The Billionaire Next Door (Billionaire Bad Boys #2)(44)

She’d also jumped on him, which made her feel flushed and warm all over.

So not the place to do this, Rach.

“Have fun,” Oliver said, and she could see he meant it. “You are going to love the island. Make sure to take a surfing lesson while you’re there.”

“Oh, I don’t—” she started, but Tag interrupted her.

“We will. Thanks, Oliver. Oh, and Rachel had an emergency at work so I made a copy of your key. If you’d like it back, I’m happy to return it. If not and you ever need me to check on Adonis, here, I’m glad to.”

“Hey, you own the building,” Oliver said with a teasing wink. “Frankly, I thought you already had keys to the residences. Keep it. Adonis was in good hands while I was gone. Thank you both.”

They finished up their goodbyes, and Rachel lifted her other bag and followed Tag into the elevator. When the doors closed, she turned to him. “How’d you know I was here?”

“Adonis has a happy bark.” Tag sent her a lopsided smile, one that curved his beard and made her want to kiss him. If only to feel the warmth of his lips. “He does it whenever you come home.”

Aww. That made her smile. She shook her head in thought. “I can’t believe how quickly the weeks went.”

“On Oahu, time will go slower. We’ll make sure of it.” He paired that statement with a big palm on her back, sliding down, down until he rested it above her butt. Tingles shivered down her arms. “We fly out at midnight. I figured the later the flight the more likely you are to sleep through the whole thing,” he said as the elevator opened on his floor. He held the doors open for her. “It’s unlocked.”

She opened his front door and walked into utopia. Seriously, his penthouse was massive.

“Do you want to take a nap before we go? Shower?” he asked, his voice rumbling through her.

“Um. No, thanks. I’m good.” And nervous all of a sudden. Which was ridiculous. She couldn’t be bold while battling nerves.

He carried her bag and her suitcase to the master bedroom. “I’m going to stash your stuff in here. Make yourself at home.”

She stood in the center of the living room, unsure what she was supposed to do with herself for the next five hours until they were airborne. Or what she’d do when she was in Hawaii with Tag. It occurred to her she hadn’t asked about sleeping arrangements, and she probably should before things went further.

“Tag?”

“Yeah?” He appeared in the doorway of his bedroom—a room she hadn’t set foot in yet—and then walked toward her. No, stalked. Stalked toward her like a lion. Or a panther. Or some big, muscled cat.

Definitely a lion. Because he has a mane.

“You okay?” he asked. “You look…not okay.”

She pulled in a deep breath and he lifted one of those “paws” of his and placed it on her face so gently, she snuggled into it.

“Overwhelmed, I guess. I’ve never…flown that far.” Flying was a legit fear. More legit than being nervous to go on a trip to an exotic tropical island with an exotic man.

“Good news. We’re taking the company jet, so you won’t have to worry about layovers or security or any inconvenience. Straight shot to Honolulu airport.”

“Company jet. Right.” She kept forgetting the billionaire part of this scenario. “And the rooms?”

“We’ll stay at Crane Makai, our hotel on Oahu. The suites there are top-notch.”

She swallowed thickly and asked the question she wanted to ask. “Together?”

“I booked one for each of us. And no, you’re not paying for it; I don’t care how much you bitch at me about it. This is what I do, Dimples. I am entitled to provide a room for you and not take your money.”

She had to laugh, which did wonders for calming her down. Her insistence on paying for the room seemed silly when he put it that way, but it was sillier to stay in separate rooms when she damned well knew they wouldn’t use both.

She took his hand in hers and swallowed down her fears. Once she was a woman who asked for and received what she wanted. She still was. She was just out of practice.

“I think we could share one, don’t you?”

He smiled gently and something else occurred to her.

“Unless…” Her eyes widened. “I mean if you don’t want to, that’s fine, too.”

He might need his space. She hadn’t even considered that.

“Dimples.” He palmed the back of her neck and leveled his gaze with hers. “Hell yeah, I want to share a room with you. I had a great time the other night, and I was hoping on this trip we’d see what else happened.” Then he lost the schoolboy chagrin as the heat flared in his blue eyes. “Honey, I have imagined you in a lot of ways, and most of them involve you naked in my bed in Hawaii.”

She bit her bottom lip and his eyes went to her mouth. He lowered his face, hair shrouding them as she tipped her chin to meet his lips. Then they kissed, gently and surely, her hands moving to his sweater and gripping two handfuls. He sucked in a breath and pulled his lips from hers.

There. There it was. That surge of bravery that infused her every cell when he kissed her. She didn’t know if it was because his touch disabled the worrying section of her brain or what, but Tag was becoming an essential part to her finding her old self.