Crew said nothing, just gently stroked her back and waited for her to continue.

“I was so ashamed of who I was, even though the servants tried for years to tell me that my grandparents were wrong. Many of them stayed on only so they could look out for me when I was home during school holidays, and I’m grateful they did. It’s why it’s so much easier for me to speak with people in the service industry. I was never to show my face when my grandparents were entertaining guests. They didn’t want to remind the community that I was around. They’d done their duty by providing a roof over my head and food, but that was as far as they were willing to go.

“How was school? Did it give you freedom?”

“No. School was worse than home. My grandparents paid my tuition and gave me the bare minimum of supplies and clothing, but I was going to a wealthy school where all of the other kids had plenty of money to spend on activities and socializing. I had nothing and was left behind. They all looked at me like a charity case, and I made zero friends while there. It was lonely, of course. I always was. I became interested in boys even though I had my grandmother’s voice in my head calling me a slut for even thinking about wanting to kiss one of them.”

“She was wrong!”

“I know that now. I honestly do, but it took me years. My grandparents died when I was eighteen. There was a gas leak in the house and they passed in their sleep. Even though they were horrible to me, I still felt sadness. None of the servants died —they slept in separate quarters behind the house. They’ve moved on, and we’ve now lost touch. A couple checked on me for a couple of years after the death of my grandparents, but then they had to worry about their own lives. The house sits empty, only a gardener left to make sure the grass doesn’t overtake it.”

“So, you’ve held on to it for six years?”

“I haven’t sold it yet. I honestly don’t know why. It took over a year for all the estate to finalize and for me to get my inheritance since there wasn’t a will. I have always planned on getting rid of it. There are no happy memories there for me now, I just haven’t done it yet. I will…”

“I don’t know how I can make any of this better for you, Haley. I can’t even say that I understand, because I don’t. It’s inconceivable for me to think of people treating one of their own kin, someone they are supposed to love, in that heartless, inhuman way.”

Silence stretched out between them as she tried to push her raw emotions down. She’d shared her tale with only one other person, her counselor at college, and it had helped her to see she wasn’t a child of Satan who didn’t deserve to live. Still, it wasn’t easy to get beyond the horrors of her early life.

She hated admitting all of this to Crew, since she wanted him to view her as something more than a child in the shadows, but it also felt good to get it off her chest, to share this burden with another human being, one who wasn’t being paid to listen. As much as speaking with her counselor had helped, the woman had just sat behind her desk taking notes, hadn’t rubbed Haley’s back and let her know it would all be OK. Still, without her, Haley would never have had the confidence to get a job or take this vacation she’d won, or ever been able to approach Crew to ask for his help.

It had taken her years to gain the courage to try to change who she was. She wanted to find a man who would look at her, desire her, maybe even love her. Every romantic movie she’d watched had a hero racing in to save the day, and she’d ached for that, whether it was politically correct or not. She wanted her prince charming to save her.

“So, you decided to change your life, and then you found me.”

“No. Not quite that quickly. It took me years to work up the courage to actually find a man to teach me,” she admitted. “I came here because I won the trip, and I figured this was a good place to find a teacher because it’s an island — much harder for a man to escape,” she finished with a laugh.

“I don’t want to escape you.” The words sounded wonderful, but she wasn’t stupid. They were both caught up in this magical night — in this surreal moment. They would probably both see things in another light once dawn approached.

“You are teaching me to feel different about myself, Crew. I’ve felt things in the last week that I never imagined I would, but this is all just a fantasy, a game I came up with to change who I am. It may work, and it may not, but I don’t want to think past right now. I need to remain in reality.” She pleaded with him to understand. “Let’s not pretend this is something it isn’t.”

After a short pause, he responded. “I will agree to live in the moment if you agree to quit the game and give me a chance. I’m not a bad guy, and though it surprises me to say this, I like you, Haley…a lot. Let’s forget about this other man you wanted to seduce, and focus on having you seduce only me from now on. You’re pretty damned great at it!”

Haley knew there was a reason she should protest — knew she’d figure out what that reason was if she thought about it long enough, but while his hands caressed her, while his warmth kept her sated and secure, she couldn’t find fault with what he was asking of her. After a brief pause, she nodded her head.

“Say it, Haley.” The nod wasn’t good enough.

“I will forget the other guy…for now.” She knew her answer wasn’t good enough for Crew, but at least he wasn’t pushing her.

The two of them lay in each other’s arms for the next hour, or two — they didn’t know — listening to the soothing sound of the ocean waves until the cool evening air had them admitting it was time to go in. When Crew led her to his room that night, she didn’t fight him. She wasn’t ready to let go just yet.

Pulling her into his arms to hold her and nothing more, she felt the first warm stirrings in her untutored heart. But she couldn’t be falling in love with him. She didn’t know what love was, had no examples of it in her life. Her emotions were clearly just in overdrive from everything that had occurred during the day, and night.

Falling asleep with a smile on her face and Crew’s arms wrapped around her, she slept better than she ever had before.

Chapter Sixteen

“Wake up. We’re going to one of my favorite places for lunch.”

Haley felt as if one-ton weights were pressed against her eyelids. Wake up? No way. She was warm, sated, very sore, and unwilling ever to climb from bed again. Maybe if she ignored him, he’d eventually go away. It was worth a shot.

“Pretending to be asleep won’t do you any good. It’s already noon. I’ve gotten in four hours of work and a ten-mile jog on the beach, plus I calmed down my sister on a half-hour-long phone call.”

Crew was sounding way too cheery. “Show-off,” she muttered under her breath. She wanted to throw one pillow at his face, and bury her head underneath another one. She wasn’t budging.

“Haley, I can see your muscles tensing. I know you’re awake.”

“I wouldn’t be if you’d kindly shut up,” she grumbled, savagely twisting her body away from the sound of his voice and snuggling down deeper into the softness of his mattress.

Normally, Haley was a very happy person in the mornings, but she’d stayed up long into the night. And anyway, accomplished seductresses needed their beauty rest.

“I’m taking you to my favorite place on the island to eat. Now get up,” he said before playfully swatting her on her bare behind. She was so shocked, she sat up in bed, clutching the sheet to her chest, her eyes wide as she looked into his smiling face.

This wasn’t the same man she’d met a week before.

“I saw and tasted your luscious curves last night...twice. Why hide them now?” he asked as he sat on the bed and ran his finger along the top of the sheet in an attempt to free it from her grip.

“That was…well, that was…” She didn’t know what she wanted to say.

“Something we will do again and again,” he finished for her.

Haley was in shock. She hadn’t known what to expect this morning, but certainly not this playful, lighthearted Crew. She had expected him to look at her with pity, or not look at her at all, having made his conquest.

“That wasn’t our deal,” she finally said as her fingers clung to the silken sheet — her only protection at the moment. She had a sudden desire to slip into one of her baggy tops and hide away for the next week.

“The deal has changed,” he answered her simply. “If you keep gazing at me with those wide, innocent eyes, looking so delectable, I will have to forget about taking you out, and just ravish you all day instead.”

The desire instantly forming in his expression had her green eyes rounding. She wasn’t so sure that was a bad idea.

“Woman!” he groaned as he got up and walked to the door as if it would somehow protect them both. “You were a virgin and you got a serious workout last night. It would do more damage than good for us to go another round. Please, for the sake of my health, too, get showered and dressed before I change my mind.”

With those words, he turned and left the suite’s bedroom, leaving Haley leaning back against the headboard with a thoughtful smile on her face.

This was what he’d been talking about — this feeling of power, of knowing she was responsible for making his body harden, for making him want her. She was getting a small taste of what it felt like to be a seductress — and she liked it.

Fully awake now and ready for her day out with Crew, she jumped from the bed, letting the sheet drop without feelings of shame as she walked into the bathroom and climbed into the shower. She didn’t realize what he was talking about until her hand ran over the outside of her core while she was washing.

She was tender, and now grateful for his consideration. She suspected that walking around would be difficult enough on her.

Panicking for a moment when she realized she was in Crew’s suite, she returned to his bedroom, then sighed with relief when she found her newly purchased outfits sitting atop his bed. He thought of everything.

Thankfully, she’d bought some silky panties that wouldn’t scrape against her lower regions. With care, she slid them on, and then chose a skirt and blouse.

Haley was happy with what she saw in the mirror. Her new colorful clothes made her feel feminine and appealing. She decided to put on a little makeup, which she’d found after rummaging through the bathroom drawers in search of a washcloth. Who had brought it here and knew that she’d stayed in the owner’s suite? It was too mortifying to think about.

She was just finishing placing her hair into a loose bun when Crew joined her.

“You look good enough to lick up and down your entire body. Do you smell just as tasty?” he asked as he pulled her into his arms and lowered his head. As his lips tugged on hers, Haley forgot all about soreness and pushed her body up against his. This was something she could get used to.

With a growl, Crew pulled back and looked deep in her eyes. “Yes. Yes, you do,” he said before pulling back and grasping her hands.