Billionaire Novelist's Fiery Debutante Read Online Free PDF Page B

abseiling down her arm?
    “Aaaaaaargh!” she yelled out when the fat hairy thing was joined by two of its even hairier cousins. She flung the trio away, only to find another spider sailing down from the trees above and making a crash landing onto her nose!
    “Get off!” she screeched and started flapping around wildly in an attempt to get the nasty beasties to stay away from her.
    Unfortunately, they didn’t speak English, for more of them started flopping down all around her. As they landed, they made soft little thuds, their hairy bodies cushioning the fall.
    “Heeeeeeeeelp!” she hollered. “Heeeeeeelp!”
    Judging from the itching sensation on her neck and cheek, the eight-legged creepy crawlies were very interested in her. Then, suddenly, a voice called out somewhere in her vicinity.
    “Chloe! Where are you!”
    “Josh! I’m here! Help! I’m being attacked!”
    There was a mighty grunting sound, and some sort of hacking motion that swayed the fronds directly in front of her, and then, before her relieved eyes, Josh came into view, wielding a stick with surprising ease.
    He leveled one long look at her, then growled, “Follow me,” and started hacking his way in the other direction.
    She could still feel dozens of hairy legs crawling all over her body, even sneaking beneath her shirt, and was glad Josh cut a furious pace. She eagerly followed in his footsteps, and when finally the ocean came into view, she could have cried with relief.
    Josh took her by the arm and quickly rubbed his hands across her hair, her face…
    “Let’s get you out of this,” he muttered, and before she could protest, had slipped her shirt over her head, then flung his hands across her shoulders, her back, her… chest. When his fingers flicked across her breasts, it was as if an electric current shot through her. And this time it wasn’t the spiders but something else entirely. But then he was stripping down her shorts, so she didn’t have time to examine the sensation more closely. Along with the shorts, the remaining spiders were brushed off her legs.
    “I think that does it,” he murmured, then stared up into her eyes, and before she knew what was happening, had picked her up from the sandy beach, and was making his way over to the gently lapping surf.
    Clasping her arms around his neck, she just had time to yell out, “What are you—” before he raced in, and she was dunked into the water.
    When she came up for air, spluttering and splashing, she was met by his grinning face just beside hers.
    “I think that took care of that,” he exclaimed, laughing into her eyes.
    As a thank you, she hauled off and slapped him as hard as she could across the face.

CHAPTER 9

    Josh couldn’t believe she’d slap him after all he’d done for her. He’d practically saved her life out there!
    Furious, he swam back to the beach with strong thrusts of his powerful arms, intent on leaving her out here. If she really hated him that much, she could go to hell for all he cared.
    “Josh! I’m sorry!” her voice cried out behind him.
    He turned back just when a wave crashed into him. He lost his footing and went under, being sucked into the maelstrom of rushing water. Coughing and spluttering, he rose from the waves and shook his head like a weary dog. When he’d finally wiped the brine from his eyes, he couldn’t see Chloe anywhere.
    “Chloe?” he called out tentatively. Wheeling around, he searched around for a sign of her. Nothing. “Chloe!” he yelled.
    Was she playing games now? Had she ducked down the moment he resurfaced? Or—the sickening thought entered his mind—was it that she couldn’t swim?
    As the truth hit home, he dove into the surf once more, making his way over to where he’d left her and searching around in vain for a sign of life. Oh, God. Had he dumped her into the deep only to let her drown? He couldn’t have that on his consciousness! With renewed vigor, he splashed beneath the crashing waves once more,