Talk about being a masochist. She’d have a front-row seat in which to listen to the man she loved announce his plans for a resort made possible by her stupidity.

She sighed and sank into one of the folding chairs. Mamaw and Silas took the spots on either side of her. Several people stopped by to talk to Silas. Some even shot sympathetic looks in her direction.

Yep, it was clear everyone knew what a naive fool she’d been.

At least no one was yelling at her for allowing the outsider to come in and develop the island. Yet.

Rupert strode in a minute later, an uncharacteristic smile plastered on his face. It wasn’t his politician smile. It was a genuine one filled with delight. He looked, for lack of a better word, giddy.

He held up his hands for quiet and then frowned when the din didn’t diminish. He cleared his throat and scowled harder. He was forever complaining to Bryony that he wasn’t given enough respect by his constituents.

Finally Silas stood, held up his hands and hollered, “Quiet, people. The mayor wants your attention.”

Rupert sent Silas a disgruntled look when everyone hushed. Then he looked over the audience and smiled. “Today we have Rafael de Luca of Tricorp Investment Opportunities, who is going to talk about the piece of property he recently acquired here on the island. Give him your undivided attention, please.”

It took all of Bryony’s self-restraint not to swivel in her seat to see if he was here. Many of the assembled people began to murmur, and then Bryony heard footsteps coming up the aisle.

Rafael stepped to the podium and Bryony was shocked by his appearance. First, he was wearing jeans. And a T-shirt. He looked tired and haggard. His hair was unkempt and it didn’t look like he’d shaved that morning.

There were hollows under his eyes and a gray pallor to his skin that hadn’t been present before.

He cleared his throat and glanced over the audience before his gaze finally came to rest on her.

He looked…nervous. It didn’t seem possible that this ultraconfident businessman was nervous. But he seemed uneasy and on edge.

She watched in astonishment as he fiddled with something on the podium and when he looked up again, there was a rawness to his eyes that made her chest tighten.

“I came to this island for one thing and one thing only. I wanted to buy property that Bryony Morgan had put up for sale.”

Several muttered insults filtered around the room, but Rafael continued on, undaunted.

“When it became clear that she would attach stipulations to the sale of the land, I conspired to seduce my way into her heart. Basically I was willing to do whatever necessary to convince her I’d do as she asked without having to commit her conditions onto paper.”