Read Online [Invitation to Eden 20.0] The Island of Eden by Lauren Hawkeye - Free Book Online Page A

seems to be constructed of nothing but glass and is full of lush blooms?
    Next to it, the mansion of my childhood could have come straight from Ikea. I’m... awed. Something I never, ever am.
    Dani, however... Dani is a going to be a tough nut to crack. At first glance, she’s casual, easy going. Very girl next door, if you ignore the shadows in her eyes.
    But I’ve been with her for half an hour now, and I’m quite certain that she never smiles. Like, ever. I’m not sure she’s capable of it.
    Or else she really, really doesn’t like me. I suppose that’s a possibility. I like the other option better.
    Still, as I follow her around, I do my best to engage her in conversation. I’m puzzled that I’m striking out, to be honest. The real me? I’m as abrasive as they come. But when I want something? I can be whoever I need to be.
    “How long have you been working here?” Peeling my wet jacket over my head, I aim for casual. Something that won’t have this overprotective girl from knifing me in my sleep.
    “Nope.” She looks away, and I get it. She, and probably all of the other employees, are fiercely protective of their employer. That, or she has the hots for him, which I wouldn’t be able to blame her for.
    In pictures, the man was hot.
    In person?
    Daaaamn.
    “Do you like it?” I peer out one of the greenhouse windows.
    Finally a smile—a sarcastic one. “Obviously.”
    I’ll take your sarcasm, be-yotch . Take it and up it. “What do you like about it?”
    Dani shoots me a look that says really ? before silently gesturing to the ocean view out the window. I hadn’t expected to be impressed yet again, because I’ve been to every tropical locale that there is, but... wow.
    It’s stunning. Stunning enough that my way with words has flown the coop. And I like how it smells. Of sea and sand and sun.
    Though I suppose that could just be me, drenched as I still am with what feels like half of the ocean.
    I still can’t believe I survived. I thought for sure I was a goner when that last tsunami-sized wave came for me. I’d been foolish letting go like that. In retrospect, it was terrifying. Despite me making it in one virtually unscathed piece, I shouldn’t have. It was a miracle. Not that I believe in that stuff.
    “What’s Mr. Vardalos like to work for?” I’m more than curious about the man who runs this place.
    Dani narrows her eyes. “He’s a beast. A tyrant. Worst human alive. In fact, you should probably run while you can.”
    “A-ha-ha.” Despite my usual alligator thick skin, though, I’m a little bit stung by her insistent and obvious dislike of me.
    Not so much because I care what she thinks of me. More because... for reasons I don’t quite understand, I’m jealous of the fact that she—that all of the employees here—know him in a way that I likely never will.
    And that’s stupid. Not only should I not be calling him Master in my head, because that’s ridiculous, but I have absolutely no reason to be jealous. No matter how tight of an ass he has.
    Dani leads me outside again. She stops on the fifth stone stair leading up a cliff. There’s a little stone gazebo area with a bench. “Wait here. Do not move. Do not touch things that do not belong to you. Understand?”
    “Is everyone who works here as sweet as you?” I bat my eyelashes at her. She regards me stonily before turning and going back down the stairs, probably back to the castle. Or maybe to soak her head. I don’t really care.
    I remain standing just long enough to satisfy myself that I’ve flaunted her order, then sit on the bench, even though I am restless enough to keep pacing around. I don’t want him to find me agitated—I want him to think that I am one cool customer.  That he hasn’t gotten under my skin.
    That I don’t find him strangely alluring.
    I cross then uncross my legs. I lean back, then come forward and settle my elbows on my knees. Except I don’t like how that makes my belly bulge just a bit