Crazy for You (16 page)

Catching the connecting ray between them that
kept their gazes joined, Andrew searched her eyes for...anything.
Anything at all that would tell him how she was feeling. For all of
a sudden, he’d finally put his fingers on the emotion he felt
earlier, when she’d left him. He felt desperate. And helpless. And
those same feelings were racing across him at this very moment. As
far as Tasha was concerned, he felt he’d fallen into that very
chasm of desperate helplessness and didn’t have a clue as to how to
dig his way out.

The only thing he knew was that it had shaken
the hell out of him to think about her naked with other people.
Even if it was only within the throes of a volleyball game, and not
passion.

“But I don’t want it to bother you!”

The statement was bold, blunt, loud, and to
the point. Tasha’s eyes went wild with unexpected fury. “I don’t
want it to bother you one damned bit! Do you understand?”

Turning then, she determinedly stepped to the
center of the room, gathering some of her things into her arms. She
tossed a troubled glance back at him.

“This is a vacation, Andrew. One week, out of
one year, out of hundreds of years, out of millenniums. It doesn’t
amount to squat. It’s not real. And what happens here, whatever
that might be, won’t leave here. Do you understand that? At the
risk of sounding hokey, you and I aren’t beans. We don’t matter to
each other now and we won’t when we leave. This is fiction.
Fantasy. And whether or not you ever take off your
clothes...whether or not we play naked volleyball or tennis or
bingo together...or even if we make love, for that matter, it’s not
real. We’re existing in an intangible world, floating above
whatever we deem normal, an ethereal vision of what we might hope
or dream. This...” she swept her arms about her, “is Fantasy
Island. But after we leave here, there won’t be any reruns.”

Andrew stood and felt his eyes narrow at her
in disbelief. A shard of pain wrenched through his gut. “You’re
sure about that?”

Tasha dropped her head once in
acknowledgement. “Whatever happens to us or between us for the next
couple of days doesn’t exist when we leave this place. It’s for the
best. For you. For me. For everyone. We’re too far apart. Nothing
alike. You know that. So do I. There could never be anything
more.”

And with that, she left him alone.

Bewildered.

Especially at the small tear that he watched
slip over her lower eyelid just before she’d left.

Twenty-four

Eden II, The Lake
Heatwave

It stormed during the night. A powerful storm
that forced them to shut the windows and brave the unbearable heat.
Then the rain passed and the power failed, leaving them with high
humidity and no chance of air conditioning for several days to
come, they were told.

But Tasha wasn’t going to let it get her
down. She still had two days. And she intended to make the most of
them.

She had studied a map of the grounds the day
before and had found that approximately a mile off the beaten path
to the north of the hotel was a small, man-made lake, complete with
waterfall. When she’d called to inquire, Todd, at the front desk
told her that it was fairly secluded and safe for swimming. Most
people just liked the pool or the beach, he’d added, for the
convenience, and didn’t bother with the lake. However, there were
those who preferred the privacy the lake offered.

It was just what she was looking for. The
temperature had spiked to ninety-plus degrees. The surrounding rain
forest reeked with humidity. The bugs were invading. And she was
going to have to get Andrew out of that hotel room soon or they
would both go absolutely loony-tunes.

Especially after yesterday. She was drained
emotionally. All night long, she’d thought about what she’d said to
Andrew, how he’d looked at her, and how her heart had plunged to
her feet when she’d walked out on him.

He cared for her? Andrew Jacob Powell III
cared for her? Well, she couldn’t let it go any further, could she?
She liked being with Andrew, yes. And this challenge she’d thrown
up to herself about loosening the man up a bit had been fun, hadn’t
it? But caring? Affection? Did she really want that?

No emotions, Tasha. Remember? You don’t do
well with emotions.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t stop
thinking about Andrew. Never in her life had she been involved in a
relationship that was so volatile, and yet, so satisfying. Was that
good? Bad? She actually enjoyed sparring with him. They sparked off
each other, which only made things more intense. And then the
emotional factor started getting in the way.

Actually, her little speech yesterday
probably was the best thing that could have happened. It let them
both off the hook. Gave them both an out. They each knew that a
relationship between them would never work. They were total
opposites, for cripes sake! She was just glad she’d had enough guts
to lay it all out on the line.

It was late when she’d returned to the room.
Andrew was fast asleep. Or at least he was feigning sleep very
well. She wasn’t sure which.

She’d also risen early and had conned Josh
into letting her pilfer some groceries from the kitchen. Being the
kind soul that he was, he had obliged whole-heartedly. She was
going to have to get Andrew out of that room, and if presenting him
with a peace offering of a picnic by the lake would do it, then
she’d just have to suck up her pride and do it.

With her arms laden with four grocery bags,
she rapped on the room door. After a minute, a sleepy-eyed Andrew
answered the door.

“Well, becoming a late sleeper these days,
aren’t we?”

Tasha brushed past him, trying to forget how
he’d made her feel, but the sensations came zinging back at her.
She tried to forget about the burning, wanting, imprint he’d left
on her after they’d danced the other night. Tried to forget she’d
stayed up half the night for the past two nights wondering just
exactly what made Andrew Powell click, and why she sparked off him.
All her earlier convictions about loving him and leaving him were
about as clear as mud at the moment. How could she let him do this
to her? How could one brief look at him set her hormones
surging?

Well, at least she thought she had it all
figured out. Maybe.

When she turned, he still stood at the door
staring at her, the late morning’s sunlight behind him, a peculiar
expression on his face. He was certainly some sort of god, she
reminded herself. She could just imagine him, hair long and flowing
in the breeze against a bronzed chest, standing at the stern of a
ship, peering out over the ocean. She inhaled deeply and sighed.
She’d been reading too much lately. Way too much.

But the way his shorts slung low on his hips
caused every sensitive nerve ending on her body to heighten. Her
gaze played over the planes of his chest; the smattering of light
brown chest hair glistened with a little morning perspiration. His
glasses sat halfway down his nose, his hair was tousled and longer,
and he hadn’t shaven in three days now.

He looked, well, he looked good enough to
eat.

“Where have you been?”

Tasha shook herself and realized she’d been
musing for way too long and that Andrew had closed the door,
crossed the room, and was sitting in the rattan chair watching
her.

“I got groceries.”

Andrew scratched his head. “Groceries? Why?
We can eat in the dining hall.”

At that point Tasha realized she was going to
have to say something about yesterday. “Andrew, I...I just needed
some time to hash things out in my mind.”

“And did you?”

“Sort of. I got up early, did some meditating
with Samuel.”

“What did you decide?”

“I decided that...that we needed to get away
from here for a while.”

“Away from the hotel?”

“Yes. How about a picnic?” she asked, risking
a smile.

“Picnic?”

“Yeah. I don’t know about you but I’m about
ready for a change of scenery. I’ve got some sandwich stuff and
some fruit and I thought we’d check out the lake.”

“Whoa.” Andrew rose. “You went out of here
this morning?”

“Oh no. Josh helped me raid the kitchen
fridge.”

“Ah.”

“So what about the picnic? You game?”

“If it will get me out of this hot room for a
while, I’m game for just about anything. I’m about to climb the
walls. It was so hot last night that I could barely sleep.” He
watched her face for a minute and Tasha had to wonder if that was
the only reason he couldn’t sleep.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t sleep much either.”

Andrew frowned. “You’re the one who walked
out of here yesterday, not me,” he bluntly returned, the glare in
his eyes saying even more than his words.

Tasha immediately wished she could have taken
back her statement, but it was too late now. “So...I’m the idiot,
okay? And I apologized. You can stop throwing darts at me.”

“The least you could have done was tell me
where you were.”

So he had worried about her.

“I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. At
that point, I really didn’t think you’d care.” Tasha picked up the
bags of groceries and headed for the door.

“I did care. Do care.”

“I just walked for a while, okay? I took a
long walk on the beach. Not the nude beach. The regular beach. I
wanted to be by myself and think, okay?”

“Okay. Then let’s go,” he grumbled and met
her at the door.

“Fine.” She brushed past him.

“Great.” He slammed the door.

****

The walk to the lake took longer than the
fifteen minutes Tasha expected. They followed the map perfectly,
but it was a lot further than the map indicated. That was just fine
with Tasha though, the more secluded the better. She was looking
forward to a peaceful afternoon. Perhaps they could finally settle
down a bit and learn a little more about each other. Perhaps they
could relax and spend an afternoon in pleasant conversation,
without jumping down each other’s throats.

The lake was small with an average-sized
wooden dock about midway out with a small aluminum boat, complete
with oars, tied to the dock. There was a sandy beach in front of
them and a waterfall spilling into the lake behind them. They set
up their picnic site just on the edge of the sand under the shade
of an huge palm. Trees and overgrown vegetation and tall grasses
surrounded the rarely used lake, keeping it well hidden from
view.

Tasha snickered to herself. Such a peaceful,
picture-perfect, secluded scene. She couldn’t have asked for
anything better and she felt kind of giddy.

She spread the picnic out on a blanket from
her bed. She had bought a couple of ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato
sandwiches for Andrew, along with potato chips and a couple of
pints of milk. She’d also picked up some snack cake-like brownies
for him for dessert. A conservative meal for a conservative kind of
guy.

For herself, and him—if he wished—she’d
bought a large hunk of cheddar cheese, some green grapes which left
a lot to be desired, but nevertheless were grapes, a bag of apples,
and some carrots. She’d also found a can of mixed nuts, although
she hated the amount of salt they contained, and some wannabe
granola bars. To drink, she was pleased to find bottled spring
water. It wasn’t like home, but it was close enough.

As she lifted the items out of the brown
paper sacks and set them on the blanket, she chatted happily about
what she’d bought for each of them. She glanced at Andrew who sat
and eyed her with a curious smirk on his face. When she was
finished and everything was in place to suit her, she sat back on
her heels, satisfied with her little accomplishment. Then she
turned her face up at him and smiled. “There,” she sighed. “I think
we’re all ready now. Hungry?”

Andrew lifted a thick eyebrow at her then
sank down to lean on one elbow. He grinned back at her. “Amazing. I
never would have dreamed.” He shook his head warily.

“What?” Tasha asked, still smiling and
pleased with herself

“You. I wouldn’t have thought there was a
domestic bone in your body. I wouldn’t have thought you got into
this kind of stuff.”

“What do you mean this kind of stuff,” she
asked with a stilted voice.

“You know,” he continued. “Serving
people.”

Her smile faded. She sat perfectly still for
a moment, then responded. “What do you mean by that?” she asked
bluntly. The entire conversation had stuck an entirely bad chord
with her and she simply needed clarification.

He chuckled, almost cautiously, Tasha
thought, as if he were anticipating what was coming. “I just meant
that I never had a mental picture of you serving anyone, that’s
all. I mean, buying all this stuff and laying it all out here so
nice for me. Buying the kind of food you thought I’d like, well, it
all seems rather...domestic. Kind of like what a dutiful little
woman ought to do. I never would have figured it of you.”

Dutiful—little—woman?

For about twenty seconds Tasha just sat there
and looked at him, dumbfounded. Then, after she’d regained her
senses, she sat up on her knees, reached over to each article of
food, one after the other, and methodically put each item back into
the bags. Inside her body, her chest cavity hurt from all the
pent-up anger there, the anger that she wouldn’t dare let out
because she knew if she did, she would explode.

How dare he ruin this!

Andrew watched her, she could feel it, but
she wouldn’t look him in the face. When her hand reached out to
grab the last ham and cheese sandwich, he stopped her by placing
his hand around her wrist. She tried to tug it away; he grasped
tighter.

“Tasha...” he murmured softly.

“Let go of me,” she spat at him, still
staring at the ham and cheese.