She smiled, liking that this obviously successful, handsome man was rambling. Was he affected by touching her hand like she had been with him or was he rambling to cover his embarrassment because he’d seen her scars? That tampered her smile.
“The Jewel family shows no mercy when it comes to sports,” she said.
He chuckled and nodded. “I saw that firsthand.”
She smiled. So, he’d gone to college with Preston and they’d both played against Caleb. Were he and Preston still close? Could this provide the insight she needed into whether Preston was running the island to the best of his ability or skimming employee paycheck funds like Luke suspected? She realized the ultra-appealing, dark-eyed man standing in front of her hadn’t told her his name in all his rambling. “And you are?” she asked.
“Oh, sorry.” He shook his head. “Abe, Abe Bradford.”
He put out his hand as if to shake again. Rachel glanced down at his hand and couldn’t help laughing. She’d forgotten how fun it was to not only banter with handsome men but know because of her brilliance, beauty, and funny personality she made them stumble over their feet or their words. That surprised her. She hadn’t felt that since the explosion and had feared the old Rachel was buried too deep.
He also looked down at his hand then back up at her and let it fall to his side. “I guess we already did that.” He laughed along with her. “I’m a little off my game today.”
Rachel liked that he would admit that. She tilted her head back toward his yacht, at least she assumed it was his yacht. “Traveling will do that to you.”
His dark gaze gave her another compliment as it slowly swept over her face. “I don’t know that we can blame traveling.”
She smiled. “Where did you sail from?”
“I keep my yacht in Cancun.” His eyes widened as if he hadn’t been ready to admit to her it was his yacht.
She nodded. Pivoting slightly, she walked to the path that led through the thick trees and to the bungalows, ready to be out of the sun. He fell into step beside her, thankfully on her right side.
“And you flew there from …?” She snuck a glance at him, not sure why she was being so nosy but he was intriguing, and even though he’d seen her scars his eyes weren’t flickering to the spot where they hid, and he wasn’t acting like they bothered him. Impressive man, or a good actor? She wasn’t sure yet.
“Buffalo. My company is based out of Buffalo, New York.”
“What company do you own?”
“Bradford International.”
She laughed. “Oh, of course. Did you oh-so-humbly name it after yourself or was that your dad or granddad?”
He smiled, not seeming the least bit offended by her slight jab to his pride. “It was me. I started it myself. Figured nobody would know what it is we do with just my name on the business license, and the international in the title makes it seem like we’re more impressive than we actually are.” He winked.
She liked that he was trying for humility, but they must do something very impressive if he owned his own yacht and could bring a group on a vacation here. “So, you probably can’t tell me what you do, or you might have to silence me?” She stopped as they reached the pool deck outside her bungalow and she turned to face him again. Here in the shade it was even nicer to stare into his handsome face.
“I would hate to have to silence you,” he murmured, his gaze warm and seductive as if he thought she was exquisitely beautiful. She used to get those looks many times a day. Had they stopped because of her scars or because she’d shut herself away? She pushed all the worries away. Flirting with a handsome man was no time to be self-analyzing.
“I’m not easily silenced.” She raised a challenging eyebrow.
He chuckled. “I’ll bet. My company sells home security systems.”
She liked that he hadn’t made her pull it out of him. “Wait. You aren’t those annoying college students who knock on the door all the time, ignoring no soliciting signs to try to peddle security systems?”
He grinned. “Yes, ma’am, we are, except ignoring the no soliciting sign part. Selling those systems got me through college, then after some … detours, I was able to start my own company and it took off.”
Though she couldn’t see it anymore, her eyes darted through the trees to where his yacht rested. “It looks like it took off.” She studied him for a few seconds then said, “So, young entrepreneur, quick success story, eh?”
He gave her a definite smirk and said, “I’ve been out of college for ten years, not sure how quick of a success story that is.”
“Whoa. I wouldn’t have guessed. So you’re about … thirty-two?”
“Thirty-one. Started college at seventeen.”
She stared at his handsome face. “You look pretty good for an old man.”
He chuckled. “And how old are you, Miss Jewel, if you don’t mind me asking?”