“And besides, maybe it’s not too good to be true. There’s always some catch. Yes, he is rich and attractive and smart and obviously cares about homeless youth, but he is a tech guy at the end of the day. Maybe he’s really socially awkward.”
Chapter Twelve
The rest of the day was spent laying by the pool, feeling the sun hit all the areas of my skin that hadn’t felt the heat of rays in such a long time. Jumping in, the cool water calmed me down, and I made a point of not turning any of our conversations sexual. Although, I couldn’t help noticing Henry’s eyes lingering on me after Jackie had delivered me a purple bikini to the pool. I quickly got changed in the bathroom as Jackie said that she would personally clean the designer dress for me, the one I only had on for a maximum of two hours. When I reappeared in the bikini, Henry’s gaze lit my body like I was his ultimate prize.
“What do you call this place?” I asked, spinning around in the pool as he sat by the edge, legs dangling into the water, leaning back and his eyes locked on me. I don’t know if he had ever looked as good as he did than right now. His usually slicked back hair fell over his face. I didn’t want him to know how much my insides were still craving him, even more now that he was sitting there shirtless. I’d felt the deep ripples in hischest, the many times I had found myself pressed up against him, kissing him as my hand rested on his chest. But now I could see it all, I kept my poise and quietly counted down the hours to when I could touch him again, this time with fewer clothes on.
Henry was so right about me, I thrived on the anticipation. Even more, I loved holding myself in. It made me feel so… powerful. I don’t know why I hadn’t built this up before, why I was so quick to jump into any date’s bed. At the end of the day, they were just dates, nothing but a moment in time to express some pent-up passion. It wasn’t until now, meeting Henry, that I really understood that. I realized how things were really meant to feel when you met the one that you were meant to be with. The one who understood you in more ways that most would ever know.
“Paradise,” Henry said leaning is face up to the sun, slowly observing the fluffy white clouds above us.
“No, I mean, have you named your island? I can’t say that I know too much about owning a piece of land like this, but surely you give it a name.”
There was that sweet smirk that I loved so much, the one that exposed both his dimples on either side and sharpened his jaw line even more than I thought possible. “Yes, you do get to name it,” he said.
“And…”
“You’re currently holidaying on Miss Bentley,” he said.
“Okay…” I said slowly, I had to admit, the name was cute, but it was more original than what I was expecting from him. And it wasn’t exactly the name that I was expecting for an island. I waited for him to elaborate… but he didn’t. “And other than the obvious last name, you called it that because?”
“I guess this place was my first real love. Sounds stupid I know, pretentious even. I know how it looks, Molly, trust me, the poor self-made billionaire with the troubled past only fell in love with a piece of private land that he owns.”
“I think it’s more than a private piece of land,” I said. “It’s paradise, you said so yourself.”
“True.” He smiled. “It’s sad that I don’t spend much time here. I do love it here, but coming here alone, after coming from the hustle and bustle of New York, if you don’t have someone to come here with. It can feel pretty lonely. I’m really grateful that you’re here, Molly,” he said softly.
“And I’m glad that you invited me.”
He smiled, laying back down on pavement, legs still dangling in the water as he went to pick up his book. He was readingThe Great Gatsby, which he had told me was one of his favorites, his most read book, the very one that he would always go back to intricately reading the prose from a different point of view every time. It was very fitting for him.
Henry had told me that he would show me the library and set me up with a list of his favorites. I loved the idea of but I couldn’t relax myself enough to read right now. I still wanted him, and my mind couldn’t help but continue to wander.I didn’t know if it would ever stop wandering when I was around him. Maybe that was what love was, or maybe what happened when you had met the one.
“If it was your first real love, why did you call it Mrs. Bentley? I asked.
He gazed down from his book, lips pursed as he bit the inside of his cheek observing me. I purposely flicked my hair back over my shoulder, making sure the top of my cleavage was sticking out of the water. But Henry still kept his eyes locked on mine. Such a gentleman, one who I was sure was riddled with more than one fetish. And I couldn’t wait to explore them all.
“There’s something that I really like about Miss rather than Mrs. I think that she’s young, she’s just beginning and even though she’s mine and I am committed to her, I still feel like there are so many more of her edges that I want to explore, still so much I want to know and understand,” he said as he gazed off into the depth of the deep green forestry behind us.
I liked the way that he spoke about his island, and the word Miss. It made me wonder if that was the same way that he felt about me. Is that why he called me Miss Molly?
Before I could ask any more questions, without any warning, it started to rain. For a second it was nothing but a light spit but within minutes, the rain was pouring down on us. Henry ran for the towels as I lifted myself out of the pool. He threw one around his shoulders. His face and body were wet, his dark hair lengthened as the beads of rain dripped down him. Heheld the other towel out in front of him and wrapped me up in it. He held on tight while running with me through the back door of Henry’s mansion. Our bodies held together, shivering, looking back out at the rain behind us.
“That came out of nowhere!” I said.
“I know, it does that a fair bit out here. Miss Bentley loves an afternoon sun shower. I should have read the clouds. But I guess I’ve just been a little bit distracted,” he said, leaning in close to my ear, close enough to feel his warm breath on the back of my neck, instantly soothing me. I looked up at him, still wrapped in his arms, our lips almost touching until the sound of footsteps behind us broke our moment. We both spun around.
“Oh, Miss Molly,” Jackie said, running towards us with a long pink floral kimono in one hand, and a t-shirt in the other. Henry ran the towel through his hair one more time before he passed the towel to Jackie. He took the grey shirt out of her hand. She began wrapping the kimono around me, as I reached my arms inside, she took hold of my towel.
“Oh my God, it’s so nice and warm,” I said wrapping the thin yet heated material around my body, tying it in front of me. Not only was it gorgeous, it was heated, instantly soothing cold wet body.
“What time would you like dinner prepared, Henry?” Jackie asked, standing back from the two of us. Was she now going to take and wash our towels? Back in New York, Henry’s apartment was lavish, but he was also very much living the bachelorlifestyle. Even though for a billionaire, I had seen the frozen pizza stash that he had in his freezer. But here, on his own island, Miss Bentley, he had people to wait on him, hand and foot. I wondered when Jackie ever got a break, or anyone else that worked here for that matter. When it was their time off, did they use the helicopter or the yacht?
Henry looked back at me as though he wanted me to answer that question, but I had no idea what the time was. I knew that my fingers had turned wrinkly from how long I had been in the water, I also knew that I was already a little bit peckish from the little that I had, purely due to the fact I was too distracted to eat much.
“Would you like an early dinner?” Henry asked, as though he could read my mind. I nodded and smiled politely. “Make it for a couple of hours,” Henry said to Jackie. He then walked behind me, placing his hands firmly on my shoulders, lightly rubbing them. It made me want to fall back into him or better yet, spin around and jump up onto him, wrap my legs tightly around his waist and demand that he carry me straight to the bedroom. “And make it something casual, I think I’ll show Molly the games room now.”
Jackie nodded and scurried past the bar and back towards the front of the house. I spun around to Henry, releasing myself from his hold.
