Paige shoved the phone back in her bag and turned to stare out into the dark ocean.

"Tell me more about yourself, Paige. Parts I don't know. What makes you tick?" Mayson asked.

"I'm rather boring."

"You didn't look boring on that stage." Mayson cut a glance on Paige that made her squirm. She suddenly wished she was lying down.

"Let's make a game of it. I'll ask a single-word question, you answer with a single word."

Paige didn't want to tell her anything. Mayson had a grand life, lived in a grand house, and had filthy-rich parents. Anything Paige offered would be so far beneath anything Mayson would have experienced. But she wasn't ready to leave, either. "Okay. But hand me another beer first."

Mayson reached for the beer, twisted the top, and handed it to Paige. "Ready?"

Paige took a long swallow, welcoming the tingles. "Go."

"College?"

"Graduated."

"Major?"

"Business."

"Impressed. Minors?"

"That was two words. Answer. Three words. Theatrical production. Philosophy."

"More impressed."

Paige shrugged and took another swallow. Either this beer was opening the personal portal or Mayson was just that easy to talk to. She chose to believe it was the beer. Wasn't it the truth serum?

"Mother?"

"Three words. Drugs. Wh.o.r.e. Gone."

Mayson shot her a stare but continued. "Father?"

"Unknown."

Compa.s.sion filled Mayson's gaze. Paige looked away and took another drink. She didn't want Mayson's pity. Didn't want anyone to pity her. She sure didn't pity herself. Her grandmother had possibly saved her life. No telling what her alternate life could have been living with a drug addict and countless men in and out of her life.

"Relationships?"

Paige grunted. "Pathetic."

"s.e.x?"

"Masturbation."

Paige almost gasped with her answer. Had she just said that out loud? The smirk on Mayson's face proved she had. Maybe she needed to stop drinking. Or drink more often so three beers wouldn't make her a cheap drunk.

Mayson chuckled. "Was that so bad?"

Actually, it wasn't. It felt like shedding the weights of life and tossing them in the ocean. Had she been ashamed of her life all along? Had she somehow suppressed her true feelings all these years?

No. She hadn't. She wasn't ashamed of stripping. It was an honest living. Nor could she be ashamed of being raised by her grandmother. The life her mother had chosen was her decision to make. Not Paige's. It was a decision her mother had to live with. And if she could live with herself, then so could Paige. She had nothing to hang her head about.

"Not as amazing as your life was, I'm sure." Paige finally succ.u.mbed to the moment and lay back in the sand.

"I'd love to tell you some horrid story about being raised by the nanny because my parents were too consumed with their glamorous life to care about me, but that would be a lie. Fact is, I never had a nanny. I had amazing parents. And cool grandparents." Mayson rolled onto her side. "Is that really true about your parents?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

And she was. Paige could hear it in her voice. "Don't be. I can't miss what I don't have."

"Have you ever wanted to find them?"

Paige considered the question. She had. A few times. She wondered if the drugs had ever killed her mother. Wondered if her father even knew she existed. Maybe he wasn't as bad as her mind allowed her to think.

"Not really. Though I could have siblings out there somewhere." Paige glanced over at Mayson. "You could be my half sister."

Mayson laughed. "Fat chance. My father is so in love with my mother I'm not sure he notices the female population. They still have date nights."

"That's cute."

"Yes, it is. They taught me a lot about love and respect."

Paige thought about reminding Mayson about her lack of respect, but they had finally reached a point of normal conversation. "Did you really build that empire all by yourself?"

Mayson gave a solid nod. "Indeed I did. On a napkin in this little all-night cafe my freshman year in college. It was the only place I could escape to study since my roommates turned our dorm into party central."

"Why windmills? They're so...boring." Paige wanted to retract the statement as soon as she heard it leave her lips. Those boring windmills had obviously made Mayson a billionaire. It was a far cry from the route Paige had taken. At least Mayson wasn't mauled nightly.

"There was something about them that infatuated me. I wanted to know how they operated. Why they produced the energy. So I studied, researched, until I learned all there was to know about them. There was only one thing left to do at that point. Design cooler and better models. So I did. Of course I had no idea what to do with my little paper artwork. That's where my dad fit in. He helped me with all the legalities of copyrights and patents, which was a long, drawn-out, gruesome process." Mayson glanced up at Paige. "I had just started my senior year when I got my first offer. Six million dollars."

Paige attempted to keep the shock out of her face. "How fast did you pack up and leave college?"

Mayson chuckled. "I didn't leave. I finished."

Paige was astounded. "You're kidding! What on earth for?"

"Money can't buy my education. I needed something to fall back on."

A hiss of amazement exited Paige's lips. "To fall back on? Wasn't six million dollars cushy enough?"

"If taking the easy way out was an option." Mayson turned that carnal stare back on Paige. "I've never bought my way out of anything, Paige. Including relationships." She gave a quick chuckle. "Besides, in what other profession could I be nicknamed the wind G.o.ddess? Pretty cool, huh?"

Paige looked away as heat flicked against her skin. She was beginning to see how wrong she'd been about Mayson. How she'd judged her without knowing a d.a.m.n thing about her. She didn't like being wrong.

Nor did she want to talk about relationships. "What was your major?"

"Promise not to laugh?"

"No. I never make a promise I'm not positive I can keep."

Mayson took in a calming breath. "I had a double major. Obviously, engineering, after the offer for my prototype came through. But it originated as...early childhood development."

Shocked, Paige giggled. "The big bad Mayson Montgomery was going to be a teacher?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Holy s.h.i.t. I've heard it all." Paige shook her head.

Mayson took a swig of beer. "I could be tortured daily by a gaggle of six-year-olds. But bigger, more important things got in the way."

"Yeah. Like a billion dollars."

Mayson swung around to face Paige. "Does money bother you that much?"

Paige felt ashamed under that scrutinizing glare. Did money really bother her? No, she rather liked having it. It was people like Mayson, who disrespected those without it, that bothered her.

Although the more they talked, the more those beliefs faltered. Paige simply shrugged and looked out over the ocean.

Mayson must have decided she didn't want the answer. For once, she didn't push the point. "How long do you plan on dancing before you hang up your stilettos?"

Paige had never been asked that question. But she'd thought about it. Sooner or later, age would catch up with her. As much as she loved dancing, as free as it made her feel, it couldn't be a lifetime commitment. Sooner rather than later, as Mayson put it, she'd have to hang up the dancing shoes. Lately, she seemed more involved with the charity than she did dancing. Had her pa.s.sion shifted without knowing?

"Never really thought about it," Paige lied. Now that Mayson had brought it up, it was all she could think about. She loved her charity, adored helping others, especially those d.a.m.n kids.

"Have dinner with me tomorrow, Paige. My place. I can show you one of my few talents."

Tomorrow? s.h.i.t. She had a date. With Vinden. At a lingerie shop. It dawned on Paige how little she'd thought about her tonight, even when there would be incredible s.e.x involved.

"Sorry. I have a date." Paige emphasized the date part, making sure Mayson heard her loud and clear, though she didn't know why. Maybe because she'd just confessed dates were pathetic? "Besides, you have armed guards."

Mayson leaned toward her and fingered the candy necklace that was already leaving a sticky mess against Paige's neck. "The next day, then? I'll let you in. Promise."

She leaned up and tugged the backpack to her lap. After fishing for what felt like hours, she pulled a box from within and held it out to Paige. "I promised you a gift."

Paige slowly took the box, which was wrapped exactly as she would expect a gift from a billionaire to be. Shiny silver paper in dark paisley design was encased in an elegant matching bow. No doubt she'd had it wrapped by professionals at whatever shop this so-called present came from.

She had no idea why the paper or the bow rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe because it screamed wealth. So unlike the trinkets Vinden had been leaving her. Simple, romantic, well-thought out. G.o.d, she shouldn't be here. She could be snuggled in her bed with Vinden's voice snuggled to her ear, commanding her to f.u.c.k herself. That's exactly where she wanted to be. There. With Vinden's voice stroking her to o.r.g.a.s.ms. Not here with a gift Mayson's secretary probably picked up on one of her errands.

Paige was too curious not to pull the bow. She couldn't look at Mayson while she tore the wrapper off. Her breath caught and hung in her chest as she pushed the top off.

Her diary.

She hadn't seen it since the day Mayson shoved her into the fountain. It hadn't mattered. The words, her prayers and pleading to G.o.d were useless. Mayson had made sure of that.

Mayson moved and Paige snapped her gaze up, aware of the hot tears stinging her eyes.

"I've never read a single word. I swear."

Paige swallowed, willing the d.a.m.n tears back into refuge, and lost the battle. A tear fell over the brink.

Mayson reached out and smoothed the tear across her cheek. "I'm sorry, Paige. For what I did. I was a coward and there is no other excuse. Please forgive me?"

Paige looked away, down into the box where her memories lay, where every personal thought was handwritten by a scared and lonely child, and thought of her grandmother. She owed everything to her.

With a nod, Paige pulled the lid back in place. She didn't know what to say. What to do. What she did know was she was well aware of Mayson's heat beside her. Of the need nestling between her thighs with the simple gesture of wiping a tear away. It showed compa.s.sion. It showed her heart. But more, it showed she meant what she said.

It was time to let go of her immature hatred. Once and for all.

"I forgive you, Mayson. Thank you. So much."

"So, about dinner?" Mayson pleaded with a s.e.xy upward glance.

Paige's mind was screaming to say h.e.l.l no, that she wasn't a toy, nor could she be bought, no matter how much of a gentlemen Mayson had been tonight. Fact remained that she was incredibly rich. What ever could they have in common?

Paige could hear the words "h.e.l.l no" echoing in her mind as her mouth opened. "Yes."

Dumba.s.s! Dumba.s.s! Dumba.s.s!

Chapter Twelve.

Mayson soaped her body; every touch of fingers on skin heightened the antic.i.p.ation of her masked night with Paige and sent adrenaline surging through her veins. Tonight, she would take Paige to another rung in the game.

The strident emergency ringtone cut across pleasant thoughts of masks and seduction. d.a.m.n! She stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around her body, and grabbed for the cell phone. "Yes?"

"You watching the Weather Channel?" Eric asked, his rushed voice telling her all she needed to know. The tropical storm had grown.

"s.h.i.t. Has it been upgraded?" Mayson padded into the bedroom, plucked the remote off the nightstand, and cut on the TV.

Eric continued. "She's now a Category One, expected to increase in size and strength by midday tomorrow. They're talking like she could possibly be as big as Five if the jet stream has any luck with her. This b.i.t.c.h is angry, Mayson. If she keeps her projected path, she'll be a direct hit on Kingston. Two days. Tops."

"c.r.a.p! They can't handle anything that size." Mayson sat on the end of the bed and watched the circular motion of Hurricane Elena on the screen. She was carrying quite a punch with a beautiful detailed eye. It would level everything on the coast of Jamaica if it continued to grow and hit land.

Eric sighed. "Looks like we need to get ready for another adventure, boss. You might want to wrap up your extracurricular activities."