Kayla stepped out of the limo and into paradise. The hotel was magnificent. Sunshine poured over the colorful Spanish style structure. Massive gardens surrounded the building, and a whitewashed-stone walkway led to the entrance. She stared at the hotel in front of her, wondering if it was a mirage. After being in a small camp in the Adirondacks, this was heaven. Her parents’ mansion was beautiful, but the view of this property was breathtaking.
Once she got her room key, she rushed up to the top level where the deluxe suites were located. The hotel was top of the line, and Kayla was used to carrying around evening wear for formal parties her parents hosted. Thankfully she’d been prepared for any eventuality. Her in sweats and munching on potato chips was probably not what her date expected. Talk about a skewed first impression. Not what she wanted Ryan to see.
She’d made sure to be there early so she could have time to prepare for the dreaded date. When the private butler assigned to her suite opened the door, she smiled. Sumptuous was the word of the day. Antique chairs, beautiful paintings, and a massive bed occupied the room. But that wasn’t the reason for her smile. A glass wall showed off crystal-clear ocean water. In a trance, she went straight to the balcony. The door slid open noiselessly. Tension drained out of her as she stood there, falling in love with the view. For long moments she just soaked in the salty sea air and sunrays.
The click of the door told her the butler had left her alone. Thoughts of the night ahead made her stomach quiver. But she wouldn’t change her mind. Oh no. She’d come too far, and she needed a clean slate, a good experience to welcome her thirtieth birthday and view her life in a new light. No more frogs. And Sue had assured her that Ryan was a really nice guy she’d enjoy her post-birthday dinner with.
Kayla took the longest bath of her life, careful to wash every inch of her skin until the scent of her favorite gel had embedded into her flesh. She allowed her hair to dry into its natural long, dark curls. Then she pulled out the underwear she’d spent an entire afternoon choosing.
Once she was dressed, heeled sandals and all, she made her way back to the bedroom. A bottle of her favorite white wine had been left chilling in a bucket. Shaky nerves made her reach for the bottle and fill a glass without a second’s hesitation. Alcohol-induced courage was probably a bad idea, but she needed some way to get through the next few hours.
It dawned on her that because she hadn’t opened the photo of her dinner companion, she truly was going on a blind date. Good god. What the hell was wrong with her? But it had completely slipped her mind. She hadn’t thought of the entire thing as a big deal until now that she was ready and waiting for the man to show up.
For all she knew this guy may really look like a frog. On that thought she gulped the rest of the wine in her glass. She called herself all kinds of moron. Someone knocked on the door.
Oh hell. She couldn’t do it. Nope. She’d have to apologize to the guy. She’d just tell him she’d had too much bad luck with men and even the prospect of a blind date scared the life out of her. She was sure this was the worst idea on the day after her birthday. A few quick breaths and another glassful—gulp—of the tasty wine and she hustled to the door.
Jesus. Kayla glanced up to meet the gaze of the sexiest man she’d ever seen in her life. Oh, god. It was Chris Hemsworth! Well, not really, but… Omigod! Omigod! Omigod! She was going on a dinner date with Thor’s identical twin! Thank you, Sue.
She had to give it to Sue, she’d checked off every box when it came to Ryan’s looks. Sexy? Check. Intense eyes? Check. Gorgeous mouth? Double check. And oh, yes, the body of a god? Hell yeah. It had to be the best birthday present ever.
He was big and muscular and so sexy her entire body sizzled. Dirty blond hair hung in a shaggy cut around his ears. Piercing blue eyes stared down at her. For once in her life she had no trouble seeing herself as a woman willing to give blind dates the thumbs up.
“Kayla?”
Lord, even his voice was sexy. Raspy and deep, it made her want to do really dirty things to him. She nodded and stared some more.
Ryan’s smile widened, and he wanted to shout at the top of his lungs. His cock worked! All it had taken was one look at the petite Latin beauty, and he was hard as a rock. Fire shot through him when he saw the open hunger in her eyes. She wore a clingy blue dress that showed off every luscious curve. From the top of her dark hair to the bottom of her electric-blue-painted toenails, she looked delectable.
“Hi, Ryan. Come…come in.” Her soft, sultry voice had just a hint of a Spanish accent.
He strode into the living area, taking his time passing her by. The room smelled of whatever she was wearing, a dark, musky scent that added to his arousal. His cock throbbed in his trousers, urging him to get a move on already. It had been so long since he’d been with a woman, and even longer since he’d touched one as sexy as the dark-eyed nymph in the room with him. Why would a woman that beautiful want a blind date? Men had to be throwing themselves at her. Insecurity pushed its way into his mind. But he’d seen the flare of arousal in her eyes when she opened the door. If nothing else, she found him physically attractive. That was a good start.
“Did you…” She cleared her throat and glanced up at him. Her whiskey-brown eyes slowly raked up and down his body. “Did you want to go down to dinner?”
He wanted to do a lot of things. But before things went any further, there was something he needed to try. He stepped toward her and saw her eyes widen. Her mouth opened when she started to speak.
Taking advantage of her parted lips, he swooped down and kissed her. Drinking in her gasp, he dipped his tongue into the sweet cavern of her mouth and explored. He threaded his fingers into the soft, dark curls and held her flush against him. Electric currents shocked every blood vessel to life. His cock stood to attention in his pants. She tasted of honey, wine, and sexy woman.
Her hands strayed up his chest to curl around his neck. She moaned, a ragged little whimper, adding fuel to the fire consuming him.
Ryan stepped away and glanced down at her flushed face. They both were panting. She blinked her passion-clouded eyes at him and hastily stepped back.
“What was that for?” The tremor in her voice warmed him. Clearly the kiss had affected both of them more than he expected.
“I had to know if you tasted as good as you look.”
“Oh.” She licked her swollen lips and widened her eyes. “And?”
“You taste better than anything I could’ve imagined.” He grinned at the pink staining her cheeks.
“That’s um, good to know.” Her husky voice was like a smooth caress over his body, the velvety tone sliding over his skin and seeping into his pores. He passed a door and glanced at her king-sized bed. Shit, if he were to follow through on his dirty thoughts he’d have her on that bed moaning within moments. But he had to know how she’d react to his news before they went any further.
She swallowed and stared at his crotch. Her eyes sparkled with interest. Then she bit her full bottom lip, and he almost groaned. Did she know what she was doing? When she looked up at him, desire was clear in her gaze.
“We should eat.”
Hell yeah. He was ready to drop down to his knees and find out just what she wore under that clingy dress, to taste the honey dripping from her slit and lick her over and over again. The sound of his heartbeat pounding wildly roared in his ears.
All thoughts went straight to sex. With Kayla. To laying her on the bed and pounding her until he heard her husky voice scream his name. He watched the rise and fall of her chest under the thin material of her dress. With each breath, her breasts rose high above the neckline.
The motion gave him an ample view of the full mounds and made his hands itch to touch them. If they were going to eat—food—they needed to go. He held out a hand for her to grab.
Tentatively she placed her small, tanned one into his.
“Then let’s eat,” he said and guided her toward the door.
They made their way to the pre-arranged dinner location. One of the helpful staff members guided them to the spot where their dinner would be served before leaving them alone. He hadn’t expected a table on a secluded part of the beach within a few feet of the water. Soft candles and colorful flowers sat at the center of the top-of-the-line setup.
“This is so beautiful,” Kayla whispered. Her voice blanketed over him like melted caramel, her Latin accent thickened with her excitement.
Kayla wanted to pinch herself but was afraid she’d scare off Ryan. Not only did he look good enough to eat, the man was a kissing god. He’d just grabbed her and started a brushfire. It had rushed down from her lips to her core and made her panties wet. She wiggled in her seat. Every time he gave her another of those heated looks, the throbbing between her thighs increased.
She stared at the evening sky and sighed. When she glanced at him he was staring at her lips. They really needed to talk or someone was going to get attacked, and she had a feeling it would be him. As a form of distraction, she placed the napkin over her lap and fiddled with it, taking her sweet time before she glanced back up.
It was a poor way to keep herself in the chair and stop her brain from imagining tearing off his shirt and checking out his naked body.
“Sorry, this is new to me.” She gulped. “Did you have to be harassed into being here tonight too?” She joked, hoping the question would calm her racing heart, her throbbing sex, and his hungry glances.
He chuckled. “Actually, I chose to be here. Didn’t you?”
She licked her lips and scrunched her nose. “No. I mean, yes.” She rolled her eyes. “What I am trying to say is that I chose to be here, but I’ve never been on a blind date before…so this is kind of weird.”
By the time she finished talking, she was feeling embarrassed and self-conscious. What in the world possessed her to tell him this was her first blind date?
“Don’t worry. This is my first blind date too.” He licked his lips and stared at her mouth.
Damn. He wasn’t making it any easier for her to stop thinking of sex. Lots of sex. With Thor-look-a-like Ryan. Her mind was clearly in the gutter.
“Well, at least you don’t have a mother trying to set you up with half the male population in the U.S. and Europe.” She grimaced. “I had to agree to this, or my mother would have made me one of her surprise dinners where every eligible bachelor she knew just happened to attend.”
He laughed. “My family hadn’t gone that far. And I would have had major problems with them if they’d thrown me a dinner with a bunch of men to choose from.”
She giggled. “You know what I mean.”
“I do, but I love the sound of your laugh.”
“Thank you… So why did your family set you up on a blind date?”
He shrugged. “They think I’ve been alone long enough.”
“What do you think?”
He pierced her with his gaze. The smile slid off his face, slowly. “I wouldn’t mind meeting someone I can start a relationship with. As long as she is understanding to some things about me that are…different.”
She was about to ask what he meant when the waiter appeared and filled her wine glass again. She waited until he was gone before going back to the conversation.
“So I understand you’re in the military?”
Strings of soft lights turned on above their heads, giving a romantic glow to the evening. “I am.”
That was it? Some conversation. “What do you do exactly?” She didn’t know anything particular about his position, only that he’d been in Afghanistan and had returned home injured.
“I’m in the army. Special Forces.” He glanced away from her. She noticed a gloominess take over his face. “At least I used to be.”
“So were you discharged?”
“Not exactly.”
She stared at his face. He clenched his jaw hard. She wondered why it bothered him to answer such simple questions.
Curiosity. The worst of her personality traits made itself known. She had a hard time letting things go and tended to ask a million and one questions until she was satisfied she understood the situation. Her parents nicknamed her Snoopy because she just kept digging until she had found out everything she wanted on whatever interested her. “So what exactly was it?”
“I’m out on medical leave.”
Oh, yes. The injury that had brought him home. And she was about to start her inquisition. He would probably tell her off soon, but she was way too interested not to ask the stuff popping into her head. “So what happened?”
He jerked back to face her. Was that anger in his eyes? No, it was something else. Distress?
He gulped and looked at her straight in the eyes. “I lost my leg.”
“Okay.”
Did that mean he couldn’t have his same position? Special Ops sounded kind of…well kind of badass. But maybe just being able to walk didn’t mean he could do the job. Maybe he still wasn’t physically capable of doing the job anymore. “Sue did say that you had suffered an injury. But why can’t you go back? Did they find you mentally unstable?” She asked, bewildered. “Why couldn’t you do your job again?”
He frowned. “No, I’m mentally stable. But as I said, I lost my leg.” Leaning forward on the table, he continued to stare her down. “I have a prosthetic on my right side from below my knee.”
“Okay. So are prosthetics not allowed in the Special Forces?”
“I don’t think in my team it would be. The group is under a lot of physical pressure so we needed to be in top physical shape.”
“Wait, you don’t know?” She was surprised.
“I’m pretty sure.” His voice firmed.
“Pretty sure isn’t 100% sure.” She smiled.
“I see what you’re trying to do, but really, it wouldn’t work.”
“How do you know? Maybe it would. Maybe they’ll reconsider?”
“Not the group I was with.” He did a slow roll of his shoulders. “I can’t go back.”
“Okay, but I still don’t understand why not.” Kayla still didn’t understand what his problem was. “Have they been discriminating against you?” Fury filled her instantly.
He shook his head, eyes wide as if in shock. “No. But it would be extremely difficult to go back to the team. I would have to do something different if I wanted to stay in the force. Things are much, much harder to do with a prosthetic.”
“But not impossible.” It took her a moment to comprehend what was happening. He pitied himself, and that just wouldn’t do. “Do you realize how many people go through injuries every day, not just in the military but in the world in general?” Her accent thickened with each word.
I have been to Africa and South America and have seen men, women and children with missing limbs working hard in fields just to make a few cents to eat. Most of them can’t afford a prosthetic. They have to make do at living life with what they have left. And sometimes, they had very little to begin with” Sadness worked its way into her voice.
He stared at her quietly. She wondered what was going through his mind. “You don’t seem to understand,” he ground out. A vein in the side of his cheek caught her attention when it quivered.
“Bullshit.”