Ashley closed her eyes as the unwelcoming heat flushed through her skin. Why did she have to think of that? She wanted to purge the idea of him on the bed, as he lay on the rumpled sheets, naked and gleaming with sweat. She imagined his lean and muscular arms extended as if he was waiting for her. Welcoming her.
“Am I kicking you out of your bed?” Sebastian asked.
“What?” she asked hoarsely. The vision of her curled up next to him on the four-poster bed bloomed in her mind. She shook her head to dispel it. “No, I don’t stay here.”
“Why not?” he asked as he tossed his backpack on the bed. The bag looked out of place against the vintage handmade quilt. “It’s the master suite, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” She nervously darted the tip of her tongue along her dry lips. She couldn’t explain it to him. That this room, this bed, had been the center stage for her parents’ destructive relationship. The affair between her father, Donald Jones, and her mother, his longtime mistress Linda Valdez had been fueled with jealousy, infidelities and sexual obsession. She didn’t want the added reminder. “Well, if you need anything, please let me know,” she said as she slowly made her way to the door.
He tore his gaze away from the ocean view and Ashley saw the shadows in his eyes. It was more than sadness. It was grief. Loss. Anger. Sebastian blinked and the shadows suddenly disappeared.
Sebastian silently nodded and walked to the door with her. He guided her through the threshold by placing his hand on the small of her back. His fingers brushed her bare skin and her muscles clenched as her skin tightened. He dropped his hand, but she still felt the blood strumming through her veins.
Ashley took a deep breath and hurried away from Sebastian, refusing to look back. She was scared to explore these feelings. She was not used to being tempted while she stayed on Inez Key and this was going to be a challenge. She had hidden away for years, purposely disconnected from the world and was quiet and contained. None of the guests who came to her house interested her, but this man...this man reminded her of what she was missing.
And she wasn’t sure she wanted to hide anymore....
CHAPTER ONE
One month later
“SIR? THERE’S A woman here who wishes to speak with you.”
Sebastian Cruz didn’t look up as he continued to sign papers. “Send her away.” He didn’t tolerate any kind of interruption while he was at work. It was probably a former lover who mistakenly thought the element of surprise and drama would gain his attention. His employees were experienced in handling the situation and he wondered how the woman had managed to get into the executive suite in the first place.
“She insists on seeing you and hasn’t left the reception area all day,” his assistant continued, this time with a hint of sympathy for the uninvited guest. “She says it’s urgent.”
They all said that, Sebastian decided as he scanned another letter before he signed it. It annoyed him rather than made him feel curious or flattered. He didn’t understand why these sophisticated women would stage public tantrums when the relationship was clearly over. “Have security remove her from the premises.”
The younger man cleared his throat and nervously adjusted his tie. “I had considered that, but she says you have something of hers. She wouldn’t tell me what it was because it was a private matter. She’s here to get it back.”
That was impossible. Sebastian frowned as he scrawled his name on another document. He wasn’t sentimental. He didn’t keep mementos or trophies. “Did you find out her name?”
His assistant squirmed from the censure of his icy tone. “Jones,” he said hurriedly. “Ashley Jones.”
Sebastian went still as he held the pen in midair. He stared at the heavy paper, the words a blur, as memories of Ashley Jones crashed through him. He remembered her soft brown hair cascading down her bare shoulders. Her wild energy and her earthy laugh. His body clenched, excitement pulsing through his veins, as he thought about her sun-kissed skin and wide pink mouth.
That woman had haunted his dreams for the past month. He had tried to purge Ashley from his mind, distracting himself with work and women, but he couldn’t forget her uninhibited response. Or her haughty rejection.