Sandcastle Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story by Krista Lakes, Mel Finefrock

anymore.”
    “They must be good.” Noah shot me a wolfish grin, and I could feel the blush heating my cheeks. Luckily, the buzz of his phone saved me. “They're starting to get desperate.”
    He hit "silence" once more and then brushed a strand of hair from my cheek and back behind my ear. In a graceful motion, he leaned forward, letting his lips graze the tender patch of skin at my temple in a gentle kiss. “I'll see you at seven.”
    I nodded, flood of want coursing though my stomach and stealing my words. Noah somehow had the ability to remove any coherent thought in my head and send my insides tumbling in the most pleasant way. I found myself wishing it was already dinnertime.
    Noah stood and brushed the sand from his board shorts before giving me one last grin. If I hadn't been sitting, my knees would have gone weak at his smile. I waved as he turned, finally answering the phone with a curt greeting.
    I watched him walk down the beach, checking out his perfect ass the entire way. In addition to being tall, dark, and handsome with eyes that could make a harpy melt, he also had a fantastic ass. He was as close to perfect as I could imagine.
    I turned back to the sandcastle and put the last finishing touches on it. A few shells, some seaweed pennants, and finished digging the rest of the moat. I snapped a picture of it on my camera, wanting to save this sandcastle forever. It was perfect.
    The waves were starting to creep up the beach with high tide. I dug the moat a little deeper to try and fend off the approaching waves, but I knew sandcastles were temporary. That was part of the beauty of them. They were only there for a short amount of time.
    I stood and walked away, heading home. I didn't want to see the waves destroy our work. I knew that the sandcastle was the perfect metaphor for whatever was going on between Noah and me. Beautiful and amazing, but destined to fall apart. He was a tourist, and tourists leave. That's just what they do.

Chapter 8
    I set the curling iron down and checked my handiwork. Beautiful, bouncing ringlets graced my head, but I knew that the second I stepped out into the tropical air they would go flat. I shook my head slowly at myself in the mirror. Even though I knew it was going to be straight by the time I got to the parking lot, I had gone to the trouble. Noah just had that effect on me. I wanted to look good for him.
    “Oh, pretty,” Brooke said, poking her head in the bathroom door. We shared the small bathroom and technically the curling iron was hers, but with the tropical humidity she had stopped trying to curl her hair after the second day. “So, who's the date with?”
    “What makes you think I have a date?” I asked, glaring at her in the mirror.
    She shot me a cheesy know-it-all smirk “Because you don't curl your hair for bartending gigs.” Her smile widened. “And because you have been humming a Disney princess theme song for the past thirty minutes.”
    I scowled at her and she laughed. I put my makeup box carefully away before turning to face her. “Don't tell anyone, okay? I don't need Lucas giving me a hard time again.”
    Brooke laughed and stepped out of the door to let me back into our shared bedroom. She ran and jumped onto her twin bed in the corner, tucking her legs under her once she landed. One of her tabloid magazines slid off the bed and landed on the floor, but she just ignored it.
    “Your secret's safe with me.” She held up her hand as though she were swearing in at a courtroom before a grin covered her face. “Now, who's the guy? Local or tourist?”
    I went to the closet and pulled out my favorite light blue sundress. It was strapless and had a lacy bottom that made my legs look longer than they were. Brooke, with her amazing fashion sense, had picked it out for me at one of the tourist clothing shops. I loved it. It was the perfect dress to wear on my date.
    “Well, you know what Lucas likes to call me...” I told Brooke as I carefully slid