The Billionaire's Island Bride (South Shore Billionaires 3)

t surprised at her sharpish tone. “So you can’t dye your stuff in my penthouse,” he reasoned. “But you could do everything else. Your business is online, right?”

“That’s not the point.”

“What is the point?”

She pulled her hands away. “The point is you expected me to jump up and say yes, I’d do what you wanted on a total whim, and when I didn’t you’re pouting.”

“I do not pout.”

She knew he wasn’t pouting; he was genuinely confused and perhaps he had a right to be, considering what had happened last night. But she was already in it and it was too late to turn back now. “Yes, you are. You’re used to getting what you want, and you think that my life is so insignificant that I can just pick up and leave because you’ve crooked your finger.”

His mouth fell open. “When have I ever given you that impression?”

He hadn’t, but panic was tightening her chest. The moment he’d stepped on the island, he’d threatened her very safe existence. She cared for him, she did. But it was a long way from there to relationship. Because who would be making all the sacrifices? She would.

“It’s how you live, Cole. You pick up the phone and have a helicopter ready to take you where you want to go. You have a home in New York but it was nothing for you to drop more money than I’ll ever make in a lifetime on this island, so you can have some sort of high-class retreat.” She lifted her chin. “You are so used to getting what you want that you expected me to sell my home for the right price.” A sudden thought took hold. “Maybe what you like in me is the challenge, because I’m probably the first person to say no to you in a very long time, huh? But what happens when that challenge is gone? Will you be bored of me then? And what’s to become of me at that point?”

Cole looked stricken, and she had to turn away. She’d been harsh just now, even if her words had come from a place of real fear. She hadn’t expected this invitation. Hadn’t expected him to want...more.

Her friends would tell her she was crazy to not take a chance. They still believed in the fairy tale. But there was no security in those sorts of crazy dreams. If nothing else, Brooklyn considered herself a realist.

“I didn’t realize you thought so little of me,” he said quietly, his elbows resting on his knees. “And I thought you knew me better. I shared stuff about myself that I don’t generally share with people, and I thought you understood. So if you think me asking you is because you’re a challenge, you don’t know me at all.”

Her heart hurt, hearing the disappointment in his voice. “I would never fit into your life,” she added, less angry now and more sad and practical. “We’re from two different worlds, Cole. I’d be unhappy, I just know it. This is where I belong.”

“I never said I wanted you to leave the island. Just to give us a chance. Brooklyn, I’ve never felt this way about anyone. You make me laugh, and you’re the most genuine person I’ve ever met. I don’t love you because you’re a challenge. It’s because you challenge me, and I need that. When I’m not with you I think about being with you. I made a commitment to balance my life better, and I think you were meant to be a part of that. Please, give this a chance.”

The cramp in her chest went cold when he used the word love. Was that even possible? They’d known each other a matter of weeks. Did he even realize what he’d said? This was all spiraling too fast. “Cole, that’s a big thing to say after we’ve spent one night together.”

Hurt flashed across his face. “You surprise me. Yesterday we were walking the beach together. We shared something amazing. I can only guess that you’re running scared right now, and that’s okay. Believe me, I’m scared, too. I think the thing is, Brooklyn, I trust you. I believe that you’re not interested in me because of my money. In fact, I think that point is working against me right now.”

She couldn’t deny it.

“I won’t fit in there,” she said firmly. “And you’d come to resent me. I shouldn’t have let this go so far.” She twisted her fingers together, knowing what she had to say and hating it just the same. “I shouldn’t have slept with you, knowing we didn’t have any sort of a future. Do you know, I wondered if you hadn’t told me you were leaving because you thought if you did, last night, I would say no?”

“Exactly the opposite,” he said roughly. “I didn’t tell you because I was still sorting through my feelings, deciding what I wanted to do. Then I imagined you coming to visit me, see me in my world, and I thought...” He ran his hand through his hair. “Well. It doesn’t matter what I thought. You don’t want to have anything to do with my world. You only want island Cole, who stays in your safe and secure world, and doesn’t make you take any risks, right?”

She sat back. “Hey.”

“No, not hey. You basically just said that I used a lie of omission to get you into bed, and I resent that. A lot. We were friends, Brooklyn. At least I thought we were. We shared things with each other, things that we don’t talk about often. Maybe you regret what happened last night, but I don’t. My motives where you were concerned were pure. Can you say the same?”

Brooklyn bristled at that and pushed out of her chair, going to the verandah railing and clenching it in her fingers. “They weren’t impure, if that’s what you’re getting at. I wasn’t angling for something.”

“Weren’t you? What happened? Did you decide to go for it because it was low-risk? Because I was always going to be leaving? Or did you think I didn’t care? Do you think I flew you and Marvin to the mainland so I could impress you with my money? I sincerely hope not. It was my way of helping a friend in need. Maybe I was wrong. I believed you thought better of me.”

Tears threatened now. He was hurt and angry and she had never wanted any of those things. Except, she realized, the low-risk part. And that she’d never considered that he might be hurt by it. She hadn’t considered his feelings, because she’d got so caught up in what he was and not who he was.

“You’re right. Not about everything, but some things. And it shows we aren’t right for each other. I’m sorry, Cole. That’s all I can say. I’m sorry.”

He sat for a moment in the silence that followed, then let out a long, slow sigh. Finally, he stood and faced her, his hands shoved into his jeans pockets.

“You disappoint me, Brooklyn. I’m surprised and disappointed.”

God, of all the things to say. Those words gutted her. She’d spent years trying to get over the feeling that she’d let people down. She’d dropped out of her degree. She’d stayed away from relationships. She’d hidden herself away on the island because it was her happy place but moreover, her safe place. And while there was nothing wrong with searching out safety and peace, she’d always felt as if by doing so she was somehow disappointing those who meant the most to her.

Cole stepped forward, close enough that she had to look up to meet his gaze, and her insides trembled as he fixed his eyes on hers.

“You are so much more than you think, but you hide away so no one sees it. It feels like building your life here is a solution, but it’s really just a way of avoiding dealing with what happened to you. And I can say that because of some of the things I did when my dad died, and again during my own health scare.” His voice gentled and he lifted one hand to touch her cheek. “It’s the difference between avoiding life and embracing it. I decided to stop running a few days ago when I accepted my feelings for you. But I can’t force you to make that same decision. You have to do it on your own time. Maybe you never will.”