Rivals in Paradise. Gwyneth Bolton
girl he’d thought her to be. And the one kiss they’d shared had cost him the election and had haunted him for years. It was time to put all those old feelings to bed, literally.
He glanced at her.
She was still beautiful. Her flawless nutmeg complexion was radiant. Even that fake smile she’d given him as she lied through her teeth had an exuberance about it that pulled him in. She wore her long, dark brown hair in soft ringlet curls that framed her face. Judging by what he was able to see when she stood up so that he could get to his seat, her body had matured in all the right ways and all the right places. He didn’t see the same sweet idealism in her soft brown eyes that he remembered, but they still made him want to gaze into them.
She wasn’t going to make it easy, that was for sure. But then, he never liked things too easy, anyway; it spoiled the fun of the chase. One thing was certain, he wasn’t going to miss out on the opportunity that fate had sent him to get the one who got away and pay her back for all her devious treachery.
She would crack eventually. He’d see to it.
He tapped her again and she turned to face him just as the flight attendant came back with his drink.
Cicely made a show of turning off her iPod. “What?”
Clearly that nice, sweet girl he knew back at FAMU was just an act. The way the woman was giving off attitude, you would think it was her middle name.
Chase smiled. It would take more than a sistagirl-tude to scare him off. “It’s going to be a long flight. And even though I brought work with me, I’d much rather catch up with you. So, what brings you to Dahinda?”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. Despite how things ended up in the past, I’d like to think that we would’ve been friends if we hadn’t been running against one another.”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “Please, you wouldn’t have even noticed me or known I was alive if I hadn’t stepped up to run against you.”
That certainly wasn’t true. He had noticed little Miss Cicely Stevens from the first day she stepped on campus during her freshman orientation, when he’d been an orientation leader for another group of freshmen. He’d also noticed that she seemed to gravitate toward the quiet, four-eyed, nerdy-type guys. And she had run through the nerds and over them like nobody’s business. He’d always thought that what she really needed was more of a challenge.
Not wanting to give her ego anything to feast on, he just let her comment about him not noticing her slide. “So, what are your plans once you land on my beautiful island?”
She paused and considered him carefully. Her eyes narrowed ever so briefly and he thought for a minute she wasn’t going to answer him.
Taking her iPod and placing it in her bag, she then turned to him. “Actually, I haven’t the slightest idea. This vacation was sort of spur-of-the-moment. I needed to get away from it all and needed someplace to clear my head. I figured I’d wing it.”
She opened her mouth as if she were considering adding something else and then shut it quickly.
Interesting.
“Well, that just won’t do, Cicely. You really have to try and make some time for me to show you the sights. How long will you be staying?”
“One week. And while I appreciate your quite insistent offer, I really don’t think I’m in the mood for any company. You know, part of the whole ‘space to clear my head’ thing?” She forced a fake smile and made a move to go for her iPod again.
Chase reached out and touched her hand before she could do so. An electric shock went through him, and he felt his heart skip.
Oh, shit, that was odd.
Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open, but no words came out. She shut her mouth, but she stopped reaching for her iPod. Slowly, she removed her hand from his touch.
“I’m going to be on the island for two weeks. And I’m thinking I need to spend some of that time reacquainting myself with you, Cicely. I’m not one to beg, or to force my company on a woman. But I know that you would regret it if you allowed this moment to pass without taking the chance for us to get to know one another again.”
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