Feel the Heat: A Contemporary Romance Anthology (72 page)

L
unch was delicious
—slow and lazy in the rustling shade of the palm trees on the edge of the white sandy beach. With a totally hot, incredibly sexy guy by my side. You can't get much closer to paradise than that. The food was good, too.

We talked and laughed. After we cleaned up, I decided to sunbathe. I took my towel and found a sunny spot in the sand. I spread my towel out and pulled my hair up into a loose bun.

True to his word, Eli was watching from the shade a short distance away. "If you need any help rubbing on suntan lotion, I'm your man for the job. I'm very gentle. And good with my hands." His tone was full of teasing and flirting.

"I'm sure you are." I laughed, knowing exactly what he was hinting at. "I think I can reach my front myself." I was evil. "I might need your help with my back."

He frowned, making a comical look of exaggerated disappointment.

I sat and lotioned my legs and arms. Then flipped suddenly onto my stomach and lay facedown on my towel before untying my bikini strings and spreading them out beside me.

I felt a shadow come over me.

"That's it?" Eli said in a husky voice. "I thought you were going to sunbathe topless?"

"I am." I was having too much fun teasing him.

"All steak, no sizzle."

I glanced up at him. "You're blocking my light."

He laughed again. "Well, this is boring." He paused. "Unless you want an uneven tan, eventually you're going to have to flip over. Until then, I'm going for a swim."

"There's always spray-on bronzer," I said drowsily in the relaxing heat. What was it about sunbathing that was so sublime and stress relieving? He was going to have to work harder than that to seduce me again. Playing hard to get was part of the game and heightened the eventual thrill of victory. The hunt was half the fun. For both of us.

He sighed and kicked off his shorts, leaving them in a pile next to me. I didn't look up as I settled in contentedly for a good bake.

I heard him walk off. It wasn't until I heard the splash of his footsteps in the water that I leaned up on an elbow and turned over my shoulder to watch him walk into the surf. I had expected to see him in his briefs. But he was buck naked.

My eyes popped open.
Damn.
Score one for him. I had a hard time pulling my gaze away from his broad shoulders and firm butt cheeks. I knew how wonderfully grab-able they were.

The sun kissed his skin and hair, haloing him and emphasizing every line of his well-built physique. The muscles of his back rippled as he pointed his arms and dove into the surf.

I could have looked at him all day, gazing at him like a lovestruck teenager. But though the lust I felt for him was strong enough to make me clench my legs to silence the need, my heart had begun to want his. Which was the most dangerous thing of all.

I tried to reassure myself this was a temporary reaction, the result of bonding over surviving a storm together and rescuing an endangered turtle. That it was a vacation romance and nothing more. There's nothing so easy as the romance and adventure of a summer beach fling where there's no commitment and no time to discover each other's flaws. But I wasn't fooling myself. We'd seen each other at our most vulnerable. If that didn't bring out the flaws, what would?

Eli was athletically built, with the triangle frame of a swimmer. His strokes cut through the water smoothly. But weren't you supposed to use the buddy system when swimming in the ocean? Couldn't an undertow suddenly sweep him away? I had an obligation to watch him, didn't I? For his own safety? Though what I would do if an undertow took him, I wasn't sure. Clearly, he was a much better swimmer than I was.

I rolled over and sat up, just watching him with what had to have been a sappy, smitten-by-love expression. Wondering how I'd come to be stranded on this tropical isle vacation with him.

He turned and swam toward shore. I waved to him and leaned back on my elbows, settling in to enjoy the view. My heart raced. My breasts budded in anticipation.

When he got near enough to shore, he stood in the waist-deep water and slowly came toward me, revealing his lower body inch by inch in a kind of marine striptease—waist, hips, the definition of his lower abs, his erect dick. My breath caught as he ran his hands through and shook the water from his hair.

He hit the beach and walked directly to me until he stood over me, casting me in shadow.

"I thought you were going for a swim?" I should have rolled onto my stomach when he first headed toward shore. My budded breasts gave away my desire. But so did his erection. We were even.

My bikini top lay limply on the towel behind me. I made no move for it. I put on a casual expression and tried not to gape as he stood over me, soaking wet, and smelling like sand, salt, and sea.

"You're dripping on my blanket." I met his eye.

"You always have some complaint." His gaze slid to my naked breasts.

"Short swim." It was hard not to gawk and harder to speak with my mouth so dry. He was exceedingly beautiful to look at. "How was the water?"

"Refreshing."

I smiled seductively, or at least tried to. "Then why'd you come back so soon?"

"Because your topless sunbathing just got a whole lot more interesting. I came back when you flipped over, like I promised I would." He knelt beside me and took my breasts in his cool hands, caressing my budded nipples between his thumbs and forefingers. "These need lotion before they burn. Let me help you with that."

I nodded to a can of spray-on sunscreen next to me. "Sure. Give them a coat."

He straddled me and picked up a tube of lotion I'd brought, too. "I do my best work by hand."

It's usual to feel a person's body heat. But since he'd just come out of the water, I felt the coolness of the water evaporating off him. He was slick with seawater, which glistened and highlighted his sculpted muscles almost as effectively as oil.

He squirted a dab of lotion onto his hands and rubbed it between his palms. He grinned as he hefted my breasts in his hands and lifted one to his mouth as he rubbed lotion with one hand into the other.

I arched my neck and took a deep breath. He was good with his hands
and
his tongue. So good I was ready for him almost immediately. But he took his time lotioning my breasts, teasing me with his touch. I closed my eyes, breathing in the scent of him and tropical coconut lotion, letting him arouse me.

"You're hot," he said in a tone full of lust. His dick bumped up against my stomach and his kisses travelled up my neck.

"Is that a statement of fact? Or a compliment?" I opened my eyes in time to see him grin.

"What do you think?" He leaned down and kissed me slowly. Softly. His wet lips were cool on mine. He took my face in his hands.

I fell onto my back and ran my fingers through his damp hair, letting my heart revel and think he was mine. At least for the moment.

He covered me with his wet, cool, naked body. "You're more than hot. You're scorching," he whispered in my ear as he reached for his nearby shorts and produced a condom.

"Prepared again," I whispered in his ear, and ran my fingers through his damp hair. "It's almost like you planned this."

"Is it?" His grin was so sexy. "You give me too much credit. I'm a completely spontaneous guy. I never miss a chance to seize an opportunity. It's the secret to my success."

"Is it?" I bent my knees, dug my toes into the sand, and ran my fingernails lightly over his back. "I've never made love on an open beach." I kissed him, grazing his lips with my teeth.

"It's illegal most places. But this is a private island." He kissed my neck. "We make the rules."

I took the candy-colored condom from him.

"Tell me having sex on the beach isn't on your bucket list." He sucked my shoulder and bit it gently. His damp beard caressed my skin.

"I'm adding it right now." It was hard to think straight with him naked on top of me. I wanted him, but I wanted all of him, body
and
heart.

He laughed. "Are you giving me permission to cross another item off your list?"

The cool kiss of his skin on mine was simply irresistible. I rubbed the condom between my thumb and finger and gave in to temptation. "Yes." My voice was deep with desire. "But I want it on top."

He rolled off me onto his back next to me and pulled me on top of him. "Anyway you want it." He grinned. "But I think you just want me to get sand up
my
ass."

I laughed and slid the condom on him. "Am I that transparent?"

He just flashed that sexy grin up at me.

I slipped out of my bikini bottom and onto him, taking him by surprise with the suddenness of my move. I leaned down until we were nose to nose. "Brace yourself. I like a wild ride. I'm going to ride you hard and fast."

He arched up like a bucking bronco beneath me. "I'm ready. Give it to me, baby. Rock my world."

I laughed. Our gazes locked. He reached up and pulled my hair out of its bun. And then I rode him just like I promised I would. With all the passion I felt, holding his gaze the entire time. Daring him, just daring him to look away. Something about making love with eyes wide open was extremely intimate. We were right there with each other every minute.

My knees ground into the sand. The wind gently blew my hair. My breasts bounced. His hands scorched against my hips where he held me, pulling me onto him. The pleasure built rapidly. When I came, it broke over me as wild and raw as the waves crashing on the beach. I arched and let out a joyful cry of pleasure.

Seconds later, I felt his release and collapsed into him.

He held me close, my head on his chest, my knees on either side of him, almost in a fetal position. My long hair fell over us as I listened to that reassuring heartbeat again and swore it beat in time with mine. What was happening to me? I wasn't supposed to be falling in love.

As I lay in his arms, he wrapped the tail of the towel around us. "I don't want that lovely ass of yours to get sunburnt."

I looked up at him. We grinned at each other like we'd just done something special. Like the sex and connection was so powerful it was something very few people were capable of.

We lay wrapped together in the towel, drowsy with the release of sex, until a pair of seagulls woke us with their noisy cackling. When we got up, the towel was bunched beneath us. His shoulders and the backs of his legs were covered with sand that had dried on, as were my knees.

"Turn around," I ordered. "Let me dust you off." I took great delight in knocking the sand off. And got a little carried away, playfully dusting his butt in the process.

"Hey!" He spun around and caught my hands, pulling me to him. "My ass isn't sandy."

"Not now!" I laughed. "I wiped it for you."

He looked me deeply in the eyes, grinning. "If you tell anyone you wiped my ass, I'll—"

"You'll what, tough guy? It's better than saying I kicked your ass, but I'm game for that, too."

"Wiseass woman." He pulled me to him and kissed me. "Don't test me."

We walked hand in hand, comfortably naked with each other, to the bathhouse, and showered.

"Britt." He took my hand after we were dressed. "This afternoon was…"

I smiled. "It was, wasn't it?"

"I—"

I frowned. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Let's gather a few coconuts before we head back."

I wanted to shake him. What? What had he been about to say?

I took his hand, disappointed, as we headed to the beach to hunt for coconuts. I had no idea how to tell whether a coconut was ripe or not.

Eli seemed to have a clue as he inspected and shook them one by one. He held one to his ear. "It takes coconuts nearly a year to ripen." He added it to the bag.

Like a good relationship
, I thought.

"We'll have to hull them before we go back. There's a tool near the pier." He hauled them to the beach near the pier to a spear-looking stake sticking up. He smashed the coconut against it, time and again, slashing the thick hull open on each side until he got the hairy brown coconut we all recognized from the grocery store out.

"So that's what that sharpened spear is for," I said. "It looks a little gruesome, a bit medieval."

"You mean like for a head on a pike?" He laughed. "Just the coconut's. We'll crack the actual coconuts back at the house."

We loaded everything up. I was about to get into the passenger seat when he caught my arm. "I thought you were driving home. I'll give you a lesson."

I kissed him, surprising him. "I'd love that."

T
hat evening
we had dinner with fresh coconut on the deck at sunset. Eli cooked. And made piña coladas with fresh coconut milk that were better than any I'd ever tasted. But every sense was heightened when I was with him.

After dinner, we lay on lounge chairs on the roof deck and watched the stars come out, zillions and zillions of them. So many it was overwhelming. I felt small and insignificant. And near vertigo as I looked into the depth and vastness of space above me. But supremely happy to be with Eli. When it got cool, we soaked in the spa. And eventually fell into bed, tangled together like lovers.

Why did this holiday feel so much like a honeymoon?

Tomorrow it would be over. He'd leave me to be all by myself here. I fought sleep, not wanting this to end.

D
ay Three

We woke again to the view of coral and rippling sunlight streaming though water outside our underwater aquarium room. More fish had returned. Schools of them in multiple varieties. Which was oddly comforting. I swore they swam more happily than before. Funny what a sense of utter bliss can do. What was the equivalent fish to the bluebird of happiness? Whatever it was, they were it. Swimming as if to announce to the world that Brittany West was joyously, deliriously happy. And about to crash when Eli Davis rode off in a boat headed for Fiji.

I slid out of bed quietly so I didn't disturb Eli, showered, and dressed. I had just scooped up his clothes to toss them in the laundry and give them a quick wash before he left—he'd worn them two days in a row now—and was just sneaking off to make breakfast when he woke and sat up sleepily.

"Damn, you're an early waker." His hair stood up at odd angles again. And he had the most adorable sleepy-eyed expression. "And a clothes thief? I never would have expected that from you. What's the plan? Are you holding me captive by taking my clothes for ransom?"

"Curses! Foiled again. Another brilliant scheme ruined by sleeping just a little too long, apparently. You can't leave if you're naked."

"Can't I?" He slid out of bed, laughing, and walked over to give me a light kiss.

I shrugged. "It would be embarrassing."

"I'm sure I could find something to wear."

"I'd love to see that. Thinking of making something out of one of the towels or maybe a toga from a bed sheet? As a fashion king, I must say you've been a disappointment. I haven't seen you in a pair of Hott's Socks yet."

He wrapped me in his arms and nuzzled my neck. "I've been stranded with only the clothes on my back—"

"Excuses, excuses." His dirty clothes were in my arms between us. I glanced down at them. "You've worn these two days. I'm going wash them. I can't have you leaving here looking rumpled. It will ruin your image."

"Very thoughtful," he said.

"Get cleaned up," I said. "I'm going to make breakfast. Join me on the deck." I pulled free from his embrace and headed for the stairs with his clothes.

"In what? The emperor's new clothes?" His grin was killer. "Or my birthday suit?" He snagged a decorative pillow from where we'd tossed it on a chair.

"I've seen that already." I loved teasing him. "Go for the emperor's clothes." I dashed up the stairs before he could toss the pillow at me.

I threw his clothes in the wash and started breakfast, smiling to myself. What would he show up wearing? He was too big for my things.

I'd just finished setting the table and was putting a plate of coconut pancakes on the table when he came upstairs. He should have been naked, of course. But he wasn't. He wore a clean pair of baggy shorts that hung loose on him and a button-up Hawaiian shirt at least a size too large.

I did a double take and broke out laughing. "Where did you get those clothes? They're awful." I grabbed my phone, secretly angling to take a picture.

He shrugged. "I scrounged around the closet and drawers. My buddy always leaves some spare clothes here."

I whipped my phone out and snapped his picture before he could stop me. "One for the scrapbook. And why not Instagram?"

"Give me that." He lunged for me, trying to wrestle the phone away.

"Too late! Already posted. Marooned with the millionaire. What fashion icon Eli Davis really looks like in his spare time. This should be good for some exposure for me." I laughed as he picked me off my feet and disarmed me of my phone. I grabbed at him, trying to get it back. "Kidding!"

He found the picture and deleted it before handing the phone back to me.

"You're no fun. Now I'll have nothing but my memories to remember you by."

"But what memories."

I slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "You're just in time for breakfast. Since it's our last meal together, I've gone all out with the coconut theme—coconut pancakes, coconut syrup, coconut milk—" My voice wavered as I became unexpectedly emotional. I was putting on a brave face, but I didn't want this to be the end of our time together.

"Britt." He hesitated. "About this being our last meal…"

I arched an eyebrow, my heart racing, hoping he was going to suggest we start seeing each other when we got home. He was Seattle-based, too. It wasn't such a stretch that we could continue on…

"I was thinking." He paused.

Was he trying to kill me?

"It seems a waste of time for me to boat back today, taking a valuable resource away from where it's needed in Suva, and then come right back out to get you tomorrow." He grinned, looking at me with a sweetly hopeful expression. "When we could both just go home together tomorrow?"

I had to work hard not to beam. "But what about your date?" I was only half teasing. The other half was morbid curiosity.

"Postponed indefinitely."

I nodded seriously, as if I was seriously commiserating. "That's too bad."

He grinned. "Well, yeah, given the circumstances."

I nodded again as if I was sympathetic.

"Can you put up with me another day?" He wrapped me in his arms. "I promise I'll stay out of your way and leave you to your reading. And your topless sunbathing, of course."

"Absolutely not!"

"What?" He looked startled and almost crestfallen.

"You're not leaving me to myself. If you're staying, you're going to take me out in the barracuda again and go snorkeling with me, maybe take me to the island to gather more coconuts. I used most of yesterday's making breakfast. I keep telling you. You need to earn your keep around here."

His smile brought out his dimples and lit his eyes. He took my chin and tipped my face up so that I had to hold his gaze. "This is crazy. And maybe it's too soon, but…I think I'm falling in love with you."

My heart raced. I couldn't hold down my smile. "Not crazy at all. The feeling's mutual." I caressed his bearded cheek. "My best friend went to Reno on business and came back unexpectedly married to a guy she hadn't seen since college. Compared to them, we're taking things slow."

He lowered his lips to mine.

W
e ate breakfast
, snorkeled, took the barracuda out, gathered coconuts, napped together in a hammock, fished off the dock on the island, and generally enjoyed our last day in paradise together as we got to know each other better. That evening, he cooked our catch, poaching our fish in fresh coconut milk with lemongrass. He served it over rice with a glass of wine and finished the meal with homemade coconut ice cream.

All day I'd had the big question in the back of my mind—why had he never called after he asked for my number in the bar? We'd managed to avoid the conversation all day. If this relationship, fabulous as it was, was going to continue, I had to know. And I had to bring up Flash.

After dinner as we sat side by side on a sofa on the roof deck, watching the stars come out.

I finally worked up the courage to broach the subject. "Do you remember the first time we met?"

I felt him tense.

"You mean six months ago at the bar? Not the pier in Suva?" he said.

I nodded. "So you do remember!"

He nodded. "How could I forget?"

I swallowed hard. What did he mean? Apparently he had. Until now.

"That was a wonderful evening." I tried not to let my voice quiver. "I thought we had something. You asked for my number…and disappeared. Why didn't you call?"

He turned to me with a stunned expression. "Didn't call? You gave me the wrong number. I called every combination of it I could think of, trying to reach you. Looked like a real douche, and made a complete fool out of myself with way too many wrong numbers. I just couldn't let myself believe you'd blown me off by intentionally giving me a fake number."

I went cold. "I'd never—"

He shrugged. "I don't give up easily. I went crazy trying to find out who you were. I only knew your first name, so I couldn't stalk you on social media. I hung out at the pub hoping I'd run into you again. Until it just became too damn embarrassing and made me look like a pathetic loser."

My heart melted. I swallowed a lump in my throat. At the same time, I was totally confused. "No, I couldn't have. I
didn't
. Not on purpose."

He pulled his phone from his pocket and brought up the number.

"You still have it?"

He nodded, looking sheepish.

I took the phone and frowned. "This isn't my number." I slapped my forehead. "I was drunk that night. I can't believe I typed my number into your phone wrong. I transposed two of the numbers. I've never done that before." I looked him in the eye. "I'm so sorry."

He smiled softly. "Honest mistake. At least I know now you weren't just jacking me around."

I shook my head and tried not to laugh with happiness. "And I know you didn't suddenly chalk up our attraction to the power of beer goggles. I thought you'd sobered up and realized I wasn't as hot as you thought."

I paused. "Speaking of Hott, why won't you give me a chance to work a deal with you and Flash? Why wouldn't you return my calls? And don't tell me you won't talk business. This is important to us now."

He looked almost embarrassed again. "I recognized your voice on the phone the first time you called. Your first name was the same. It didn't take rocket science to figure out you were the girl from the bar. You didn't seem to recognize me. It was damned awkward. So I assigned someone from my team to handle it and went on vacation."

"Did you also order that person to stonewall me with unreasonable terms? Terms we don't give any vendor."

He frowned. "Unreasonable terms? I told Jerry to make a deal."

"He didn't get the memo." I put my hand on his knee. "You didn't take my calls this past week."

"Like I've been saying, I'm on vacation. I don't deal with work on vacation. Not unless it's a dire emergency."

"It was dire." I bumped him with my shoulder. "To my career."

"We'll make it happen." He took the hand I'd rested on his knee. "When we get back to Seattle."

"Can I take that as a verbally contracted promise?"

He squeezed my hand.

I sighed. "It seems we've been victims of misperception and lack of communication."

"And alcohol." He laughed.

"Yeah. And that." I paused, thinking of Kayla and her desire to set me up with Eli. "Do you smell a setup, too?"

"What?" He laughed. "You think so, too?"

"Who do you suspect?" we asked in unison.

"Justin," he said at the same time I said, "Kayla!"

"Justin asked me to meet you at the dock. He knew our mutual buddy was out of town and I was down here on vacation. He only gave me your first name. But I hoped…"

I sighed happily. "Kayla convinced me to come when I wanted to cancel after my friend couldn't make it."

He raised an eyebrow. "We've both been duped."

I laughed. "Forgive them. Kayla just wants me to be as happy as she is. She's been talking you up for months.

"I never had the heart to tell her about our first failed meeting in the pub and how you didn't call. I mean, I told her about the douche who never called, but I didn't use your name. There was no reason for her to make the connection. She knew about you putting me off business-wise, though."

"Friends." He shook his head. "What would we do without them?"

"End up all alone?" I snuggled into him.

"Enough about them." He turned my face to his. "What do you want to do on our last night together here?" His voice was husky and full of promise.

"It's on my bucket list to make love in the tropics beneath the stars." I leaned my forehead against his.

"What a coincidence—it's on mine, too."