Page 35 of The CEO

“The day I wound that enormous ego of yours is the day I’ll go skinny dipping in the Pacific Ocean.”

“I’m wounded, I’m wounded.” He groaned and collapsed on the sand in a pathetic heap, writhing like he’d been stung by a lethal jellyfish, and she laughed.

“I’m going to dry off. When you’ve finished with the theatrics, I’ll see you up there.” She pointed to the palm trees and headed off, ignoring his call of “you’re no fun.”

She knew he’d meant it as a joke, a fly-away comment as part of their sparring, but the words echoed as she towelled off. She wasn’t fun, didn’t know how to have fun, not when she’d spent her whole life trying to do the right thing.

Beth had once called her a nerd and Land had shrugged, pushed her tortoiseshell glasses up her nose, and scuffed her flat heeled boots, agreeing with the assessment but hurt all the same.

Everyone saw her the same way, no fun: people at work, her cousin, even Zac, and while his opinion shouldn’t matter considering she wouldn’t see him after the end of next week, it did.

As he joined her and she watched water droplets run in rivulets down his muscular torso when he bent to pick up his towel, she wished her newfound confidence extended to having a little fun.

“I’m going to dry off in the sun for a while.” And blink away the sudden sting of tears for feeling inadequate and inexperienced and inept, but she wisely kept that to herself.

“Don’t be too long. These UVs can seriously burn.”

She grabbed her towel and laid it on the sand a few feet away, an ill-chosen spot considering she had a clear view of him stretched flat on his back, and the perfection of his long, lean body, with abdominals composed of ridges of hard muscle.

Squeezing her eyes shut to blot out the tempting image, she must’ve dozed, for it seemed like an eternity later when his voice roused her.

“Excuse me, sun goddess, you should come into the shade now.”

Her eyes fluttered open and she stretched, rested and composed. “Nice of you to be so concerned.”

She picked up her towel and flung it next to his, ensuring enough space between them for no accidental contact.

“I’ll admit my concern is altruistic. I don’t want to rub lotion on you again.”

“Why’s that?”

“I enjoyed it way too much.” His gaze trailed over her body, lingering on every inch he’d rubbed earlier and everywhere in between, and darn it if that prickly itch didn’t start up again.

She quirked an eyebrow. “If you enjoyed something as mundane as rubbing suntan lotion on my back, you get out even less than I do.”

He leaned forward, too close, too masculine, too everything. “Go on, admit it.”

She bit her lip, inched back. “Admit what?”

“You enjoyed it too.”

His grin was pure temptation and she waved her hand in front of her face as if swatting away a particularly bothersome fly.

“The only thing I’ll admit to is finding your incessant flirting extremely tiresome.”

His smile faded the same moment the sun ducked behind a cloud, both leaving her slightly chilled. “Do you really feel that way?”

Her heart skipped a beat as she searched for a suitable answer. What could she say? That she didn’t believe his compliments? That her self-confidence had been decimated by a guy who used slick words before that she couldn’t trust easily? That she wished she could believe one-tenth of his attention was real and not some ingrained part of his charm? That she hid behind sharp retorts, using them as a barrier against her insecurities?

She couldn’t say any of that so she settled for a semi-truth, feeling a tad guilty her barb had tarnished what had been an enjoyable day.

“Honestly? I’m not used to the attention.”

He couldn’t have looked more surprised if she’d stripped off in front of him. “You said things ended with your ex over eighteen months ago, but you date, right?”

Heck, look what she’d got herself into now. She could lie, but she’d always been lousy at it. Beth said her mouth pursed into a strange prune-shape the few times she’d tried it and she already had him staring at her like she was nuts.

“My last date was with a hero in a romcom on my streaming service.”

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