Feel the Heat: A Contemporary Romance Anthology (45 page)

T
he sand was
gritty against her skin, but she didn't care. She didn't care that it was all in her hair, and that the salt water had probably ruined her only good bathing suit. All she could think, in fact, was that she'd never in her life had so much fun. Or laughed so hard. Or, generally, felt so good.

When they’d finally tired of riding the waves, she and Trey parked on the sand just close enough for the water to lick at their ankles while they laid back and watched the sun set over the water.

For a long while, they said nothing, simply panting from their exhaustion as the sky turned from gold to red and finally to a deep, rich purple she could hardly imagine hovering over New York's skyline.

"It really is beautiful here,” she said, breaking through the silence.

"It is. When I first moved here, I could never believe all the things that just grow here. All the flowers and the birds of paradise. It's amazing."

"You're not from here?" She leaned on her elbow and glanced over at him, doing her best not to watch the way his torso rose and fell as he breathed the evening air.

"No, no." He shook his head. "I'm like you. New York. Well, Michigan first, then New York for a long time."

"What brings a boy from Michigan all the way to New York? Hell, what brings him to Oahu?"

"Life is a funny thing, you know?"

"I guess."

Trey shrugged. “I had a fellowship in New York right after my residency. I was a neurosurgeon for a while. It was a great job."

"I bet you really made a difference."

"Maybe." He considered for a long moment. "But the nice thing about being a doctor is that you make a difference everywhere. You're always helping people, just in different ways."

"You think what you do now is just as important?" she asked, then, catching herself, added, "I mean, I'm sure it is. I don't mean to be--"

"No, no, I know what you meant. A lot of people asked me the same thing when I took this job."

"So why'd you take it?"

"You know how New York is, even if you don't know how medicine is...it's all so fast-paced. So cut-throat. I...You know what, let's not talk about me, let's talk about you."

"I'm not all that interesting. Besides, I want to know."

He let out a little sigh, then said, "All right. Well, I had a steady girlfriend in Michigan, and when I got the fellowship, she followed me to New York. It wasn't any big thing--we were both motivated doctors, trying to save the world one cell at a time." He let out a little guffaw, then said, "But this cut-throat attitude, this competitiveness, it destroys people. It destroyed us. We were both up for a promotion, and it pitted us against each other. Since one of us would be the superior, we couldn't continue to see each other no matter how it turned out. She didn't think twice. She dumped me."

"Ouch. That's cold."

"Maybe, but I understood it. I figured if she was willing to give up five years for the sake of a job, she deserved to have it. I put in my notice and decided to go someplace where people don't act that way. When I heard about this job..."

"No brainer." Felicia finished for him.

"Exactly." He nodded.

"Do you still love her?" It was forward, too forward, she knew, but she couldn’t stop herself from asking.

"No." He shrugged. "There were things I loved about her. I loved her spirit and her thirst to accomplish things, but there's a limit to everything. "

"I get that." She nodded, then stared into the ever-darkening sky. "At least, I think I do."

"I don't know that I'd still be with her now even if things had gone differently." He rolled onto his side, then said, "So, what about you, Felicia Webb? I pour out my soul to you and you have nothing to say in return?"

"Hmmm, I don't know that there's much to be said. I'm an investment banker. I work hard. I'm an only child. No serious boyfriends." She shrugged. "Normal stuff, really."

"I doubt that very much," he said. "There's something about you. Something that makes you work so hard. Something that drives you."

"The pleasure of a job well done?" She shrugged and the sand abraided her skin.

"Come on."

"Honestly, I don't know. I think...I think I picked this job because it seemed stable. It'll be even more stable if I get this promotion and then I can really affect change, you know? Make things better for everyone. That's all."

"Why do you care if things are stable?"

She considered that for a moment. “Don't you want your life to be?"

"I mean, not really. I've moved across the country twice."

She smiled. "Good point. I don't like moving though. Never have. My parents were roadies for Steel Blue Drum when I was growing up, so we were always moving around." She cringed, remembering the bus that had been her home for so much of her life. "Once I put down roots someplace, I just wanted to stay there. I didn't think that was so much to ask."

"No, I suppose not."

Silence stretched over them for a long time and Felicia closed her eyes as the water crashed down and trickled out to her ankles, lapping sometimes all the way up to her calves before pushing back out again.

"I can't remember the last time I had so much fun," she said at last.

"You know? Me neither." He glanced over at her, and when he offered her a half smile she returned it, noticing only briefly just how heated his gaze had become.

Slowly, she glanced down, noting the speckles of sand on his chest, and she clenched her palm to keep herself from reaching out and brushing them away.

But why should she? Sure, she was going back to New York. Sure, she’d only known him for a few days. What did any of that matter?

Here and now she was letting everything fall away. Everything but the things that would truly make her happy. And right now? She knew what she wanted most of all.

“Remember what you said about me needing to find some kind of release?” she asked, already blushing.

“Yeah.”

“Well, I think surfing was a good start…” She chewed on her bottom lip, but then said, “But I think I have something else in mind you can help me with.”

He turned to face her, his eyebrows raised, and she closed the space between them as quickly as she could, determined not to let the moment die before she’d had her chance.

At first, his lips were stiff and unmoving and she wondered if she’d made a mistake. If the way he’d been looking at her all day and studying the way she rode across the waves had nothing in common with her feelings toward him. But then, she as soon as she pulled back and found his hungry blue gaze, he was leaning into her, accosting her with the heady smell of him—that potent combination of salt water and Irish Spring soap—and then, at last, the rough stubble of his cheeks brush against her as he leaned in to find her lips.

Nervous and cautious and anxious as she felt, though, there was nothing tentative about their kiss. Within an instant, his tongue swept out to meet hers and she answered him greedily, pulling him into her mouth to taste the mintiness of his breath mixed with the sweet salt of the water on his skin. He tasted like the ocean, like happiness, and serenity itself, and it made her head swim.

She wanted to say something, to tell him that it might not be a good idea, that she was there for business, but then his fingers found her bicep and he was pulling her down to rest against the sand with him and every thought was forgotten. Everything except the feel of the rough sand on her back as he pressed her down and dragged her arms over her head.

* * *

H
e bared down on her
, knowing that this was the point of no return.

For months, he'd sworn off women--had told himself he was above that now. And yet, a few days with Felicia Webb had changed all that. He didn't care that she was exactly the hard-headed sort of business woman he'd sworn off in the first place. He didn't care that she was leaving soon. He didn't even care that this was bound to end in disaster.

All he knew was that he had to have her.

And soon.

"Someone will see." Her protest was a weak one, so faint that he'd barely heard it, but then he pulled back and looked around them.

Storm clouds were rolling in over head and most of the beachgoers had abandoned their spots along the shore to retreat to the little shopping district up the slope. Nearby, a little inlet of rocks might hide them from the view of anybody who'd hung around.

"I have an idea." With one hand, he pulled her up with him to stand and them led her to the little alcove just as it began to rain.

The droplets cascaded down the rock, and when he turned to look at Felicia, little specs of water dotted her face, making her somehow even more beautiful.

"Come here," he said, and pulled her to him again.

This time, there was not even an instant of resistance.

She melted against him, leaning into his kiss as he pressed he reached for her bikini clasp and flicked it open with ease. In one move, he tugged it over her head and then caressed the supple curve of her breast, rolling his thumb over her already-stiff nipples before moving lower and hooking his thumb around her bikini bottoms.

"Yes," she hissed against his ear and he trailed a line of closed lip kisses down her neck, toward her collar bone, and lower still as he pulled the tiny bottoms away. As he moved, he sank to his knees and led her back against the wall.

Then, when she was finally laid bare to him, he spread her legs apart and kissed the pretty pink space between her thighs, lapping his tongue up and down before finally finding the stiff bundle of nerves at the apex.

"Trey..." She gasped, and then he heard a little slap as she fell back against the wall. "I--"

"Shh, baby," he whispered. "I know."

His cock throbbed against his swim trunks and he bit back the urge to give in and pull her down onto the sand with him. He knew what she wanted, maybe even what she needed, but he couldn't give it to her. Not just yet.

With one finger, he pushed inside her slick heat and she arched against his mouth, inviting him to lick and suck until she broke apart at his touch.

"Yes, baby," he murmured. Then he set to work again, licking her in time with the thrust of his fingers, loving every little twitch and moan his work elicited.

"Trey, Trey I need you." She was practically whimpering, but he closed his eyes and pressed on. She was close, he knew. He could feel her walls constricting, could feel the tension in her body building to its climax. Only a few more moves and...

"Trey, please, please. I want to feel you inside me when I come. I want to come around you. I want, I want..." She was panting, her breasts heaving with the effort of her speech, and finally he couldn't take it anymore.

"Fuck," he growled, then grasped her arm and pulled her down to the ground with him. With one sharp move, he pulled off his swimsuit, then grabbed the condom from his pocket and rolled it down over his shaft.

"Touch yourself for me," he commanded, and she did. For a moment, he watched as she caressed herself, moving her hand in tiny circles over her clit.

He swallowed hard. "You're the hottest woman on earth, you know that?" he asked, but her response was choked out by a gasp.

"Trey, I'm so close. I'm so..." She breathed deep, the pretty pink flush on her cheeks reddening as she worked herself faster.

He couldn't take it anymore. Gripping himself, he shoved inside her, hard and deep, and just as quickly he felt her come undone. Felt her walls tighten and quake as he pulled her hands over her head and dove harder and deeper.

She was so wet, so tight, so perfect. And as her pants became more shallow, he worked her faster still, needing to eek out every last bit of her climax until she had nothing left to give. Until she was totally and completely spent.

"Trey, I'm..." She tried to tell him, but she couldn't manage. Instead, that full, fuckable mouth of hers stretched into one big "o" and he knew without her having to say a word.

She was his.

Then it was all too much. She was too much. The sweet pressure of her, the hot slickness of her around his aching need.

His balls drew up, and then he joined her in the final moments of her release, pushing into her with quick, needy thrusts.

"Fuck," he groaned, and as much as he wanted to close his eyes and focus on the earth-shattering pleasure of his release, he couldn't help himself but to stare down at Felicia. To focus on the rosy redness of her cheeks, the fullness of her mouth. The satisfaction that glimmered in her eyes.

And that was when he knew.

He was done for.

I
t was
hard to believe it had only been a week since their surf lesson on the beach.

That was, it was hard to believe when she was around Trey. In his arms (or his townhouse) it seemed like time went by quicker than any other place in the world. They’d surfed every night, eaten their meals under the stars, and even picked flowers to keep on what had quickly become her bedside table.

It was odd, really. That in only seven short days she felt like she knew this man better than any other man she’d dated. And, moreover, that he knew her better than anybody she’d ever met. He challenged her. He teased her. He played with her.

And when she walked through the door at night? He always made her take down her hair.

“Why?” She’d asked him the first time, though she moved to pull out the first of her bobby pins regardless.

“You look so tense with your hair up. I love seeing you with it down. You look more like you. But no matter how you do it, you’re beautiful to me.” Then he’d kissed her and she never had a word of argument again—especially not when he wound his fingers around her tendrils and led her back toward his bedroom.

That was Trey, though. He made her into hair-down Felicia—a woman who was carefree and fearless. And more and more? She was beginning to like that person a whole lot more than 9 to 5 stick-up-the-bum Felicia.

For that Felicia, time didn’t seem to move at all, and when the seconds of her minutes did seem to slowly tick by, she only noticed in order to get closer to the time when she could kick off her uncomfortable heels and sprint for the beach.

No matter which Felicia she was, though, there was no denying one thing—fast or slow, her time was running out.

The renovations on the offices were nearly finished, and her first class flight back to New York was waiting for her in two days’ time. Then she could kiss carefree Felicia goodbye…along with Trey.

But she couldn’t think about that. Not while she was so busy having fun for what felt like the first time in her adult life.

“Felicia?” Frank’s voice broke through her thoughts and she blinked, trying desperately to think of what it was she’d last heard him say.

Coming up with nothing, she settled on, “Hmmm?”

“I asked if you might stay after everyone leaves. Would that be alright with you?”

She sucked in her cheeks and glanced around the room to find a sea of gazes all trained on her. “Um, yeah, sure.”

“Ok, great. Everyone, enjoy the rest of your night. Thanks so much.”

The room began to clear and she ignored the few people who murmured her name as they skirted past her. When the glass door of the hotel’s conference room finally clicked shut, though, she shuffled her papers and trained all her focus on Frank.

Today he was wearing a red Hawaiian shirt that was so loud she was pretty sure you’d be able to hear it from space, and his mass of grey curls were piled in a bun on top of his head.

“Frank—“ she started, not exactly sure what she had to say for herself, but he held up a hand to silence her.

“It’s quite all right. Everything is fine, Felicia.” He offered her a smile, then took a seat a few chairs away.

“Good. Because, you know, I know I was late to breakfast this morning—”

Not that she’d needed to eat. Trey had surprised her by serving her the most amazing breakfast in bed. He’d made ham, too. And toast with egg in the middle—

“You’ve been late to breakfast all this week.” He nodded and Felicia flushed, not sure what to say for herself.

She couldn’t exactly tell her boss that she’d been shirking work to get a little wake-me-up call from the hottest hotel employee on the planet. Again, though, Frank saved her from having to come up with an excuse.

“Your tardiness does trouble me, but I do understand the pull of the island and…old friends.” Frank offered a knowing smile and she felt the sudden urge to curl up and die right on the spot.

“Right.” She nodded. “Okay.”

“No, I wanted to talk to you about the upcoming company leadership conference.”

Her ears perked up at that. The leadership conference was the golden ticket to management. The second they doled out the invitation, it was only a matter of weeks until the chosen person ascended to the highest ranks of the company.

Careful to keep an even tone, she said, “Okay?”

“Let me ask you. Why did you choose this business?”

She blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“Why did you choose this line of work?” he asked.

“Um,” Felicia thought back and answered with the only truth she could remember. “When I was younger, I flipped through a magazine and saw a list of the most stable and financially beneficial jobs and decided it was a good option.”

“Right.” Frank steepled his fingers. “Not to help people grow their investments. Not to be part of the team?”

“Well, obviously—“

“No, no, Felicia. Don’t. I’m glad you didn’t give me one of those bubblegum answers we all know aren’t true to begin with. I chose this job because I saw my parents wasting their life savings and thought ‘I can help people like them do better.’”

“Right.” Felicia nodded. “Well, that does—“

“Do you have a passion for this business?”

“Of course.” Felicia answered a little too quickly and again Frank offered her a knowing grin.

“Listen, I know you enjoy succeeding. You clearly excel here. Your ability to work and to do it efficiently has never been in question.”

“I guess…I guess I’m just not sure exactly what you’re looking for me to say, Frank.”

“I’m not looking for you to say anything. I’m looking to understand.”

She wanted to grit her teeth. Instead, she tilted her head to the side and said, “What exactly are you trying to understand.”

“Let me put it to you this way. The men and women around you—they’re all in this business for clear reasons. They want to make money, some of them. Some of them want to help people. Some of them do this because their father did the same thing, you see?”

“Not really,” she confessed.

“They all have a passion. An emotional reason for doing this job. You…flipped through a magazine.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not good at my job,” Felicia shot back.

“No, but it does mean it never called to you.” Frank paused, maybe waiting for her to answer. She had none to give him, though, and so after a moment he continued. “I am leaving one slot open for the leadership conference. When we get back to New York, I’ll observe your progress. If I like what I see, the spot will be yours. I have to warn you, though, Felicia—I would like to see a lot more dedication from you for the rest of this trip. Joining the evening activities. Getting to breakfast on time.”

“Right. Yes. I will, sir—er, Frank.”

Frank nodded and motioned to dismiss her, but when she got to her feet she was left feeling weak and wobbly. She had to get back to normality. She had to find her balance. And most of all?

She had to be with Trey.

When she finally made it to Trey’s apartment, she found him in his kitchen brewing coffee. Quickly, she related the whole of her day to him—capping it off with Frank’s little speech. On the walk over, she’d decided exactly how to tell him about it—but not exactly what she’d do.

Maybe he’ll have an answer
, she thought.
Maybe
my
solution doesn’t have to be the only solution…

God, she hoped it wasn’t.

But when she finished telling the story, Trey curled his lip while pouring her a steaming cup of fresh coffee “Passion?”

After he sat it down in front of her, he joined her at the tiny wooden table in the corner of his kitchen.

Felicia nodded. “That’s what he said.”

“Why the hell would you need to be driven by passion to be an investment banker? I mean, the only career I can think of being less driven by passion is a used toilet inspector.”

“First of all, that’s not a real job. Second.” Felicia sipped, ignoring the scalding heat of the liquid. “Maybe he has a point. I don’t know what to think anymore.”

“Well, what are you going to do?” he asked.

“I don’t really know. I mean…” She swirled the coffee in her cup then took another swig. “He said he expects me to participate more actively for the rest of the trip. Get to breakfast on time, that kind of thing.”

“Okay, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Right.” She allowed the silence to stretch between them for another moment, then, when she saw no other outlet she said, “I was thinking…maybe we should call it.”

“Call what?” Trey asked.

“This.” She gestured between them. “I have two more days on the island and if my boss wants me to be more present—“

“Wha—What do you mean? You’re not going to see me again?” He looked gobsmacked, and for a moment she struggled with what to say next.

“Well, you had to know this was coming. I have an apartment and a life. I wasn’t just going to pick up and move to Hawaii for some guy I met on a company retreat. You knew this was only temporary…right?” They’d never discussed it before. She’d assumed it had just been an unspoken agreement between them. That they’d have fun for now and when it was over they’d part as friends.

Now, though? Seeing the look of hurt and confusion on his face? She wasn’t so sure.

“I knew this would end. But we still have two more days. Why not enjoy ourselves?”

“Because I have work to do. Work that I’ve been shirking since I’ve been spending all my time with you.”

“Work that you hate,” he offered.

She opened her mouth, then closed it. “What do you care how I feel about my job? You barely know me.”

“I know you enough.”

“Is that so?” She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

“It is. You may not like it, but I know you. Probably well enough that I should have seen you giving up the only thing that made you happy for the sake of a job that doesn’t mean anything to you.”

“For a job that means everything to me!” she shouted, she couldn’t help herself. Maybe he’d pushed a button somewhere along the line, but all she knew was that she had to get the hell out of there before he said another word. Before she allowed him to convince her to stay. “I’ve been working for years for this job. I’m not giving it up now. Not when it’s my only chance.”

“Fine, go then. And I hope you’re truly happy with your decision.” He followed her as she marched toward the door, and she turned around to slam it, she found that he’d already closed it behind her.