Sparks
. . .
Cade
Taking Ellie’s bait with the sunscreen had been a terrible idea. Because now I knew exactly how soft her skin was, that her nipples would pebble underneath her distracting blue bikini if I rubbed sunscreen near them, and just how good her ass felt pressed up against me.
Three things I’d rather not know about someone I’d signed a business deal with.
And now we were all gathered around a campfire the fake doctor had built, sun-drunk and worn out from an actually fun day at the beach. Drinks were flowing, Lovejoy had pulled out a banged-up acoustic guitar to sing campfire songs, and I was on marshmallow-roasting duty for Ellie’s s’mores.
She was eating her fifth one when Lovejoy convinced Harrison to join her in a duet, and Ellie scooted closer to me on our shared log.
“These are so good,” she murmured, seemingly determined to lick every last smear of chocolate off her fingers. “Is rich people chocolate different? It tastes different.”
Ellie reached for a sixth s’more, and I shook my head in amazement. We’d eaten a full-on feast of roasted pig for dinner, yet here she was downing s’mores like she was starving.
At least they stopped her from chatting too much with the others. Harrison was the one I was most worried about discovering our ruse, but he’d stopped asking any invasive questions since Ellie shut him up.
“Are you sure you don’t want a s’more?” Ellie held hers out to me. “You’re not getting the full campfire experience if you don’t try one! They’re scrumptious.”
“I’m good.”
“You don’t understand.” She took another bite of the sticky mess and let out the softest of moans. When she lowered the rest of her treat, it left a smear of chocolate at the corner of her mouth. “They’re melty and gooey and warm and—”
My hand moved before I could think better of it, reaching for her lips and cutting off Ellie’s rambling. I wiped the dark smudge with my thumb, then my curiosity got the better of me and I lifted it to my lips.
… Delicious.
The rest of the s’more dropped from Ellie’s hold, and she stared at my mouth with widening eyes as I sucked off the last of the chocolate.
My gaze lingered on her parted lips.
An insane thought popped into my head, which I quickly shoved aside, and I returned my full focus to the fire.
No s’mores for me, and definitely no more chocolate.
Ellie might be onto something, though, because I’d never tasted chocolate quite like that.
Our campfire lasted well into the night, until a blanket of stars filled the sky and the flames dwindled. The songs went from campfire favorites to ones I could only describe as Bliss Lovejoy originals, but somehow Madison and Piper knew all the words and sang along.
Ellie finished her s’more count around thirteen, though it wasn’t due to a lack of trying for more.
We’d just run out of marshmallows.
When a crewmember came over and whispered in Lovejoy’s ear, the fraud packed up her guitar and stood.
“Good news, everyone. The crew has finished preparing your sleeping accommodations for this evening,” she announced with her signature serene smile. “So I’ll bid you all good night now.”
“Accommodations?” Fletcher frowned, unwrapping his arm from around Candace and setting down his drink. “Aren’t we staying on the yacht?”
“No, no.” Lovejoy’s smile kicked up a notch. “As this is our only overnight on the island, I’ve carefully designed special love nests for each couple. They’ve been spaced out on the beach for privacy.”
She winked and swept her arm toward a path of lit tiki torches in the sand. I could just make out a dark tent partway down the beach.
Love nests.
Great.
“How charming!” Madison beamed. “Get up, Harry. Let’s go find ours.”
“I love it,” Piper agreed, standing and brushing off her bikini bottoms. “It’s just like your videos say. The smaller the space, the bigger your opportunity to connect.”
“Yes, spot on!” Lovejoy praised, while I swallowed hard to stop from gagging. “Enjoy your evenings. We’ll reconvene here tomorrow morning for a trust building exercise.”
The others went off to find their tents, and Lovejoy headed toward the main building, leaving Ellie and me alone with the crackling fire.
“A love nest,” Ellie echoed with a snicker, shifting on our log. “That’s… unexpected.”
I scowled. “We’re not sleeping in it. After the rest of them fall asleep, we can sneak back onto the yacht.”
In fact, I was surprised I hadn’t already thought about sneaking onto the yacht to work earlier.
A soft gasp escaped Ellie.
“Holy macaroni. Look how clear the stars are. And there’s so many!” She stared up at the sky, mesmerized, and tilted her head so far back she almost tipped off the log. “I was so distracted by the s’mores, I didn’t even notice them.”
I followed her gaze to the mass of twinkling lights.
Part of me didn’t feel like I was actually here—roasting marshmallows at a campfire with a blue-haired stranger I was pretending to be engaged to.
I should be working on the Tokyo deal, but that usual itch to check my emails had been absent all day.
Ellie hummed under her breath. “I’m tempted to sleep right here on the log if it means I can keep looking at them.”
Yeah, that wasn’t happening.
“I’m not sleeping on a log.” I got to my feet. “Wait here.”
The trail of tiki torches led to four inviting tents scattered along the beach, higher than the tide had a chance of reaching. Rustling and other noises came from the first three tents, which I tuned out and kept walking.
“Love nests” was an apt description. The moment I opened the flap of the fourth tent, roses assaulted my nostrils. Dozens of candles illuminated a mattress piled with more pillows than anyone would need in their life.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I grumbled, taking in the black silk lingerie set framed by hundreds of red rose petals on the bed.
I put out all the candles—damn fire hazards—before clearing the petals and flinging the lingerie aside.
We wouldn’t need that.
We only needed two pillows, so I tucked them with some blankets under one arm and heaved the mattress up with the other. The silk sheets didn’t make it any easier to carry.
When I reached Ellie back at the campfire, I dropped the mattress onto the sand next to her and tossed the pillows and blankets on top. “Come on. If we’re doing this, we might as well be comfortable.”
She blinked at the mattress before leaning down to pluck a rogue rose petal off a pillow.
“Wow.” Ellie rubbed it between her fingers, eyes sparkling playfully. “Looks like someone was feeling romantic.”
I grunted. “Harrison didn’t tell me this was a sex retreat. The whole tent was full of roses and candles.”
My brain chose that moment to picture Ellie in the lingerie Lovejoy had left for her, and I flexed my fingers.
Ellie picked up another petal with a laugh. “It makes sense. Connecting sexually probably plays a big role in Dr. Lovejoy’s therapy.”
“She’s not a real therapist,” I reminded her.
Ellie only rolled her eyes, then climbed onto the mattress and got under the covers.
I fed the fire before joining her.
“No chocolate on our pillows tonight,” she observed, sounding disappointed.
“You’ve had more than enough chocolate today.”
She huffed softly, gazing up at the stars. “No such thing.”
We lay a foot apart, just like we had last night. But it didn’t last long this time.
I blamed the cooler breeze for why I didn’t push Ellie away when she cuddled up to my side. It only made sense for me to wrap an arm behind her head then.
Again, because of the breeze.
Ellie had a gift for falling asleep quickly. One minute she was watching the stars like she wanted to commit them to memory, then the next her breathing had evened out—aside from the occasional little snore.
She cuddled even closer to me in her sleep, hooking her ankle over mine and burying her face in my side.
But when she started scratching her leg in her sleep, I held on to her wrist until she stopped.
Damn hives.
Sleep didn’t find me as easily. I had a staring contest with the sky, taking in all the tiny little stars and the magnitude of space. I enjoyed the peace. The hush. I couldn’t remember the last time it’d been this quiet.
The city never slept like this island. Never stopped. Never slowed.
I was different here, too. In Westport, I was a tycoon. I lived and worked on the highest floors and had a reputation that preceded me in life and the boardroom.
I’d never felt smaller than under the vastness of that night’s sky.
It was… enlightening.
By the time I finally drifted off, both my arms were wrapped around Ellie, and I’d pulled her flush against my chest. Our legs tangled together under the blankets.
And I could still taste hints of chocolate on my tongue.