Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 74940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Infatuation isn’t love.
Did Jazz first tell me that? Or someone else? Whoever it was, I will heed it from now on.
As much fun as I had with Sebastian, I’m not losing a piece of my heart to him. Not this time.
Except lying here in his bed, both of us bathed in the afterglow, I’m finding it difficult to keep this promise to myself. His warm body feels perfect next to mine, and I wouldn’t mind a round two.
Damn it! Why am I always so confused?
Sex isn’t love. Infatuation isn’t love.
I’m not even sure I know what love is. I thought I was in love with Nelson, and he turned out to be a mega asshole. There have been others I’ve imagined myself in love with, but they’ve all fizzled out like a flat cherry coke. I’ve got to figure this out or I’ll continue to make bad decisions.
I swore after Nelson that I’d never be in that particular position again, and I haven’t been. I’ve always made sure the sex was good for me, no matter what. But the love? It’s been playing hide-and-seek with me, and I’m always “it.”
Sebastian opens his eyes and smiles at me, pulling me into his arms. “What are you thinking about, sugar plum?”
“Just stuff.”
“Yeah? Want to tell me about it?”
“Not so much.” I snuggle into his shoulder.
Then I pull back abruptly.
“You okay?” he asks.
“Yeah. I just...” I sigh. “Is this going to make things weird between us?”
He raises his eyebrows. “Why would it?”
“Brett and I... The first night... And now he hardly speaks to me. I just don’t want you to feel like we can’t still be friendly after what happened between us.”
“Ariel, why in hell would I feel like that?”
“I don’t know. This is just such a weird concept for a girl like me. Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to be here. So flattered that I was chosen.”
“I’m happy you’re here, too.” He strokes my cheek.
But I brush his hand away. I can’t talk about this with him touching me. I’ll get all confused again. “I’m serious. Brett and I connected the first night, but he hasn’t even looked my way since then. I’d like to spend more time with him, get to know him. Get to know all of you. But I can’t do that if you don’t talk to me.”
Ugh. I wish I could take back those immature words as soon as I say them. I sound like a teenage girl who’s smitten with the first guy who gives her a look.
But Sebastian doesn’t recoil. “Brett’s just Brett. He’s all in when he’s in. When he’s not in, he’s thinking about something else. It’s why he’s been so successful in his business, and it’s also why he probably hasn’t been successful in a relationship. I assure you he’s just as interested in you as he is in any of the others on the island. Probably more so, since he gravitated toward you first. It’s just his way of doing things. Me on the other hand? I’ll be happy to talk to you anytime—unless I’m entertaining another lady, of course.”
My heart drops at his last comment, but only a little. This situation is what it is, after all. We’re here to get to know all of them, and they’re here to get to know all of us.
“I’m glad,” I force myself to say. “I’d hate to think the fun’s over.”
“The fun is far from over, sugar. Have you made your decision?”
“What decision?” I ask.
He touches me again, this time trailing his finger over my shoulder to my breast and tweaking a nipple. “Whether to stay on the island.”
Right.
That decision.
“Because I sure hope you’ll stay. You’re beautiful and smart and sweet, Ariel. I thoroughly enjoyed this morning.”
“I did too, if you didn’t notice.”
“I noticed.” He pinches my nipple again. “You were sure ready for a fuck.”
He’s right on target there.
“So your decision...?” he prods.
I smile against his flesh.
My decision.
I want to stay. I want to get to know all the men.
And I definitely want to have sex with Sebastian Tate again.
Sebastian Tate! I fucked a rock star!
I’m not a groupie. I’m a country-music girl, after all.
But Sebastian Tate!
I could sweet-talk him, tell him how great he is in bed, but he already knows that. The fact that I came as soon as he got inside me only makes it clearer.
“Tell you what,” I say.
“What?”
“I’ll stay on one condition.”
He leans down, clamps his lips over the nipple he’s been teasing, and bites on it.
Hard.
The sensation is a lightning bolt that hits me right between the thighs. I suck in a breath as I toss my leg over his hip, ready to begin again.
“Your condition?” he murmurs against my tit.
“That this won’t be the last time you and I fuck.”