Page 14 of An Heir Made In Hawaii (Hot Winter Escapes)

Or that she wanted to be there, too?

Thunder rattled the windows of the ballroom. Voices quieted for a moment, then rose once more as the rumbling receded. The band struck up another tune, a rendition of a popular pop song that made the ever-increasingly inebriated guests dance faster as they laughed, joked and enjoyed themselves.

It was the kind of party Nicholas usually thrived in. So why, he wondered as raised his glass to his lips, wasn’t he out there with them? While he didn’t let loose to the extent that some people were, he liked having fun. Meeting new people, sharing a drink with a beautiful woman, perhaps inviting her back to his room.

Except the only woman he was even remotely interested was nowhere to be found.

The whiskey hit his tongue, the oaky flavor pleasantly sweetened with sugar and enhanced with bitters. If he focused on the taste, the scent of orange curling up from the peel artfully arranged in his glass, maybe he could push thoughts of a certain feisty brunette out of his mind.

Except the shimmer of amber liquid in his glass reminded him of eyes crackling with fire. The citrus fragrance catapulted him back to how she’d felt in his arms, how hard he’d gotten just touching her hand.

A woman appeared in front of him, stunning with her black hair falling over her bare shoulders in thick curls and a fiery red evening gown. Her lips curved up as she eyed him with appreciation.

“Are you here alone?”

“I am.”

She stepped closer and laid a confident hand on his arm. “Would you like to change that?”

He stared at her for a long moment, willing himself to feel something for the woman at his side.

But all he could think about was Anika.

“As beautiful as you are, I’ll have to decline.”

She eyed him for a moment before removing her hand with a slightly disappointed smile. “Whoever she is, she’s a lucky woman.”

He grunted as the woman in red walked off, hourglass hips swaying enticingly back and forth. Judging by the look of near terror on Anika’s face when he’d told her just where he saw this battle between them headed, followed by her flight from the dance floor, she most likely considered herself the unluckiest woman on the island.

But, he reminded himself as he took another sip, as much as she had wanted to, she hadn’t denied their attraction.

He’d been able to deny it himself up until yesterday. Once he’d held her in his arms on the boat, experienced the novel emotion of jealousy seething inside him, felt the quiet joy of having her grab his hand and share that incredible moment beneath the ocean waves, he’d accepted that he wanted Anika.

Maybe she needed a little more time. Maybe they needed to settle this business with the inn first so they could just focus on each other as individuals instead of business rivals. How Anika thought she could possibly keep the inn running by herself as the repair costs mounted and the building deteriorated around her was beyond him. She struck him as an intelligent, driven woman.

So why did she insist on holding on to this? Surely she wasn’t so emotionally attached to a house that she would risk it falling into ruin rather than let someone else have it?

An ugly thought invaded. Perhaps it wasn’t just letting anyone else have it. Perhaps it was just him.

His fingers tightened around his glass. Never had he been bothered by someone in his world thinking negatively of him. Being liked paled in comparison to being respected.

Yet the possibility that he was the primary reason behind Anika refusing to sign grated on him. Yes, he was tough but fair. Yes, he had high expectations, but his employees and his guests reaped the benefits of the standards he set. Had Anika’s inn been thriving, or even just quietly succeeding, he wouldn’t have approached her in the first place.

But it wasn’t. It was failing. It was failing and he could save it. She was just being stubborn because, for whatever reason, she’d had a grudge against him from the second she’d met him.

He tossed back the rest of his drink. Yes, they needed to settle the sale of the inn. He had been coming at it from the wrong angles, talking up how it could benefit the Hotel Lassard and how it could help her financially. After seeing more of Anika’s emotional side the past couple of days, what he needed to focus on was how he could preserve the inn, the legacy that was so important to her.

And then, once she saw reason and he had her name on the contract, there would be no more obstacles between them and finally enjoying each other’s company, both in and out of bed.

He glanced down at his watch. It was just before nine. Early enough to invite her to join him in the resort’s cocktail lounge for a drink.

He started to pull out his phone when someone knocked into him. A moment later his shirt was covered in red wine. He looked up to see a wide-eyed older gentleman with a thick beard staring at his chest in horror.

“I say,” he said in a thick Australian accent, “sorry about that.” He glanced down at his feet and frowned. “I didn’t think I was that munted.” Nicholas bit back a sharp retort as the man awkwardly patted him on the arm. “I’ll pay for the dry cleaning.”

“No need.”

“I can afford it, you know. I own four hotels in Sydney. Four!” the man insisted as he held up five fingers.

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