Had he lost his mind? Jaimie thought it. Then she said it.
“Zacharias Castelianos. Have you lost your mind?”
“I hate winter.”
“So?”
“So I want to see you in a bikini.”
“You’ve seen me naked,” she said, and blushed, which was, at this point, patently ridiculous, but she blushed anyway.
“You, a bikini, a pink sand beach, golden sun and bright blue water…and did I mention, no winter?”
“Zacharias. Talk to me. I don’t understand a single thing you’re saying.”
“I rented a villa in the Bahamas.”
Jaimie blinked. “What?”
Zach zipped his jeans, pulled on a white T-shirt and sat down on the bed beside her.
“I want us to be alone,” he said softly, while he stroked a tangle of blond hair back from her cheek. “You and me. Nobody else. I want us to learn about each other. Be together. No distractions. Nothing but us.”
Could your heart swell?
“But—”
“But what?”
“Well, my job.”
“This can’t be a terribly busy season for a Realtor.”
He was right. It wasn’t. In fact, Bengs had made it clear that anyone who wanted to take time off was free to do so. It wasn’t an especially generous gesture, considering that his Realtors worked on commission, but it did mean she could go with Zacharias to the Bahamas.
Of course you can, Jaimie.
No, James. You cannot. Fly away with a man you hardly know?
You know him, Jaimie. You’ve made love with him more times than you can count.
James. Knowing him in the biblical sense is not the same as knowing him.
Zacharias cupped her face in his hands.
“Jaimie. Say yes.”
His voice was husky. His eyes were dark. She could smell the faint scent of man and musk and sex that surrounded them.
There was only one logical response, and she gave it.
She said yes.
***
He said he’d rented a villa.
What he hadn’t said was that it was a sprawling, magnificent house on a private cay, ten acres of lush green jungle and, yes, pink sand beaches, alone in a turquoise blue sea.