Caribbean Heat (4 page)

Chapter Four

At exactly nine a.m., Jack walked down the steps from the control room. He had spent the morning locked in his “office” to stay away from the temptation of Sierra. It seemed kind of silly that she could be a threat, but he wanted her so damn badly and following through on that urge wouldn’t do either of them any good.

But he couldn’t avoid her any longer. He had to get the dock boys ready to cast off and be there to greet his boss and guests, who would be boarding any minute.

“Good morning.” He couldn’t help but smile when he saw her there, in the sexy navy-blue uniform shorts and white tank top that contained breasts he knew felt damn good in his hands.

“Good morning.” She stopped her work and smiled back.

“Are you ready for the trip back to Sol Cay today?” Keep the talk on work, keep it anything but personal.

“I am,” she said, looking as if she was going to say more.

He didn’t want her to say anything about yesterday or the stupid, impulsive things he’d done. He should have kept his hands to himself, should have stayed away from her.

Sierra walked right over to him, stood inches away, and Jack held his breath as she reached up. “You’re a little twisted.”

She reached around his neck and adjusted his shirt collar, her warm skin brushing against his, making him want to kiss her, touch her, pound his cock into her.

“Thank you.” He liked the way it felt having her close, having her take care of him, a little too much.

Jack leaned forward, not caring how stupid it was of him, but needing to kiss her again, needing to feel the softness of her skin. No one was close enough to see them, everyone was busy below deck getting ready for departure. All the reasons to stay away from Sierra disappeared when she was so near, so tempting, but then he saw movement at the end of the dock.

Luckily, Jack spotted Doug and his group of friends walking in their direction before he succumbed to his stupid hormonal needs. If he couldn’t deny the attraction, he had to at least hide it from Alexis and Doug.

“There they are. I better get the boat ready.” The timing kept him from having to deal with uncomfortable conversation and emotions he didn’t want to face.

This was going to be a long summer of avoiding Sierra if they didn’t come up with some sort of compromise. Maybe she would be okay with a relationship knowing it had to stay hidden and couldn’t last. But he had to talk to her about it before he touched her again because there would be no stopping him the next time. He wanted her too damn badly.

* * * * *

The boat sped away from North Caicos, its engine humming with the same intensity as her body after being near Jack again.

She had to ignore it, had to do her job. Crystal stood behind the bar, a drink poured and ready to be delivered to Alexis. Sierra grabbed it and turned toward the group of rich people in the comfy deck chairs.

“Sierra, come back,” Crystal said with a whispered urgency that made her stop in her tracks and turn around.

“Why?” Sierra asked.

“You can’t take the drink out like that. You need to use a tray.” Crystal had trained for this job, had gone to some fancy stewardess school.

“Even with just one drink?” Sierra’s only real experience was serving cocktails at the Chunky Monkey nights and weekends last year. Working on the SS
Sapphire
wasn’t anything near the same crowd.

“No matter how much you take out, always use a tray.”

“Okay. Thanks.” She was lucky to have Crystal there to guide her. Keeping this job through the whole summer would mean she didn’t have to work during her last semester of classes. It would make life a lot easier. She knew she would be taking the hardest classes, that it was going to be the most demanding semester yet, and staying up until three in the morning serving drinks wouldn’t be conducive to doing her best work. Sierra needed good recommendations from her professors and to do well in her internship to ensure she got her dream job once she graduated.

If they wanted her to carry one drink on a tray, then hell, she could do that.

The rest of the day of serving went well. The passengers all seemed a little hung over, weren’t drinking too heavily…yet, anyway.

The boat slowed as they pulled closer to Sol Cay, and all the passengers got busy going below to grab their things and get ready to get off the boat.

Jack docked the yacht perfectly and within a few seconds he was off, making sure they were tied up properly. He stood guard, saying goodbye to the passengers as they left and looking damn good. He looked even better with his shirt off, but Sierra shouldn’t stare, couldn’t give off any hints that she had an interest in the man.

“They are only going to be off the boat for a couple hours, but I’m going to run onto the island and see a friend if you don’t mind finishing up these dishes?” Crystal looked nervous or worried about something.

“Yeah, sure I can finish up here. Is everything okay?” There was only one load of dishes to finish and a little bit of cleaning up to do. It would take Sierra about ten extra minutes and it wasn’t like she had any reason to get off the boat herself. They weren’t going to be there long enough to do any exploring, and the only thing she really wanted to explore was Jack’s body against hers, making her feel like a woman again. Lately she’d been more like a robot, moving through life with precise, calculated motions, denying herself even the most basic needs, denying herself the touch of a man. Jack made her want to change all of that.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Crystal gave Sierra a halfhearted smile and walked away.

Sierra finished up the dishes, debated what to do next and then followed her most burning desire. She went up to the control room where she knew Jack would be. She needed to at least talk to the man.

He had his back to the door, intently studying some papers on the desk. Sierra knocked and he jumped a little, turning his head in her direction.

“Come in.” He shoved the maps and papers into a drawer quickly, as if he didn’t want her to see them.

Sierra had no interest in his maps or papers. She had her mind on one thing when it came to Jack.

“Hi,” she said, and for some reason her stomach flipped. She shouldn’t be this nervous talking to a man, but Jack wasn’t just any man.

“What’s up?” His face was serious and an uncomfortable tension filled the air.

She might as well come right out and say it, no reason to beat around the bush. “I want to talk about what happened between us yesterday.”

He folded his hands and looked her in the eye. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Sorry?” Why was he sorry? That was not the reaction she was hoping for at all.

“I should have kept my hands to myself. We can’t have a future together. When you go back to school and get a job we won’t be able to be together. You deserve better than a summer fling.”

“What makes you think I want more than a summer fling?” What was it about her that made him think she couldn’t have one? Yeah, maybe she never had before, but that didn’t mean a girl couldn’t try something new, spread her wings a little. Jack made it worth the risk.

Sierra took a step closer to him. Her body needed to be satisfied and Jack was a good guy. She wasn’t looking for a husband. Not right now, anyway. She had school and a job to think about first.

“You’re a smart girl, a girl with a future.” His words were a low, sexy growl, not hiding the fact that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. It was obvious they needed the same thing.

“You deserve better than a guy like me.” He continued the sales pitch, like he had to get the words out, had to warn her of the limits of the relationship.

Sierra didn’t need a warning, she could see the limits clearly and she could accept them.

“What if I’d like to settle for a guy like you?” The
settle
part of that statement was complete sarcasm. He was a sexy war hero, there was no settling about anything except the length this relationship would ultimately have. She could deal with that when the time came. It was her turn to have a little fun in life, to enjoy herself, even if it was only for a few months.

“As long as you know what you’re getting into.” He pulled her down onto his lap. His eyes stared at hers intently, lips inches from hers.

“I do,” she whispered softly, her breath hitching in her chest, body tingling in anticipation.

Jack closed the distance between them, kissed Sierra hard, his tongue tangling with hers, showing he wanted her, needed her, as much as she needed him.

He moved his hands up her back, brushing the sides of her breasts and her pussy started to tingle. She never had a man make her feel so wanton, so needy.

“Crystal’s coming back,” he whispered in her ear and it took Sierra a minute to register them.

“What?” She turned to the screen and saw her friend climbing onboard. “I suppose that means we have to stop.”

“We can’t get caught. I don’t want to lose this job and I don’t want you to lose yours either. We have to be sneaky. Tonight, when you get done with your shift, when everyone is drunk, I’ll come to your room.” He brushed a stray hair from her forehead. It was loving and sexy at the same time.

“Okay.” She grinned, letting the excitement she felt show on her face. She probably should play it coy but that wasn’t who she was. Sierra had no time in her life for silly little dating games. Luckily, she and Jack were on the same page about that.

“You better go get dressed for your night shift. If you see me keeping my distance it’s because you’re too tempting in that little bikini. I don’t trust myself to be able to keep my hands off you.” His words were growled, sending a tingling sensation straight to her core.

Jack gave her a quick peck on the lips and then turned her toward the door and swatted her on the ass as she walked away. “I’ll be waiting for you tonight.”

Her pussy throbbed for the man. She wanted to be satisfied now but he was right, they couldn’t get caught. Doing him in secret made it even more exciting. He was the forbidden fruit, and tonight she was going to have some.

Right now Sierra needed to get changed and ready to be the polite little bikini-clad waitress, ready to serve whoever came to the party.

She slipped into her bikini and matching black heels and went upstairs to do a quick inventory of the booze behind the bar. She made sure the ice bin was full and got out the two glasses she knew she would be filling very soon. A vodka on the rocks for Doug and either a cosmopolitan or a martini for Alexis, depending on her mood.

Familiar voices came from the dock and Sierra could hear Jack greeting them. It looked like the same group of people was coming back onto the boat, and that meant the same orgy was probably going to take place. At least tonight she would have a man of her own to quench the need that would hit. She wouldn’t have to try to keep from letting it affect her when the people started ripping off each other’s clothing and having sex in front of her again. Tonight she would get her own release.

“Jack, stay down here and have a drink with us.” Alexis’ voice shrilled through the air as she put her hand on Jack’s biceps. “We’re not leaving until morning, so you can have a couple drinks, can’t you?”

“Sure,” Jack said, but the way he said it let Sierra know he wasn’t at all excited about the prospect. “I’ll have a Guinness,” he requested with a smile and Sierra couldn’t stop herself from grinning back at him before she turned to grab his beer.

Jack chose the chair next to Doug, giving himself a buffer from Alexis and her obnoxious flirting. Sierra opened Jack’s beer and set it on the table, working to not flirt, not smile to brightly, not do anything that would signal to Doug or Alexis that she had a crush on the captain of the boat.

“Tell us the story of the time you were getting shot at and had to swim across the alligator-infested river to get away.” Alexis fluttered her long eyelashes at Jack.

In the pit of Sierra’s stomach, jealousy hit. She had no right to be jealous, but the whole idea of this rich, beautiful, married woman hitting on the man she wanted made Sierra’s blood boil. It wasn’t right. Not on any level.

“My team was sent into the jungle in South America, searching for a group of very dangerous men involved in weapons distribution to terrorist cells. As we got to where we knew they were staying and storing massive amounts of weaponry, they started shooting at us. Someone in our group must have tripped a warning signal, because they knew exactly where we were and were heavily armed, ready for us. Twenty of them, hidden on rooftops, behind buildings and vehicles, opened fire. One of my guys got hit in the shoulder right away, and I had a bullet graze my ear. Way too close for comfort. The only option we had was to retreat to this river where we’d seen some huge crocs earlier.”

Sierra wanted to stand there and listen to the whole story. She was already infatuated with the man and hearing things like this, how he stared danger right in the face and won, made him even sexier. But she needed to do her job, to get another round of drinks for Doug and Alexis and their friends. They had definitely picked up their drinking pace from this morning.

Jack paused when Sierra walked away, and from behind the bar she watched him taking a long, slow sip of his beer. She couldn’t wait until those lips were on her again.