The Playboy's Proposition

“Ohhhh, this is so good it’s bad,” she said.

“You like it?” he asked, pulling her against him as he looked out at the ocean.

“Who wouldn’t?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Relaxing has never been my forte,” he said. “I’ve received solicitations like this before, but I ignored them. Who has time for trips to the Cayman Islands?”

She saw a lostness in his eyes and her stomach twisted. “Has it ever occurred to you to take a vacation?”

“I’ve taken vacations. Mountain climbing, scuba diving…”

“No, I mean a real vacation where you actually relax,” she said. “Maybe even, heaven forbid, sleep late and ditch your workout for one whole day.”

His lips twitched. “Not really.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me? I wonder what it would take to get you to sleep late,” she said.

His eyes darkened. “Try and find out.”

After a night of lovemaking, she felt him stir in the morning. Determined to keep him from getting out of bed, she rolled on top of him, still half-asleep. “Nuh-uh,” she said. “You’re not going anywhere.”She opened her eyes to find his sleepy eyes staring back at hers. “How are you going to keep me here?”

“One way or another,” she said and pressed her mouth against his for a long kiss.

His hands skimmed over her buttocks. “You’re cute when you’re slee—”

She wiggled lower, sliding on to his hardness, taking the words from his mouth. “Ohhhh,” he said.

She began to ride, forcing her eyes to open so she could see the ecstasy on his face. He wrapped his hands about her hips again, guiding her, distracting her. She was supposed to be in control, but he took it from her.

Soon, her pleasure splintered from her and she squeezed him tight within her. His gasps of pleasure fed hers and she climaxed just as the sun peeked through the horizon.

Seconds, minutes, hours later, Michael slid his leg over her. “Lord, woman, what time is it?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” she said.

He chuckled, nuzzling her head. He shifted her slightly then swore. “It’s eight-thirty. Do you know the last time I slept this late?”

“Not last weekend,” she said.

“That’s true,” he said, rising. “The last time I slept this late, I was thirteen and sick with strep throat.”

She waved her hand upward and he caught it. “What do you want?”

“To feel your forehead to make sure you don’t have strep throat,” she said.

He chuckled and lifted her hand to his mouth instead. “No strep throat. What do you want for breakfast? There’s staff downstairs waiting for our order.”

She sighed. “Sometimes, I want no staff,” she said. “I’m good with a bagel.”

“We’ll do that next visit. What do you want this time?”

“Scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes and crisp bacon,” she said.

“That’s a little more than a bagel,” he said.

“Yeah, well if they’re dying to fix breakfast…” she said and suddenly felt guilty. “Scratch that,” she said. “I’m okay with toast.”

“Liar,” he said. “Bella wants pancakes. Bella will have pancakes.”

Crap, she thought. She’d better not get used to this.

After breakfast, she and Michael explored the house then changed into swimsuits to sun on the private beach. Michael wasn’t the type to sit still, so he read for a while then dragged her into the water.

She stared at her feet next to his, marveling at how clear the water was. Tiny fishes swam between their legs. “Omigosh, this is amazing.”

“Look farther out,” he said, pointing to where the water was deeper.

She spotted larger, multicolored fish and a dolphin jumping. “It’s so calm and clear you don’t even need to snorkel.”

“One of the reasons I like it here,” he said.

“How often have you been?” she asked.

“Just a couple times. Always business,” he said. He tugged her deeper into the water and dunked her.

She gasped as she returned to the surface. “Why did you do that?” she asked, swatting at his muscular chest. She may as well have been a fly.

“You looked like you needed to get wet all over,” he said, grinning as he pulled her against him.

“How about a warning next time?” she demanded, wrapping her legs around his waist because it seemed like the natural thing to do.

He shook his head, his dark eyes glinting in the sun like black diamonds. “Too much fun taking you by surprise,” he said and took her mouth before she could protest.