Page 30 of Booked for Summer

With an inward nod of satisfaction, he strode towards the bookstore. Tension, or was it anticipation, skated down his spine as he neared. He’d been surprised to get the message from Jade, via May, asking if he’d meet her in the shop after it closed. ‘Wonder what that can be about,’ the front-desk manager had mused, giving him a calculated look. ‘When she left your office earlier, she didn’t look like a woman who’d want to see you again for a long while.’

Liam had narrowed his eyes, waited until she looked away, then changed the subject. He actively discouraged talk about anything that wasn’t work related. He wanted people to be a little afraid of him. That way they stayed away. It was why he couldn’t understand how he’d blurted so much about his childhood to Jade. He made a mental note to avoid picking up women when shattered, and under the influence of whisky.

His pace slowed as he pushed open the bookstore door.

Christ, he’d forgotten the place looked like a unicorn had vomited up rainbows.

‘Hi.’ Jade came into view at the back of the shop, giving him a guarded look. He immediately mourned her smile. ‘Thanks for coming.’

‘No problem.’ His gaze drifted over the shop again, noticing things he hadn’t before because he’d been too focused on Jade. ‘Don’t some of those cushions belong in the resort?’

‘I borrowed them from the housekeeping lady.’ Her left hand flew to cover her mouth. ‘Crap, please don’t be cross with her. I put her in an awkward position by asking for them. I promised I’d get them back by the end of today, which I totally will. I just wanted to create something different, you know, to try to impress Flo.’ She gave him a stony look. ‘Only it turns out she was too busy telling me she’d sold up, to notice.’

He’d let staff go without a ripple of unease. Why did this feel so difficult? ‘The look is certainly… eye-catching.’

‘It is, isn’t it?’ She seemed to have put her dislike of him aside for a moment as she stared back at the shelves. ‘I see loads of rainbow stacks on Instagram and I love them, so I thought I’d try it out here. I got carried away though and ended up continuing it in everything I could.’ Her gaze swung towards the white-washed walls. ‘You’re lucky I didn’t have any paint or there would be rainbows all over the walls.’

He shrugged. ‘It would make no difference to me. We’ll be ripping it down as soon as we bring a construction company on board.’

Wrong thing to say.

‘So you said.’ She turned back to him, more than a hint of challenge in her eyes. ‘I asked you to meet me here to remind you how special this place is. How many bookstores are there on Nantucket?’

‘Not many, because they don’t make money.’

She pulled a face. ‘This place makes money. Otherwise Flo wouldn’t have been able to run it for so long.’

‘Luxury cottages will make a lot more money,’ he countered flatly.

‘And that’s all you care about? I’ve been talking to Flo and she says the bookstore could be a real asset to the resort. She has loads of examples of how we’ve worked together to help give your guests a brilliant holiday experience.’

‘If guests are that bothered about reading, they’ll bring their own books.’ He wasn’t used to being questioned, and he let his frustration show. ‘I’m running a business here, not an Instagram photo opportunity. A business that keeps hundreds of staff in employment. I need to maximise profitability.’

She looked less than impressed. ‘Your boat, oh, sorry, yourluxury yacht, tells me you’re already making a heck of a lot of money out of the resort as it is. Do you really need to demolish a building with character, a place islandersandholidaymakers can enjoy, just to make even more?’

‘Making money is what I do,’ he answered baldly, angry that he sounded defensive. Fuck what people said, money was king. To anyone who didn’t believe that, he’d say, try being poor. Better still, try being poor, surrounded by rich, spoilt brats who enjoyed reminding you how unimportant you were.

Disgust flashed across her face. ‘Fine, if it’s all about money, at least give me a chance to prove the bookstore could be an effective money-earning option. You’ve agreed to pay me for the next three months, anyway.’

‘You think I haven’t already done the math?’ He knew, to the last decimal place, how much the resort would be worth with the addition of the harbourfront cottages. ‘Keeping the bookstore is a non-starter.’ She flinched, and the way she stared back at him, like he’d not just let her down, he’d totally wrecked her opinion of him, caused another wave of intense, skin-itchy discomfort. ‘Look, nothing’s going to happen in the next two weeks. Use the time to sort out the stock. Take what you want, sell off what you don’t. You can keep anything you make.’ She gave a little shake of her head, the gesture almost pitying. ‘What?’

Her eyes blinked at his sharp tone. ‘Nothing.’

He huffed out a breath. ‘You didn’t seem to have a problem telling me what you were thinking last night. Or the night before.’

‘No, but then I thought I was having a hot fling with a rich guy. Asweet, rich guy. Turns out he was a ruthless resort owner.’

He recoiled, stung. Being called ruthless wasn’t new, but coming from a woman he’d kissed every inch of, laid under the stars with, enjoyed, it hurt more than he expected.

‘It’s funny,’ she added, though there was no humour in her voice. ‘I joked to myself it was a bit like one of those romance novels, you know the ones featuring the sexy billionaires? Only I was happily using you for sex, too. But in the books, the heroine resists the billionaire hero because he’s a bastard, then finds out he’s a good guy. I slept with you thinking you were a good guy. It turns out you’re a bastard.’

You don’t know the half of it.Frustration fizzed through him, regret fast on its heels. ‘I’m not a billionaire. Not yet.’ He took a couple of steps towards her, his pulse scrambling as he looked into her eyes. Fuck, she was gorgeous. ‘I messed up, and I’m sorry. I should have told you who I was the moment I realised you were involved in the bookstore.’

‘You should.’

Unbelievably drawn to her, he trailed a finger down the soft curve of her cheek. ‘It doesn’t have to stop us enjoying each other while you’re here.’

She gave a sharp inhale and he felt a stab of satisfaction. But then she swallowed and shifted away from him. ‘Thanks for the offer, but no. I can have sex without love, but not without like.’

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