Free Sinfully Summer by Aimee Duffy Page A

stutter. ‘We’re here.’
    Stunned, she turned to look out the window and caught sight of two men a few yards down the beach near the harbour. She couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep. Scowl still in place she turned to glare at Ric. ‘You could have woken me sooner, now I’m going to be fighting the cobwebs in my brain to concentrate on the conversation.’
    He frowned at her. ‘If you’d gone to bed at a reasonable hour, this wouldn’t have happened. Don’t mess this up, Alexa.’
    He abruptly left the limo and a jolt of anger chased away the rest of the sleep from her brain. If he hadn’t blackmailed her to begin with, she wouldn’t be in this position at all.
    Alexa left the car and followed Ric across the beach. The two men were blonde, tanned and toned all over. They both had oodles of sex appeal in their swim shorts. The best men were always either gay or married. She sighed. Not that she was looking, but if she was these two wouldn’t have been on her no-way-in-hell list. Anyone who’d buy a yacht this huge and sail around Europe for a second honeymoon couldn’t be boring.
    Ric introduced them and she shook both Justin and Mark’s hands. They winked at her and she grinned.
    ‘Wow, this will be the first time we’ve had a proper celebrity on Madame Dior, ’ Justin said to Mark.
    She was about to ask who the celebrity was when Ric jumped in. ‘I assure you, Alexa will be on her best behaviour.’
    Oh. They’d meant her. She fought the urge to curse Ric out. Two days ago he’d said he hadn’t known who she was, now all of a sudden he was defending her against behaviour he had claimed to know nothing about. Git wasn’t strong enough an insult.
    ‘We’re not worried about that, just excited. The old girl hasn’t seen anyone other than our families.’ Mark linked his fingers with Justin and smiled.
    ‘Really?’ she asked. The boat was huge, more like a cruise ship than a private vessel.
    Justin nodded. ‘And we’re really sorry, but we have a meeting in an hour at the other side of the city.’
    She noticed Ric’s shoulder’s tense. ‘That’s okay,’ Alexa assured them before grumpy Castillo could make an appearance. ‘We can come back another time.’
    Mark shook his head. ‘That’s not what we meant. There are two boats here. Ric, you used to race speedboats right?’ At Ric’s nod, he continued. ‘You should be able to get you both there and back. Justin and I will give you a quick tour and leave you to check the place out. If it’s what you two are after, you can give us a call later.’
    Ric nodded, his gaze flashed to hers and away so quickly she swore she imagined the unease there.
    ‘You raced boats?’ she asked. If her mouth hung open a little, she didn’t care. Ric, stick-in-his-ass appearances-are-everything raced speedboats. She knew he had been involved in extreme sports, but she’d always figured it would be the dullest kind.
    Justin chimed in. ‘He was one of the best, too. They have a tournament here every summer and four years ago he won.’
    Ric shrugged. ‘I haven’t raced since then.’
    She wanted to ask why not, but shut her mouth in time. The answer shouldn’t interest her. He was who he was now, and the more curious she got the more dangerous he was to be around. They were organising a party together and at the end of it they’d both go their separate ways.
    ‘I bet on you that year,’ Mark added with a grin. ‘Won enough to take this dude over to Italy for the weekend.’
    Alexa guessed that might have something to do with them renting out their love boat for a ball they had no interest in. Ric smiled at Mark, but his shoulders hadn’t relaxed.
    ‘We better get going or we’ll be late,’ Justin announced and led them down to two speedboats next to the harbour.
    After a quick tour of the deck, Mark and Justin left him alone on their yacht with Alexa. She’d been quiet on the ride over. Maybe still trying to wake up, like she’d said. She