Barbara Dunlop - The Billionaire’s Bidding

She’d been a fool to come here. A fool to think…“So you said.”

“There was no reason to tell you up front.” He gave a harsh laugh. “A guy wouldn’t get very far telling his competition his secrets, would he?”

“Right.” She’d only hoped she could get out of here in time. “Well, I just-”

“But then…” Alex’s tone softened, and the harsh slate look went out of his eyes. “Then I proposed to you. And maybe, maybe that was when the rules changed.”

Emma stood frozen to the ground.

“And then I married you. And that definitely meant the rules had changed. And then…” He took her left hand, rubbing his thumb over the Tudor diamond. “Then I fell in love with you, and any right I’d ever had to treat you as a business adversary was gone.”

The aspen trees rustled into the silence.

“Emma?”

She couldn’t help smiling. It was going to be okay. It was really going to be okay. “You fell in love with me?”

“Yeah, I fell in love with you. What did you think I meant by ‘saying it’?”

“That you were in love with me.” At least that was how it had seemed in the moment.

“Damn straight.”

“Or that it might only be part of the game.” She had to admit, the thought had crossed her mind.

“You thought our time on the beach was a game?”

She shook her head, her chest tightening with joy. “No. Not the beach.”

On the beach, she’d believed him. On the beach, she’d dared to hope they were starting a glorious life together. Kind of like she did now.

“The beach was real,” he rumbled. “That beach was the most real moment of my life.”

Emma’s, too. Oh, Emma’s, too. She felt moisture heat the insides of her eyelids.

“I love you, Emma,” Alex whispered, lifting her hand to place a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

Her mouth curved into a relieved smile.

Alex loved her.

He loved her.

“Well?” he asked.

“What?”

“Do I have to make you say it?”

She gazed into his dark eyes, her smile turning impish. “Yeah.”

“Later,” he whispered with a nod to where Mrs. Nash emerged onto the deck. A stream of people trailed out behind her.

“Hello?” Alex’s brow shot up.

“I hope Mrs. Nash doesn’t have anything against Italian decorators,” said Emma, as the troop rounded the sun umbrella.

There was an unmistakable grin in Alex’s voice. “We’re redecorating?”

“I took a chance,” she admitted. “And I mentioned your name. They have swatches and flooring samples.”

He chuckled and he shook his head. “In that case, you don’t have to say it.”

“Why not?”

He took the case from her hand. “Because you just proved it.”

She playfully elbowed him in the ribs. “Oh, make me say it anyway.”

Alex leaned down and kissed her mouth. It was a warm, tender kiss, full of love, full of hope, full of the promise of a lifetime.

“I love you,” she whispered on a sigh.

He drew back only slightly. “See, that was way too easy.”

She leaned her cheek against his chest, enjoying the feel of his strong arms around her. “When it comes to you,” she crooned, “I’m always easy.”

He snorted his disbelief. But his fingertips sent a different message, trailing lightly along her spine. “You know, we have a honeymoon to finish.”

“I guess we do.”

“The Island Countess leaves for Fiji tonight.” He paused. “And I know a guy who can get us a suite.”

She pulled back. “I’ve seen those suites. They’re fabulous.”

“I have fond memories of them myself.”

By the time the Island Countess blew her horn and pulled away from the dock, Emma was naked and wrapped tight in Alex’s arms. The sounds of the late-night launch party tinkled up from the aft sundeck pool.

She buried her face in the crook of Alex’s neck and inhaled his masculine scent. “I love you,” she sighed.

He kissed the top of her head. “Wonder what else I can make you do.”

“Pretty much anything at the moment. As long as it doesn’t require movement. Or thinking. Or staying awake, actually.” She stifled a yawn.

“You hungry?”

She shook her head. “Not hungry.”

“Thirsty?”

“I’m fully satisfied, thank you.”

He chuckled against her hair. “That’s what I like to hear from my wife.”

She smiled.

The phone on the bedside rang.

“Uh-oh,” she said.

“Nothing else can go wrong,” he assured her.

Then he picked it up. “Garrison here.”

He listened for a moment. “So it’s done?”

Another pause.

“It’ll be public?”

Emma came up on her elbow to watch his expression.

He smiled. “Yeah. Thanks. I owe you one.”

Then he hung up the phone.

She waited.

“So, who was it?” she asked.

Alex closed his eyes. “Nathaniel.”

“Oh.” She waited again. “Well?”

He opened one eye. “What?”

“Is it a secret?”

“No.” He opened the other eye and a smug grin took over his face. “Turns out, when the local government heard Kessex Cruise Lines had some concerns with the Kayven Island dock, they decided to move it.”

Emma sat up. “What?”

“To another island, about five hundred miles east.”

“You didn’t.”

“I didn’t do a thing.”

Emma leaned in closer, pasting Alex with an openly skeptical look. “You just told Nathaniel you owed him.”

“Oh, that.” Alex wave a hand. “That was-” He grinned. “Yeah. I did it. Murdoch needed to learn not to mess with us.”

Emma tried hard not to be happy about getting revenge. “Remind me not to mess with you.”

Alex pulled her into a hug. “You, woman, can mess with me any old time you like.”

She pulled back and batted her eyelashes. “Like now?”

“I thought you were tired.”

“I changed my mind. Apparently you vengeful types turn me on.”

He slipped his hand across her hip and snuggled her up tight against his body. “Better not be any other vengeful types onboard.”

“Better keep a close eye on me. Just in case.”

He kissed her then. “You bet I will.” Then he drew back. “By the way. I made an investment on behalf of McKinley.”

She studied his eyes. “What did you do?”

“Bought a piece of property. Little bed-and-breakfast on Tannis Island. That’s about five hundred miles east of Kayven. Not much to look at really. But I think it’s going to be extremely valuable by the end of the week.”

Emma fought a smile of astonishment. “You didn’t.”

His eyes softened, and he gazed at her with a love that sizzled through every fiber of her being. “You can bet I did.”