Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“You’re such a good man, Conway.”
Normally, I would disagree with her. I would tell her to never say that again. But this time, I didn’t. This time, I relished the way it felt on my ears. I didn’t drop thirty million dollars for Muse’s sake. I wasn’t looking for approval or glory. I just did it because I wanted to, not because of the way Muse would feel about me.
We didn’t say anything else. The silence stretched across the line as I kept driving. Just as if we were sitting across from each other at breakfast, we didn’t make small talk. I could have just hung up, but I didn’t want to. I loved the heavy silence between us, the connection that still bound us even miles apart.
I could feel her.
She could feel me.
8
Sapphire
I’d seen pictures of Greece online, the tall white buildings with the dark blue domes as the roof. I’d seen pictures of the Mediterranean, manipulated to look brighter and bluer. But none of those images did justice to reality.
It was breathtaking.
Sailboats were along the edge of the island, floating across the Mediterranean looking for seafood. The white color of their hulls was bright under the unforgiving sun. The city stretched backward up the hill, growing taller as the buildings reached the center of the island.
I stood on the back patio of his villa, a beautiful white building that had its own access to the harbor where his yacht was parked. Luxurious and big, it was designed in the same style as the rest of Santorini. There was a large pool that overlooked the blue sea and a nice balcony that could take in the stunning views.
I stood on the porch with my arms crossed over my chest, unable to absorb what I was looking at.
Conway put our bags away inside the house, used to the sight because he’d seen it so many times.
But for someone like me, this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. “Oh. My. God.”
Conway came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “What do you think?”
“What do I think?” I asked incredulously. “It’s gorgeous. I don’t even understand what I’m looking at right now. How can the world be this beautiful?”
He smothered my neck with kisses, his warm breaths falling across my skin. “I’ve seen something else more beautiful…”
I tilted my neck to give him more access as my lips rose in a smile. I gripped his forearms and enjoyed his kisses while I looked out into the beauty of the Greek island right before me. Pictures didn’t do this place justice. “What do we do first?”
“What would you like to do?”
“I don’t know… I want to swim in the pool, but I also want to stick my feet in the ocean. But then I’m also hungry. And I want to explore the town…and sail on your yacht. I can’t decide.”
He chuckled against my ear. “I’ll have dinner delivered, and we’ll sit in the pool as the sun goes down. How about that?”
“Perfect.”
We sat in the pool together with our wineglasses on the deck. The sun was gone, but the lights from the curvature of the island could be seen. The warmth had dissipated, but there was still humidity in the air.
I sat beside him in the water, looking out into a view I couldn’t describe.
Conway moved me onto his lap, adjusting me easily because I was buoyant in the water. “Did you enjoy your dinner?”
“It was the best lobster I’ve ever had…and one of the few I’ve ever had.”
He grinned slightly, his hard chest reflecting the blue light from the pool. His arm scooped under my legs behind my knees, and he rubbed his nose against mine. “You can eat lobster every day if you want.”
“No, I’m eating light tomorrow. I ate way too much today.”
His hand moved over my stomach. “Really? Because I think you’re perfect.”
My arms surrounded his neck. “You’re a lingerie designer. I need to be a hundred pounds or less.”
“For the runway. But you aren’t a model. You’re just mine now.” He rubbed his nose against my cheek. “And I like you well fed and happy. You’re sexy no matter what your size.”
I chuckled. “You know every woman in the world wants to hear that.”
“And it looks like you get to listen to it.”
“Because I’m insanely lucky,” I said with a laugh. After the words jumped out of my throat, I realized what I’d said and how stupid it was to say it. But I brushed it off and looked into the water, pretending it never happened.
He rested his face against the side of my cheek, his fingers grazing across my thigh under the water.
I sat still, letting the ocean breeze move over the dry skin of my shoulders. “Have you brought other women here?”
“Is that really a conversation you want to have?”