Chapter Seven
Nessa tried to ignore Jace, but every fiber of her body was aware of him walking away with Luke, of the way he kept looking back at her until they were lost to sight behind the palm trees.
How in hell had she misread him so badly? How had she not picked up the fact he was hiding such a huge secret? Even more importantly, why was he hiding his real identity?
Thinking back, she realized Jace had never actually told her his surname. He’d never asked hers, either. Could I need any more proof that I’m just a fling? Disgusted with herself, she broke a glass washing it with unnecessary vigor. Swearing under her breath, she carefully cleaned up the shards and dumped them in the trash.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” she told the waiter coming back to the bar and waving frantically at her. No time for self-pity now, Nessa. You’ve got a job to do.
The bar was busy until her seven o’clock closing, and she had a lot of work to do to clean up and close down. It was almost eight when she finally got to the staff dining room to find some dinner. Cory and Olivia waved her over to eat with them, but she shook her head, in no mood for company, finding a quiet table for one near the back of the room. She finished eating quickly and headed back to her cabin, just wanting to be alone.
There was a figure sitting on the steps leading up to her small veranda. Nessa stopped in her tracks.
“This is a staff-restricted area,” she said, finally finding her voice. “Although I suppose that doesn’t mean much if you own the entire fucking island.”
Jace winced at the fury in her tone, then got to his feet. “Nessa…”
“You lied to me.” Stepping closer, she jabbed a finger into his chest. “You told me the villa was owned by a friend.”
“Well, technically it is--”
“Yeah, because you and your father are friends, right?” She shook her head. “Don’t pull that on me, Jace. I can understand why you didn’t blurt it out the first moment we met, but once you’d asked me out and I said yes? You should have come clean.”
“I should’ve.”
Nessa blinked, surprised at his calm agreement. “Why didn’t you, then?” she demanded fiercely, still spoiling for a fight.
“Because you treated me like a normal person. Like just another guy who hit on you at the bar, and it was amazing.”
“What? You get off on being shot down or something?”
“No, it’s not that. I’m just… so used to being treated as one of those Hunters, looked at as some kind of meal ticket, that being treated as though I’m just another guy… it was unique, refreshing. As are you. I didn’t want things to change, Nessa, and I knew you’d look at me differently if you knew I was rich.”
“You’re so dumb!” She shook her head at him. “I already knew you were rich; you run in circles with people who own private holiday villas worth tens of millions of dollars. I figured you for a Wall Street guy, the kind who gets seven or eight figure bonuses a couple of times a year. It makes no difference to me if you’re a millionaire or a billionaire; I knew you’d be gone in a few days and I’d still be here, because I’m not the kind of girl who would ever be seen in society on your arm.”
“Why not?” He sounded genuinely confused.
“Because I’m black and I’m from the East End of London, which is the wrong side of the tracks no matter how you cut it, and I don’t want to be some sort of Pygmalion figure! I’m happy being who I am, Jace. I’ve made my choices and built myself a life I like; if I want to have a brief affair with some guy who will be gone in a few days, that’s my choice too. You, though, you’re not just any guy. Word gets out that Jace Hunter is on Sunfish Island dating some black chick and the next thing you know there’ll be paparazzi lurking in the shrubbery outside my room trying to take nude photos through the goddamn window!”
He winced again, and Nessa shook her head. “I didn’t sign up for that, Jace. When were you going to tell me? Were you ever, or were you just planning to leave and never let me know the truth?”
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I just… fell for you.” He stood still, hands hanging limply by his sides. “I never meant to lie to you. Certainly not to expose you to unwanted attention from the media or anything like that.”
Nessa just stared silently at him for several long moments. “I can’t do this right now,” she said finally. “I’m sorry, Jace. I’m just… not in a place where I can deal with this right now.” Walking past him, she unlocked her door.
“Can we at least talk about it?”
“About what?” Turning to look at him, she shook her head. “About the fact that I would never have said yes to a date with you if I’d known who you were? What the hell were you thinking, asking a girl like me out, anyway?”
“What do you mean, a girl like you?” Jace asked, baffled. “You’re smart, beautiful, sassy; I’d have asked you out if I met you in a bar in New York instead of one here.”
“Even if I was working behind it?” Nessa asked cynically.
“Yes! God damn it, Nessa, I’m not a snob. I don’t care what background you came from, what matters is the person you are now.”
“A bartender. The billionaire and the bartender, sounds like a Lifetime movie--”
“Stop putting yourself down!” He took two quick steps to stand right in front of her and reached up to grasp her shoulders. “You’re not inferior to anyone, Nessa. Not because of your chosen profession or the color of your skin or any other damn thing. You’d slap me silly if I dared to imply that you were, so stop doing it to yourself, and while you’re at it, don’t treat me differently because of who I am. Money doesn’t make anyone special, regardless of how some people seem to think it does.”
“Don’t be naive! You wouldn’t even be back here if it weren’t for the fact that you own the damn island!”
“I said it doesn’t make me special, not that it doesn’t buy me special treatment. I’m just a man, Nessa. The same man who made love to you last night.”
His words stirred an instinctive reaction from her as her body remembered all the delicious things they’d done to each other the previous night. She looked away, unwilling to meet his eyes.
Jace’s hands dropped from her shoulders. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth,” he said quietly. “I just… liked the way you looked at me. The way you talked to me. I didn’t want that to change.”
“It’s changed now,” she said, and regretted it immediately when he took a step back.
“Yeah. I guess it has.”
There was silence between them for a tense, stinging minute, and then Jace said, “Look, I’m not gonna harass you. You know where to find me. Maybe you can sleep on it and we can talk tomorrow.”
“Maybe,” Nessa said finally. At least he was putting the ball in her court, giving her the choice; she was pretty sure he wouldn’t turn up at her bar.
“Good night, Nessa.” Jace’s voice was soft, tender. She hardened herself against the impulse to tell him not to go, to grab his sleeve and drag him into her room, to her bed.
“Good night.”
* * *
A knock on the villa’s front door at nine o’clock the following evening had Jace falling over his own feet, desperate to get to the door. Yanking it open, he didn’t bother to restrain his groan as he came face to face with Luke.
“Expecting someone else?” Luke asked dryly.
“Hoping. Not really expecting.” Jace stepped back, gesturing for Luke to come inside. “Want some coffee?”
“Sure.” Luke eyed Jace critically. “You look like you’ve been up all night.”
Jace didn’t answer, just leading the way to the kitchen and pouring a cup of coffee for Luke. “What brings you here?”
Accepting the cup, Luke leaned back against the kitchen counter and took a sip of the aromatic brew, eyeing Jace over the rim. “I had a visitor this morning, waiting for me when I got to my office. If it’s any consolation, I don’t think Nessa got any sleep either.”
That didn’t sound promising. Jace sighed. “She doesn’t want to see me, does she?”
“She asked if she could take some holiday days,” Luke said. “Girl hasn’t taken a vacation since she got here. I said she could go as soon as I could rustle up a cover roster for her bar, which will probably take me until the end of the day. I’d say it’s highly likely she’ll be on the boat to Airlie tomorrow morning, so if you want to talk to her, today’s your chance.”
For a moment, he was tempted; he considered going straight for the door and rushing over to the resort to find Nessa. Reason won out, though.
“She’s doing this to get away from me. Going to find her would be a pretty shitty thing to do when she’s clearly trying to escape.” The words burned like acid in his throat, but he made himself accept the truth. Nessa wanted to get away from him. He wasn’t about to force himself on her, not now and not ever.
Luke studied him in silence for a minute before nodding and setting down his cup. “I’m sorry I dropped you in it,” he said, “but you should have told her the truth from the beginning.”
“I know.”
“Good.” Luke nodded curtly. “You might be my boss, but I can’t have my staff harassed, Jace. Thank you for doing the right thing.”
“No hard feelings,” Jace said honestly. None of this was Luke’s fault; indeed, he respected the other man more now, because Luke had obviously come here willing to stand up to him for Nessa’s sake, even knowing Jace could fire him on a whim. “I’m glad she, and all your other staff, have someone who’s willing to be in their corner.” He offered his hand to shake. “And tell Nessa… well, tell her if she wants a holiday, that’s great, but she doesn’t need to leave because of me. Sunfish Island is her home and I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable here. I’ll stay a day or two longer, but I’m feeling a lot better now. It’s time I got back to work.”
Luke accepted his hand and smiled. “I’ll let her know, but I’m gonna encourage her to take a few days. She could use a break. And let me know before you head out, yeah? It’s been good getting to know you.”
“You too.” Jace was coming to think of Luke as a friend, he realized; even though Luke had known his identity from the beginning, he’d still treated him as ‘normal’. Would Nessa have done the same, if he’d given her the chance?
He’d never know, now. Bleakly, Jace admitted to himself he’d absolutely blown it, as Luke took his leave and departed, the door closing behind him with a final-sounding thud. Nessa didn’t want to see him, was even making plans to get away from Sunfish in order to avoid him. Whatever dreams he might have been harboring for the two of them were now dead in the water.
Picking up the phone, he made a call, arranging for one of the Hunter Enterprises private jets to pick him up at Hamilton Island Airport the following morning. He might not head back to New York yet, but he was sure he’d find something to do at the Sydney offices to keep his mind off the broken, shattered pieces of his heart.