Feel the Heat: A Contemporary Romance Anthology (71 page)

I laughed to cover the swell of jealousy rising in me. He was still going on that date? After what we had last night? "You're a rich guy. She'll wait."

Although there was a lot of truth to my statement, I was just joking. But he seemed to take offense.

"You think women are after me just for my money?" He did that peacock preen again.

"You're twisting my words." I sighed. "I only meant to imply your money makes women more tolerant and willing to wait than they might ordinarily be.
You
inferred the rest yourself."

"Hmmmmm." It was almost a grunt.

We fell into awkward silence again.

He looked toward the island, squinting against the brightness of the sparkling water. "I should go to the island today after I check the roof and make sure everything's okay there, too." He slid a glance in my direction. "You could come with me." It was not quite a question, but enough to leave it open to interpretation.

Damn the parsing we do early in relationships.

I hesitated, wondering if he was just being polite or issuing a genuine invitation. "Yeah, checking for damage sounds like a blast."

"Come on." He grinned beguilingly. "It won't be
all
work. It'll be fun, I promise. You'll
love
the island. It's gorgeous. We can play castaway and gather coconuts." When I didn't bite immediately, he paused. "I'll take you swimming in the cove."

"You're going to have to offer me something more tempting. I could go swimming here." I crossed my arms, wanting him to work for it.

He wiggled his eyebrows.

It was such a charming expression. I couldn't help smiling. I had to remind myself to unclench my toes. "Now if you were planning to gather driftwood and make a bonfire to signal for help, like a castaway, hoping a passing ship will pick you up, that might be entertaining."

He pulled his phone from his pocket and shook it at me. "I have a phone. I already called for help. Sorry to disappoint."

"True. But that doesn't help you with passing ships."

He rubbed his chin. "I hadn't thought of that." He laughed and his adorable dimples deepened. "I was thinking, maybe the boat washed up on the far side of the island." He wiggled his eyebrows again comically. "Worth checking out."

"Serious?"

"What else are we going to do all day? You can't pass up the island. And we might get lucky." There was a hint of innuendo in his voice again.

It was hard to resist. "Don't count on it."

"Come on." He bumped the bottom of my foot playfully with his.

I let out a breath. "Fine. I'll pack us a delicious picnic lunch."

"Is there any other kind?" He grinned. "Why take a tasteless picnic along?"

I laughed. At least
he
had a sense of humor. "Can we take the amphibious fish thingy?"

W
hile he checked
the second story and roof, I changed into a bikini and cover-up, and packed a lunch, beach towels, sunscreen, swim fins, and snorkels. The beach house was well equipped with gear. He pronounced the house sound, saying what little needed repair could wait. We loaded the gear, including a mean-looking machete and a saw that he threw in, into the barracuda and climbed in.

"You're going to love this." Eli smiled brilliantly.

How was it that he was so hot?

"It's grownup's toy. Like a Sea-Doo that can go underwater."

"What? Underwater?" I laughed. "Seriously?"

He nodded. "It's awesome."

"Is there anything here that can't go underwater?"

He grinned and put the domed glass lid down. "I hope you took your Dramamine. This thing is a wild ride."

He backed out of the half of boathouse that was left and headed for the island. "First we'll circle the island and see what damage the storm did. Damn, I'll be mad if it eroded the beautiful beaches."

"And ecstatic, I imagine, if we find the boat. Or gold doubloons. Oh, wait. Right. That would be me. You're rich. You don't need doubloons or bouillon."

He laughed. "So you tell me."

Eli was right. The barracuda thing was fun. It skimmed across the water like a jet ski, but with the lid down, there was no wind whipping the hair. It was easy and maneuverable. He took great joy in zigzagging and riding the waves as we headed toward the island.

"Want to dive?"

It was hard to resist the excitement in his voice and posture, and the light in his eyes. "Why not?" I yelled over the roar of the engine and the blaring music he'd put on.

He pushed a lever and the boat thingy went underwater.

I held on to the edge of my seat as we were suddenly submarining it. "Whoa!"

He maneuvered through the coral reef and schools of tropical fish while I gawked at the scenery. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but this might be better than the underwater bedroom. This makes snorkeling passé."

He just grinned. "You ain't seen nothing yet. This baby can jump like the dolphins."

Before I could say anything, or feebly protest, he pulled back on the wheel. We climbed to the surface, springing out of the water into the air like a jumping fish.

I screamed in delight as we hit the water and dove below the surface. "Do it again!"

"Those are words I love to hear." He took us underwater again.

"On the way home I want to drive!" I laughed. "Teach me."

We made several more jumps, surfacing for the final time as the water grew shallow. He explained the basics of driving before we cruised slowly around the island near the shore.

Our mood turned serious as we surveyed the destruction. The downed trees and upturned vegetation. Part of the boathouse roof had lodged high up in a grove of trees. But no luck as far as spare marooned boats. Ours was truly carried off to Oz or somewhere. A dead shark had washed ashore on the far side of the little island. And plenty of seaweed and shells. But the beaches were mostly intact, according to Eli, anyway. I simply thought they were beautiful.

The weather was so different from the day before, so mild and pleasant that it was almost hard to imagine a storm could ever strike this idyllic place. Neither of us said it aloud, but we both felt lucky to have escaped that monster cyclone. It could have been us dangling limp from the top of a palm.

Eli drove into a scenic little cove and moored the barracuda vehicle at a small pier that had weathered the storm unscathed.

A look of relief crossed his face. "There's a fire pit. A bathhouse and a storage shed on the island, but not much more. It's pretty rustic here." He jumped out of the barracuda and offered me a hand out. "Come on. Let's check them out." His mood was clearly optimistic as we headed off to explore the island.

The bathhouse was a lovely little building just off the beach, with running water and tiled floors, tiled walls—tiled everything, really. Showerheads stuck out of the walls for rinsing off or showering. There were a few toilet stalls and changing rooms. But much more luxurious than your basic public restroom/changing facilities. It and the shed were pretty much untouched.

The fire pit hadn't fared as well. We spent some time restoring it to the best condition we could with the few pieces of it that were strewn around.

"This is all very Robinson Crusoe," I said.

"Not quite. There are two of us." He dusted his hands off. "Robinson was stranded all alone. And we aren't exactly shipwrecked."

"Just ship-less." I watched him wipe his forehead with the back of his wrist, enjoying the view of his pumped, beautiful biceps.

Flushed with exercise, he was too hot for his shirt. I wished he'd take it off so I could have full view of his eye-candy abs and shoulders. His grin made my heart race. I couldn't resist him. And that was a dangerous thing for my heart and ego. Because he'd been
very
capable of resisting me for months. Tomorrow he'd cruise right out of my life on a speedboat bound for Fiji and another girl. And I'd still be without a Hott contract for Flash and minus a big chunk of my heart.

"Let's check out the rest of the cove and gather coconuts before lunch." He slung a fruit-gathering bag we'd brought with us over his shoulder and took my hand as he led me along the beach.

Holding his hand felt completely natural. And right. After the trauma of last night, and spending it clenched in each other's arms, neither of us seemed to want to lose the human connection with each other. Touching another person was intimately comforting.

I wondered if he felt as fluttery and happy as I did. Holding hands was such a statement of couple-ness. And…

I was back to the relationship parsing. Reading something into everything. Maybe he wasn't thinking
anything
at all except finding a ripe coconut.

Eli stopped abruptly and shielded his eyes with one hand, looking out over the water. "What's that?"

He pointed to a snag in the shallow water. A pile of debris from the storm had caught on it.

I followed his line of sight. "Something's splashing." I squinted to see better. "It looks like—"

"Damn! It's a turtle." He let go of my hand, tossed the bag off his shoulder, stripped his shirt off, and splashed into the water.

At least I'd gotten my wish to see him shirtless.

"What are you doing?" I stripped off my cover-up and ran after him into the water.

He called back over his shoulder, "I'm going to rescue the turtle. We can't leave him there. He'll die." He slowed as he approached the turtle. "Watch your step. Look out for the coral. It'll cut you up and damage the reef."

I reached the turtle right behind him in the waist-deep water.

He examined it. "It's a hawksbill."

"Poor, scared thing! But it's pretty." I studied it as it splashed around trying to free itself from a tangle of plants and rope netting.

"It's trapped in what looks like one of the hammocks from the island." Eli pulled a pocketknife out of his shorts and hesitated, cursing beneath his breath. "This isn't going to work. This knife's too small to cut through the nylon rope."

I analyzed the situation. "I think we'd have better luck trying to untangle it."

Eli cooed to the turtle and walked closer. "Calm down, big guy, we're here to save you." He flipped his knife closed. "Yeah, you're right. But it's going to be like untangling a knotted necklace chain, frustrating as hell and practically impossible. His thrashing has gotten him wrapped up in it pretty good. All we have with us on the island are a machete and a pocketknife. Neither of them are the right tools for the job."

From behind Eli, I put my hands on his hard biceps and pressed against his naked back, resisting the urge to press a kiss to his shoulder, as I peered around him at the beautiful sea animal. "We have to
try
. If we can find the end of the rope that attached the hammock to the tree, we might have a chance…"

The turtle thrashed suddenly, churning the water as we looked for the rope end.

"There!" I pointed. "I see an end there!"

It was floating in the water just to the rear of the turtle. Eli nodded and headed for it. But as he approached and tried to grab the rope, the turtle flailed more violently, getting more and more hopelessly tangled.

Eli turned to me. "This is going to require teamwork. I'll hold the turtle. You grab the end of the rope."

I nodded. He subdued the turtle, gently cooing to it and telling it stories while I grabbed the end of the hammock string and began the process of freeing it from the snag.

The turtle kept kicking, splashing us while I worked. "I feel like I'm doing a
Survivor
challenge and this is some kind of puzzle."

"
Survivor Oceania
," Eli said in a deep announcer voice. "Rescue the sea turtle and win immunity."

I certainly wasn't voting Eli off the island.

He pointed. "It looks like it's twisted there. If you go around to the right."

I caught a spray of salt water in the face from the turtle's kicking legs. "This would be easier if the turtle stopped kicking. We're trying to help you, baby."

"Tell me about it! He's a strong bastard." Then he grinned at the turtle and cooed to it in baby talk. "But so cute. Aren't you? Yeah. Look at you."

I smiled to myself. Eli was such a sweet guy when he wanted to be. I got another length of the rope free. To get the next bit untangled, I had to slide around behind Eli and under his arms between the turtle and him. "I feel like we're playing Twister now."

"Water Twister. That's a new one. Got it?"

"Just about. Sounds like a fun game. Maybe we should market it." I pulled another length of rope free. "Almost there. Let me back through your arms."

A couple more maneuvers and I pulled the rope end totally free, wrapping the length around my hand as I went. "Okay. Now we just need to get our friend here free from the body of the hammock…"

"Easier said than done." Eli frowned.

It took some doing. And a lot of maneuvering. But we did it. The turtle was completely out of the hammock. And we were both drenched.

Eli was still holding the sea turtle by his large shell. "Want to pet him before I set him free?"

I looked up at Eli. "It won't hurt him?"

"No." Eli grinned. "Come on. It'll be your only chance. It's illegal in most places to touch an endangered species of sea turtle."

"Another life experience/bucket list thing?" I looked Eli in the eye.

"Yeah. Why not?"

Why was his grin and enthusiasm so infectious?

I laughed. "Vacationing with you is one unique adventure after another."

"I aim to please." He moved the turtle toward me. "Go slowly. Turtles have nerve endings in their shells. They can feel it when you touch them. Generally, they aren't wild about it. I'll hold him so he can't nip you."

I touched the turtle tentatively and very gently. "Wow." I couldn't keep the wonder out of my voice. "His shell
is
rough. Like a shot-oiled road or something."

Eli nodded, still grinning.

I pulled my hand back and nodded to Eli. "Okay. It's time. Release him."

"Ready?" Eli looked at me.

We were both grinning like we'd won the lottery or something. We had that sense of self-satisfaction and having done a good deed that's rare in this life. I nodded.

Eli took a deep breath and released the turtle, which swam off into the ocean without looking back. "There goes our little boy."

I laughed and waved at the retreating turtle. "Don't forget to write!" I turned to Eli and stared into his beautiful dark eyes. "How do you know it's a he?"

"He has a long tail for a turtle. That usually means it's a he."

There was a heady moment of connection between us. We'd just shared something special. His lips came down on mine. He pulled me into him as I put my arms around his neck and kissed him back.

There are kisses of pure lust. There are kisses that mean nothing. Pity kisses. This kiss was different. Slow. Gentle. Seductive. Special. It surprised us both.

When it finally ended, I thought we both felt a little shy. Something had happened between us. We'd really connected in a way that even the great sex of last night had been lacking.

We stared into each other's eyes until I finally looked away before I became too lost in him. "So. How about lunch?"

We walked back to the beach hand in hand. He shrugged back into his shirt. I put my cover-up on over my damp bikini top and wet bottoms. Eli slung the bag over his shoulder. We walked in happy, satisfied silence back to our picnic site.

As I opened the picnic basket, Eli caught my hand. "I'm never going to forget that. That was…
something
."

I hoped he meant more than simply rescuing the turtle, great as that was. Because I was never going to forget the moment and kiss that followed, either.