Page 49 of Undercover Billionaire

‘I’m also sorry about yourmalakaex. Is he why you’re still single?’

‘Mostly. It’s hard to trust men after what he did and I can’t go through that again. They all get judged through an Eric lens now but even then, I don’t allow myself to get close just in case one slips through the radar.’

Except for Ari. In seven years she’d let him closer than any man and she’d known him for five days.Five days. That should be terrifying her but there was too much bliss here in this bubble right now to go there.

‘But he’s not the only reason?’

‘No.’

A light breeze danced across her sun-kissed skin and she turned in his arms, settling her back against the wall tiles as she snaked her legs around his waist, jamming his not-so-flaccid-any more cock between them. He shut his eyes as she wiggled a little.

His hair was starting to dry and get springy on top, and the sun had deepened the bronze of his skin, emphasising the dark dots of stubble prickling his jaw. His hands slid to her hips, his eyes opening to rest on the buoyant float of her breasts, her nipples putting on a blatantly sexual display.

Her wiggling turned to rubbing and was about to become grinding. She just couldn’t get enough of this man. But Ari obviously wanted to talk. He clamped down tight on her hips to stop her squirming and captured her gaze.

‘You were saying?’

His hands were remarkably proficient in their hold and Kelsey gave up trying to create some friction.

‘Cruise life isn’t exactly conducive to permanent relationships,’ she said. ‘Long absences away from loved ones make it difficult, which is why there’s a huge hook-up culture amongst staff.’

‘But you could get involved with another crew member, right? On the same ship?’

‘Sure. But there’s no guarantee you’ll both stay on the same ship which makes getting serious difficult and, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this or not, but theHellenicis like the United Nations. The crew hail from all around the world, which means that eventually, if youdobecome serious with someone who lives in a different country to you, there’ll be all those challenges and choices to make as well.’

‘You don’t think something like that could work?’

He seemed serious all of a sudden. Maybe he was thinking about his wife, about how they’d made their cross-culture marriage work. About the value it had brought to his life, despite the pain.

‘I’m sure it can and does,’ Kelsey said. She didn’t want to diminish anyone devoted to making relationships work. ‘If both parties are committed. But I’m committed to going back home to Australia. To my mother. She’s going to need me more and more andthat’smy priority. Cruising has only ever been a means to an end for me. And why,’ she said with a little smile, trying to rub against him again, ‘the hook-up scene is more my style.’

His hands held her firm but she didn’t miss the way his eyes glazed over a little, or the very definite, albeit brief, drop of his gaze to the shift of her breasts in the water.

‘So you’re just using me, huh?’ he said as he ground against her this time.

Kelsey grinned as his cock hardened between her folds. ‘I’m trying my best.’

Then she leaned in and kissed him, gasping as he entered her, giving herself up to the sun and the water and the potency of his possession.

* * *

By four o’clock, Kelsey was dressed and standing at the door with Ari indulging in lazy goodbye kisses. It had been a glorious day – a day that would live in her memory forever – but all good things came to an end.

Including this relationship – or whatever the hell it was. They’d agreed this was it, their final hurrah. But that didn’t stop her wanting to linger.

‘I got you something,’ Ari said when they finally parted, pulling a small beribboned box from his pocket.

Kelsey frowned as she stared at the offering in his hand, which was obviously jewellery of some description. ‘You didn’t have to get me anything.’

‘I know.’ He smiled and damn if that smile didn’t do funny things to her tummy. She’d never had a problem with goodbyes where men were concerned, but Ari was proving to be the exception. ‘I wanted to.’

Her hand shook a little as she took the box. She should refuse but she was curious. Untying the ribbon, she flipped the box open to discover a beautiful Greekmati– evil eye – bead attached to a silver chain.

A black dot stared out at her from the centre of the blue glass bead. Kelsey had seen a lot of this type of jewellery over the last seven years. Most of it was the cheap and gawdy stuff they sold in the tourists’ haunts.

But this was the real deal from a bona fide jeweller. Everything about it screamed class, from the fine silver chain to the luminescence of the bead to the exquisite polished finish.

She’d bet this cost more than a couple of euros.

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