“I work for the Gabriel Fulton, billionaire entrepreneur extraordinaire. It’s a dream position that every assistant wants.” She caught his gaze. “Most people wouldn’t feel sorry for me. Some might even call me lucky.”
He laughed and she smiled. There. Not one wisp of pity in his silver blue eyes now.
He grabbed the second, bigger bucket. “Time for more water.”
Kara’s eyes followed the stretch of his body as he unfolded from his sitting position in the sand. His swim trunks caressed his perfect butt and left bare a temptingly touchable chest and sculptured abs. Tall and regal, with no-nonsense black hair, he ruled his companies with the skill and mastery of a king guiding an empire. The way he worked had attracted her more than his good looks, but the good looks certainly didn’t hurt.
She watched him walk to the water, bend down, scoop up a bucketful and rise to come back.
She dropped her gaze to the wet sand she was patting into a brick.
She had a thing for him. He was finally noticing her. They were in paradise. This was her big shot to change their relationship from professional to personal. The bikini had broken the ice. Now she had to figure out how to melt it completely.
“What do you want for supper, sweetie?”
Kara walked into the kitchen of her boss’s beach house just in time to see Gabe coax his daughter into eating. After they’d returned from three hours of playing in the sand and a quick rinse under the outdoor shower, she’d toweled off and slipped a T-shirt over her bikini.
Stacy giggled. “Cocoa cereal.”
Kara held back a laugh. It was fun watching ruthless billionaire playboy Gabe Fulton being tested by a tiny, blue-eyed, blonde-haired four-year-old.
“We don’t do cereal for supper.”
His stern voice caused Kara to face him as he continued.
“I can make hamburgers, hot dogs, steak or chicken on the grill. Plus veggies. Or I can heat a can of soup. Or you can go to bed hungry. Your choice.”
The little girl’s lips fell into a pout, but she didn’t argue. “Hamburger, please.”
Intrigued, Kara strolled to the center island where Stacy sat with her elbows on the yellow granite and her little chin on her closed fists.
“That’s better. Now go wash your hands.”
Stacy sniffed out a long breath, but again did what her daddy had told her to do.
When she was gone, Kara said, “Wow. That was amazing.”
“If I had to face a boardroom full of four-year-olds instead of arrogant executives, I wouldn’t have half the money I have.”
She laughed. “So what’s up with your ex-wife’s sudden trip to Europe? Is it business?”
“Nope. Pleasure. The trip is a vacation.”
Kara narrowed her eyes, considering that. “But Sunday is Mother’s Day.”
“She doesn’t care.”
“Stacy will.”
***
Relief rippled through Gabe. He’d been so bedazzled by the sight of Kara in a bikini that he’d forgotten what a nice person she was. Of course she understood. She might be attractive and it might have shocked him to see her in a bikini…but she was still Kara. Perfect assistant.
“That’s why we’re not going to even mention it while she’s around.”
“Got it.”
He took a mug from the cupboard to pour himself a cup of coffee. Before he did, though, he waved the mug at her. “Can I get you one?”
“Yes, I’d love a cup.”
He froze. That was one of about a hundred things they had in common. Even on the hottest days, they loved coffee. They also loved horror movies. And Mexican food and margaritas. If he ever found her counterpart in the dating scene he might have to rethink his vow to never remarry.
He shook his head to clear it. That was ridiculous. After the bitter divorce war that followed his short marriage, he now only dated. What the hell had put the idea of marriage into his head?
He nodded at the eReader Kara had in her hands. “By the way, I bought you that business book you said you wanted to read. It should have downloaded by now.”
She clicked on the eReader. “Closing the Deal?”
She scrolled through her titles, found it and peeked up at him with a radiant smile. “I’ve wanted to read this for weeks. Thanks.”
His chest puffed with pride, and that confused him, too. He wasn’t someone who usually needed credit for doing nice things. He certainly didn’t need to impress Kara.
All this weirdness with her had to be the fault of their out-of-the-ordinary workplace. Not his fault or Kara’s, but the beach’s. Being together only half dressed had to be what had him thinking such strange thoughts. The book could help fix that.
“You’ll have a chance to read it when I take Stacy to the beach.”
“Oh… Um, okay. I have been dying to read it.”
The disappointment in her voice sent waves of self-recrimination through him. He had just deliberately cut her out of his next break with Stacy. And she knew it. And it had hurt her.
Hurt her? Usually on trips, she loved having time away from him to catch up on work. Add that to the way she’d never worn anything other than drab suits, and a strange possibility rattled through him. He didn’t want to even consider she’d worn a bikini to tempt him. But, damn it, he was a billionaire. His ex-wife had baldly admitted that in the end she’d loved his money more than she’d loved him. Plus, women threw themselves at him constantly. He recognized the signs. Disappointment at being excluded was one of them.
Still…Kara, his perfect assistant, putting the moves on him?
No. It didn’t make sense. They’d worked together an entire year without as much as a flirtatious glance. She was not putting the moves on him.
He pulled the hamburger from the refrigerator and began making patties.
She slid off her stool and walked beside him. “I can help.”
The light scent of her perfume mixed with the scent of the sea and wafted to him. He almost closed his eyes and inhaled again, deeper this time, to really enjoy it.
Damn it! There he went again!
She was not coming on to him. He was attracted to her. That was the real problem. His body liked hers.
But she was an employee and he was a good boss. He wouldn’t put her in an uncomfortable position. So it was wise— responsible, in fact—to exclude her from his beach excursions with his daughter. Actually, it would be smart to limit any private moments together until he got this unwanted attraction under control.
He subtly shifted away from her. “Why don’t you make these patties and I’ll start the grill?”
She laughed. “It’s gas. You don’t need to warm it up.”
“It also hasn’t been used for a few months. I should check it out to make sure it still works.”
He ducked out of the kitchen to the huge deck behind it. Five steps took him to a ground-level stone patio in front of the glistening pool and blessedly away from her.
***
Kara watched him through the big kitchen window.