Emerald Island: A Billionaire Bedroom Romance

Chapter 18

Sophie's jaw dropped.

"What are... I... How did you even find me here?"

Erik stood, handsome in a jeans and a plain t-shirt that hugged his biceps. "Well, you told me this was your special spot to come think. I figured you'd have to come think sometime, right?"

"And you just happened to come at just the right moment?"

"Not... not exactly," Erik said ruefully. "I've actually spent most of the last couple days here, hoping you'd come. Finally I reached out to Kristen and asked for her help. She initially called me a dick and hung up on me, but I was persistent. Finally she said she'd use her powers of suggestion to incept the idea that you come up here."

Sophie made a mental note to never trust her friend again. Incept me? Traitor.

"Ok... but that still doesn't answer the question of why you're here at all." Sophie was stone faced.

"I wanted to talk to you." Erik looked searchingly at her.

"Well. I'm sorry you came all the way out here for nothing. We don't really have anything to talk about, do we?" Sophie turned to leave.

"Just listen to me," Erik said, grabbing her hand. "I want to explain. If you still don't want to see me afterwards, I understand — I'll never bother you again."

"Fine," Sophie said. "You have five minutes. But after the island, I don't know how you think I'm supposed to believe anything you say."

"That's fair. I know. Giving me a chance is more than I deserve. I know that it's more than I gave to you."

Sophie felt her cheeks flush. The island. Remembering the rainstorm, sleeping with Erik, the intimate conversations, and then, ultimately, how humiliated she felt by his rejection.

"Listen. I know I behaved horrendously to you. So I came all this way to explain what happened."

"You're a jerk who believes other people are expendable and only thinks with his dick?"

"That's... fair. I hope that's not who I really am. But I certainly see that's how I behaved. But it wasn't me thinking with my dick. Or seeing you as expendable. Quite the contrary, actually. Let me... here, I'll start at the beginning."

Sophie sat, and waited. She hoped she wouldn't cry. Whatever 12-step program apology kick he's on before he can get married to Scarlett, I hope he makes this quick. She hated to admit it to herself, but even just seeing him again made her insides twist and churn.

"Sophie. On the island, meeting you... I've never felt that way before. About anyone. I know we had only spent a few days together, but I felt this connection to you that I've never felt before. Like I could really be myself. Like I could be honest with you. You were so real, so beautiful, so... yourself. So different than anyone else I had ever met.

"I was feeling overwhelmed and a little scared about how strongly I felt about you, but decided that for once I was going to follow my heart. See where this went. Ask if you'd consider continuing to see me after your stay on the island. I was nervous — what if this was just a vacation fling for you, and you had a string of guys back in LA you wanted to return to."

Sophie stifled a shocked laugh, but Erik continued.

"Anyway. Scarlett had come by for a meeting about her new TV show, but she told me she had something important to tell me, unrelated to business. She said that she knew we were seeing each other and asked me how it was going. I kept it simple, but I told her I felt like you and I had long-term potential.