Caribbean Cowboy: Under the Caribbean Sun, Book 4 by Jenna Bayley-Burke Page B

before you harp on that again, you didn’t volunteer that you’re Harm’s sister. If I’m the kettle, you’re the pot.” Her blue eyes went impossibly wide. “I get that it is some kind of secret. I’ve had hours out here alone to do nothing but think. What I don’t understand is why everyone ignores the obvious. Even your father.”
    “He is not my father, he’s just Sebastian. A world-class bastard with years of practice ignoring me.” She took another swallow and stared off into the darkness. “Who told you?”
    “No one. I spent a lot of our time together staring into your eyes. I’d recognize that color anywhere.”
    Her hurt at the mere mention of it radiated from her. “I’m not going to deny it. That’s his forte. But shared DNA doesn’t mean we’re a family.” Her sigh wrapped around him like a fist.
    “That’s for damned sure. Do the guys know?”
    She looked up at him and pasted on a fake smile. “Harm does, probably because he was old enough to remember on his own. Sebastian never bothered to mention what he did to my mother to his other sons. He’s planning on telling them his version, wanted to at the wedding.”
    “Which was why you were arguing with him. Thank you for that. Holly deserved a wedding that was about her.”
    Her smiled lifted, turning genuine. “You actually get it. How is it you understand and you don’t even know me?”
    “I don’t know, I think I know you pretty well. Considering.”
    “Considering we didn’t spend much time talking.” Janny tilted her head to the side and rubbed her bare arms.
    “Is that why you came out here? To talk?” He waited a beat, trying to draw her out, but she didn’t take the bait. “Or did you come out here for something more?”
    She shook her head. “This is my home, my island. I have an impeccable professional reputation here, and I’m proud of that. I needed to make sure you understood that.”
    “So vacation flings are your thing?”
    She wrinkled that cute little nose. “Are you judging me?”
    “I don’t know. Did you play out any fantasies in Greece? Or Boston?”
    “If you want to play armchair psychologist, we can discuss how often you change your appearance to play a role.”
    He pushed a hand through his shorn hair and smiled. “The haircut is courtesy of my old man, but this is me. Everything else was your imagination. Not that I had a problem with it.”
    “The only problem is if you came to this island expecting me to keep playing the game.”
    “No, that’s not it.” He took her half-full bottle and set it on the ground with his own. He closed the distance between them and stood so close he could breathe in that haunting scent of lavender he remembered too well. “Things got real intense, real fast with us. Physical chemistry like that is overwhelming. At least for me. I wanted to chase down your airplane. Do you know how crazy that is? And I already know enough about you to know any reason you have for being an Anguilla virgin is a moot point.”
    She rested both hands on her lush hips this time. “Okay, listen—”
    “No, I’m not done. I pride myself on being strong minded and independent, and yet I can’t stop thinking about you. And you came out here to pick a fight, when all I really want to know is have you been thinking about me too?”
    Everything in his life disappeared as he waited for her response. Anticipation clung to the air as she studied her sandals. She looked up at him with a heart-rending tenderness that lifted the weeks of doubt that had been sitting heavy on his shoulders.
    “Nik, what happened in Alaska doesn’t mean there has to be more to it. I don’t know what to think about it all, what it means. It was intense.”
    “And mind blowing.” A grin played at her full lips and he knew he had her. “Come watch the stars with me.” He rounded the side of the truck to the open tailgate. He’d been fine to toss a bedroll in the back, but Holly had insisted that if he