Dane should’ve left already. Picking up random women wasn’t why he was in Mexico. But maybe he was more like his father than he wanted to believe. How mistaken Shirley had been to say he was different.
A fresh wave of pain rolled over him, and he pushed it away. He didn’t want to dwell on it, especially not in front of others who didn’t give a damn. Pain and regrets were only indulged in private.
“Is your boyfriend okay with your plan?” he asked.
“Huh? My boyfriend?”
“Chad.”
She choked on her bread. He pushed a glass of water over, but she didn’t touch it. “He’s not my boyfriend.” She laughed, her slender shoulders shaking. “Oh my gosh. I think you’re the first person who thought that.”
“Really?” Dane poured himself some scotch. The tension around his neck and the base of his skull was beginning to ease. The alcohol must be finally working.
“He’s actually somebody my parents hired.”
“Bodyguard?”
“Well…sort of. He’s more like a chaperone…and everything else my parents couldn’t be for me.”
Dane understood that part. His parents had dumped him on nannies as soon as they realized he wasn’t going to play the role they’d assigned for him. But her parents’ choice was a bit odd. Most of the people he knew chose young, fresh-faced women as caretakers for their children.
But then her parents might be the type who just didn’t give a damn so long as they thought they’d thrown enough money at a problem. And to such parents, a child who needed time and attention was a problem.
“Aren’t you a bit old for a nanny?” he asked.
“Yes, but I couldn’t let him go.” She bit into her chicken.
“So he tagged along with you, on campus and everywhere else too?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t go to college. Actually, I didn’t really go to school at all.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Why not?” Not even his parents thought it was okay for their children to skip education. Certain appearances had to be maintained.
“I just…had other things I had to do. I generally had tutors to help me, and college wasn’t something I was thinking about going to for a while, and then…” She shrugged, her eyes dark now. She pressed her lips together, then shook her head. “It just…happened that way.” Shrugging, she looked away with an awkward smile.
Her obvious embarrassment bugged him. “Private tutoring is better than most schools, and college is nothing but an overpriced four year-long vacation.” His mouth twisted. “My biggest regret is that I didn’t choose better.”
“What was wrong with your college?”
“Too damn cold. Should’ve picked somewhere with a beach.”
Her lips twitched then slowly curved into a big, glorious smile. It was the first real smile he’d seen from her. Her green eyes glittered until they looked like immaculately cut emeralds, and a hot shade of pink crept into her cheeks.
His mouth dried, and he found himself staring at her lips, wondering what they would feel li—
What the hell? He didn’t… He didn’t want her, did he?
She was entirely too young—twenty-three by her own admission although she looked quite a bit younger—and she wasn’t his usual type. Even putting aside his requirement about the dumber the better, she was too skinny. He liked his women with tits and ass. Although Sophia’s ass was quite gorgeous—firm and round—she had virtually no tits and she certainly didn’t have the kind of worldly, easy sex vibe going for her that he was usually attracted to. On the other hand, that thick golden hair was just begging to be wrapped around his hand.
He drank more scotch. Shirley’s death must’ve affected him more than he’d thought.
“When I decide on a school, I’ll take that into consideration,” she said softly, then finished her scotch. “Would you like anything else? Dessert?”
You.
The thought came to him unbidden, and he pushed it away forcibly. “Got any cake or pie?”
“Ha. Not likely. We have fruit though.”
Dane didn’t like fruit that much. He should just decline and go back to his hotel. So long as he waved some money, any cab driver would take him there. But for some reason he couldn’t get up. So he nodded instead. “Sure. I love fruit.”
* * *
Sophia watched him under her lashes as he picked at his dessert. The fresh-cut pineapples and mangos were so sweet and ripe that they melted in her mouth, but Dane didn’t seem too interested.
Either he didn’t care for fruit or he’d already eaten more than he’d realized. He had an incredible appetite. She knew guys could put it away, but it still amazed her sometimes. Dane had polished off five times as much food as she had, and she was eating a lot more than her usual.