The Secrets of Paradise Bay by Devon Vaughn Archer Page A

simply want to keep you from getting caught up in two worlds and not being sure which one you belong to.”
    â€œI don’t need you to protect me from my friends,” Ivana insisted. “Least of all Naki. I chose your world and have to live with it, just as you do for choices you’ve made. Now if you don’t mind, I have my own welcome visitor to make feel right at home.”
    Trey cursed under his breath as Ivana walked away. With Clyde taking up an extended residence, he didn’t have much of a leg to stand on where it concerned Naki. Maybe Ivana had matured enough so that Naki would come and go without putting the wrong thoughts in her head.
    One could only hope.
    When Naki boldly kissed Clyde smack-dab on the mouth the next day by the pool, he had hoped that sparks might fly. Or the earth would shake. But the truth was, in spite of her beauty and obvious sex appeal, he felt nothing. Not that he had an issue with bedding someone for the practice, if nothing else, after a long dry spell. He didn’t want to give Naki a false impression that this could go somewhere—even from long distance. She wasn’t really his type, though Clyde had yet to figure out who was. The women in his past did not fit into any particular image, and he liked it better that way.
    Naki also wasn’t Ivana, who made his blood run hot whenever Clyde allowed it to. Taking her friend to bed would only make him wish it were Ivana, and perhaps make things that much more strained when around her.
    Clyde still felt the kiss on his lips as he pulled back from Naki, dressed in a V-front bathing suit, “Look, I think you’re hot, but—”
    â€œBut you’re into someone else?” Naki frowned.
    Clyde nodded and glanced at Ivana, who was approaching them from the house. “Something like that.”
    Naki ran a hand through wet hair. “I feel like such an idiot!”
    â€œNo reason to,” he insisted. “You’re anything but an idiot. If I’m ever in London, I’ll definitely look you up.”
    Naki forced a smile. “That would be nice.”
    Ivana joined them with a glass of wine in hand. “Did I miss anything exciting?”
    â€œThink I’ll leave you ladies alone,” Clyde said solemnly. “Have to get to work before the boss man docks my pay.”
    He eyed Ivana, thinking how fine she looked in another dazzling swimsuit that accentuated toned arms and legs, and gave a brief grin before heading off.
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    Ivana watched Clyde walking away for a moment—or more specifically, his tight ass moving sexily through trousers—then turned to Naki. “So what was that all about?”
    â€œI’ve just been rejected, for like, maybe the first time in my life.” Naki took Ivana’s drink and tasted a generous amount.
    Ivana was surprised, but couldn’t say she wasn’t pleased. “Don’t take it personally. Clyde is a complex man who’s been through a lot. I’m sure he’s just not ready to go down that road at the moment.” Maybe he was waiting for the right woman to offer herself to him.
    Naki crinkled her nose. “Now you tell me. Just my rotten luck!”
    â€œYou’re anything but unlucky, girlfriend.”
    â€œFunny, I don’t feel that way at the moment.”
    Ivana decided this was as good a time as any to talk to her friend about her own troubles. Maybe that was why Trey wanted to get rid of Naki, so she wouldn’t see him knocked off his pedestal.
    â€œTrey cheated on me,” she said glumly.
    â€œWhat?” Naki cast bold eyes at her in shock.
    â€œHe decided one woman wasn’t enough, so he took another.”
    â€œThat bloody bastard.”
    â€œThat’s one good name for him.” Ivana could think of plenty of others.
    â€œWhen did it happen?”
    â€œSix months ago.”
    Naki blinked. “Isn’t that around the time you had the