“Yeah, sure, Mr. Cole,” Mike said uncomfortably and then looked straight at me. “Let me know what you think.”

“Lily is busy tonight, I’m afraid,” Mr. Cole said. “She’s behind on a special project.”

I pasted on a polite smile, trying not to stampede Max with my womanly self-righteousness. “He’s right, Mike. I can’t tonight. But I’ll check my calendar.”

Mike left, obviously sensing something was off.

Max shut the door behind him. “You’ll check your calendar?”

I gave him a look. “What did you expect me to say? Let me check with Mr. Cole’s cock, and I’ll let you know?”

“Would’ve worked for me,” he said in a pissy tone.

I tilted my head. “You can’t seriously be jealous.”

He leaned over my desk. “Of course I can be, Lily. You’re mine. And I don’t like other men looking at what’s mine.”

I’d never experienced this feeling before—a guy getting territorial over me. Part of me really liked it. The other part didn’t. “But I’m not really yours. Not as far as everyone else is concerned, which leads me to the point—”

“We’re leaving for a few days. I’ll have my driver, Callahan, take you home to pack the appropriate attire.”

I blinked at him. “Sorry?”

“I can’t focus on work. Not knowing you’re here, suffering and in need of a good fucking.”

My jaw dropped. “Well—okay…that’s ta-ta-true, but I really have stuff to do.”

“And it can wait for two days.”

“It can’t,” I argued, feeling like he was the bad boy trying to convince me to skip class. “People are depending on me.”

“I need this, Lily. And I think you do as well.” He paused for a long moment. “What if I ask your boss for permission?”

I folded my hands neatly on top of my desk. “Max—”

“Liiily?” he warned.

“Max?”

“Liiily?”

I grunted at him and then smiled. I couldn’t help it. He was too sexy to deny.

He folded his arms over his broad chest, flashing a bit of shiny silver cuff link. “If I can blow off a few days of work for you, and it’s my company, I’m sure you can accommodate.”

I sighed. He totally won me over. “Fine. Where are we going?”

“I have a little house in Kauai. It’s very private.”

That sinful, mischievous look in his eyes did me in. The thought of the things he would do to me…

“All right.”

“Good. I’ll have Keri reschedule your meetings to next week. Callahan is waiting in the lobby.”

“You knew I’d say yes?” I asked.

“I can sell ice to an Eskimo, remember?”

Yes, I did. He’d “sold me” on doing all sorts of things last night, and I’d loved every minute of it.

“I’ll go pack,” I said.

He leaned toward me for a quick kiss. “Bring your running shoes, Miss Snow.”

“A marathon, I hope?”

“Absolutely,” he replied.

But why did I feel like we were really running away?

~~~

His “little house” in Kauai was a two-story, modern glass rectangle on stilts with a private beach, views of the ocean from almost every room, and thick jungle on all three sides. Automatic blinds and tinted windows provided privacy when wanted. Otherwise, I felt like we were outside, enjoying the breathtaking, natural surroundings. But with air-conditioning.

That first night—Monday—we arrived just before midnight in his private jet, and we swam naked in the ocean, kissing and touching and grinding away in the warm water, feeling like the only two people on earth. We concluded under the dark moonless sky with sex on the beach. No, not the drink. Real sex. In the soft warm, night sand. Aside from the piles of grit left in my hair, it was fucking raw and sexual in a way I couldn’t have imagined.

After we showered, ate sandwiches, and covered ourselves in bug spray, we headed back outside (clothed in shorts and tees) to sit around a gas fireplace on the patio, where we fell asleep in each other’s arms on a lounge chair.

The sunrise that next morning, snuggled in his arms, was more beautiful than anything I could dream up. I kept thinking that it was too perfect. This couldn’t be real. Him, me, us. We were too happy and too ready to let go of everything that had ever mattered to us for a few precious days of living in this dream.

Yet, knowing it couldn’t last, I convinced myself we had to take this chance. We weren’t simply in paradise, snorkeling in the crystal clear blue waters, stealing kisses every chance we got, or enjoying the isolation, we were hiding in heaven.

Tuesday night, as I sat staring at the fire outside, slathered in a thick coating of mosquito repellent, still wearing my white bikini from our early swim in the ocean that seemed too beautiful to be a real place on earth, I felt reality seeping through the cracks, its darkness creeping into our safe haven and threatening to poison our paradise.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, handing me a chilled glass of white wine. He wore a white shirt and white linen shorts that made his skin look even darker than it was. That man knew how to tan. I looked more like a strawberry milkshake.

Staring into the fire, I shrugged and then sipped my wine. “I don’t want it to end.” But it would.

“Lily, you know we can’t stay on vacation forever.”

“Says who?” I asked.

He gave me a look. “Says the people who depend on us.”

Now who’s being the responsible adult? “No one really depends on me.”

“I do. And there are thousands depending on me.”

I nodded, the quiet crackle of the fire mixing with the sound of the evening waves. “I wish it was different.”

“You’d never be happy sitting on a beach the rest of your life.”

“How do you know?” I could give it a try.

“Because you’re like me; you have something to prove to the world.”

“But what happens when we prove it?” I asked.

He looked at me, genuinely thinking. “I don’t know. Maybe we find peace.”

“Let’s hope.” Because after everything was said and done, finding a quiet corner of the world might be the only way for us to live.

“Max?”

He slid his arm around me. “Yes?”

“I want you to set up that doctor’s appointment for Friday.”

“Liiily?” he warned, not needing an explanation. He knew I meant the surgeon.

“Max, for the first time in my life, I’m really afraid.”

“You don’t need to be.”

“Well, I am, and I just need to know I’ve given myself every opportunity to get through this.”

He looked at me and cupped my cheek. “I’ll do it, but you need to know that it’s not what I want. I want you exactly as you are.”

I placed my hand over his. “You’ve let go of your ugly. I need to let go of mine. There’s no reason to hold on to it.”

I could see him trying to digest what I was saying, that strong jaw tensing.

“Max, you can’t pretend or lie to me. I’ll never forget the moment you saw me for the first time. My face was the only thing you saw.”

“And if not for that, I would have tossed you aside—just another beautiful woman who could never understand me.”

“I’m tired, Max. I’m tired of fighting. I’m tired of struggling. I just want to move on.” He of all people had to understand that.

He smiled softly. “If it’s really what you want, but I’ll still want you either way.”

There were no words, so I kissed him. “I’ll still want you either way, too.”

He laughed. “Fine. Just promise me you won’t change who you are.”

“Why would it change me?” Except for the better.

He didn’t answer at first. “I’ll make the appointment, but all I ask is that you take some time before doing anything. Really think about this.”

I had. And I was done thinking. “Sure. If you want.”

He kissed me and pulled back. “If anything happened to you, it would kill me, Lily.”

He was worried. Genuinely worried. Yes, it made me feel all gooey inside. “I’ll be fine, I promise. What could possibly go wrong?”