Twisted Games (Twisted, #2)(43)

A bead of sweat popped out on my brow. I shifted on my stool, trying to ease the throbbing in my clit, but it only made things worse.

I shouldn’t have said the things I’d said, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t meant them. When Rhys had me bent over the dresser with his cock pressed against me…

I gulped down the rest of my water to ease the heat flaming across my skin.

“In that case, the best path forward is to pretend last night didn’t happen and never speak of it again.”

I really needed more water. And air conditioning. And possibly an ice bath.

“Fine by me.” Rhys leaned against the counter and rested one hand on the countertop while sipping coffee from the mug in his other hand. It was a casual, everyday movement that had no business being as hot as it was. “Except for one thing.”

Oh, God. “And that would be…?”

“Your bucket list.” Those gunmetal eyes drilled into me. “You really want to do all those things before going back to Eldorra?”

Not what I’d expected him to say.

I breathed a sigh of relief before I remembered bucket list number four and blushed all over again. “Yes, but most of it probably isn’t possible.”

It was more a fantasy list than a bucket list. I knew that when I came up with the items, but a girl could hope.

“What if I told you they were?” Rhys placed his mug in the sink before turning to face me again.

“I’d say you were bullshitting me.”

His mouth curled up into a small grin, and tingles raced across my skin. Rhys didn’t smile often, but when he did, it was devastating.

“Always nice to hear you curse, princess.”

Fuck me the way you just promised.

The memory must’ve crossed my mind at the same time it did his, because his smile faded and his eyes heated while I sank a little lower in my chair.

“No, I’m not bullshitting you,” he said, his voice rougher than it had been a second ago. “I can make your bucket list happen if you want me to.”

I wasn’t brave enough in the light of day to ask him if that included number four.

“Why would you do that?”

“It’s my good deed for the year.”

Typical non-answer from Rhys, but intrigue edged out my annoyance.

“Okay, I’ll bite,” I said. “What do you have in mind?”

“No what, where.” Rhys smiled again at my surprise. “We’re going to Costa Rica.”





17





Bridget





Two days later, we landed in Costa Rica like Rhys had promised and drove two hours from the airport to a small town on the Pacific coast.

I stared out the window at the country’s lush landscape, my head spinning from how fast everything had moved. I couldn’t believe Rhys, Mr. Safety and Security himself, was the one who suggested a last-minute trip, but I wasn’t complaining. I hadn't visited Costa Rica before, and four days in a tropical paradise sounded like, well, paradise.

We’d finished packing the townhouse, and I’d turned in my keys that morning. Everything else I needed to do, I could do online. I was, for all intents and purposes, free until we returned to New York.

“This is it.” Rhys pulled up in front of a sprawling, two-story villa. “Bucket list number one.”

Go someplace where no one knows or cares who I am.

That was definitely the case here. The house was nestled high in the hills and the only residence around. How had Rhys even found this place?

My chest tightened with emotion as we unpacked our suitcases from the back of our rental car and walked toward the entrance. “How did you pull everything together so fast?”

Rhys would never let me go anywhere without doing the proper advance work first, but it had only been forty-eight hours since I told him about my list. For him to have researched the town, booked the charter jet and villa, and handled the millions of details that came with royal travel in such a short time…

“I cheated a bit,” he admitted, unlocking the front door. “An old Navy buddy of mine moved down here a couple of years ago and owns this place. He’s on vacation right now and let me borrow it for a few days. I visit every year, so I know the town and people well. It’s safe. Quiet. Under the radar.”

“Exactly what I need,” I murmured. The tightness in my chest intensified.

Rhys showed me around the villa. The walls were all glass, offering gorgeous three-hundred-sixty views of the surrounding hills and the Pacific Ocean in the distance. Everything was open, airy, and made of natural stone and wood, and the house’s design made it seem like it was flowing into its surroundings instead of dominating them. My favorite feature, however, was the infinity pool on the second-floor terrace. From a certain angle, it looked like it fed straight into the ocean.

Rhys, being Rhys, also walked me through the security setup. Tinted, bulletproof glass all around, state-of-the-art motion sensors, an underground panic room stocked with a year’s supply of food. That was all I gathered before I zoned out.

I appreciated the security measures, but I didn’t need a detailed breakdown of the make and model of the security cameras. I just wanted to eat and swim.

“Remind me to send your friend a big thank you,” I said. “This place is incredible.”