Seaside Romance: A Billionaire Love Story (The Romance Series #1)

Claire Connor was supposed to be her best friend’s maid of honor. Instead, she finds herself dutifully accompanying the heartbroken, jilted bride on a trip to island resort paradise. Non-refundable honeymoons are the worst!

Claire is prepared for a week of drying her friend’s tears. What she isn’t prepared for is Justin.

He’s tall, gorgeous and completely irresistible. He’s also staying right down the beach.

When Claire unexpectedly finds herself with free time, she knows exactly how she wants to spend it. It’s only supposed to be a fling, but as the week of flirtation and fun draws to a close, she finds she isn’t ready to say goodbye.

It’s stupid to fall for a perfect stranger. There’s a lot she doesn’t know about Justin, and he isn’t exactly forthcoming. Will Claire be the one who ends up returning from paradise heartbroken?

_____

“You know what?” Justin finally murmured, still holding Claire above the water.

“What?” she whispered breathlessly. She was unable and unwilling to look away.

“I think you were right. I was bluffing,” he admitted, breaking the spell he had cast on her. “Let’s get you back to shore.” With that, he waded back to shallower water, not setting Claire down until her feet were on dry land.

“So all you really accomplished was getting your shorts all wet,” she couldn’t resist pointing out.

“I wouldn’t say that’s all I accomplished,” he protested. “I got you a little wet too, admit it.”

Sexual tension hung heavy in the air.

Claire looked down and sure enough, she saw a few splotches of water on her clothing. There were even some water droplets clinging to her legs, but she had been far too caught up in the moment to notice when it had happened. Even now, she couldn’t feel the ocean on her skin.

She couldn’t feel anything, except the way her body was tingling.

“I guess I am a bit wet,” she conceded, batting her eyelashes ever so slightly.

She didn’t want to lay it on too thick, but flirting with Justin was hard to resist. To think that a man like him wanted to spend his time with her was dizzying. He was a lot better looking and more fun than any of the other guys she had dated recently – or ever, for that matter.

He smirked and said nothing. Instead, he peeled off his shirt, revealing his toned chest and muscular arms. All the air went out of Claire’s lungs and for a moment, all she could do was enjoy the view.

“What are you doing?” she finally squeaked. What was up with all the squeaking she was doing lately? She was not a woman who squeaked! And yet here she was, barely able to get a full sentence out. Justin had a strange, profound effect on her.

“Getting the sand out,” he replied, turning his t-shirt inside out and shaking it. Clumps of sand came tumbling out, falling back to the beach from which they had been taken. Claire had really done a number on him.

“Oh, right,” she said, feeling flustered and a bit sheepish. “Sorry about that, by the way. I’m not quite sure what possessed me to dump sand down the back of your shirt but it, uh, seemed like a good idea at the time?”

He snorted. “Sure, sure, you act so innocent now. But I’m onto you, Claire.”

She motioned for Justin to turn around and ran her hand across his back to remove any remaining bits of sand.