Then she screamed.
Other than the birds or squirrels in nearby trees, there was no one her screams would disturb. When she released the final one, he leaned in and took her mouth. He figured that by the time they left here, there would be a lot more screams where those had come from.
He would make sure of it.
“WELCOME TO MY ISLANDhome, Rylee.”
Frazier could hear her breath catch when she entered his house. As she stood in the foyer, glancing around, he knew what held her spellbound--the beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean from the living room’s wall-to-wall windows.
“This place is beautiful.”
“Thanks. I bought this place a couple of years ago. It’s only a short flight from Virginia and a relatively calm one. I usually come here when I need to get away.”
She looked over at him and smiled. “This is definitely a nice place to escape to.”
He chuckled. “Yes, it is. Come on. Let me show you around. There are six bedrooms, each with their own full baths. Four upstairs and two downstairs.”
He gave her a tour of the kitchen and introduced her to his chef, Baylor Siskins. Frazier told her that because he didn’t cook much…or rather not at all, Baylor took care of all his meals whenever he was in residence.
By the time the tour of the house had ended, he had heard her gasp several times. Hopefully that was a sign that not only was she impressed with the house, but that she was looking forward to this weekend with him.
He had shown her to one of the guest rooms upstairs-the one next door to his room. “How would you like to join me for a walk on the beach while there is still some daylight? Will an hour be enough time for you to get settled?”
She smiled up at him, her hazel eyes sparkling with excitement. “That will be plenty of time. And I would love to walk on the beach.”
“Good.”
Once Frazier was in his bedroom, he released a deep sigh. He’d done it. She was here.
For a while there, he wasn’t sure she’d arrive unscathed. Having Rylee sitting beside him while he’d piloted his plane had been torment of the worst kind. More than once, their thighs had brushed, and he’d almost jumped out of his skin.
He had sent the private car to get her this morning, but hadn’t realized Morris had already returned with her. Goldwyn hadn’t announced her arrival. So, when Frazier had come down the stairs to find out what was taking his chauffeur so long to return to Connelly Estates, he found Rylee sitting at the breakfast counter in his kitchen, enjoying a cup of tea and one of his cook’s mouth-watering pastries. She and Goldwyn were chatting away like they were old friends. He’d never known his butler to shed any of his staunch formality and display a more lighthearted side. When Frazier had walked into the kitchen, Goldwyn washaving a good laugh at something Rylee had said. Unbelievable.
She had been dressed in a cute pair of white shorts and a pretty pink top. He again thought of how feminine she looked, not only today but whenever he saw her. She took his breath away. Ever since he met Rylee, he had been racking his brain, trying to figure out what it was about her that totally captivated him. He soon concluded it was everything. Her smile, her walk, her intelligence…her sex appeal. You named it and Rylee had it going for her.
Before taking off from Charlottesville, he had received a text message from Chef Baylor asking if he wanted something special for dinner. His fingers twitched, tempted to tell his chef that he was hoping to have Rylee for dinner. Instead, he responded back saying he was bringing a female guest who liked seafood and chocolate.
Frazier drew in a deep breath. He had to pull himself together. He wasn’t some randy twenty-year-old. In fact, what he was feeling seemed like so much more than lust. Whatever it was, he couldn’t seem to put a lid on it.
Something about Rylee made it impossible for him to think straight. But he’d be damned if he could pinpoint what it was. Hell, even now, the scent of her perfume seemed to penetrate the walls separating their bedrooms. He had never wanted a woman as badly as he wanted her.
As he began to unpack his own things, he glanced out the window at the ocean. This was going to be a very interesting weekend…
• • •
Rylee stood on the balcony and looked out at the ocean.Directly below, she could see the swimming pool. This was definitely paradise. The only other place she’d been that had even come close to being this extravagant was when Sheryl’s publisher had sponsored an all-girls trip for Sheryl and five of her closest friends to a resort in Jamaica. They’d been celebrating Sheryl’s book sales hitting the fifteen million mark. That resort had been nice…but not as nice as this. This was luxury at your fingertips and she had to pinch herself a few times to make sure she was really here.
And with Frazier.
She glanced at her watch and saw that it was time to meet him downstairs for their walk on the beach. This was their ‘getting-to-know-you’ weekend. But if he thought he would be asking all the questions, he was wrong. The more she was around Frazier, the more she wanted to know about him.
The man was overflowing with charm and had impeccable manners--not that she’d thought he was boorish, ill-mannered or inconsiderate. However, she had known men of wealth to act entitled, churlish and rude. Like that guy Sheryl had dated a few times. She was glad her best friend had had the good sense to kick that loser to the curb.
Leaving the guest bedroom, she headed down the stairs and nearly caught her breath when she saw Frazier standing at the bottom stair, waiting on her. He looked up when he saw her and the moment their gazes connected, she felt heat flow through her body.
Sheryl had once talked her into taking a class with her--she was doing research for a book she was writing. The class was on body language, how to observe it and know when and how to read between the lines.
She’d found the class both interesting and informative and, since then, she’d put a lot of what she’d learned to good use. For instance, a man who is interested in a woman will gaze from her face to her breasts and her stomach. She’d just noticed--not for the first time--that Frazier had covered all three areas in a single sweep. He’d had practice. But then, she had caught herself doing the same thing with him more than once, too. It should bother her that they were so romantically in sync, but it didn’t.