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found in Chase’s mother’s rum shack.
    She’d put on a light and airy maxi-style sundress in bold shades of red, orange and yellow with some red, medium-heeled strappy sandals. She’d pulled her hair up in a quick French twist with some losetendrils around her face to relax the look. She was glad she’d taken the time to shower and dress up a little when she got a look at Chase.
    He wore a short-sleeved, cream silk shirt and perfectly pressed cream linen shorts with a very expensive pair of brown leather sandals. The cream of his clothing and the warm, earthy russet-brown tone of his skin combined to make one amazing package. The short sleeves of his shirt and the length of his shorts revealed just enough of his very muscular arms and legs. The bit of skin that she could see hinted at more and more muscles and more and more delectable brown skin.
    She blinked as she tried to rid her mind of the image of those toned, muscular and very fit arms and legs wrapped up with her own arms and legs.
    What would that feel like?
    She shook her head as she smiled.
    She would never know.
    â€œHi” was the only word she could come up with.
    â€œHi.” He stared at her and for a minute she felt like time had ceased to move. His almond-shaped eyes seemed to caress her. She could feel his eyes’ movement on her skin as they roamed her body. She felt her pulse quicken as she noted the subtle rise and fall of his massive chest.
    â€œAre you ready to ride around some of the island?”
    â€œYes, let me grab my purse and we’ll be good to go. I can’t thank you enough for this, Chase. I know I’m not your favorite person. So it means a lot to me that you are willing to give me a tour and help me find my way around the island.”
    â€œLike I told you before, it’s definitely my pleasure. We have a lot to catch up on.” His smile seemed genuine, and it put her mind at ease.
    She followed him to his convertible, and he held the door open for her. Once they started rolling they let the silence speak. She didn’t trust what she might say, and she had no idea what he was thinking. The way he had looked at her a few minutes ago made her feel hotter than she had ever felt for any man, ever.
    That was a big problem.
    Massive .
    No matter what kind of attraction they were feeling, there was still the fact that they didn’t like one another. They may have called a tentative truce, but in reality she still didn’t believe that he trusted her.
    And she knew she would be a fool to trust him.
    â€œIf you look over to your right you’ll see one of the old sugar cane plantations. The government turned the mansion into a museum. And the land no longer produces crops for mass harvesting and sugar production. But tourists can come here and get theexperience of chopping a piece of sugar cane, tour the old mills and refineries.”
    Cicely smiled because she and Gran had toured the plantation as a part of their cruise excursion, and she had actually held a machete and chopped a piece of sugar cane.
    â€œI did the tour during my short visit. It was very informative. And the pictures and artifacts of the slaves and indigenous people…wow! What they must have gone through back then. It really breaks your heart.” Cicely shivered at the memory. Thinking about the way the colonists had systematically murdered native island people and enslaved African people to work on the island always made her sick inside.
    â€œYes, there is a lot of rich and painful history on this small island.” Chase seemed a bit shaken by the cruelty of the history, as well. “Now, this area here is pretty much a small residential area. My mom and aunts have homes here. I had them built for them.”
    The homes were gorgeous. Some were built of white stones while others were coral pink and peach stones. They were one- and two-story homes with intricate island designs and were clearly meant to