No Strings Attached by Jaci Burton Page B

really
     start the morning off well.
    But for some reason he didn’t want her to think this was all about sex. Though wasn’t
     that what she wanted? Just sex?
    It would be so easy to make it that. But for Ella, he wanted to do things differently.
     She deserved it. He slid out of bed. She burrowed under the covers and pulled the
     pillow over her head.
    He showered, shaved and brushed his teeth. By the time he came out of the bathroom,
     she was sitting up in bed, her hair a tangled mess around her face. Her cheeks were
     pink as though she’d just woken up.
    Damn, she looked cute.
    “You should have nudged me.”
    He smiled. “I did. With my dick. You wiggled your ass against me.”
    She cocked a brow and cast her gaze down his body to where his lower half was covered
     with a towel. “Really. Was I not tantalizing enough?”
    “Do you want to spend the entire day in bed as my love slave, or do you want to get
     out and explore the island?”
    She continued to look at him.
    “Well?”
    “I’m still thinking about which option I like better.”
    He laughed and jerked the covers away. “Get out of bed. I’m hungry.”
    With a loud sigh, she said, “Fine. I’ll be your love slave later.” She pulled her
     dress on and grabbed her shoes. “Give me thirty minutes to shower and change.”
    “I’ll pick you up at your condo.”
    While Ella was gone, Clay made a few phone calls back to the office. Tish assured
     him there was nothing pressing going on. He wrote down a few appointments he’d have
     to take care of when he got back. Other than that, everything seemed to be running
     smoothly. Nothing to worry about. He could focus his attention entirely on Ella.
    He dressed and went to Ella’s room, knocked on the door. She opened it and he sucked
     in a breath. She was wearing a short terry-cloth robe that barely covered the tops
     of her thighs. Her hair was piled up on top of her head.
    She leaned against the door and frowned at him. “You didn’t say what we were going
     to do today. What should I wear?”
    He grinned. “I kind of like what you’re wearing right now.”
    She rolled her eyes and made room for him to enter, then shut the door behind him.
     “Funny. Are those your swim trunks?”
    “Yeah.” He’d tossed on his board shorts, a sleeveless shirt and sandals. “I thought
     after breakfast we’d hit the beach.”
    “Sounds great. I’ll be right back.”
    She came out a few minutes later wearing shorts and a tank top, the straps of what
     must have been her red swimsuit peeking out under the top. He liked being in Hawaii.
     It meant Ella bared a lot of skin, something he didn’t see much of working with her
     on jobsites where she was usually covered neck to foot. Between last night’s skimpy
     dress and today’s outfit, he’d been treated to a lot of shoulder and legs. And oh,
     man, did she have great legs. Long and shapely. And he knew exactly how they’d gotten
     that way—hard work and not in a gym.
    “What are you doing?”
    She stood in the middle of the room, her bag flung over her shoulder, her head cocked
     to the side. One of the things he liked most about her was that she’d tossed her hair
     in a ponytail and she didn’t have on makeup—or if she had put some on, it didn’t show.
     So many of the women he dated were all about looking perfect. God forbid he should
     see them mussed up or without makeup or their hair perfect.
    Ella didn’t have to try…. Without makeup she was the girl next door, but still sexy.
     Not many women could pull that off. Maybe the lack of pretense was what he found so
     attractive about her—she never tried to be something she wasn’t. Even last night’s
     outfit—though killer sexy—was still all Ella. Simple, yet elegant.
    And here he was waxing poetic about a woman he was only fucking.
    “I’m just enjoying the view.”
    She actually looked past him and out her sliding-glass door to the balcony. “The ocean?
     Yes, it’s