Jo Leigh - One-Click Buy - September Harlequin Blaze

“Better to know now and cut things off clean than to keep dating her and hoping she’ll start to feel something. It’s like a real-estate deal. You’re either in or you’re out.”

Tony was right and Liam knew it, but cutting things off with Katie was easier said than done.

“You gotta take a leap of faith, man,” Tony said sagely. “Take a risk with her the way you take a risk on the stock market. Make your plans, do your research, dive in and pray for the best.”

“And if I fail?”

“At least you tried. And, hey, I’ll be here to help you pick up the pieces.”

“Thanks. That means a lot.” Liam got to his feet.

Tony came around the desk to punch him lightly on the arm. “Go get her, dude. I’m living proof the rewards are worth the gamble.”

KATIE CAME UP with a brilliant plan for luring Liam to Fiji.

Their mother’s will bequeathed the Fiji property equally to Brooke, Joey and Katie. Briefly, they’d discussed the idea of selling it, but so far, none of them had either the heart or the emotional energy to fly out to the Pacific island paradise and check on the bungalow.

She now had the perfect excuse to complete her Martini dare.

There were so many things she wanted to do to Liam. She wanted to sleep with him in a macramé hammock hung between two palm trees. She wanted to make him cry out her name in ecstasy as they made love over the vibrating engine of a snorkel boat. She was dying to do it in a secret alcove of a rocking dance club, in the swimming pool, in the lanai of the bungalow. She fantasized about riding his hard-muscled body in a volcano grotto, beneath a waterfall, in the hot tub.

During her afternoon break, she slipped off to the employee lounge and called him up on her cell phone.

“Liam,” she murmured, all hot and bothered by her fantasies.

“Yes.” He sounded curt, abrupt. She must have interrupted him in the middle of his work. She almost apologized and hung up. But her determination to complete the Martini dare kept her hanging on.

“It’s me,” she said, then cringed. What if he didn’t know who me was?

“Katie.” His tone immediately melted into a buttery soft timbre.

Did the sound of her voice make him as horny as the sound of his voice made her? “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“I was about to go into a meeting, but I have a few minutes. What’s up?”

“Um…since you’re an expert on real estate, I was hoping you might be willing to give me your opinion on some property my mother left me and my sisters. We’re considering selling it, but we don’t know if that’s the best way to go. Do you think you might be able to look at it for us?”

“Sure,” he said. “Where’s the property?”

“Um…that’s the thing.”

“Oh?”

“It’s in Fiji.”

“As in South Pacific Fiji?”

“Uh-huh. I’d pay for your airplane ticket, of course. We can stay at the bungalow. I can put in for three vacation days and we could make a long weekend of it.” Please, please let him say yes.

She heard his intake of breath and she could almost see him standing there, thinking about the work he’d be leaving behind if he took off for five days. Was his attraction to her strong enough to overcome his addiction to his work?

“You could have your own room,” she ventured. “Keep this strictly a business trip.”

“Now, why in the hell would I want to do that?” he asked.

Glee tickled down inside her. She grinned. How she wished he was with her so she could fling her arms around his neck and kiss that firm, angular mouth of his.

“So you’ll go?”

“Under one condition.”

Her heart squeezed. She held her breath. “What’s that?”

“We take my private jet.”

THE VIEW OF Fiji Island from the window of Liam’s jet was breathtaking. The water was a mesmerizing color of turquoise, the sky cloudless. Even from the air, you could make out the lush growth of brilliantly colored flowers-bougainvillea, anthurium, birds-of-paradise, a stunning palette of red, yellow, orange and green.

Luxury hotels with private bungalows ringed the beach among a proliferation of palm trees. The smell of plumeria blossoms filled the air the minute they stepped onto the tarmac. In the terminal, they were greeted by smiling hostesses with leis made of orchids, along with the soothing, rhythmic sounds of island music. The scenery was so beautiful it felt surreal.

They had taken off from Boston nineteen hours earlier, but the flight had been so much fun it had seemed like nineteen minutes. They’d talked and played cards, watched in-flight movies, napped, eaten filet mignon, drank wine and talked some more.

She found out his favorite actor was Tom Hanks and she confessed to having a mad crush on Orlando Bloom. She learned he liked his steaks well done while she preferred hers rare. He was a whiz at gin rummy, but she thrashed him soundly at poker. But when she suggested a hand of strip poker, Liam refused because he knew he’d end up naked within five hands. Katie told him that was the point.

They’d also done a little kissing-okay, they’d done a lot of kissing-but that was all. Even though Katie had tried her best to initiate him as an official member of the mile-high club, Liam had been equally determined to hold her off. His theory was they’d heighten their enjoyment of this trip by making her wait for sex.

They grabbed a cab at the airport and Katie gave the driver directions to her family’s bungalow on the beach. It was tucked into a quiet area. Liam carried their bags inside and Katie immediately ran to open the sliding partition that opened out onto a large private lanai. The ocean rolling softly against the shore lulled them with a sweet hypnotic sound.

“I forgot how beautiful it is here.” She sighed and breathed in a deep draw of air as she stood looking out at the beach. “We used to come here every summer when my father was alive.”

“You miss him, don’t you?”

“Something fierce. He was a great father. Strict but fair.”

“I wish I knew what that was like,” he said. “Having a father’s love.”

“I wish you did, too.”

Liam studied her and his heart reeled. She looked incredible in a pair of white denim shirt shorts and a tangerine halter top with her hair pulled back into a girl-next-door ponytail. No one could have known just by looking at her that she was a Boston blue blood.

This was it, his big chance to take their relationship to a new level. But was she ready? Could he convince her he was a man worth overcoming her fear of commitment for? He prayed he could.

Liam realized how much his outlook on life had changed since he’d met her. Suddenly, something was more important than his work and she was standing right in front of him.

She turned in the doorway to grin over her shoulder at him. Damn if her smile didn’t warm him from the inside out.

He grinned back.

She crooked her finger at him. “Come ’ere.”

Liam sauntered over.

Katie wrapped her arms around his waist, leaned back to look up into his face. “Let’s have sex on the lanai.”

“Whoa, slow down. We just got here.”

She reached up to stroke her index finger down the length of his cheek. “You’re doing this on purpose,” she said, pretending to pout.

“Doing what?”

“Withholding sex to tease me.”

“Yes, I am,” he admitted. “There’s something to be said for delayed gratification.”

“How long are you planning on holding out on me?”

“For a while.”

“You sure you want to get into this?” Her eyes danced.

“Get into what?”

“Making me beg for sex. Because buddy, two can play that game.”