Page 22 of Undercover Billionaire

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, his voice low as he glanced over his shoulder at the couple who were paying them absolutely zero attention. ‘I thought you’d be working on the pool deck.’

She shrugged. ‘I’m just covering for the next hour or so.’

He put his phone in his pocket and slid his feet off the footrest of the barstool to the ground. ‘I’ll go.’

‘No. Stay.’ She waved him back into his seat with a sigh. ‘You look comfortable and it’s hardly crowded in here.’

Ari looked around again. ‘Why do you think I’m here?’

She gave him a grudging smile. ‘You’re not much of a people person, are you?’ she said as she picked up his glass. ‘Can I get you another?’

‘Yes. Thank you. Cognac.’

He watched as she got him a new glass and poured from the bottle, liking the way her skirt fit across her ass way more than was good for him. His blood heated.

Desire.

It had been such a long time since he’d felt anything this potent, yet one look at Kelsey had blasted a beam of light right into the black hole of his libido.

Placing his glass in front of him, she said, ‘So, why a cruise? If you’re not a people person?’

Ari was pleased for his drink and took a deep swallow before he answered. ‘I haven’t had a vacation for a while and my boss’ – Theo wasn’t his boss but he’d be laughing his ass off to be described as such – ‘ordered me to take leave. Something about it being unhealthy.’

‘How long is a while?’

‘Three years.’

‘Three years?’ She stared at him with wide eyes. ‘Your boss is a wise man.’

Ari grunted. ‘Please, the man doesn’t need his ego fed any more.’

She laughed. ‘I once worked back-to-back contracts, no break for eighteen months, and that nearly killed me.’

‘I guess it’s different for you. Being in close quarters with everyone all the time, not getting to gohomeat the end of the day. I get to go home.’

To his empty apartment. His empty bed. His empty life. No wonder he’d slept in his office a bit too much these past two years.

‘Yeah, that part is hard. I miss my mum.’

Somehow the fact she had a mum andmissedher made Kelsey that much more three-dimensional, and he suddenly wanted to know more about this woman who’d blown into his life and disrupted everything.

Up until Kelsey, Talia had been the only woman to make an impact on his life and Ari had no idea how to feel about that realisation.

‘So why a cruise?’ she asked, absently polishing the gleaming wood of the bar with a dry cloth.

It was only just starting to dawn on Ari how poorly he was cut out for lying. And how much he didn’t want to be dishonest with Kelsey. But…

‘My brother,’ he said, gathering himself, ‘suggested it was the perfect way to get away fromeverything, and when I looked online, this ship was sailing soon around the Greek Islands – only the best spot in the whole world even if I do say so myself.’

He smiled and she returned it, which emphasised the bow of her mouth and made him think about kissing it.

Kissing her.

‘And it still had cabins available’ – which itshouldn’t, hence him being here – ‘so I thought I’d check it out.’

‘Most people don’t’ – she paused for a second as if she was trying to find a delicate way to word her statement – ‘cruise alone.’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t mind my own company.’

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