Seduction on the Sand (The Billionaires of Barefoot Bay #2)(19)

And she’d liked kissing him back home. A lot.

Just as they stepped under the entrance awning, Elliott paused and reached into his pocket, glancing at his cell. “I have to take this call. Why don’t you get started without me? Who are you meeting with, so I can find you?”



“Just call me. Take down my cell.”

He looked at the phone with a face that said he had no time for that now.

“Okay, best bet would be in Official Land Records,” Frankie said. “The lady who helped me last time was Liza...” She dug into her memory for the woman’s last name. “Lemanski! Liza Lemanski.”

“Got it.” He gave her an impulsive kiss on the forehead and stepped away with the phone to his ear. “This is Becker.”

Becker. Even the way he said his last name was sexy. He didn’t even look back to say goodbye as he walked away, obviously seeking privacy. Trying not to be disappointed—hell, how had she gotten so used to him already?—she went inside to start the long process of waiting in lines, filling out forms, taking a number, and waiting some more.

About fifteen minutes later, Elliott came up behind her in line.

“I have an emergency,” he said softly. “It could take an hour or two. You can handle this on your own?”

“Of course I can,” she said quickly, fighting irritation that he would even imply she couldn’t. Or maybe it was irritation because he kept disappearing. Or these bureaucrats kept giving her a runaround. Truth was, everything had her irritated right then. She closed her eyes. “This is just frustrating.”

“I know.” He stepped closer and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “When we’re done, we’ll stop by my place at the resort and...” He let his voice fade and, damn it all, didn’t her imagination and hormones go wild. “Maybe take a walk on the beach. Have a drink. Relax.”

And fall into his bed.

She inched back, not sure where the thought came from, but it sure wasn’t the first time she’d had it.

With a quick and unexpected peck on her lips, he was gone.

She shifted to her other foot and checked her number again, furious at the way he’d left her so electrified. And disappointed to be alone. Why in God’s name would his leaving affect her like that?

He was a billionaire, for crying out loud, and it was Monday morning. Of course, he had more important things to worry about than her little property problem.

Just like her parents.

She shoved that thought out of her mind, scrunching her eyes shut to mentally erase the words.

Over the course of the next two hours, she met with ineffective clerk after ineffective clerk.

Keyboards were pounded, file drawers were opened, then she was sent to another department, then another.

It all reminded her so much of her old job that her stomach clenched. She’d never go back to that, never. She really did just want her farm and her goats and...

Becker’s face flashed in her mind. And his body. And the whole cycle of thoughts started all over again.

Finally, she got to Land Records where she was greeted by a familiar face, and the first one smiling all day.

“Liza!” Frankie reached out to shake her hand, not surprised when the other woman added a friendly hug. They’d gotten pretty darn friendly the last time Frankie had been here, and Liza had been an absolute treasure helping her navigate a maze of red tape and brick walls.

“What are you doing back here?” Liza asked, her stunning turquoise-colored eyes dancing with warmth. “The ninety-day wait period hasn’t passed yet.”

“I know, but I’ve been informed that someone has tried to file an illegal will in my grandfather’s name.”



Liza frowned and gestured to the hall. “I’ve been digging around since I got the message that you were worming your way through the processing system from hell. C’mon, let’s go in my office and talk.”

In the windowless room, Frankie took the guest chair, remembering the hominess of the little office, despite its lack of windows and abundance of government-issued ugly furniture. Frankie had seen her share of these four walls, but Liza made hers welcoming, with a lamp on the table instead of fluorescent light and a few pictures of a darling little brown-eyed boy she assumed was Liza’s son.

“It’s very puzzling,” Liza finally said as she slipped into her chair behind the desk. “I found that will a few hours ago when I first got the notification from documents pending that you were looking for it.”

Frankie shot forward. “And it’s fake, right?”

She blew out a breath. “I don’t know. It’s disappeared right out of the system not twenty minutes ago.”

“What?”

“It’s the strangest thing,” she said, turning to tap on her computer keyboard as if she hoped it might magically appear again. “I wouldn’t have even looked, but a notice came that you were in the process office and would eventually make your way here, and, of course, I remembered you and how there was no will and no deed for your No... What did you call him again?”

“Nonno,” she supplied. “It’s Italian for grandfather.”

Liza smiled. “Yes, I liked that and your story about your farm. It sounds so dreamy, you know?”

“It is,” Frankie said, understanding the longing to escape bureaucracy. “You should bring your son to my farm sometime. He’d love the goats.”