Caribbean Crush (Under the Caribbean Sun) (9 page)

She grinned and took his hand, letting him pull her up beside him. “True. Sex on the beach isn’t in my repertoire anymore.”

“Sure it is,
liefje
. Just long after their bedtime.” He winked and laced their fingers together as they walked away from the sea. “Harm gave me the keys to a few of his rentals he’s trying to unload on me. There’s one on Seafeathers that’s closer to your school than your place in The Valley. We should check it out.”

“I think we should get the hang of dating again before we move in together.” She squeezed his hand, hoping to be reassuring.

“I’m just saying, if my place is closer to work than your place, you might happen to find yourself there more often.”

“I might.” They made it to the wooden fence she’d leaned her bike against.

“And considering Janny all but threatened to behead me at the wedding reception, I don’t think she’d be cool with me sleeping over.”

“Yeah, that’s going to take some time.” And hours of explanations.

“What do you say we load your bike into Johannes’s truck, pick up some dinner and watch the sunset from Seafeathers?”

She couldn’t hold in the laugh. “First a geography lesson. The sun sets in the west.”

He held up a key ring and jangled them. “I also have Island Harbor and East End. I hadn’t realized my brothers have a vacation rental empire.”

“There are a lot of things you’ll need to learn about Anguilla.”

“Good thing I have the perfect teacher.” He winked and she couldn’t help herself. She reached up and pulled him to her, kissing him with a passion she’d never found for anyone else. Because this had always been more than a crush.

About the Author

Jenna Bayley-Burke is known for her fun, sexy romance novels, baking banana bread and
over-volunteering. She thinks she has the best jobs in the world–mother, wife and author. When she’s not lost in her latest story, she can be found pursuing whatever hobby her characters are enamored with–photography, Zumba, shoes, gardening, crafts and c
ooking up a storm. For more on Jenna check out her website
www.jennabayleyburke.com
.

Look for these titles by Jenna Bayley-Burke

Now Available:

Her Cinderella Complex

Par for the Course

Compromising Positions

Pride & Passion

Private Scandal

For Kicks

Drive Me Crazy

Under The Caribbean Sun

Caribbean Christmas

Caribbean Casanova

Of all the islands in all the world, she’s come to his

Caribbean Casanova

© 2013 Jenna Bayley-Burke

Under the Caribbean Sun, Book 2

Holly Hansen has sacrificed too much to let anything—
especially
a man—get in the way of making her clothing line a success. When she arrives on the island of Anguilla, she zeroes in on the biggest threat to her make-or-break photo shoot. At six-and-a-half foot of sculpted Dutch muscle, Harmannus Prinsen is every inch the womanizer of Caribbean legend, but he will
not
be seducing any of her models. She knows exactly how to make sure of it. Make the girls think he’s taken.

Harm is stunned when the curvaceous beauty greets him with a mind-numbing kiss. She’s the embodiment of every pin-up portrait he collected as a teen, with a sassy tongue and a body that begs for his touch. Sure, he’ll pretend to be her date…but only if they
really
date.

Despite her best efforts to remain immune to his charms, Holly finds herself falling for the man behind the myth. She begins to wonder which island she belongs on…Manhattan or Anguilla.

Warning
:
Contains an island bad boy with an orgasmic library, and a career-focused heroine who learns that being the focus of one man’s…attentions…isn’t so bad. Clothing optional.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Caribbean Casanova:

Harm cleared his throat. “Your manners need some work.”

She faked a laugh. “As does your sense of decorum. Do you own a shirt?”

He turned slightly, angling himself towards her. “You can’t play the prude with me. I know better. Women are not born knowing how to kiss the way you do.”

She went ahead and rolled her eyes at that one. And at the way his praise flattered her. “We’ve barely kissed. Your infamous reputation is based on quantity, not quality. Maybe you should be more discerning. And you need to stay away from my models.”

He stepped to the side and blocked her view of the beach. “You know, I’ve had about enough of this. The world doesn’t revolve around you, sweetheart. You bring a dozen women to Anguilla and assume I have nothing better to do than chase tail. Sassy tells me I can’t sleep with them. You tell me I can’t touch them. Which I have no intention of doing because I don’t need this kind of drama. But if you think you can tell me I can’t enter a house that I own because your models happen to be in it, you’re not just on the bus to crazy town, you’re driving it.”

Oh, how she hated it when he had a point. “You expect me to just sit back and let you screw the models one by one until I have a massive catfight on my hands? I can’t afford the delays that would cause. That’s why I agreed to your little plan. But I’m not game for having everyone think I’m some victim to be pitied because my man can’t keep it in his pants.”

He held up a finger. “First, making us a couple was your idea. I’m just using it for our mutual benefit.” He held up another finger. “Second, I have no interest whatsoever in laying down any of your models.”

“Oh, please. You disappear all afternoon and then turn up in the bungalow the models are changing in. Yeah, your motives are real pure.”

“Jealous much, Holly?”

Oh my lands, this man was going to have her rolling her eyes so much they’d wind up on the sand. “I don’t care where you stick it, so long as it doesn’t interfere with my business.”

“I think you do. But we’ll talk about that at dinner.”

“Excuse me? I’m not going to dinner with you.”

“Yes, you are. That’s why I was looking for you. Your shoot will be wrapped for the night and then you’re mine.”

“I’ll never be
yours
.”

He had the nerve to wink. “We’ll see about that. But first we’re going to adjust your attitude.”

“My attitude will be downright cheery if you stay out of my business.”

“You don’t want me to do that, sweetheart.” He leaned closer, so near she had to breathe in the clean, musky scent of man he’d already managed to tattoo on her brain. “Don’t you want to know exactly where I am when the sun goes down? To make sure I’m not doing something to someone else that you want me to do to you?”

Her chest squeezed around her thundering heart, but Holly knew how to appear cool even if she was flaming with rage. Saskia was right. He was a control freak bent on turning everything into his personal puppet show. Too bad for him she’d be the one pulling the strings.

“Why, Harm, I think you have a little crush on me.” She tilted her head to the side and pasted on her fakest smile. When he double blinked and squared his broad shoulders, she grinned for real.

“Sweetheart, you can tell yourself whatever you want. But if you want people to think we’re a couple, your time is mine when there is no light to take your pictures.”

“So you can prove to Janny you can be a boyfriend and not just a hot vacation story? What’s the deal with you two? Is she an old flame you’re trying to woo back?”

He shuddered, his nose wrinkling in disgust. Okay, so she’d missed that mark.

“I don’t care what anyone thinks of me, but I won’t allow anyone to tread on my brother’s happiness.”

“Including yourself?”

He stood too close, the setting sun painting the sky in sharp orange and bright pink behind him. She had nowhere to look but his dark eyes. If she dropped her gaze she’d wind up studying the pattern of his sparse chest hair again, noting how the whorls defined his honed muscles even more. Curiosity to discover whether it felt silky or rough had her squeezing her fists until her nails bit into her palms.
Of all the men to be attracted to
. “You don’t think messing with the models and jeopardizing the shoot will hurt Joe?”

“Everything you’re worried about has only happened in your overactive imagination.” He lifted his chin and his beard emphasized his strong jaw.

“I didn’t imagine you flirting in the bungalow.” She took a step to the side and focused on the photo shoot, everyone there a flurry of activity trying to get the last shots in.

“I was there looking for you to tell you about dinner.”

The quickest way to love isn’t always a straight line.

Drive Me Crazy

© 2012 Jenna Bayley-Burke

This was supposed to be Xavier Moreau’s long-awaited vacation. A few precious weeks away from his over-scheduled career to see the America his mother loved and still make it to his best friend’s wedding in time. Instead, he’s ferrying the bridezilla’s sister to the nuptials. The luscious Jaime Cruz makes his mouth water, but her near-frenzy to get to Oregon
now
would scrape on his last nerve—if he didn’t sense that she needs the break as much as he does.

Fresh off a teaching assignment in D.C., Jaime’s white knuckling it. She’s got only three weeks to get home, find a job and a place to live, and ensure her sister’s big day comes off without a hitch. Except Xavier tosses her three-days-or-bust itinerary out the window. Even more annoying, Jaime finds herself succumbing to his relentless determination to make sure she enjoys every minute of the trip. And falling under the spell of his sizzling touch.

Three weeks and three thousand miles later, Jaime’s feet are on home ground, but her heart is pulling her in a completely unexpected direction. Toward Xavier and a new journey that will require the ultimate leap of faith.

Caution! Dangerous curves ahead. Do not enter if you might be spooked by haunted hotels, embarrassed by sex in the great outdoors, or fear you might yield to a devastating Frenchman willing to drive you to distraction.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Drive Me Crazy:

She plopped down on the bed next to him. “Does
suce moi, fumer le cigar
mean what I think it means?”

He coughed, his eyes widening. “
Excusez-moi?
”

“That’s why I got a ticket. You talk in your sleep, and I was trying to figure out what you were dreaming about, and who. Since you’re being all high and mighty, tell me, what did you dream about?”

He shook his head. “You can’t exactly blame me. You’ve been taunting me for days, the way you move, the way you look at me, the way you keep flipping your hair over your shoulder so I’ll notice it.”

She so did not flip her hair. “I could say the same thing. All these unexpected stops and dallying could just be your way of keeping us on the road until you get me into bed.”

With lightning quickness, he rolled her onto her back, his large frame looming over her. “Mission accomplished.”

She squirmed beneath him, raising her knee slightly, just in case he tried anything funny. Being surrounded by the scent of sandalwood and sin might be tempting, if she didn’t want to shake some sense into his block head. “This is not helping.”

“No?” He dipped his head and grazed his lips over one temple, then the other. “Is it helping you forget how angry you want to be?”

Her body betrayed her. Her nipples tightened and heat swirled low in her belly.

His gaze moved down her body and then back to her face. “See, it’s working already. All the problems will be there in the morning, just waiting for you to worry about them then.” The sensual contours of his lips caressed the tension from her forehead, easing her eyes closed as his kiss continued downward.

“This will make one more thing for me to worry about.” Her protests sounded weak even to her. There was something about proximity to this man that drugged her, released her inhibitions along with her higher-order thought processes.

“You won’t, I promise.”

“I’ll worry about what my sister will say.” She turned her head to the side, which he took as an invitation to plant a scathing row of kisses along the column of her neck. Her libido fluttered and stretched like a butterfly about to take flight.

“Don’t tell her anything you don’t want to.”

Why was she protesting? She wanted him with an intensity that terrified her. Maybe that was the real problem. Their bodies had been buzzing with attraction for three days. If she kept fighting it she might spontaneously combust. “You won’t tell Trent?”

“He doesn’t want to know that his sister-in-law has an amazing ass, trust me.” His hand roved down her body, grazing the side of her breast, the soft swell of her stomach, the curve of her hip.

She giggled and shifted as he tugged the nightgown up over her thighs. “You think my ass is amazing?”