The Bluffing Game by Verona Vale Read Free Book Online

beach.
    I felt the tension in his forearm and said, “When was the last time you visited one of the numerous spas on this island?”
    “Two days ago. A masseuse comes to the private spa in the basement twice a week.”
    “And what about the last time you actually walked down to the beach and played in the ocean?”
    He shrugged. “All the days blend together.”
    “Well I, for one, plan on enjoying the island before I go. So once those stuffed shirts and the creepy contract lawyer have cleared out, I’m going to put on a swimsuit and put all this legalese out of my head. Would you like to join me?”
    He stared out at the ocean. “We need to forget about last night,” he said. “But I’d like that.”
    “Today’s a new day,” I agreed, even though I wanted to give his backside a soft slap. I controlled myself. “Glad you’re coming, though. There’s no point in living on a tropical island if you don’t enjoy it.” And with that, I sauntered back to my room, somehow back to square one on the surface, but underneath I was ready to give him another chance.

 
     
     
     
    Four
     
     
     
    Whenever I’m feeling self-conscious about my body, I do my best to slip back into severe mode. When I try on swimsuits and look at myself in a full-length mirror, noticing only the slight unevenness of my tan, the small scar on my torso from when I had to have a mole removed, the ever-so-slight difference in the size of my average breasts, and the odd places on my thighs where the first tiny wrinkles of age hint at their arrival in droves over the next decade, I remind myself that even though I am not a six-foot-four bone-thin model, I do maintain my body, and on the whole, it looks damn good. I run three times a week, and it keeps me mostly thin. I take good care of my health. I like my face. There are so many things about my body that I am happy with, and on that day I was not going to let my feelings about a man, even as gorgeous and handsome a specimen as Victor, force me to laser-focus in on my imperfections. If I could walk into a room as a lawyer and be in control, feeling total confidence in myself, then I could walk onto a beach as a woman and feel at home in my body, see it as me, see it as every bit as good as I want it to be.
    I chose a two-piece string bikini in a deep green that brought out my eyes, and put back my hair. The full wardrobe really did complete the effect of being able to leave my regular life behind and be whoever I wanted to be while on the island. Maybe that was what the billionaires really came here for. Not so much the views and the food and the decadence as much as the freedom those things afforded, the ability to be really themselves. I thought of my years with Nick, of his genuineness, how he had found a way to be himself without needing to be a billionaire, and how free it made him feel, how passionate. I wondered if Victor had some deep dream beyond this space port, if once it was built, he would move on to the next thing, or if maybe all he wanted in life was to fulfill a boyhood dream of being an astronaut, of playing in space, without the stress and encumbrances of some scientific mission.
    I slung a tote of towels and accoutrements over my shoulder, put on a pair of Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses from the wardrobe, and walked down the curving stone steps to the sand. I walked between palm trunks and out into the sun, the wind off the ocean soft and cool, the temperature impeccable. The envy of kings, I kept hearing in my head. I laid my tote and sunglasses down on the sand and walked to the bright blue water, clear as glass at the edge of the sand, and I waded in.
    A delightful warmness crept up my legs, between them, up my stomach and ribs and back, and I reveled in the incredible freedom of feeling like this was mine. The sea was nearly silent, the sky clear, and I could have been alone on the island, alone on the Earth, with a room behind me offering all I could ever need. It felt