Page 53 of On The Beach

A smart woman would ignore what she'd found and leave the island, no harm, no foul, no drama.

But a desperate woman would not do that.

Iwasdesperate. My need for Dr. Augustus to give me legal permission to use his patents was bigger than pride.

Okay, so he made a fool of me.Fine!

I mean, look at the women he normally fucked. Models, for God's sake. I should've known!

But what was last night all about? Why make love to me like that? Why? Damn it! He played with me and that hurt. I was a grown-up, and I knew this was a fling, but I thought we had respect between us and a modicum of honesty; now I realized that we had neither.

I finished packing up my stuff.

I knew what I had to do. I'd go back to the motel, ask them for a room for the night, and if they didn't have one? Hell, I'd sleep on the beach and then get on the boat back to the mainland.

But I knew I had to talk to Mick before I did that.

A part of me wanted him to explain himself. Another part knew that I had no such right. What did he say to me?I don't want to marry you, darlin', I just think it'd be a hot fuck? Yeah, well, two for two, Dr. Mick Bottom. Congratulations.

I walked to the Coral Cove with a heavy heart, feeling embarrassed for being so vain that I'd thought that a man like Mick had a genuine interest in me.

CHAPTER 17

when bottoms collide

MICK

Icame into Coral Cove, ready to tell RiRi that I was done for the day, so I could find Belle and stay inside her until she had to leave. Maybe she'd tell me she loved me again. Fuck, but it had felt good to hear her say it. I was still on a high because of it.

The familiar sounds of laughter, the jarring music, and the smell of alcohol welcomed me.

"RiRi." I flopped onto a barstool.

She glared at me.

"What? I didn't put anynewscratches on the boat; all the ones that are there are old—" I stopped talking when she tilted her chin and turned to look at what she was gesturing at. Belle stood at one side of the room, her arms crossed, her face pale…her suitcase by her feet, and her backpack on a chair.

I felt a knot in my gut.

She knew.

I knew she knew.

I walked up to her, and as I got closer, I saw her eyes were red-rimmed. She'd been crying.Fuck!

"Hey, darlin'." I decided to pretend that everything wasfine and maybe everything was and I was just…. She pulled away when I tried to kiss her, shaking her head.

"Dr. Nicholas Augustus, I presume." There was a wealth of hurt in her voice, and pain simmered in her eyes.

I shoved my hands into the pockets of my board shorts and stared down at my flip-flops for what felt like forever. Then, finally, I lifted my head to meet her gaze. "I'm Mick Bottom."

"Formerly known as Dr. Nicholas Augustus," she said sadly. "Were you just going to keep lying to me? Keep letting me believe that you were Mick, just some guy I happened to meet here?"

"That was the plan."

I folded my arms, feeling the weight of everyone's eyes on us—Franco, Cato, RiRi, even toothless Nick, all of them waiting to see how this would play out.

"Why?"

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