A Taste of Heaven (Billionaires' Secrets Book 3) by Jennifer Lewis

living would be like. You’re not going to do that. You’ve got a decade or two of living to catch up on, from the sound of things.”
    Sam looked out at the bright palette of colors shimmering around her. Suddenly the world felt rich and heavy with possibilities.
    Louis leaned over the railing. “I’ve got a friend in New York, Margo, who teaches at Pratt Institute. I’ll give her a call and she’ll help you get started.”
    Excitement crackled through Sam. Could it really be that easy? To just pick up a brush and get started? “I might need a good supply of nude male models.”
    Louis grinned. “I can see your imagination’s up and running.”
    “Once again, I can see you have an unsettling amount of insight into me.”
    He shrugged. “Someone’s got to set you free.”
    “I am free. I make my own decisions.”
    “Do you? Or are you going to unwittingly start looking for another father figure to tell you what to do?”
    Irritation prickled over her. “Seriously, Tarrant was not a father figure.”
    “I’m just calling it the way I see it.” He opened the door to the cabin. “We’d better go back in before the bugs start biting.” Sam followed him into the dimly lit space.
    Although she hated to admit it, her previous partners had all been at least ten years older.
    She’d always felt older than her peers. With her strict and easily angered parents, she hadn’t had the opportunity to be a moody teenager. One time, she’d broken a vase while dancing around the room to the radio, and she’d eaten only cold cereal with water for a week as a punishment.
    Her mother had pointed out that in addition to making her more careful in the future, it would slim her down for the upcoming teen pageant she was entered in.
    She’d learned to toe every line like an infantry recruit out of sheer self-preservation. She’d never even attempted to do anything wild and irresponsible.
    Like sleeping with a man she’d just met.
    Sam knew Tarrant had wed her because she’d refused to sleep with him until they were married.
    He’d said that was so audacious that he fell instantly in love with her. They were married a week later.
    Louis was the only man she’d ever slept with that she wasn’t married to.
    The final fiery rays of the setting sun licked around him, setting her imagination aflame with how sensational he’d look and feel if he were naked in her arms. Right now.
    God help her, she wanted to sleep with him again.
    “I need to go back. Now. ”
    “No problem.” Louis moved back inside and closed up his sofa.
    Sam stared at him. He was just going to agree and take her back without a fight? Her heart sank a little.
    She followed him in. It was almost dark and she felt disoriented. Louis closed her bed and ushered her to the door.
    Didn’t he want her to stay?
    Goose bumps rose on her skin at the thought of leaving the comfortable cedar-scented haven for the dark and murky swamp.
    He held the door open. Their arms almost brushed as she passed him and the tiny hairs on her skin stood up as if trying to reach out and touch him.
    He latched the door, eased by her on the steps—so close she could feel the heat from his skin—and jumped lightly down into the boat moored off to one side. “Stay there, I’ll bring it right under the steps for you.”
    Sam hesitated. Surely if she stepped down, the boat could rock and she’d lose her footing? Night creatures chattered and chirped in the bayou all around. Louis crouched in the boat, looking at her, his expression unreadable in the deep dusk.
    It would all be so easy if she could just take his hand to steady herself while she stepped down.
    But she’d made the rules so she had to stick to them. She sucked in a shaky breath. One, two, three, she launched herself forward and managed to land one foot on the wooden floor of the skiff. The other foot, however, caught on the rim of the boat and she lost her balance and stumbled forward.
    “Whoa!” Louis caught her in