Free Propositioned by the Billionaire by Lucy King Page A

construction that stood on the edge on the cliff was very different from the glorified shack that had existed when Jo had been recuperating. He’d bought the island primarily for his sister and he’d worked every second to ensure he could do it before she came out of hospital. However it had taken him another couple of years before he’d recouped enough of his previous fortune to build this house.
    Memories clamoured at the edges of his brain and Alex ruthlessly pushed them away.
    ‘It’s fabulous. The views must be incredible.’
    ‘Go inside and take a look around. You’re staying in the capital with the rest of the guests. They’re being ferried over and back. But there’s a guest wing here you can use in the meantime to get ready or whatever.’
    Phoebe’s eyebrows shot up. ‘If I’m staying with everyone else, why didn’t you leave me there when we passed through earlier?’
    Good question, he realised with a start. The thought hadn’t even occurred to him. But then that was hardly surprising; the moment they’d boarded his plane rational thought had pretty much given up the ghost and a clamouring awareness of the woman with him had taken over. It had left him feeling unusually on edge. ‘I thought you might like to check things out in preparation for later.’
    She nodded and gave him a smile that made him think of sunshine. ‘I would, thanks.’
    Alex had had serious doubts about holding a party here. Despite his determination to avoid a repeat of last year, when the event had been held in London and gatecrashed by an extremely creative journalist, the invasion of his privacy and general disruption to what had always been a haven of tranquillity hadn’t appealed in the slightest.
    However, right now the hive of activity engulfing the house and gardens was as welcome as the unexpected appearance of a life raft in the wake of a shipwreck, and he had no qualms about clinging to it.
    He’d go and see that all the arrangements for this evening were in order. Never mind that Maggie was so efficient he didn’t need to check anything; if he didn’t head off right now he’d be in danger of doing something rash like suggesting a personal guided tour of the bedrooms. He nodded curtly. ‘Then I’ll leave you to it.’

CHAPTER SEVEN
    T HIS WAS THE life, Phoebe thought, rolling onto her stomach and feeling the sun hit the backs of her legs. With the gentle sound of the waves lapping at the shore, the breeze rippling through the palm trees, and the softness of the fine sand beneath her towel, she really was in her own little slice of heaven.
    Alex’s abrupt departure had left her standing there feeling like a spare part and wondering if she’d said something wrong. But she’d pulled herself together, and, after asking around to see if anyone needed any help and being assured that everything was under control, she’d found her way to the guest wing, changed out of her jeans into a skirt and had headed for the relative calm of the beach.
    The file with all the details of the guests and the research she’d done lay beneath her cheek. She’d committed pretty much every detail to memory and she’d honed the strategy she’d come up with the night before. If everything went according to plan, within a few hours her position would be safe and she could get back to her life.
    In the meantime she intended to take full advantageof the calm before the storm. She felt herself drifting off to sleep when the sun went behind a cloud. She shivered and reached for her cardigan.
    ‘Working hard?’
    Phoebe jolted, manoeuvred herself into a less vulnerable sitting position and squinted up at him. ‘I wish you wouldn’t keep doing this.’
    ‘What?’ Alex said mildly.
    ‘Creeping up on me.’
    ‘Sand’s quiet like that.’
    So was he, and looming over her like that he was also rather intimidating. The bright sun behind him cast his face in shadow and sunglasses covered his eyes.
    He had changed too, ditching the