I think watching me unravel after the accident was part of the reason Jenny had been so cautious of falling in love—every guy that showed interest was quickly rejected—and I actually liked a few of them. She needed to see me move on just as badly as I needed to do it. There was finally a chance of that happening for me—all because of a beautiful young woman with auburn hair and gorgeous aquamarine eyes. Leigh was compassionate, understanding, and she had a way of pulling me out of the darkness when I was with her.
“I’m sorry…” I looked at my watch when I walked up to the table. “Have you been waiting long?”
“No.” She shook her head back and forth. “I got here right before you sent your text message.”
“Good.” I smiled. “You brought your swimsuit, right?”
“I did.” She nodded. “I don’t know why—obviously, we’re not going to your grandfather’s villa again.”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” I chuckled under my breath and reached for the menu.
Leigh tried to get me to tell her what I had planned for the date after we placed our order, but I wanted to keep it a surprise until we got there. I hated that our previous date came to an abrupt end because we found out that my father was staying at my grandfather’s villa. I debated going there earlier that morning and personally evicting him, but that wasn’t the confrontation we needed to have. I was biding my time for a reason, and he would return to Sinn Manor soon enough. He had no idea what I was planning, and it was best to keep it that way until the time was right—the bastard might not have taught me much, but he did teach me how to play my cards close to the chest until I had a winning hand.
“This is really good.” Leigh took a bite of her steak and smiled. “You’re going to ruin frozen dinners for me if you keep taking me to all of these nice restaurants…”
“Maybe that’s my plan.” I chuckled under my breath. “That way I can have dinner with you every night.”
“That’s a little devious…” She grinned.
We finished our food, and neither of us were interested in dessert. Leigh seemed to be rather intrigued about what I had planned—it was apparently more interesting than anything on the menu at the restaurant. We walked outside to my car, and then I drove us to Carson Bay. Once we got close, I told Leigh to close her eyes so that it would be more of a surprise. I doubted that it was going to be a major surprise since she already knew we were headed in the direction of the beach, but I preserved it as long as possible.
“Okay, you can open your eyes.” I looked over at her and smiled.
“Where are we?” Leigh tilted her head as her eyes slowly opened. “This looks like your grandfather’s villa…”
“Not quite.” I shook my head back and forth. “He isn’t the only person with a villa by the beach—this one belongs to us for the evening.”
“How?” She blinked in surprise.
“I rented it.” I stepped out of the car and walked around to open her door.
“You didn’t have to do that…” She looked up at me, but she was smiling—I took that as a good sign.
“Our date got ruined last night.” I motioned to the villa. “This is my way of making up for it.”
The villa didn’t have the same amenities that my grandfathers did, but it was close enough—especially for a rental. The company that rented them usually didn’t have any openings during the summer months, but I was able to pull a few strings and get the owner of the rental agency to let me have the one he normally reserved for his family and friends. I was paying a premium price for his generosity, but I didn’t care. Leigh had a brand-new swimsuit, and I wanted to give her an opportunity to wear it.
“We share a beach with a couple of the other villas, so we might not have as much privacy as I originally planned…” I opened the back door and pointed to a couple of people that were already on the beach.
“That’s okay.” She looked up at me and smiled. “This is amazing.”
“Do you want to have a glass of wine before we go to the beach?” I tilted my head inquisitively.
“Are we allowed to drink the wine?” She glanced over at the wine rack.
“Yeah, they’ll bill me for it.” I chuckled and ran my fingers along the bottles until I found a nice red one that was similar to what she seemed to like.
“Okay—one glass.” She smiled.
I might as well have a glass too if I’m paying for the whole bottle.
Chapter Nine
Leigh
I had no idea what Damien had planned when he told me to pack my swimsuit for our date, but his surprise was simply amazing. I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to hang out at his grandfather’s villa—and while the rental wasn’t exactly the same, it was practically perfect. Damien poured two glasses of wine, and we walked out to the patio to drink them. The view was stunning, and the breeze felt even better so close to the ocean.
The couple that was on the beach when we arrived went back to their villa, and the beach was empty for a few minutes. We probably should have taken advantage of the opportunity to have it to ourselves because another couple arrived about twenty minutes later, but we were lost in conversation. Damien was a lot funnier than I realized once he loosened up a little bit, and I felt like I could have talked to him for hours without ever wanting the conversation to end.