10 Nights (19 page)

Leah barely noticed the
beautiful sea as they approached their destination; Rhett had a strange look on
his face, and she could only wonder at what was going through his mind. She
couldn't believe he would actually think any other man could hold her attention
after him.

As he struggled to
understand his reluctance to share Leah, Rhett gave careful thought to one of
the nights he had planned. The idea that she might desire another man, let
alone prefer another man over him, was an unpleasant one, and he worried that
the night he intended would backfire on him. Pushing such thoughts from his
mind he resolved to put a guard on his heart; he had no desire to find himself
pussy whipped, not when he had spent so many years firmly in control of every
aspect of his life.

They disembarked when
the boat docked and were met by the resort’s car. They could have walked, but
Rhett wasn’t prepared to carry their luggage, not when there was an alternative
open to them.

Rhett found his
thoughts growing darker with each passing moment, as the car carried them the
short distance to the resort. He needed to take some time away from Leah for a
while, that much was clear to him; he needed some space to work out what his
emotions were telling him.

Love was not an emotion
he had any time for. In his opinion it made a man weak, and unable to take care
of his woman. A woman needed a strong man to lead her, at least any woman that
wanted a part of his life.

Compromise was not
something he was good at; he avoided it wherever he could. It was occasionally
necessary in business, but he refused to do it in his personal life; he wasn’t
about to start now with Leah. He would give her the ten nights they had agreed
to, and at the end of them he would know what she was able to deal with, and
she would know what he could offer her. He was confident that she would accept
the proposal he had made to her.

When they were checked
in it was immediately apparent to Leah that Rhett was a preferred customer. The
desk clerk, who looked decidedly nervous at the approach of an obviously
important guest, was nudged out of the way by the manager, who dealt with them
personally.

The check-in process
was concluded with a speed that was almost breathtaking and a bellboy was
summoned to take their things up to their rooms. He led them over to the lift
with the manager’s assurances that his staff were available, any time of the
day or night, to see to their needs ringing in their ears.

Leah was floored by the way Rhett was treated, not just by the
manager, but by his entire staff. She had never had such attention bestowed on
her and it made her a little uncomfortable, though not so uncomfortable as how
Rhett, David and Janie reacted to the manager’s behavior. All three of them
acted as though they were being treated in just the manner they expected.

Stepping through the
door behind Rhett and the bellboy Leah came to an abrupt halt, stunned. The
room was unbelievable. Not only was it far bigger than any hotel room she had
seen, outside of a television show, but it was as luxurious as any room in
Rhett’s house.

Everything was so
immaculate and expensive that Leah was afraid to touch anything.

“Leah,” Rhett called
for her attention after tipping the bellboy. “Here is my credit card.” He held
out his black American Express card, keeping hold of it as she went to take it
from him. “I want you to buy yourself a sexy bathing suit. I want to see you in
something that shows off that gorgeous ass of yours. Think g-string, and buy
whatever else your little heart desires,” he told her, letting go of the card.
“I want you to have a great time today, but keep the iPhone with you, I have no
idea when David and will be done with our meeting.”

“I promise I won’t go
crazy with it, Sir.” She smiled and put the card safely in her purse.

“I want you to go
crazy, sweetheart, buy yourself whatever you want. Don’t even think about what
it costs, it’s only money.” He lowered his lips to her cheek and kissed her
quickly. “I’m going to freshen up and then I’ve got to get out of here. You and
Janie do whatever you want for lunch. Don’t expect us for supper either; if
something changes I’ll call you.”

She waited until he
walked into the bedroom before she allowed her face to show her disappointment.
She knew he was there for business but she’d hoped that they’d be able to spend
at least a bit of time together; it sounded as though he was going to be busy
almost constantly.

Walking over to the
huge glass doors that led outside Leah slid them open and stepped out onto the
balcony. The heat she had first noticed upon stepping off the plane hit her
like a blast from an oven as she left the air-conditioned room.

She sucked in a breath
at the sudden heat but quickly recovered and moved forward to lean on the
railing. How could anyone be upset when treated to such a view? She couldn’t
help wondering. The sight of the white sandy beach and blue-green sea spread
out before her brought a smile to her lips.

Inhaling deeply she
took in the salty sweet air, relaxing as her senses were assaulted by the
sight, sounds and smells of the paradise she found herself in.

Rhett hated to leave Leah;
he would have loved to show her the island paradise he had brought her to, but neither
international law nor real estate development were careers that cared about
personal desires.

He was working on one
of his largest real estate deals ever, if it all went well he would be adding a
resort worth two billion dollars to his list of acquisitions. While many people
would have avoided such an ambitious purchase at a time when the economy was in
a slump, he considered it the perfect time to bail out the current owner. He
would get the resort at a bargain price, and he had the money to keep it
running until the economy turned around and he could make back his investment.

Leaving the bathroom
Rhett looked around for Leah, when he saw she was out on the veranda he walked
up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Sweetheart, when I make
it back tonight I am going to make love to you right here, so anyone walking by
can see me make you scream,” he whispered the words sensuously in her ear.

Just a few days before,
the thought would have shocked her, now his words turned her on. “I’ll look
forward to you doing just that, Sir.” She shivered in anticipation, aching for
him to take her there and then.

“Have fun, my sweet
girl.” He moved her hair to the side and kissed her neck tenderly before
stepping back and hurrying from the room. The temptation to take her was
overwhelming, but he knew he couldn’t afford the time; the people he was doing
business with wouldn’t appreciate the delay, especially for such a reason.

Janie arrived a short
while after Rhett left and the two of them went out. They spent a while
exploring the resort, with Janie leading the way, describing the delights she
remembered from her previous visit.

Aside from the swimming
pool and tennis courts, which didn’t surprise Leah, there was a gym, an on-call
masseur, spa, sauna and a beauty salon that rivaled the best Chicago could
offer. They then reached the beach and the water sports center, where they
spent a while deciding what activities they would indulge in the next day if
they were left to their own devices again.

With the exception of
swimming Leah was a complete novice at all of the water sports and activities
on offer. Janie encouraged her to go for water skiing, if they had the time,
but advised against scuba diving since there wasn’t enough time for her to
complete the training and do any dives for fun.

Parasailing was added
to the list of activities for them to enjoy if they had the time; Janie assured
Leah she would love it.

Leah was all for hiring
a boat and spending an afternoon on the water, she thought that sounded like a
fantastic idea until Janie pointed out that neither of them knew how to drive a
boat. Seeing Leah’s disappointment Janie suggested they see if their men were
going to be free at any time, if they were they could hire a boat then since
both Rhett and David could operate boats.

Once they had finished
picking out the fun they were going to have on the water over the next couple
of days, Janie led her friend to the small avenue of shops that catered to the
resort’s guests. Along the way they were intercepted by the resort pro as they
skirted the beginning of the golf course.

It took a few minutes
for them to make it clear to the pro, who was full of enthusiasm, that neither
of them had any interest in golf, and didn’t care in the slightest that the
course was a splendid mix of challenges for the experienced golf, while still
being accessible to beginners.

They reached the avenue
a couple of minutes later and Leah was surprised to see a clothing boutique, as
exclusive as the one Rhett had taken Leah to just a few nights before, a
jewelry shop and a sports equipment shop.

The sports shop held no
interest for either of them, but they did browse through the jewelry shop. Leah
was bemused by the lack of price tags and asked Janie about it, who laughed and
told her most top quality shops operated the same. Anyone who had to ask the
price of something couldn’t afford to buy it.

A number of items
caught Leah’s attention as they wandered around the shop, under the watchful
eye of the saleswoman, but despite Rhett’s instructions to go crazy and buy
whatever she wanted, and Janie’s encouragement, she couldn’t bring herself to
buy any of them.

Knowing that Janie was
disappointed with her timidity, Leah left her friend to buy the diamond pendant
she was looking at and made her way into the clothing boutique.

She spent a short while
just wandering around, admiring the fantastic selection of outfits, until Janie
rejoined her. Together they proceeded to spend more money than Leah had thought
it was possible to spend in one day.

Janie spent the most
money out of the two of them, but Leah allowed herself to be talked into
letting loose with Rhett’s credit card. By the time they left Leah felt as
though she had bought herself an entirely new wardrobe of clothes, certainly
enough to replace all the clothes that Rhett had bought her just a few days
before.

Under Janie’s guidance
Leah bought outfits to wear during the day, outfits for the evening, whether
they stayed in their rooms or were taken to a restaurant or a show, and even
items to tantalize her man in the bedroom. Leah doubted she would need the
night attire, and she certainly didn’t think Rhett would allow her to wear it
for long, but she enjoyed knowing that she now possessed a couple of slinky
negligees.

Sexy underwear was also
added to the piles of clothes they bought, items that Leah was sure would turn
Rhett on so much he would rip them from her body, an idea that appealed to her
greatly.

They had such fun, once
Leah overcame her shock at the bills they were running up, that the sexy
g-string bikini Rhett had told her to buy was forgotten until they were almost
out the door. She quickly selected two, but when she tried them on she was embarrassed
to discover they were made up of just enough material to cover her nipples and
a thin strip that went between her legs.

“Wow, babe, you look
gorgeous,” Janie whistled when she joined her friend in the changing room and
saw her. “Rhett is going to die when he sees you in that, not to mention any
other guy that sees you.”

“Oh God, don’t say that
Janie,” Leah moaned, doing her best to resist the urge to cover herself up as
she looked at herself in the mirror, disturbed by the amount of skin she had on
show. “It’ll be bad enough wearing this for Rhett, I’m not sure I could bring
myself to wear it out in public.”

“You will if Rhett
tells you to,” Janie observed, “and chances are he will, especially if he’s
with you.”

Leah nodded, realizing
her friend had spoken the truth. She didn’t like the idea of wearing such a
skimpy bikini around a lot of strange men, but she knew if Rhett told her to
she would.

With the bikinis bought
the two of them left the boutique. Leah expected to have to carry the clothes
they’d bought back with them, and wondered how they were going to manage that,
but Janie assured her that their purchases would be delivered to their rooms.

Amazed by the treatment
they received at the hands of every member of staff they encountered, Leah was
in a bit of a daze when they returned to the hotel. Walking past the restaurant
she was brought to her senses by the smells emanating from it, which reminded
both of them they hadn’t eaten lunch. The excitement of the flight down and
their exploration of the resort had pushed food from their thoughts until then.

The moment they made it
to Leah’s suite, which was the nicer of the two they were occupying, Janie got
on the phone to room service. There was no menu that Leah could see, and Janie
made no reference to one as she ordered food for the two of them.

With their late lunch
out of the way the two of them left the hotel again. Dressed in bikinis, Leah
didn’t have the nerve to wear either of the two she had bought; they went for a
swim in the pool, though only after spending the proscribed hour lounging at
the side of it soaking up the sun.