Page 22 of The Tycoon's Diamond Demand

Was he teasing her? Her answer would be the same either way. ‘Of course not.’

Jens didn’t intimidate her. He annoyed, frustrated and made her furious, but she wasn’t intimidated.

His mouth definitely twitched. After finishing the last inch of his beer, he rested his big hands against his flat stomach. ‘So, where are you staying tonight?’

Maja released a little sigh of pure pleasure. ‘The hotel manager has arranged for me to spend the night in the honeymoon suite. Hilda is staying in Ålesund.’ Maja took another sip of her Irish coffee and looked at him over the rim of her glass. ‘And you?’

His smile was slow, amused and sensual. ‘Where else would I, as your fiancé, stay but with you, Maja?’

Cool and competent, Jens steered the SUV, a courtesy car loaned to him by the hotel’s manager, towards Ålesund’s harbour. Maja was quite certain he could ask for the moon, and it would be hauled down from the heavens. When you were a wildly rich man prepared to drop many millions on a wedding at the resort, what you asked for, you got.

She wished she could’ve refused his offer of a dinner cruise up the Geirangerfjord. She’d only agreed because her other option was to join him for dinner at the wonderfully romantic, stunningly intimate restaurant at Hotel Daniel-Jean. The cruise was the lesser of two romantic evils.

She was looking forward to the hustle of being on a busy, touristy boat. There was nothing romantic about being surrounded by camera-clicking people and it was exactly what she needed.

Maja sighed. The hotel was a dream destination for any bride, elegant and romantic. The exquisite ballroom could accommodate many guests, the extensive gardens were luxurious and incredible, and the wine list and food choices top drawer. The honeymoon suite was...spectacular.

How could she spend the night there with Jens? It was sublime, with an outside bath overlooking the fjord, a private deck, a massive bed to roll around in, Dom Perignon in ice buckets and expensive chocolates on pillows. Massive arrangements of white roses in silver vases scented the air. The suite screamed romance and great sex...

And she had to keep away from it for as long as possible because, in that romantic room, she might give into temptation and ask Jens to take her to bed.

If she did that, she’d be taking stupidity to new heights. He was blackmailing her, manipulating her into doing what he wanted. He intended to marry her, but she still didn’t know why. Oh, he said he wanted revenge, but how would their marrying satisfy his need for payback? No, he had something else up his sleeve and until she knew what that was, she couldn’t let her guard down.

And that meant no intimate dinners and only going back to the room when they had to...

Jens turned the SUV into a parking space and walked around the bonnet to open Maja’s door. She sucked in crisp, clear, glacier-fresh air. The harbour was as busy as she expected it to be in the height of summer, with two sightseeing boats docked at the pier. Maja watched as people hurried up the gangplank, chattering excitedly.

Excellent.There were lots and lots, and lots, of people to dilute any wisps of romance.

Jens lifted her precious camera bag from the passenger-seat floor. ‘Are you happy for me to carry it?’

She held out her hand to take it and Jens handed it over. The weight of the bag felt familiar and reassuring. When she met Jens’s eyes she shrugged. ‘My camera bag is like my security blanket,’ she told him. ‘When I’m not carrying it, I feel naked.’

‘I get it,’ Jens replied. He placed a hand on her back and guided her to the harbour. ‘What do you want to do first? Go cruising or take a walk through Ålesund?’

Maja looked at the sightseeing boats. Judging by the excited tourists standing at the railings, and the almost empty gangway, the boats looked ready to leave. They would be the last on board, there was no time for a walk. But Jens didn’t pick up his pace and didn’t seem to be in any hurry to embark. Her dad had been the same...people, planes, trains, cars and ships departed on his schedule. Was it a billionaire thing?

The gangplanks on both ships started to rise, and Maja darted an anxious look at Jens. ‘Jens, we’d better hurry up.’

‘Why?’ he asked, puzzled. ‘And you didn’t answer my question—do you want to take a look around Ålesund, or do you want to get on the water?’

Maja pointed to the sightseeing boats. ‘I want to get on the water, but our boat is about to leave.’

Jens looked confused. ‘That’s not our transport. I couldn’t think of anything worse than being cooped up with hundreds of people on a packed tourist ship, even for a few hours.’

It wouldn’t be her first choice either, but she needed to be on a big boat to put some space and distance between her and Jens. Maja noticed a smaller boat in the inner harbour; it looked as if it would take about fifty guests. Not as many people, but it would do. Maybe that was their boat.

Jens placed a hand on her shoulder and steered her in that direction. They passed a few catamarans, a restored trawler and Jens slowed down when they approached an exquisite superyacht moored next to the smaller cruise vessel. Maja’s heart kicked up at its sleek lines. It looked brand new. If it wasn’t, then it hadn’t been in operation for long.

‘Forty-three metres long, five staterooms, hot tub, jet skis and a crew of seven,’ Jens told her. ‘Shall I tell you about the engine capacity and specifications?’

Back then, he’d enjoyed her love of the sea but had been confounded by her uninterest in the mechanics of the vessels that sailed it.

‘I’m good,’ Maja told him. Sure, the yacht was lovely, but they needed to get onto the boat moored next door. Like the others, it was ready to depart, and they needed to hurry up. The guests already on board stood at the railing or were claiming seats on the deck, settling in.

Maja started to walk towards the small ship. Jens’s hand tugging her shirt stopped her fast walk to the boat. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked, lifting his eyebrows.

She gestured to the ship. ‘I thought we were going on a fjord cruise, but if you don’t hurry up, we’re going to miss it.’

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