And now, she believed in herself.
“I’m not afraid,” she said aloud. Her legs regained their strength. She started to walk towards his broad-shouldered shadow on the top of the dune, silhouetted against the bright sun.
A warm desert wind blew against her skin, tossing tendrils of her hair in her face as she reached him. She was so happy to see his handsome face that tears filled her eyes. “Kasimir. There’s something I need to…”
“I have good news,” he interrupted coldly.
She looked at him more closely. His desert garb was gone. No more tight black T-shirts. No more cargo shorts or jeans, either. Instead, he was back in his dark suit with a tie and vest. He looked exactly like the same dangerous tycoon she’d first met in Honolulu.
In the distance, she heard a loud buzzing noise. Suddenly feeling uncertain, she echoed, “Good news?”
He gave a single sharp nod. “I’m taking you with me. To Russia. So I can get your sister.”
“Oh,” Josie said faintly. “That is good news.”
It was. But why was his handsome face so expressionless, as if they were total strangers? Why did he seem so suddenly distant, as if they hadn’t spent last night ripping off each other’s clothes? Why did he look at her as if he barely knew her when just hours before he had been gasping with sweaty pleasure, deep inside her?
“Time to go,” he said flatly.
Looking at him in his suit, Josie suddenly felt cold in the warm morning air. The joyful, emotional barbarian with the unguarded heart, the one who’d taught her to ride horses, to snowboard sand, to make love—was gone. She bit her lip. “When?”
He glanced behind him, and she saw an approaching helicopter in the wide blue sky. “Right now.”
Shivering, she wrapped her arms around her body, feeling chilly in her cotton shirt. They stood only a few feet apart on the sand, but there was suddenly a deep, wide ocean between them that she didn’t understand.
His cruel, sensual lips curved. “We’re leaving to find your sister. Aren’t you happy?”
“I am,” she said miserably. Then, reminding herself she was brave and bold, she lifted her gaze. “But why are you acting like this?”
He blinked. “Like what?”
“Like…” She looked straight into his eyes. “Like last night meant nothing.”
“It meant something.” He took a step towards her, his face hard as a marble statue. “It meant… a few hours of fun.”
It was like a stab in the heart. “Fun?”
Kasimir gave her a coldly charming smile, looking every inch the heartless playboy the world believed him to be. “Oh, yes.” He tilted his head, looking at her sideways. “Definitely fun.”
For an instant, Josie could hardly breathe through the pain. Then she saw a flash of something in his expression, something quickly veiled and hidden. Her eyes widened as she searched his gaze.
“You’re deliberately pushing me away,” she breathed.
His expression hardened as he set his jaw. “Don’t.”
“Last night meant something to you. I know it did!”
“It was an amusement, just to pass the time. But that time is over. Let’s get this done. Get our divorce. Then we’ll never have to see each other again.”
She licked her lips as the approaching helicopter grew louder. “But you said… we could still be friends….”
“Friends?” He gave a harsh, ugly laugh. “You really think that would work? You expect me to give up my life and join you in your fairy-tale world, where families love and forgive?” He slowly walked around her, his eyes glittering in the white sun. “Tell me. Are you already picturing me mowing the lawn outside your storybook cottage with the white picket fence?”
“You’re using my dreams against me?” she whispered. His sneer ripped through her heart. She blinked back tears. “Why are you being so cruel?”
Kasimir stopped. The helicopter landed on the pad some distance behind him, causing sand to fly in waves. His black hair whipped wildly around his face as he looked down at her. When he finally spoke, his voice had changed.
“Whatever happened between us last night,” he said quietly, “cannot last. Someday soon you will learn the truth about me. And you will hate me.”