Luke was a little shocked at how much he was looking forward to this week on the island. Not just because he hadn’t had a holiday in…when had he last had a holiday? It was so long ago he couldn’t remember where he’d gone.
One thing he did know—he’d gone alone.
But a week with Abby on a private island was the stuff of fantasies. He couldn’t help feeling excited about it. Hugely excited. Not just because their lovemaking was so freaking amazing, although he wouldn’t be worthy of his testosterone if he didn’t get hard just thinking about her in his bed. It was because Abby was fun to be around. She made him smile and he could barely remember the last time he’d smiled before she came barrelling into his life and demanding he be her Mr Perfect.
Luke was the last person to consider himself perfect, especially in an intimate relationship, but he couldn’t help enjoying playing the role of her fiancé as it gave him the freedom to do and say things he wouldn’t normally feel comfortable doing.
He wasn’t a touchy-feely person. He wasn’t the life-of-the-party loquacious type. He would rather design a robot than speak at length to a real person. At least he could program a robot to do what he wanted it to do.
But for some reason, with Abby, none of that mattered.
He liked the differences between them. He liked her laughter and her lightness of personality. He liked how she was positive and had such a can-do attitude. Her resourcefulness was a little wacky at times, like pretending to be in a relationship when she had never been in one before, and then giving everyone relationship advice that actually worked. Not to mention setting a date on when a fling should end. You didn’t get much wackier than that.
Luke wanted this week on the island to be perfect for her. To make up for all that had happened in her childhood. He wanted to spoil her and make her feel like a princess for the next week.
Only a week?
He elbowed the thought away. A week was what they had agreed on.
And he was going to enjoy every smoking-hot second of it.
CHAPTER NINE
THE PRIVATE ISLAND and luxury villa were even better in the flesh than in the photographs, Abby decided when they arrived. Stunning views of the sparkling blue sea and the white sandy beach that fringed it could be seen from the sun-drenched terrace in front of the villa. A gorgeous infinity pool was set on the other terrace, which overlooked another fabulous view of the ocean. There were beautifully manicured gardens situated about the villa, and the slightly peppery scent of the scarlet pelargoniums that were in terracotta pots and hanging baskets filled the air.
The warm air with its hint of sea salt caressed Abby’s face when she lifted it to the sun and she closed her eyes for a moment, taking in the distant cry of a seabird and the twittering of the birds in the nearby shrubs. She opened her eyes to see Luke smiling at her. ‘What?’ she said, suddenly embarrassed.
He gave her pony-tailed hair a gentle tug. ‘You’re so easily impressed.’
‘Who wouldn’t be impressed by this?’ She waved her hand to encompass their surroundings. ‘This place is amazing. Pardon me for being a little overwhelmed but I’ve never been on a private island before. Nor have I seen a place as fabulous as this. Apparently the villa has won several architectural awards and I can see why.’
Luke gave a cursory look at the villa. ‘It’s not bad.’
‘Not bad?’ Abby laughed. ‘You’re the master of understatement. I would like to see something that does impress you.’
‘You in one of those bikinis I bought you would impress me,’ he said with a glint in his eyes.
Abby’s core coiled and contracted with need. ‘That can be arranged as soon as I unpack.’
Luke opened the front door of the villa with the key he had been given by the person who had brought them to the island by boat. She still couldn’t believe they had the island to themselves for the week. Not even any of the household staff were on the island this week. The housekeeper and gardener and pool maintenance people were on leave. However, gourmet food and boutique wines and champagnes had been left as part of the prize package, and the boat operator had informed them fresh fruit and vegetables would be brought in by boat mid-week.
Abby followed Luke inside the villa and couldn’t stop a gasp escaping when she saw the interior of the foyer. The walls and floor were polished marble and a Swarovski crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling in prisms of glittering light like a fountain of shimmering diamonds. The large windows allowed the view to come in from each side of the villa, making it seem even more spacious and spectacular. Three sides of the villa overlooked the sea but the fourth side overlooked the densely wooded forest of the hilly area on one side of the island.