What a Girl Wants by Selena Robins

anything.” She panted. “Okay, maybe that foursome behind us. Those guys probably thought we were an affectionate couple. Oh, and thanks for getting my blouse.”
    “Affectionate? Is that what you call your strip act? Forget it. Stupid me. I thought golf was a safe activity.” He kept a fast pace and shook his head. “She wasn’t even wearing a damn bra.”
    “Alex, who are you talking to?”
    He swung around and she crashed into his chest. Holding her by the shoulders, he frowned. “This time you went too far.”
    “Obviously not far enough.”
    “You’re impossible.” He threw his arms skyward. “You never take things seriously. That’s it. No more outdoor activities together.”
    “Are you saying you want to do some indoor activities together?”
    “You’re driving me insane. Okay, I’ll be specific. How’s this? No ice cream, no dancing, no sitting on your couch, no sprinklers and no golfing.” He turned and marched away.
    Did hehave to take everythingso seriously? “Wait up. We need to talk about this.”
    “I have work to do.”
    “I got carried away with the theme of my piece: ‘Romance in the Tropics.’” She ran to him and tapped his shoulder. “You know how it is. You’ve told me many times how you get so involved in your writing ¾ ”
    He let out a loud sigh. “Fine. I’ll buy your creative insanity excuse this time. But wear a bra and baggy clothes from now on.”
    “For cripessakes, how about I wear a burka? We’re on an island. People go around half naked ¾ okay, I’ll shut up now.” She mustered her most charming smile. “Are we still friends? That’s what you wanted wasn’t it? Friendship?”
    “Look, it’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have come on to you.” He turned and walked away. “Damn, I need to be alone.”
    “By yourself or alone with me?”
    “She’s impossible.” He groaned aloud. “And the most stubborn, beautiful woman God ever put on this planet.”
    “Beautiful?” She smiled, scurried ahead and shouted over her shoulder. “Thanks for the golf lesson. See you at seven tonight for the cocktail party.” She spun around and cast him one last look. He looked so damn sexy, standing there with his dark hair tousled and lustrous under the tropical sun. She sashayed her hips in what she hoped was a sexy swagger and blew him a kiss. “Enjoy your cold shower.”
     
    “But you told me one thousand dollars was the full price.” At five o’clock, Maddie returned an urgent call from Bernie in New York, the internet spy school graduate she’d hired as an investigator a few months ago to help her find her biological father.
    “As I explained when we met, a thousand bucks is the full price for the preliminary investigation.”
    “Preliminary? I don’t remember you saying that.” Damn . She should have insisted on a more explicit contract, but she had exhausted all other affordable avenues, and this guy came recommended by Reece’s ex-boyfriend, who was a distant relative of his.
    “I’ll need another two thousand to go further.”
    “Your preliminary report didn’t give me anything I can use.”
    “Hey, I gave you phone numbers in Rome, Milan, Paris and Thailand.”
    She sighed. “With no identities or names to match those cities. Plus, those numbers were dead ends. Two of them were out of order when I called, and the other two had no clue what I was talking about.”
    “For a thousand bucks, you didn’t expect me to go to those places and check them out myself, did you? Up to you. I can stop now and part ways, or—”
    “Or I shell out two thousand and you get me something more substantial this time?”
    “Look, Lady, three Gs is a bargain for what you’re asking me to find out,” Bernie said. “You get what you pay for.”
    “You think?” He was right, and he was a hell of a lot cheaper than the others she had interviewed. However, she was sure the others hadn’t received their certification on the Internet, where a single click