Crash Landing by Lori Wilde Page B

my life.” He folded his arms over his chest.
    “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded,” she backpedaled. They couldn’t seem to have a conversation without conflicting with each other. “I’m not accusing you of anything.”
    But he wasn’t listening. Apparently, she’d pushed one of his hot buttons.
    “I’m the American dream,” he declared.
    “But you’re not in America now, are you?”
    “I sure as hell wish I were,” he said and stalked off into the darkness.

7
    H E SHOULDN ’ T HAVE snapped at Sophia. She’d simply been trying to help him gain a better perspective on things. Gibb knew that. He also knew she was right and that’s what irritated him. Lately, his life had taken on a sameness that gnawed at him—work, work and more work. To escape the feeling, he worked even harder, but things seemed to be falling apart. First the spies, then the jam-up on the patent grant and now Scott’s defection because he didn’t want, in his words, to be consumed by work the way Gibb was.
    He was already a billionaire. What was he trying to prove? That he could be richer than everyone?
    Being a billionaire wasn’t much help to him now when he couldn’t even summon a plane to fly him out of here. He paced toward the shore, stared off at the ocean glimmering in the moonlight. Who was he really?
    “Gibb?”
    He turned to face Sophia.
    “I’m sorry, I—”
    “Don’t apologize,” he said. “You weren’t wrong.”
    She was so beautiful standing there, representing everything he did not have—freedom, fun, happiness.
    “So all that glitters is not gold?” she whispered.
    “I don’t have fun anymore. Tonight, cooking hot dogs over a campfire was the most fun I’ve had since...”
    Well, when was the last time he’d had real fun? Sure, he got a thrill from driving his Bentley fast down the Pacific Coast highway, but when was the last time he’d done that? And while it was thrilling, it didn’t make him feel like a kid again the way being with Sophia did.
    “We seem to be butting heads at every turn,” she said.
    “I know. I don’t want it to be that way. I like you, Sophia. I really do.”
    She grinned at him. “You want to make s’mores?”
    What a smile.
    It made him want to lasso the moon, pull it down from the sky and gift it to her on a platinum platter. Except Sophia didn’t need all that. She was happy just as she was. How did a person get to be so happy?
    She held out her hand to him and he took it. Just like that the fence was mending.
    In two minutes they were making s’mores and laughing as gooey chocolate and marshmallows dripped down their chins. Sophia flicked out a delicious pink tongue to lick away the chocolate. Gibb’s body reacted instantly and he could not take his gaze from her face.
    She caught him watching her. “Oops. That was sloppy.”
    He moved closer.
    Her eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
    “Probably making a big mistake,” he said.
    “Wh—”
    But she got no further. He gathered her into his arms and kissed those lips he’d been aching to kiss since the minute he’d first stepped into her plane two weeks ago. He’d ignored the attraction because he’d been with Stacy, but he could deny it no longer. His desire for Sophia was off the charts. It wasn’t going to lead anywhere. It couldn’t lead anywhere. He didn’t have any condoms, but he simply could not go the rest of his life without knowing what it would feel like to kiss her.
    Her lips parted and she sank against his chest with a sweet little moan.
    Gibb swallowed the sound, swallowed the chocolatey, graham cracker taste of her. Her lips were soft, pliant and sweet. He held her cradled in his arms, exploring her with equal parts of wonder and desire. He felt so alive, so vibrant.
    It’s just the situation. You’re stranded. Alone. It’s an adventure. But in his heart, he knew it was more than that. She drew him to her with a magnetic pull he couldn’t begin to explain, didn’t want to