friend, a pretty girl
with blonde hair cropped short and a body as good as Abbey's.

Abbey was dressed in a pale blue dress that rose up
high as she sat, revealing the luscious flesh of her thighs. The thin straps
fell off her shoulders and she occasionally pushed them back up as she chatted.
The dress hugged her figure tightly, especially around her breasts, revealing
their perfect outline.

Nick swallowed. He had no choice. If he wanted to
retrieve his things, he needed to go up there where she'd notice him. Then he'd
have to talk to her.

"Hello," he said, as he drew nearer.

Abbey looked up and her shock was evident despite the
large, dark sunglasses that hid her eyes.

"Damien! What are you doing here?"

Nick flinched at the name. He probably should tell her
his real name, but it was getting a bit late for the truth. What would she say
if she learned he'd lied? What would she do if she realized she'd slept with
the wrong man?

Now
that
thought was sickening. He shoved it
out of his mind.

Besides, if she wasn't going to play straight with
him, then he was going to keep this his little secret. At least for now. For
all he knew, she could be a psychopath. This way, Vane would get the harassing
phone calls in the middle of the night, not him.

"Taking the afternoon off. Looks like you decided
to do the same."

"What?" Abbey stared at him blankly then
blushed and glanced away. "Oh, I don't start at the hotel until
later."

"Right."

So she was going to keep up the charade. Fine, so
would he, Damien Vane. Nick glanced at Abbey's friend. She was grinning
crookedly and her eyes were unashamedly traveling the length of his body. Scrutinizing.
She nodded appreciatively.

"Very nice," she said quietly.

He raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms over his
chest. "Look," he said to her, "I'd like to talk to Abbey alone,
so if you wouldn't mind..."

"I mind!" said Abbey, standing.

Her
friend also stood. She was small, pixie-like. Her grin had widened. Obviously
she thought this was funny. Whereas Abbey seemed annoyed at him for dismissing
her friend, the girl in question didn't seem to care one way or the other.

But she didn't leave either.

"Abbey," he said, "I want to talk to
you privately."

"Lucy can hear whatever you want to say. We have
no secrets from each other."

"Not any more," said Lucy.

Nick scowled. "What's that supposed to
mean?"

Abbey blushed and Lucy's gaze moved to his crotch. "Just
that Abbey tells me everything," she paused, "Big Boy."

Abbey's blush intensified. "Lucy!"

Abbey turned toward him and shrugged apologetically.

Nick glared at her. He didn't like being spoken to as
if he were an object of amusement. And he didn't like his polite request being
ignored. He'd asked for privacy and it appeared neither was about to let him
have it. It was infuriating. No one in Sydney ever treated him like this. That's
because they knew who he was and that he could buy most of them out of a job at
the stroke of a pen. Here, in Melbourne, he was largely unknown. Especially in
the circles that these two appeared to mix in.

Abbey glared back at him, crossing her arms. The
movement pushed up her breasts so that the flesh protruded over the top of her
dress. Nick resisted the urge to touch them.

"Okay," he conceded, "I'll tell you
what I want to tell you in front of her."

Abbey's brows rose above her glasses. She waited.

"I wanted to tell you I enjoyed last night. Very
much."

Abbey didn't move. She'd become very still. Nick
glanced at her friend, suddenly feeling self conscious that she was there,
listening to this very private conversation.

Nick didn't like feeling self conscious.

"Abbey, please can we talk in private? What I
want to say to you shouldn't be heard by anyone else."

"Don't worry about me, Mr. Vane," chirped
Lucy. "Like I said, Abbey and I share everything."

"Lucy!" Abbey glared at her friend, caught Nick's
hand and stormed off down the beach towards the water.

They splashed into the shallows but Abbey didn't stop
until she was further away from the crowd. The water lapped about his waist. There
were still people about, but not so many that they felt claustrophobic.

"Say it," said Abbey, rounding on him.

Nick caught her other hand and looked down at her. Suddenly
he didn't know what to say. She certainly wasn't making this easy for him. The
way her lips stretched into a taught white line and her jaw clenched, he could
tell she was still angry with him from the night before.

"Abbey," he began, scanning her face. He
knew what he had to say so he should just say it. "Abbey, I'm sorry."
There, he'd said it
—
the S word.

"That it?"

Nick shrugged.

"Good." She snapped her hands out of his and
began to wade back to the shore.

"Abbey, wait!" He leapt after her, splashing
violently until he reached her. He grabbed her hand, receiving a few strange
looks from passing swimmers for his efforts. He ignored them.

"What do you want, Damien? I've had enough of
these games, and Lucy's waiting."

"This isn't a game, Abbey." He sighed. He'd
already apologized. What more did she want? "I really am sorry for what I
called you. It was rude and I was out of line. It's just that I didn't know...I
thought you were..." He sighed. "Okay, I jumped to the wrong
conclusion, despite all the evidence pointing to that conclusion. But I have to
admit, your weird explanation isn't helping me to figure you out."

Abbey stiffened. "Figure what out?" she
asked crisply.

From her body language it appeared his second attempt
at an apology hadn't worked either. He couldn't think why not
—
he
may not be very experienced when it came to apologizing but he'd said 'Sorry'. What
more did she expect?

Nick threw his hands in the air. "Figure out who
you are! What you want from me! Why you came up to my room!"

"And why I had sex with you?"

Nick nodded. Good, she was beginning to understand his
predicament.

Abbey looked down at the water swirling around her rib
cage. She skimmed her hands along the surface, studying the rippling pattern as
if it fascinated her.

"Abbey?"

She looked up. Her jaw was set firm.

"I'm a masseur. I work for the hotel. That's who
I am."

"Damn it, Abbey, this isn't fair. I'm trying to
get to know you
—
"

"Why?"

The question caught Nick off guard. He shrugged. "Because
I like you." It was true, he realized. There was something about her that
he was attracted to. It wasn't just physical either.

Abbey made a noise in the back of her throat that
sounded like a growl.

"It's just sex," she said quietly. She
looked up at him. He wished she'd take off the sunglasses so he could see her
eyes. He would know her true feelings then. He'd know if she really meant that.

"Is that what you think?" he asked quietly.

She shrugged casually. A strap of her dress fell from
her shoulder. He hooked a finger under it and gently pushed it back up,
skimming his fingers along her skin as he did so. She was hot to touch. Hot and
smooth and he wanted to feel more of her. His hand moved from her shoulder to
her throat, then down across one breast, caressing languidly. He squeezed
gently and received a gasp in response.

"Don't," she whispered, glancing around.

"Why not? I want you, Abbey."

She peered up at him, and he thought he could see her
eyelids fluttering behind the dark glasses.

"Why not?" he asked again.

"Because of last night."

"I said I was sorry. What more do you want?"

"Do you still think I'm a hooker?"

"No." Nick didn't really know whether that
was a lie or not. He still wasn't one hundred percent sure.

She nodded, apparently satisfied that he spoke the
truth.

He bent his head and kissed her lightly on the lips. Her
mouth was moist and tasted of salt. He licked and she leaned into him. He was
glad the water came to his waist because he was already stiffening.

But Abbey pulled away. "This is getting out of
control."

Nick knitted his brows. "It is? I thought we were
just two consenting adults, enjoying each other's company. No strings attached,
like you said. Am I wrong?"

His heart thudded in his rib cage. He wanted to be
wrong. He wanted her to tell him he couldn't be more wrong.

"No." Her voice was firm, direct. "You're
not wrong. Two consenting adults," she agreed.

He nodded, smiled tentatively. So it was just sex to
Abbey. He was a fool to think the last two nights had meant anything more to
her. He was a fool to let himself think it meant more to him. Because it
didn't. She was right, this was just sex.

So why did his chest hurt so much? Why did he have an
overwhelming urge to make her realize it was something more?

Nick leaned forward to kiss her again. The moment
their lips touched, an electric shock shot through his system. He wanted her. He
wanted to feel her wrapped around him.

"Not here," she whispered.

"Okay." Nick's voice was hoarse, even to his
own ears.

He took her hand and waded through the water, further
away from the beach, Abbey trailing behind him. She didn't resist.

"Where are we going?"

He turned to look at her over his shoulder and smiled
reassuringly. "Far enough out for privacy. Total privacy."

Her big blue eyes stared at him. "Why?"

"You know why," he murmured.

"Tell me," she said thickly.

"Because I'm going to make love to you in the
water, in front of a beach full of people."

Abbey's pulse quickened. He wouldn't. Would he?

The further away from the beach they got and the
higher the water rose, the more she thought he actually meant what he said.

By the time the water covered her breasts, they were
almost alone, although it still wasn't overly private. Damien kept wading,
holding her hand beneath the water.

"You're not kidding, are you?"

He turned, stopped, and picked her up. He glanced
around.

"Just a little further. But it'll probably be
over your head." He glanced down at her and grinned. "Hold on."

Abbey had no intention of letting go. Not with the
muscles in his arms and chest flexing against her breasts. His body was
fabulous beneath her
—
glistening droplets of water beaded across
broad shoulders, the hairs on his chest barely hiding the erect nipples, the
hard muscles.

She skimmed her fingers across one shoulder, brushing
off the drops, touching his warm skin. He felt good. No, he felt fantastic.

Her dress floated around her body, revealing
everything from her waist down. She didn't care. Damien was holding her, one
hand around her waist, the other below her bottom. He squeezed, caressed her
flesh. Her skin puckered into tiny goose bumps.

She could hear his breathing quickening and wondered
whether hers was too. She kissed him lightly on the neck, tasting the salt of
the sea on his skin. She nibbled his ear and heard him suck in a deep breath.

Her fingers massaged his shoulders, around to the back
of his neck, into his hair where she grabbed a fist full and pulled his head
back. She kissed him on the lips. He kissed her fiercely back.

Then he stopped. The water lapped at his shoulders.

"This will have to do," he whispered. "I
can't wait any longer."

"Neither can I."

He shifted his arms and drew her around to face him. He
held her tightly and she locked her legs around his waist. The only part of
them above water was their necks and heads. There was no one within earshot
although they would be clearly visible from the beach.

Abbey could feel Damien's hardness inside his shorts,
prodding her. He was throbbing as he rubbed himself along her thigh, setting a
rhythm.