She was winning hearts and minds everywhere. And she was making him just a little insane. His plan was going nowhere fast and time was slipping by. Meanwhile, he was trapped with the empty-headed actress smiling up at him as if she wanted to take a bite out of him. Perhaps at some point in his past he would have been tempted to allow her to do just that. But since meeting Teresa, no other woman interested him in the slightest.
So he gritted his teeth and focused on getting rid of Serenity James as quickly and discreetly as possible.
“As a guest at Castello Tesoro,” he said, “you are my priority, Serenity. We want you to be happy and enjoy your time on the island.”
“Well, that’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me all day.” She threaded her arm through his and steered him off to her table. “Join me for a drink so I can thank you again.”
Annoyance scratched at the base of his spine, but he kept his professional smile firmly in place. There was no way out of this and Rico knew it. He was used to playing host to the wealthy and the spoiled. And sometimes that meant temporarily burying his own wants and needs to keep the guests happy. Besides, Teresa wasn’t going anywhere.
He took a seat beside the actress at her table. While Serenity told him all about her latest movie and asked him where she could find some real “action” on the island, Rico’s mind wandered to the brunette behind the bar.
For three days and nights, they’d shared his home. His bedroom. His bed. Every night he lay beside her in the dark and called on every reserve of willpower he possessed to keep from touching her and taking what he still thought of as his. His mind filled with images, memories, of burying his body deep within hers. Tension coiled so hard and fast inside him it was a wonder he slept at all. But he would finally fall asleep, only to wake up with Teresa curled up against him, her arm flung across his chest, her head nestled on his shoulder. The scent of her filled his lungs and made waking both pleasure and agony.
Though she went to sleep clinging to the edge of the bed like the last leaf on a tree in autumn, by morning, Teresa was all over him.
She wasn’t being tortured by his plan.
He was.
Serenity dragged the tips of her bloodred nails across the back of his hand. But rather than the seductive sensation she no doubt hoped it was, all Rico felt was irritation. He drew his hand back and gave her a smile. “If there’s anything we can do to ensure your stay is a pleasant one, you must tell me.”
Instantly her grass-green eyes flashed with interest and more. No, that wasn’t what he’d meant, but women like Serenity saw only what they wished.
“Now that you mention it,” she said on a throaty purr, “why don’t you and I go to my cottage right now and have a private party? We could get to know each other better and—”
Before he could speak, he heard Teresa’s voice come from directly behind him.
“A private party?” she repeated, coming around to sit on the arm of Rico’s chair. She laid one arm around his shoulders and he felt her breast press against him as she leaned in.
Curious as to what she was up to, he didn’t say a word to stop her.
“Shouldn’t you be behind the bar mixing drinks?” Serenity asked coolly, her gaze moving up and down Teresa’s outfit of cotton-candy-pink T-shirt, white shorts and flip-flops with dismissal.
“Oh,” Teresa cooed, “I’m much more than a bartender, Ms. James.”