Billionaire Kisses (Love in Sandy Beach Book 2) Page 9

  They dressed and continued on their drive, but the happiness of the past few days was hard to capture. Soon they’d arrive in Cairns, and she had no idea what would happen then. To them. Would they just tell each other goodbye and go separate ways? Or did they have a chance at a future together?

  She’d grown to like him, and beneath his arrogant and rough exterior, she had discovered there was a warm and caring man hiding there. A man she was becoming very attached to. And it was more than the fantastic sex that drew her to him.

  Sure, the sex was phenomenal. But she also loved waking up beside him, snuggling up to him, kissing him, and hugging him throughout the whole day. Nik was a very affectionate man and found multiple opportunities, no matter where they were or what they were doing, to put his hands on her. And she loved it. All of it.

  But she had grown to love even more their stimulating conversations. Nik was exceptionally well educated and knew so many things. He’d truly changed during their trip together. From arrogant snob to warm-hearted passionate friend and lover.

  Just sometimes, an almost imperceptible tension built up. It wasn’t anything he said so much as a sensation she got he was holding back something from her. For some reason, she didn’t want to ask. She tiptoed around the topic, probably because she hadn’t come clean herself about Alec.

  She’d mentioned her boyfriend, telling Nik they’d broken up, but when he’d raised an eyebrow giving her an opportunity to expound and explain, she’d pretended she didn’t see it and changed the topic.

  No, she didn’t want to rehash her relationship with Alec, not with Nik. It was enough for him to know she’d broken up. There was no doubt in her mind he had plenty of past girlfriends in his closet as well. And she most definitely didn’t want to hear about them.

  Those thoughts stayed with her the rest of that day, and the next two days as they closed in on Australia’s eastern coast. When they reached the bituminized highway once again, they were able to travel much faster. The driving was easier, and while the ride was smoother, her thoughts became even more unraveled.

  Chapter 21

  Tomorrow, we’ll arrive in Cairns. That thought had been uppermost in Nik’s mind all morning. He’d managed to avoid any discussion in regards to the future with Reese, but he knew he couldn’t put it off much longer. He just wasn’t sure what he was going to say. Look, I’m not who you think I am. I’ve been lying to you every step of the way. No, that wouldn’t work. My name is not Nik Miller, but Nikos Petridis. Billionaire heir to a shipping empire. I had to hide in Australia after being arrested in a drug raid.

  Shit.

  “So, I was thinking we’d stop in Mareeba for the night, and then drive into Cairns tomorrow morning,” he told her as they continued to edge toward their destination.

  She smiled. “That sounds good.”

  He smiled back and reached for her hand, but the chirping of his phone distracted him. Only three people had the number to this phone. A sense of foreboding caused him to pull off the side of the road and reach for his phone. He swiped his thumb across the screen, opened the text message, and then froze.

  N – press waiting in Cairns.

  He read the message again and wanted to curse. Holy shit. How in the hell did they find out where he was? He’d been extremely careful to cover his tracks.

  When Reese gave him a quizzical look, he smiled at her and pretended nothing was wrong. He decided to drive into Mareeba and call Evelyn from there. Once they arrived, he suggested Reese do some shopping amongst the local vendors while he took care of a few business calls.

  “I’ve been out of touch for far too long and there are a few things I need to take care of. Catch up with you in a few hours?”

  She smiled at him and kissed him. Her kiss sent flutters of desire through his body, but he didn’t have time for pleasure right now.

  “Sure. I’ll pick up something for dinner, shall I?”

  “Sounds good. Especially if you’re cooking.” He loved her cooking and made sure to compliment her every chance he got.

  She walked off, a lightness to her step that hadn’t been there the first time they’d met. He sighed and went in search of some much needed information.

  Frustration and anger showed in his voice when he called his assistant Evelyn, “What do you mean the press is waiting for me in Cairns?”

  “Because they are. Apparently, someone over there leaked pictures of you in Broome to the press. They know you took the Gibb River Road, what your camper van looks like. And they know you’re headed to Cairns for the kiteboarding championship.”

  “Shit!” He didn’t apologize for his coarse language. Evelyn had been working for him long enough not to take it personally, and was just as apt to use similar language in his presence.

  “Nik, that’s not all.”

  He groaned. “What else is there?”

  “They know you have a woman with you.”

  “What? How on earth can they know that? I didn’t even meet her in person until the morning we left.”

  “Pictures have been released. I’m sending them to your phone right now.”

  Nik waited for the pictures to load and cursed again. There, in color, were several pictures of him around Broom, his camper van, sipping coffee at the internet café, and one with Reese in front of the YMCA. Only her back and her hair could be seen, but it was enough for him to recognize her.

  “The press is speculating about her identity and I must tell you, they’re not very kind.”

  How dare they invade my privacy in such a way. And Reese’s. She doesn’t deserve that. He loathed the paparazzi, and would have punched the bastard if one were standing in front of him.

  “Nik, your grandfather called me a few minutes before I sent the text message. He demands a thorough investigation of how the pictures got into the press and who the woman is in the picture.”

  “She’s no one.”

  “You know that isn’t going to fly. Tell me her name and I’ll personally run the background check on her.”

  Nik sighed. “Fine. Her name is Reese Paxton. She’s twenty-six.”

  Evelyn repeated the name, spelling the last name to make sure she had it right. “I’ll get back in touch with you as soon as I have a report in hand. Nik, be careful.”

  “I’m always careful.”

  “The present situation would beg to differ.”

  “Yeah.” He disconnected the call and wandered around the small town aimlessly for thirty minutes before Evelyn called him again. “What?”

  “Nik, you’re not going to like it.”

  “Spill it.”

  “The leak came from Broome. Our security believes she’s the one feeding information to the press. There’s no other explanation. But it’ll take a few days to get her background check and trace the money paid for the pics.”

  Nik balked at the very idea. “Reese wouldn’t do that. She doesn’t even know who I really am.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  That gave him pause. No, I’m not sure about that. Right now, I’m not sure about anything. He listened for a few more minutes and then disconnected the call. Had Reese sold him out? It wouldn’t be the first time a woman tried to use his fame to garner some of her own.

  The more he thought about it, the more he began to believe that Reese was most certainly behind the photos. Two hours later, he met her at the camper, suspicion in his heart and any affection for her locked away behind a door of steel.

  She looked so sweet and innocent. But it was a ruse. She was deceiving him and every word out of her mouth was a reason to suspect.

  What about the boyfriend? Was he in on this? Terrence. His mind worked up all kinds of ideas and ways they could have pulled it off. Reese and Terrence had plotted between them to ruin him. A part of him still wanted to believe she was innocent, but the evidence was against her. Suddenly, everything started to make sense.

  Her boyfriend had snapped the pictures in Broome and she’d played the
role of damsel in distress to lure him into taking her with him. Even the meeting at the stinger beach had been a setup. Once in Cairns, she’d probably sell more pics and personal information to the press. Maybe she’d even…his ears heated. No, she wouldn’t, would she?

  He wouldn’t give her the opportunity to leak more information about him. This time, he had the upper hand and he intended to keep it. He was going to catch her with her hands in the cookie jar.

  Chapter 22

  Reese made dinner, but her mind was fixed on the man sitting outside. Since coming back from town, he had changed. Gone was the tender and caring man she’d fallen in love with, and in his place had appeared the same distant, arrogant man she’d first encountered on the beach.

  While the meat cooked, she went to the doorway and asked, “Nik, is everything alright?”

  “You’d know the answer to that question better than I.”

  What? Before she could ask him what that comment was supposed to mean, he stood up and stalked off without any explanation.

  His inexplicable and rude behavior was driving her crazy. It was much more than avoiding the topic of a common future. When he came back, she called him to dinner, but when he wouldn’t hug or kiss her, she knew something was terribly wrong. Her heart grew wary.

  She asked him several more times, but he just kept answering her with cryptic phrases that led her to believe he thought she knew the answers already.

  In the moment he’d finished eating, he excused himself. “I’m not feeling well tonight. You better sleep in your bunk, just in case it’s contagious.”

  Her blood froze in her veins. That’s it. It’s over. This is his way of telling me there’s no future for us.

  She cleaned up the dinner dishes and then headed for her bunk. It was their last night before arriving in Cairns and suddenly she thought she knew what was going on here. While she would have liked to talk about their relationship, he was too much of a coward to tell her to her face. Instead, he’d decided to just push her away from him. Coward!

  Reese crawled into her bunk, feeling horribly let down and almost cried about the turn of events. Wasn’t he man enough to tell her? Didn’t she deserve an explanation? Her impulsive side had her getting up and demanding they talk this out now, but then her control freak rationality took over. How do you know he isn’t truly sick? Won’t you feel stupid if you go back there to make a fuss over nothing?

  Tomorrow would be a better time to find out exactly what was going on. A good night’s sleep could be just what both of them needed.

  The next morning, she packed up her stuff, knowing that the next time they stopped, they’d be in Cairns and she would be headed to the hotel to meet up with her brothers.

  Nik got ready to travel again, but he said nothing to her. He didn’t even return her greeting of, “Good morning.”

  She tried not to let his hostile behavior make her too sad, and instead focused on meeting her brothers. She picked up her phone, intending to call Terrence and let him know she was almost there.

  When he eyed her with suspicion, glaring at her phone, she was thoroughly confused. “What?”

  “Going to play it all the way to the end, aren’t you?”

  Her blood boiled and she closed her eyes and counted to ten before opening them again, ignoring the obnoxious man next to her.

  Terrence didn’t answer and her call went straight to voicemail. “You know what to do.” A long beep indicated it was her turn to talk.

  “Hey, Terr. Call me. Love you.” She hung up the phone and then noticed Nik glaring at her.

  “Why are you shooting daggers at me?”

  “Are you always this short with people on the phone?”

  Reese laughed. “With Terrence? Yes. He probably won’t even listen to the message and call straightaway.”

  Nik shook his head, making a disgusted face before saying, “I have no idea, why you’re still calling that man. He stood you up.”

  She lifted a shoulder. “I’m used to it. He’s a musician and he lives for his music. And…I met you because of that.”

  “He doesn’t deserve you.”

  He said it with such vehemence; it caught Reese off guard. She observed him for a moment and then grinned. “I know he doesn’t. But it’s not like we had a choice.”

  “For god’s sake, he’s your boyfriend.”

  Finally, the penny dropped and she almost burst out laughing. “You’re jealous.”

  Before he could deny it, she corrected his thinking, “Nik, you don’t have to worry about Terrence. He’s my twin brother.”

  Chapter 23

  Her twin brother? Terrence was her brother? Nik experienced a sense of relief, but on the heels of that emotion can another. Suspicion. Her twin brother, of course. They’d planned this entire thing together. And he’d fallen for their trap.

  She would sleep with him and get his guard down, and her twin would feed information and pictures to the press. A perfect conspiracy.

  A few miles up the road, he saw a gas station and pulled over. He was unsure of what to do next. Maybe this was all a big misunderstanding. He wanted to believe in her. He really did. But Evelyn had accused her. And Evelyn had a security team and investigators to back up her accusations.

  “Let’s grab some lunch.”

  Reese eyed him, but nodded slowly. “Okay. We just ate breakfast, but we can eat here. No problem.”

  At the small diner, they placed their order and soon had finished their meals, when another call from Evelyn came in.

  He looked at Reese and suggested, “Why don’t you go ahead? I’ll take this call and be right out.”

  She left the small diner with crouched shoulders and it broke his heart to see her like this. But he couldn’t afford emotions; he had to steel himself against his affection for her. For all he knew, she had betrayed him and didn’t deserve mercy.

  Nik answered the call, the news just more of the same and condemning Reese as being the only one who had access to his whereabouts these last two weeks.

  “I’ll take care of it,” he told Evelyn.

  “How?”

  Nik sighed. “I don’t know yet. But I’ll try to be discreet.” He pocketed his phone and dropped some bills on the tabletop to cover their check.

  When he exited the diner, the sight of Reese snapping a picture of his camper with her phone had him seeing red. Before he could temper his actions, he reached over her shoulder and knocked the phone out of her hands.

  She looked up at him in total shock before she picked up the phone from the ground. “Why did you do that?”

  “What did you need a picture of my camper van for?”

  “Nik, I don’t know what’s eating at you, but you’re paranoid. Normal people take pictures when they’re on vacation. Sometimes they take a picture of the hotel where they stay. Me, I take a picture of the vehicle I traveled across the Australian Outback in.”

  “You’re right. I’m not normal. Give me your phone.”

  “What?”

  “Give me the phone. Now.” Instead of waiting for her response, he reached out and wrestled it from her hands. He dropped it into his pocket, ignoring the way she rubbed her wrist he’d twisted while taking her phone away.

  Nik was beyond furious, and he could care less if she got hurt while he straightened this mess out or not. It was her fault, after all. Her phone was the key to proving her betrayal.

  He walked a short distance away before he retrieved her phone from his pocket. He scrolled through the images on her memory card, and then he looked through her text messages. When he saw her frequent communications with Terrence, he rounded on her, demanding, “Who did you send this information to?”

  She shook her head, backing away from him. “Nik, I don’t know what’s going on here, but you’re scaring me.”

  “Did you have this all planned from the beginning? How much did you get for betraying me? I hope it was enough.”

  He had reached her by the time he finishe
d his little tirade and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her with each additional question. She was looking up at him with hurt and tears in her eyes.

  She was no longer fighting him, just looking up at him with a dumbfounded look upon her face. He pushed her away and went back to scrolling through the pictures on her phone. Aside from the picture she’d just taken of his camper, there were no other pictures on her phone to condemn her. But the text messages were a different story.

  Her last message was addressed to both Terrence and a man named Chase. It confirmed the date and estimated time she’d be arriving in Cairns. That was proof enough for him.

  “Gotcha! He showed her the text message and then walked to the camper. He pulled out her packed bags, setting them on the ground and heading for the driver’s door. “Game’s over, sweetie. This is the end of the road.”

  As he pulled away from the gas station, one final glance in his mirror showed her standing where he’d left her, staring after him with confusion and defeat written all over her.

  He should be rejoicing in having caught her, but happiness wasn’t what he felt. He felt sad, betrayed and lost. Not only because she’d used him, but also because she was no longer in his life.

  The idea of Reese had been just that – an idea. The reality was beyond comprehension and he forcibly shut her out of his mind. He had a mess to clear up, whether he’d asked for it or not.

  Chapter 24

  “You’re wrong. Whatever it is you think I’ve done, you’re wrong,” she shouted after him. He didn’t give any indication that he’d heard her, and when he put her bags on the ground and drove off, she knew that it really didn’t matter.

  She was still fuming at Nik when Terrence called, “Hey sis. Can’t wait to see you.”

  “Ter, I need you to come get me.”

  “Come get you? Where are you?”

  “About forty miles south at a gas station. My ride left me here because he needed to go the other direction.” There was no way she could tell him the truth. The truth hurt too badly. She’d hooked up with a maniac. A man who’d used her and then thrown her away, accusing her of committing some imaginary crime. She hadn’t done anything bad, apart from burning their dinner last night. Her only fault was ever getting involved with him.