Bride by Design 3: Manchala Nights (6 page)

I felt
myself coming down off the high.
T
he world was still wobbling
a
round before my eyes but it slowly became stead
ier until I lay limp and sp
ent.
I realized that at some point Colin had come inside me, and he moved out of me slowly.

We lay beside each other, exhausted and spent. Now that my
mind was a bit clearer, I
thought back to
what Colin had said about wanting to take care of me and be
ing
with me - did he really mean that? Or was it just something to convince me to… Well, either way, I was happy with the outcome!

I
wrapped the robe around myself, and
turned and smiled at Colin. "You were right, I need to let myself have fun from time to time."

He looked at me seriously. "I was hoping this was more than just 'fun'. I really do care about you, you know."

"Well, I
like
you
a lot
, but it's hard to trust a playboy billionaire when he says he cares about you.
That's probably just what you tell all the girls…
"

I laughed softly
as I teased him
and stroked a finger along his shoulders. "We'll see how you feel after a week here."

Colin
grabbed
my finger and looked into my eyes. He was about to say something when my phone rang.

I groaned. "That's the ringtone for Katie, she must want to check up on me."

"Let it go to voicemail."

I shook my head. "No, it might be something urgent."

Co
lin
rolled his eyes, barely concealing his irritation. "You know, sometimes you have to stop letting people walk all over you. I get that you like to be helpful, but you can't let them take advantage of you."

"Katie doesn't take advantage of me." My voice was cold and I answered the call.

A few minutes later I hung up and looked at Colin. He'd slipped into his pajamas and was sitting up in bed.

My hands were trembling slightly and I said, "I need to get back to
New York
tomorrow."

Colin looked at me silently, his eyes steady and unflinching. I went on - "Katie found her boyfriend in bed with someone else. They broke up and
now
she's devastated. She's a mess, I need to get back to her and help her feel better."

I watched as Colin went pale, and then
he finally
shook his head no. When he spoke, his voice was cold. "That's not going to happen. I need you here with me, pretending to be my good wife."

"But everyone's already seen that you're married and you're a family guy. You don't have a shot against Roger in any case!"

Colin refused to
budge
.
"I need you here," he repeated, "And I'm going to do my best to get this project."

I felt the anger flooding over me.
"Katie needs me more than you do. I promised
to
be there for her if this happened."

"You'll be there for her in a few days. She'll live."

"This is an emergency."

"If it were a real emergency, I'd let you go back. But this is bullshit."

I glared at him, angry and hurt. "You just said you cared about me."

He
looked at me coldly
. "And you said you cared about
me
.
But I guess you lied.
If you real
ly cared, you'd want to help me.
I'm
someone who really likes you and isn't just taking advantage of you like
everyone else
around."

My eyes
narrowed
and I could barely think straight. "Katie isn't taking advantage of me. She needs me by her side to help her out."

"She needs no such thing
, she can survive a few days with her family and her other friends
. I'm the one who needs you,
I don't have any other choice
and you need to be here
with me
."

I stared at him silently for a few minutes. "Well, at least now I know you were just saying all those things to get into my pants."

Colin looked at me
quietly
, not denying what I'd said. After a few moments, he said softly, "Do I need to remind you I've just paid a lot of money for your brother's debts, and that this is a
job
you agreed to do?"

I breathed in, I breathed out. Stay calm, I told myself. He was right, he'd paid for me to be on Manchala and if he wouldn't agree to let me leave, I
would need to honor my end of the bargain and
stay
with him
.

"Fine," I said softly, sliding under the covers and moving to the edge of the bed. "I'll stay because you're paying me to. But I'm glad you showed me your true colors before I really fell for you."

Colin was silent and we slowly drifted off to sleep.
Roger might have been wrong about Colin killing his foster parents, but
I
knew
he was right about Colin being a ruthless, cold-hearted businessman.

I'd make it through the week, I told myself, and then I'd accept the job at Brian Brito Designs and never see Colin again.

Chapter
Five

Colin and I were stiff and formal with each other the next day. I hated myself for falling for him, for being trapped with him on
an
island when Katie needed my help, and
most
of all, for still finding him attractive.

I couldn't deny that his imposing physique, deep green eyes and square jaw made my body quiver - more so now that I knew what we were capable of together. But I had even better reasons to ignore him, now that I knew he was inconsiderate and cold-hearted.

When we were outside near the others
, I tried my best to act like I was in love. I let him wrap his arm around my waist, and I smiled happily, ignoring the urge to either shove him away or turn around and kiss him.

We headed to a conference room after breakfast
the next day
, and we sat through presentations by
Roger
, Keith and Colin. I grudgingly admitted
to myself that Colin's presentation was the best by far - he painted a picture of exclusive luxury, a holiday experience that would appeal to families and couples. Colin covered both the practical aspects of the development, the potential income and profitability, as well
as
creating a romantic overview of the whole development. It was clear that he'd prepared well, and his presentation left us all impressed.

Keith's presentation was impressive, but lacked a few practical details. On the other hand,
Roger
gave the worst presentation of all
- he seemed to have put little thought into the whole thing, and had very few practical numbers and details on hand. But Don still nodded, and said that his idea was promising, and they could go over the exact numbers later.

At that, I groaned internally. I might hate Colin, but I chafed at the injustice Don was committing by favoring
Roger
- he was giving up a better resort just to work with someone who was his friend's son. But Colin didn't seem to be phased by it all, and afterwards we all had a lovely seafood lunch and
everyone retired to their bedroom for siestas
.

I couldn't stand to be in the same room as Colin, and after a few minutes of fiddling with my phone and texting Katie, I left
to take a walk. I strolled around the gardens, and found a paved courtyard where Celine was sunbathing. She smiled when she saw me, and I walked over despite myself.

"Isn't it bad to lie out in the sun so much?"

Celine gave
a tinkling laugh and said, "Maybe. But I've got sunscreen, and those bitches in
New York
better be jealous of my tan!"

I laughed with her, and wondered if she had any real friends. C
eline
's world seemed so lonely… I'm not sure how it happened, but I asked her about her friends in
New York
and Celine started telling me about how her "friends" backstabbed her, and how she made sure nobody knew too much about her real life.

I nodded and commiserated, even though I was sure Celine returned their favors whenever she could. But I felt genuinely sorry for her. Sometimes I feel very lonely - since my parents died, I've never had enough time to make friends and han
g out with them.
I guess the fact that I'm alone makes it easy for me to
understand when other people are lonely.

I sat
down
beside her and we chatted a while longer. The sun was moving lower, and we knew everyone else would be up soon, and joining us for drinks and dinner.

I got up to go and change and Celine rolled to her side. "Listen Lisa," she purred, "I hope you've got no hard feelings because of me and Colin?"

I shook my head. "It's in the past."

She nodded and lay back again. "You're nicer than I thought. I guess I know what Colin sees in you - you're different from the other bitches out there."

I laughed. "What makes you so sure of that?"

She grinned. "Well, you haven't asked me for my plastic surgeon
'
s details, and you haven't told me I looked terrible in last week's issue of
People
."

"I still have a chance to do that."

We both laughed and I left.

The next few days were a blur of sumptuous food, beach visits and relaxed quietness. Colin and I barely spoke to each other - I ignored him when we retired to our room after dinner, and we slept on far sides of the bed.
I'm not the kind of person who throws tantrums or cries like a baby; I prefer to hide my emotions and I hid the way I felt about Colin by avoiding him.

I tried
not to look into
his eyes - whenever I looked, there was something wary and guarded there, and I felt guilty. And then I felt angry
with myself
for feeling guilty -
he
should be the one to feel guilty! He could've let me go back to
New York
, I couldn't see any good reason to stay, but he wouldn't change his mind.