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of a wry smile. “You’ll need to change out of that dress and boots first.”
    “I’m fine.”
    “Good. Then you brought something more appropriate with you?” His gaze followed a line from her eyes to her nose, down to her lips, where it lingered before moving down her dimpled chin.
    Heat flushed her cheeks. “What’s wrong with what I have on?”
    “Nothing. Unless you plan on lifting weights in it.”
    “Never mind, that’s not why I’m here. Why did you really bring me here?”
    “Because I want the best for my event. I thought we already covered this.” His brow quirked again.
    A sexy brow, to Avery’s thinking. She couldn’t argue his point, so she forced herself to relax. Breathe. The effect he had on her was electric, intense. She fought it, forcing a smile by sheer determination and will power.
    He put his arm around her shoulder and said into her mass of honey-golden hair, “You know something, when you’re not throwing a temper tantrum, you’re quite beautiful.”
    “I didn’t come all the way here for false flattery.”
    “And when you are throwing a temper tantrum, you’re incredibly beautiful, and you don’t want to know what I want to do...”
    Avery whirled around, but his powerful arm stopped her. She stilled, eyeing him carefully as pulses of electricity fired inside her. A shudder of heat ricocheted through her. She blushed to the point of fire in her cheeks.
    Looking up at him, she saw something in his eyes, something dark and smoldering, and she wasn’t sure what the hell to do with it because no one had ever looked at her that way...like pure sex. Her body reacted to him in ways she’d never experienced before. A sensation of warmth and heat circled low in her belly. And for a split second, she thought she should remind herself to be afraid, but she couldn’t. The feeling was far too nice to fear.
    “I’m certain you say that to all the girls.”
    And it probably works too .
    Ryker’s tense body language said he’d just armored up. “There you go inviting other women into our conversation again. Not that I give a damn. You’ve made your mind up about me.”
    “Either way, I didn’t invite any of this,” Avery said stubbornly. The shivers that the sound of his voice sent up and down her spine, and the ease with which compliments rolled off his tongue, did little more than prove that Ryker Li had done all this before. He was practiced and cool, whereas she was a total vulnerable wreck.
    Alexandria was probably right.
    Maybe he did want to bed Avery while she planned his event, and perhaps he brought her to the island to keep her away from the media spotlight. Or worse, so he wouldn’t be seen seducing her. But why?
    Why would he need to go to this much trouble? His charms, when directed at her, would be impossible to rebuff for long. Avery figured she could wrack her brain for days trying to figure that one out.
    Seriously, who could dissect rich men and their eccentricities?
    She steeled her strength and pulled away from him.

Chapter Five
    “Did I see a pool outside?” Avery asked.
    It was bad enough he’d had to work through the image of her looking helpless there on the ground digging around for clothes, and he wasn’t supposed to help her. Now she’d gone and put the picture of her in a tiny little bikini in his head.
    He’d already had to watch her struggle to look calm in what must be one of the most embarrassing moments of her life, and his heart stirred. A vein in Ryker’s neck pulsed.
    Women, in his experience, had a way of playing a man who went soft on emotion. So he reminded himself not to. He wiped his brow with his hand towel and turned back the way he came. “Pool’s out back.”
    Another hour of exercise, and maybe he could wipe that image clean too. He released a string of expletives as he strode down the hall. Exercise normally worked out his frustration when a ready blonde wasn’t available. There were numbers he could call, and one of