THREE
Jessie glanced around her childhood friend’s new beach house. Kayla arranged for her to be picked up at the new helipad on the other side of the island. With the hectic schedule Kayla kept, she really needed it. She was scared Kayla had gone ahead and gotten a slew of single friends to hook her up with, even after she’d specifically asked her not to. Not that that had ever done any good with Kayla. Jessie’d been working alongside her for years and knew very well that her friend was a very hardheaded woman. Not to mention, Kayla was on a major happiness high and wanted everyone to be on that level with her.
Jessie sighed. She rolled her luggage to the same room she’d used the last time she’d visited, when she and Kayla had helped decorate the place. This wasn’t her first visit to the beach house, so she was familiar with the layout.
Bright sunlight streamed through the open windows. Sea air drifted into the house, calming her jumbled nerves. Boy did she need this getaway. Her very long divorce battle, which had been dragging for two years, was finally over. Her ex-husband had tried to take her to the cleaners. She pursed her lips as she reached her room and rolled the navy luggage to the bed.
“Asshole.”
Some men really were jerks. Big ones. He’d fought to keep the money her parents had worked hard to leave for her. A one-year marriage filled with lies, cheating, and deception had turned into a nightmare divorce that lasted twice as long as the marriage had. If someone would have told her she’d feel this drained after getting that leech out of her life, she wouldn’t have believed them. She curled her fingers into fists. Then she took a deep breath. Let it out slowly. Relaxed. There had been too much craziness going on in her life. She was finally free.
She strolled around the bed to her room’s balcony. The view was captivating. Palm trees lined the beach area. White sand and clear blue water waited just some yards away. That’s what she needed. A nice walk on the beach. To feel the sun on her face. The warm water on her feet. Hell. She needed to remember how to relax. It’d been too long since the last time. But now that she was free of Dan and his thieving ways, she could concentrate on having a life again.
Birds chirped outside. Their sounds beckoned her to the outdoors. She glanced down at her tank top and shorts. Changing was probably a good idea. A soft breeze rustled the trees and brought in more of the salty sea air. The scent of the ocean was too powerful to ignore. She headed back out the door.
Yellow flowers, in multiple shades surrounded the island. It was why they called it Isla Dorada, or Golden Island. Her mind wandered to the sound of the waves crashing. Sand started to gather in her sandals. She stopped by a palm tree to slip them off. When she glanced up, she stood rooted to the spot.
A man was by the beach. Though she knew Ryan and Kayla had other friends they’d invited constantly, she was under the impression she was the only one there this time.
She couldn’t see his face. His back was to her where he sat on the sand. After a moment he stood. He tugged off his white T-shirt. She gasped. He was scarred. So many scars. Her nails dug into the palm tree. She wanted to reach out and offer some comfort. It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen that many before. It was that she was caught off guard. Then she remembered the first rule of her job. No pity.
He turned sideways to glance up the beach. She caught his profile. Whoa. Forget the scars. The guy was hot. Her gaze did a swift sweep down his body. He had brown, short, spiky hair. Clearly he was one of Ryan’s friends. Jessie knew all of Kayla’s friends, and she would not have forgotten him. He had a body toned with muscles. He was pale though. Probably didn’t get out into the sun often. The front side of his body was scarred too. That didn’t take away from how good he looked overall. Besides, she had scars too. Only hers were internal.
He had flat, washboard abs. And—oh, dear God—muscular legs and arms. Her throat went dry. She wanted to run her fingers down his abs. Her brain short-circuited thinking of what it would feel like to have his stomach muscles tightening under her palm. Oh lord. This was one of Ryan’s friends, not some guy looking to get felt on by a woman who had been too stressed to have sex in so many months she couldn’t remember. Her toy drawer hadn’t been used in so long she was afraid the vibrators wouldn’t work anymore. That was the reason she’d brought some with her. To try to really relax.
The sexy man ran for the water. He did a single dive. Perfect. So he was also a swimmer. Carajo! She watched the water for long seconds. Panic started to build inside. Where was he? What if—? He surfaced further out in the ocean. She bit her lip, looking at the clear blue water with concern. If something happened, she wouldn’t be able help him. She couldn’t swim. Kayla and Rissa had taken her to classes, but she was just too afraid. There was too much damn water surrounding her. The waves overwhelmed her and freaked her out.
He continued swimming, and the fear inside slowly dissipated. She took a glance up at the beach. Even if she was tempted, she wasn’t going to stand there and watch the guy do laps. That was stupid. And very stalker-ish. The leather straps from her sandals bit into her palms, deciding for her. She made her way through the trees, up the beach.
* * *
The sun had started to set when she reached the house. Martha, Kayla and Ryan’s housekeeper, stood at the entrance waiting for her.
“Hi, Martha. I didn’t see you when I first got here.” She embraced the elderly woman in a hug. She’d always been nice to her.
“I was at the other house getting some things for dinner.”
She raised her brows. “Oh? Is dinner something special tonight?”
“But of course, niña.” Martha patted Jessie’s cheek. She loved calling Jessie and Rissa children. Not that she referred to Kayla any different. “Dinner is very special tonight. Ryan and Kayla have asked for you to please join them at the patio at six.”
Shit. She glanced down at her watch. Time had slipped past her. She’d been out for so long. Now she only had a half hour to shower and dress.
“Okay.” She rushed past Martha. “I’ll be there.”
She dashed to her room. It was fine. Really. She worked well under a deadline. Usually she had more than thirty minutes, but she’d make it happen. Her gaze darted around the room until it landed on the suitcase. Two seconds later, the navy suitcase lay in the middle of the king-size bed. She rummaged through, trying to decide what to wear. A sparkly, purple strapless dress caught her attention. How had that gotten in there? She could swear she’d left it behind. The more she stared at it, the more she wanted to wear it. The soft cotton material would be perfect for the hot weather. And the style was flattering for her curvy body.
Not normally a fan of dresses, because they tended to make her look bigger than she already was, she stayed away from them. The purple dress had been an impulse buy when Rissa had talked her into going shopping. After a bunch of disappointments with clothes that were supposed to be her size but for some reason she couldn’t fit into them, she’d found that dress. The fit had been so flattering. For once she didn’t feel like a cow.
Once she’d taken the world’s fastest shower, she shimmied into the dress and slipped her feet into some sandals. She’d just reached the door before she ran back and grabbed her perfume off her dresser and sprayed it a few times on her wrists and neck. Now she could go.
Lanterns surrounded the gazebo in the patio where dinner was being served. Wow. Martha had gone all out. A soft gold tablecloth covered the table with a large pitcher filled with multicolored flowers in the center. The setting caught her attention. She frowned. It was set for two.
Nervous energy prickled over her skin. Please no. Don’t let Kayla have done it to her.
Steps sounded behind her. She turned. Oh good lord.
“Sorry I’m late…” He trailed off once he got a good look at her face.
She gulped. “Hi.”
Holy hotness on a stick. If he’d looked good before, then he was sinful now. He wore black slacks with a button down white Guayabera type short-sleeve shirt. She did a double-take to his face. He’d looked so pale before, but apparently his time in the water had given him some instant color. His face was golden. So were his arms.
“Hello.”
His gaze slid down her body in a slow caress. Then he met her gaze. The spark of interest in his eyes turned her from tongue-tied to dry-mouthed.
“I-I’m Jessie. I mean,” She cleared her throat, “I’m Jessica Tavarez.” She cleared her throat. What she really wanted to do was fan her face.
“Hi Jessie, I’m Matt. Short for Matthew Payne.” He offered a hand.
She stared at his hand for a long moment before realizing he was trying to be polite and shake hers. Dios mio. If she stayed out there any longer, he’d think she was socially inept. Their fingers touched. Hot sparks shot up her hand and through her body.
“It’s nice to meet you, Matthew.”
“Normally I wouldn’t say this, but I don’t think I’m so angry with Kayla’s matchmaking right now.”
Neither was she. “She set us up, huh?”
He grinned. Her world tilted. That smile turned his rugged features into wet-dream gorgeous. Maybe she should go. A guy that good looking had to have a ton of women throwing themselves at him. The last thing she wanted was to turn into some guy’s notch on the bedpost.
“She did. I had a feeling she’d given in too easily.”
“Yeah, me too.” She chuckled nervously. Taking a step toward the table, she stopped, turned back to him, and spoke, “Please don’t feel you need to stay here with me. I’m sure you weren’t looking forward to being forced to eat with some person you don’t know.”
Matt’s stomach clenched. The voluptuous beauty was giving him a way out. He didn’t have to sit there and have an awkward dinner with her because Kayla had a one-track mind. There was no need to go through all the bullshit talk his dates had been filled with in the past. He could go. But his feet stayed rooted to the stone steps. And as if they had a mind of their own, they moved him toward the table.
“No sense in wasting perfectly good food.” He heard himself say.
Her eyes widened. A sexy come-hither smile spread over her full lips. “I think you’re right. We might as well eat.”
Thank God for food. Martha chose that moment to show up followed by a man he’d never seen in his days on the island.
“This is Carlos. He’s going to be serving you dinner.” She elbowed the young man in the side. Carlos rushed to place a bread basket in the center of the table.
He glanced at Jessie. She cleared her throat, still smiling. He covered his chuckle with a cough.
“You two eat. Enjoy. I know what my little Kayla is trying to do. I’m not saying she is right, but it’s not my food’s fault. No reason to starve yourselves.” She winked. “Have fun.”