She walked out of her room and had to search the large, beautiful house for Michael. She finally found him sitting on the patio that overlooked the ocean. Breakfast was set up on a shaded balcony, the heat from the sun already strong. There was a small banquet of fruits as well as eggs, toast, bacon, sausage and strong, hot coffee. “Who made all this?” she asked, astonished that there was so much food for only two people. “You didn’t get up early to fix me breakfast, did you?”
Michael laughed at her worried expression. “If it would convince you of my heartfelt respect for you and lower your inhibitions, then yes. I would do it.” And he laughed at her shy expression. “But fortunately for your stomach and my appetite, there’s a great cook and housekeeper that prepared this meal and any others that you might desire.”
“Oh,” she said and sat down with a plate full of fruit and eggs. Sipping her coffee, she stared out at the ocean. “Who’s house is this? I don’t’ have rich enough friends.”
“The house belongs to me and my brothers and sister. We share it together, sometimes coming down all together. But it’s here whenever someone needs a break.” He leaned forward, “And as for wealthy friends, don’t I count? I can probably provide for your every need.”
“No, you can’t,” she laughed. “Besides, I don’t like wealthy men.”
He shook his head. “You like me, though.”
Darcy jumped out of her chair only moments before he reached for her. “You’re going to get hot coffee spilled on you if you’re not careful,” she said, finding him even more irresistible when he was in a playful mood. “Don’t you have work to do?” she asked, sitting down on the opposite side of the table from him and pulling her plate over.
“My only work is to get you out of those clothes,” he winked at her wary expression before continuing, “and into something more appropriate for this kind of weather.”
“Well, you don’t need to buy me clothes. I can buy my own, but I’d love to go shopping. You can just drop me off somewhere if you’d rather not hang out in a ladies dress shop.”
“No way,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t trust you. You wont’ get the right things. You need my advice.”
Darcy laughed at his serious expression. “You’re going to give me advice on clothing?”
“Yep,” he assured her. “And if you’d hurry up, we can get started. You need a hat and sunglasses first,” he noted since she was squinting into the sunny ocean.
He took her to a small boutique where she was handed several beautiful, flowery dresses that flowed around her legs and arms like a soft breeze. She had a hard time deciding which to buy and finally Michael just told the saleswoman to send all of them to an address on a card and pulled her out of the store.
The next store was filled with shorts, shirts and bathing suits. He took her through the racks and piled her arms full of summer clothes, then led her to a dressing room with instructions to hand him anything that fit. She started with the shorts and shirts and found three outfits that she liked. She didn’t hand them out though because she was sure he was going to pay for them.
Once she’d settled on the shorts, she moved on to the bathing suits he had chosen for her. But her jaw dropped when she picked up the first skimpy bikini.
“What’s going on in there?” he called over the partition.
“Nothing,” she said, holding up the bathing suit in front of her.
“Hand me out the clothes or I’m coming in after them,” he warned.
Since she was standing in the small room in only her bra and underwear, she tossed the outfits she’d already chosen over the top of the door. “I’ll pay for them though. You don’t have to buy me clothes.”
“I don’t see any bathing suits in these. What’s wrong with the ones I handed to you? Do you need more choices?”
“No!” she called out. “No more choices. These won’t work either.”
“What’s wrong with them?” he asked, chuckling.
Darcy grimaced. “You know exactly what is wrong with them.”
Michael laughed. “I’ll look and see if there is anything more conservative,” he said and she heard his foot steps fade away.
Out of curiosity, she tried on the first bikini. It covered all the essentials, but just barely, she thought turning to see if it covered her derriere.
Darcy jumped a foot when she heard Michael’s whistle. “That’s a keeper,” he said and handed her several others, his eyes skimming her figure in the skimpy bathing suit.
She looked down at the new set of bathing suits and laughed despite her embarrassment with Michael seeing her in the bathing suit. “Michael, these are worse than the first batch you handed me.”
He just grinned wolfishly. “Depends on your point of view,” and he looked down her figure in the scanty material, “And there is no view in that one that is bad, let me just say that right now.”
Darcy rolled her eyes and pulled the door shut, ignoring his laughter.
She chose the least revealing of the bathing suits he’d handed her, not sure if she could actually wear them in public, or even around him in private. There was always the bathing suit she’d worn last night, but then her cheeks filled with color at how easily that one had not kept her covered.
She pushed the thought aside and gathered up her purse, hanging the leftover bathing suits and clothes on the rack outside the room. Fully dressed again, she looked around for Michael. He was already standing at the cash register, handing the sales clerk a credit card.
“You’re going to need one of those,” he said and handed her a large, floppy hat and sunglasses. “We have one more stop before you’re finished shopping. Why don’t you change into one of these outfits, putting a bathing suit on underneath and we can go snorkeling after lunch.”
“What other stop do I have?” she asked, overwhelmed at the idea of more shopping. They’d been at it for almost two hours and that was about her limit.
As they headed back to the dressing room, he leaned over to whisper in her ear. “You need underwear. Pretty little lace nothings that will tempt me to find out what you’re wearing, then drive me crazy in my attempts to get them off you so we can finish making love.”