Harlequin Desire June 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 Page 2

  “We? Does that mean I can count on you?” she asked.

  Count on him.

  Not likely. He had to see more of this event. Right now, it sounded like some sort of small-time festival...though he knew that the Edmond family had put their weight behind the event, which should help bring in some big bucks. But it still didn’t sound like the kind of thing his followers would be interested in.

  “Let’s see,” he said. “I like to have all the facts first.”

  She smiled at him then. “Me, too. Everyone wants a snap decision, but it takes time to weigh all the options. To answer your other question, the island has a private landing strip and can be reached via private plane or helicopter.”

  She really was too adorable for words. Suddenly he felt another jolt of pure desire go through him. He wanted her. How was that even possible? While there was no doubt she was smart—he could easily read her intelligence in the questions she asked and the way she talked—she wasn’t for him. They came from two different worlds and had little in common. Too bad his body didn’t seem to care.

  “Are you married, Lila?”

  “No. Why?” she asked, appearing startled by the question.

  “Boyfriend?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think that is relevant.”

  “It is to me.”

  She looked as if she wanted to ask more questions, but he stopped her by standing up. “Should I drive us to Appaloosa Island?”

  “No, I’ll drive. I can expense the mileage. I don’t want you to have to pay for the gas.”

  That made him laugh. He’d needed a change, which was why he’d left LA, but even he couldn’t have guessed how much he’d enjoy this break.

  * * *

  Inviting Zach to ride in Milo might not have been her brightest idea. Watching him fold his large frame into her passenger seat would be interesting. She’d never been much for following famous Instagrammers and had maybe been a bit judgy thinking they’d be shallow—because this guy certainly wasn’t.

  It had almost seemed as if he were flirting with her. But no, he couldn’t have been. She was nothing—nothing—like the blonde who had stormed away from him. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she was sure she’d imagined the flirting.

  She sighed inwardly. He did have that kissable mouth and honestly he looked better than she imagined Jane Austen’s Mr. Darcy in her head. And he was the guy she always pictured when she thought of hotties. But she had to nip this ridiculous little infatuation she had for him in the bud. Now. Before she made a complete fool of herself.

  Her convertible Mini Cooper was in good condition but a bit old. And she’d never really concerned herself with the appearance of her vehicle before she led him to it in the parking lot behind the chamber of commerce building.

  She pulled her prescription sunglasses from her oversize cross-body bag and held her keys loosely in her hand. Zach had stopped walking when they’d gotten close to her car as his phone started dinging. He looked at the screen of his device and then back at her.

  “Give me a minute, doll,” he said. “I’ve got to take care of this.”

  “Take as long as you need. And my name is Lila, not doll,” she said, smartly. She had the feeling that this was the real Zach Benning. The kind of guy who used a nickname for all women so he didn’t mess up their names.

  “Fair enough... I didn’t mean any insult,” he said. “Bad habit.”

  “Due to the frequency with which you change girlfriends no doubt,” she remarked. “Take care of your business. I’m going to get the air running in the car.”

  Though it was only May, it was Texas and they’d already had a few sweltering days. It wasn’t too bad right now but her car, which had been sitting in the lot all day, would need time to cool down.

  She got behind the wheel and took a few moments to put her purse on the floor behind her seat after removing two refillable water bottles that she’d put ice and water in for them both. Three hours was a long drive and she wanted Zach to get a good impression of Royal’s hospitality.

  “Zach Benning is in trouble again. Busted coming out of a nightclub with the wife of record exec Dom Deluca,” the radio deejay said. “Apparently there was a confrontation...more to come.”

  Zach opened the door just as they moved on to the latest drama between two Rich Wives who were feuding. She looked over at him as he slid into the passenger seat and put on his seat belt. He’d had a fight with the husband of his lover. Even if he had in fact been flirting with her, there was a lot more to Zach than she wanted to invite into her life.

  “I guess the married woman question makes sense now,” she said.

  He arched one eyebrow at her.

  “Deluca.”

  He shook his head. “I had no idea she was married or whose wife she was.”

  “So you decided to start asking?”

  “Yeah. Don’t want any more of that kind of trouble. My old man cheated on my mom, and while I know their marriage wasn’t perfect and they both had faults, that’s one thing I’ve always tried to avoid.”

  “Fair enough. You moved on pretty fast with that blonde, though.”

  “You are fixated on Tawny, aren’t you?” he asked drolly.

  “You asked me some personal questions, doll, you’ve got to expect the same in return.”

  He almost laughed again, which made her smile. She wasn’t going to let him walk all over her. That wasn’t her way. She really wanted the Soiree to succeed and she was going to do everything she could to make that happen. Even flirting with Mr. Million Followers.

  “Tawny isn’t my girlfriend—she’s sort of one of my most loyal fans. I posted in my Benningnite group that I was coming to Royal and she pinged and asked to tag along,” he said.

  “Benningnite group?” she asked as she started driving toward Trinity Bay. This man was way out of her league. He was charming and of course had that underlying sexuality that made it impossible for her not to want to stare at him. But she wasn’t going to. Zach was here for business and that was it. She’d never had a problem keeping men and business separate, she didn’t want to start mixing the two now.

  “Yeah. I know how it sounds but some of my most loyal followers started it,” he told her. “I like it.”

  “Okay, I think it’s odd but that is your world. So, did you come here because you were interested in the festival or to avoid Deluca?” she asked. “I mean, we don’t really want any negative publicity.”

  “What do you think he’s going to do? Come to Royal and challenge me to fight?”

  She shook her head. When he put it like that, she sort of felt foolish for asking, but she didn’t like taking risks. He had followers which was great, and what she needed for the event, but if he was going to bring negative publicity—she’d wait and find someone else. “Make fun all you want but I have to ask these kinds of questions.”

  “You do? For who?” he prodded. “Is this committee worried about my personal life?”

  She shrugged, a little embarrassed because she knew they weren’t. The truth was, she wanted to know the deets. “Probably not. I mean, I don’t want any trouble, but if I’m being totally honest here, it’s also for myself. I usually just listen to Hollywood gossip and this is the first time I actually have met someone who is the focus of it.”

  “It’s not as fun as you might think,” he said gruffly. “But you do get used to it. So you like tea?”

  She knew he meant tea as in spilling the dirt on someone famous. “I do. I hate drama in my life, but I really love listening to it in others’. Does that make me a bad person?”

  “Not in my book. If you weren’t interested, some of those people wouldn’t have a career.”

  “Probably,” she conceded with a laugh. “That entire world of social influence seems strange to me. I mean my parents have real jo
bs where they go into work and get paid. But I love the Rich Wives shows...those women are paid to let a camera follow them around doing outrageous stuff. It’s hard to comprehend.”

  He laughed at that. “Yeah, I know. I am on the periphery of that. I have a lot of followers due to my lifestyle and I make money for promoting products, but I do have a real job.”

  He did?

  “You do?”

  “Yeah, having fun and giving everyone a lifestyle to aspire to.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure that’s a real job, but I’m glad that you have all those followers.”

  “Why?”

  “So they will come to the Soiree,” she said. “If one of your groupies took a ride with you from LA to Texas, imagine how many will flock to our event if they know you will be there.”

  “So you’re using me?”

  “Yeah,” she admitted, taking her eyes off the road to grin at him. “But I think you like that.”

  “We will see.”

  TWO

  They got out of her car when they got onto the ferry that would take them from Trinity Bay to Appaloosa Island. Mustang Point was an elite waterside community, and he was impressed by the yachts moored in the marina. This was his type of place. And hopefully it would distract him from Lila—the drive down had only heightened his awareness of her. He was trying to find the chink in her armor but so far, he hadn’t. To be honest, he wasn’t looking that hard.

  She paid for their tickets and chatted with the man who was selling them. If Zach had learned anything on the three-hour drive, it was that Lila was open and friendly. There was something almost innocent about her and it was refreshing after the LA scene, where everyone was trying to outshine one another.

  Lila walked back over to him, her wide-leg pants undulating with each step. His eyes drifted upward to assess the rest of her outfit. She had on a slim-fitting Breton shirt, which showed off her slender waist and the curve of her breasts. Again, he wondered why she was single. He wasn’t going to make the mistake of asking her another pointed question...or was he? She intrigued him.

  True, he was bored and at loose ends while he figured out his next move, but still he tried to reassure himself that he would have found her interesting even if he wasn’t in this rather small Texas town. He knew that was a lie and while he had no problem putting on a facade for his followers, he had always tried to never lie to himself.

  That was a path that he had long ago realized if he started down, he’d never come back from. His life was all about showing off; he knew that it was smoke and mirrors, and most of the time that didn’t bother him. Oh, hell. Was he getting melancholy? He shook his head. It was just being here in the state his grandfather had talked so much about, stirring up old dreams that were better left in the past. And of course, Lila stirring up new desires that he knew had no future.

  “The ferry will be leaving in ten minutes,” she told him. “There aren’t a lot of facilities on the island so if you need...well, it’s over there.”

  She sort of blushed when she gestured and he turned to see what she was pointing to.

  The ferry offices were there, and he noticed a restroom sign. He almost laughed again. She was too much. Just so different. He liked it. A little too much, he thought. He was in Texas to lie low, not start something with this small-town sweetheart.

  “I’m fine,” he said.

  “Okay. So, um, now that I’m not concentrating on driving, do you have any questions for me?”

  He did. But he knew she wasn’t inviting him to probe into her personal life. He was also curious about how she’d feel in his arms and what her kiss would be like. Prim and proper...or hot and unrestrained? She was a mix of both things and he wondered if there was something in her past that made her hide that side of herself. “I’ll wait until I’ve seen the facilities. The pdf you supplied was interesting.” A bit dull. But perhaps that was only because of the document. He wanted to see the venues before he made any judgments.

  “That’s fair. I haven’t been out here since all of the construction has been completed. I’m really impressed by the committee so far. I don’t want to let them down,” she said.

  “You won’t.”

  “I wish I had your confidence...and your followers,” she confessed.

  His followers.

  He seemed to have an instinct for posting the right sort of photos and wording his text in a way that people liked. A lot of the time, especially in the beginning, he’d been sarcastic, and his audience had thought he was joking. They loved his sense of humor. Which in a way had given him carte blanche to be himself. Or this version of himself. Speaking of which, he hadn’t posted for almost twenty-four hours on his social media channels. He’d needed time to think. To regroup and figure out his next move. He enjoyed his bad-boy reputation, but he had always felt that he was a good man...until now.

  He wondered if he’d become too inured in his lifestyle and lost a part of himself. Sleeping with a married woman—that was a line too far. And Ms. Jones was the balm for that.

  His mom had texted him as he’d left LA...one of her little nudges. She always couched it as “hope you are okay,” but he knew she wanted him to get a real job. To stop making money off influencing people. So he’d just texted back a smiley face and left it at that.

  “Followers are good, but if I burn them by recommending something that’s not up to the normal standards, they will turn on me. And rightly so. They’ve put their trust in my platform and I have to make sure that I deliver.”

  “What exactly do you deliver?” she asked. The ferry pulled in and she walked back over to the Mini Cooper.

  He followed her and got in, thinking about her question. What did he deliver? “A lifestyle that is fun, sexy and luxurious. I give them something to dream about and an escape from their everyday lives.”

  Lila nodded as she carefully drove onto the ferry. “That’s perfect for our event. I hope you will agree to share it with your followers.”

  She pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head, and he couldn’t help noticing her pretty brown eyes. They were big and wide and she smiled easily at him. That mouth of hers tempted him, too. The full lower lip seemed to beckon him closer, but then he noticed it moving.

  She was telling him something. Probably something important. Probably nothing to do with where his mind was heading.

  “I’m sorry...what did you say?”

  “Just that I don’t think you are going to be disappointed.”

  Oh, hell.

  He knew he wasn’t going to be disappointed in the woman, but the event had snoozefest written all over it from what he’d read. Now he was in a quandary. Did he stay here and help her out in the hopes of getting into her pants? Or was he going to be honest and go back to LA where an angry husband was waiting for him?

  No choice really.

  He was going to have to find a way to make this work, because he wasn’t ready to leave Lila Jones. Not yet.

  “Oh, I’m sure you and I can come up with something to keep that from happening,” he said.

  She blushed and nodded. “I’ll do whatever I have to in order to make this event a success.”

  “Perfect.”

  * * *

  Lila found Zach charming and easygoing. After the drive down she’d stopped feeling nervous about being around a man who was so famous. Well, mostly. It was hard because as she drove them off the private ferry toward the eastern side of the island, she saw people watching the car. Even when she’d been buying the ferry tickets, people had noticed him.

  Mostly younger people. The young, well-heeled moneyed crowd were exactly who they wanted to attract to Soiree on the Bay. They had the energy to share on social media the charities that the committee was promoting.

  “The western half of the island is famous for its pristine beaches and a small boutiqu
e hotel. There are a few large vacation homes as well,” she explained. “After we see the venue, I can drive you by them if you’d like.”

  “Sure.”

  She drove away from the ferry toward the festival grounds. There hadn’t been a lot on the island before they’d started constructing them. She parked in the dirt lot and put her keys in her pocket as she got out, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she waited for Zach to join her.

  “This is the parking area, obviously, and that field over there beyond will be for overnighters. I’m talking to a company that does glamping pods right now.”

  “Glamping?”

  “Yes. Well, not everyone who attends will be able to stay on their yachts, and the community of Mustang Point only has 750 hotel rooms. And the boutique hotel is very small. They do have a golf cart and Jeep service to pick up guests and bring them from the landing strip or this side of the island back to the resort.”

  “Um-hmm,” he said.

  She wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so she put on her best tour guide voice and smile and led him around the island. “This is the second music venue, sort of the smaller stage. I was thinking, like Glastonbury, it will be a place for up-and-coming artists to showcase their talent.”

  “That’s a good idea. Have you talked to any record companies?”

  “I have some feelers out,” she said. Not wanting to let him know that once he was on board and they started generating some real promotional buzz, she would make the calls. She didn’t want their top choices to turn the Soiree down before she had done this kind of work.

  “Over here will be the first of the three restaurants. It’s sort of based on a sports bar with a fusion menu. It will be open 24/7, serving both in the restaurant and some takeaway basket–type prepared meals.”

  “Do you have a celebrity chef doing the menus?”

  “I’m not sure. I think so. I can find out and let you know. I know that another member of the planning committee is handling that.”

  He nodded again. Then waited for her to go on.

  Lila wasn’t sure what he was thinking. She kept getting distracted by the spicy scent of his aftershave and the way that the sun brought out the highlights in his thick brown hair. The breeze on the island swirled around them, ruffling his hair, but it always landed back in the perfect spot. Her own mane, on the other hand, felt like it was growing with the humidity. And she was pretty sure that it was getting frizzy despite the products she’d put in it earlier in the day.