Sebastian knew the only way to get Harper to open up to the idea of being with him was to let her spend time with him. He had little knowledge on what women liked, though. He called Sarai into his office to ask her about ideas of where to take Harper.

There was a knock at his office door and Sarai followed after. She grinned and shut the door behind her.

“Hey, Seb. What’s going on?”

“I need to get her to relax around me. Got any ideas?”

Sarai frowned. “I guess you might want to take her on a date.”

“A what?”

She grinned. “A date. Like humans. You know, dinner, a movie, making out? A date.”

His brows rose. “Is making out always part of a date?”

She laughed harder. “Not always. Depends on how comfortable she looks. Why not do something based on her likes?” She sat across from him and grabbed a note pad and pen from his desk. “What kind of things does she like?”

He leaned back in his seat. “You assume I know.”

She gave him a tired look. “Of course, you know. This is your mate. You’ve had years of studying her. You probably know if she snores when she sleeps.”

“You’re right. And no, she doesn’t.”

Sarai shook her head, a grin on her lips. “Get on with it, Casanova. What are her hobbies?”

“Reading. She hates crowds. Spends her free time gardening, though she doesn’t have much luck with it.” He grinned, thinking back to the class he’d made one of his guards take to keep track of her.

He hadn’t always been monitoring her like that. But once he found out she’d been sexually active while he was traveling, he started paying more attention. “She’s taken some cooking classes and dancing lessons. One of her favorite things is to travel.”

Sarai’s eyes widened, a smile lighting up her features. “Oh! I have an idea. You know your house in the beach in Grand Turk? Take her there!”

He frowned. “I guess I could.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t guess. If she likes traveling, that’s one of the most beautiful places to go to. The view is out of this world. She’s sure to fall in love with you.”

He’d take it. Anything to get Harper to see him as more than some monster that threatened to kill her father. Even if Christian deserved his wrath, she wouldn’t understand.

“You’re right. I’ll arrange for the jet to take us tomorrow morning. We’ll be gone for a few days. Enough to get her to relax around me.”

She nodded, putting the notebook back on his desk. “Good, because I need her back here soon so she can help me plan the gala.”

Once Sarai left his office, he called Kellen to help plan his getaway. His friend showed up with a serious scowl.

“What’s wrong?”

“Sarai said you’re going away?” Kellen asked.

His brows rose. “You two seem to be connected at the hip.”

Kellen blushed under his golden skin tone. “I think it’s a great idea.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Your mate found a rattler in her room tonight.” Kellen gave him a direct look. “I don’t know how it got there, but I want to figure it out.”

“We have the best security cameras. How could someone put a snake in her room?” He growled the words, anger surfacing at the image of his Harper being injured in any way.

“I never said someone put it there, but that is what comes to mind.” He walked over to the whiskey decanter on the table by the window facing the gardens. After he served himself a drink, he turned to Sebastian. “Taking her away would give me time to review tapes and ask questions.”

“Good. We’ll leave in the morning.”

Kellen drank his whiskey in a single gulp and then sighed. “What a day.” He put the glass down and pulled his cell out of his pocket. “There appears to be a storm not far from the island, but reports show it’s not near enough to make any kind of impact on your time there. Things should be fine.”

Tomorrow, he’d take Harper to the beach and show her that spending time with him wasn’t such a bad thing. Hopefully. He really wanted her to want to be with him, even if he knew he wouldn’t let her go if she tried to get away. Never. She was his.