Chapter Five

 

“What do you mean you’re going to Orlando now?” I stared in disbelief at my father, who stood on the runway at the base of the airplane steps I’d just descended. He had his usual battered suitcase in his hand, one I’d bought him many years ago and he claimed to still love.

“Buttercup, I’m sorry. But my cardiologist called this morning, he wants me back for a few more tests. Seems my blood work last week wasn’t quite right.”

I propped my suitcase up, stepped past Giselle and gripped his free hand. My head spun. I thought he was getting better. On the mend. He certainly looked well. “What do you mean not quite right? What’s wrong? Oh God, can they fix it?”

He smiled and leaned down, kissed me on the cheek. “You worry too much, Gina. I’m sure it’s nothing. They just want to do another heart tracing and switch some of my meds. I could see one of the local doctors, but I’d rather see Dr. Hamilton, he’s been with me from day one of all this heart trouble.” He dropped his bag and took both of my hands in his. “Everything will be fine.”

“Are you sure?” My own heart was racing.

“Yes, of course.”

“But when are you coming back?” I glanced at Giselle, who was twirling one of her long auburn curls around her finger and eyeing up Dustin. “I think I should come with you. To Orlando. That would be for the best. Yes, I’ll come back now. Come to the appointment with you.”

Dad laughed. “Giselle will come with me, and besides you’ve only just got here. And, my dearest, you look exhausted. You’ve been working too hard.”

“Only the way you used to.” I couldn’t help a pout. Why couldn’t I go with him if I wanted to?

“Yes, probably, in which case we need to make sure you don’t head down the same route as me. You need proper downtime. Vacations, time out. Give your body a chance to recharge. And since you’re here…” He raised his eyebrows, crinkling his brow. “You should stay and enjoy some rest and relaxation. The villa is fully stocked. The cleaner was just finishing off when we left, so it’s all ready. It will do you good.”

I sighed and thought about all of the things I needed to discuss with him—things that would wait only a week at the most. Decisions had to be made and although he’d given me the power to run the Vipers as I saw fit, I wasn’t naïve enough to think I was an expert. I wasn’t, I was a novice. I needed his input, even if just in the form of conversations.

“And when are you coming back?” I asked. “To continue your recovery.”

“In a few days.” He released my hand and reached for his wife’s.

She smiled and stepped up close to his side. She was wearing a short, fitted dress that was splattered with bright-pink flowers. Her shoes and purse matched, as did her lipstick.

“Hello, Giselle,” I said, with a curt nod.

“Gina, good to see you.” Her smile broadened. “And I really am sorry that we have to go. But Fergal’s health has to be the top priority.”

“Yes, I agree. Absolutely.” Why did she manage to make it sound as though I didn’t think it was top priority? Of course it was.

“But the weather has been gorgeous here,” she went on, “and it’s set to stay like that, despite this breeze coming in. So you really could have a nice break away from your new venture.” She glanced at Dustin again, who had crossed his arms over his chest and was chewing on a piece of gum. “It must be exhausting being in charge of all of these big, burly men. Really, very tiring, I don’t know how you’re managing it. One is enough for me.” She giggled.

Dad dropped a kiss onto her head. “Well, I don’t know about burly.” He laughed. “Come on, we should go. The captain is waiting. But, Gina, stay, and I’ll see you in a few days. I’ll give you a call.” He turned to Dustin. “Feel free to use the villa, too, for some downtime. It’s plenty big enough, and we’ll have that talk your agent mentioned when I get back.”

“Well, if you don’t mind, sir, I’ll just return with you now. We could talk on the plane.”

“Oh, I don’t think my husband should be worrying about Viper business until he’s seen the specialist,” Giselle said with a worried shake of her head. “I mean really, once he starts down that train of thought his blood pressure will be up and he’ll be getting those silly palpitations again.” She rested her hand over his chest. “So I don’t think that would be wise, Mr. Reed.”

“Palpitations?” I asked. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“Only a few, at er, crucial moments…” Dad glanced at Giselle, who nibbled the corner of one of her long bright-pink fingernails and stared up at the plane. “And I told you,” he went on, “it’s probably nothing. However, you can’t be flippant with these things.”

Giselle began to climb onboard. “Come on, darling. Let’s go and get you fixed up then you’ll be good as new and ready for action.”

“Mr. Gunner,” Dustin said, stepping past me. “It really won’t take long.”

“I’m sorry, son,” Dad said. “Just how it goes when you get old. Plans have to be undone. But this one is just delayed, not canceled. If there’s still an issue with your contract when I return from Orlando, and if you’re still here soaking up the ambience of Honeysuckle Key, then we’ll sit and have a discussion over a beer.”

Dustin let his arm fall to his side. His mouth opened and closed.

I couldn’t help the pleasure it gave me to see him at a loss for words for once. Now what could he say? He wasn’t getting his own way, despite his sneaky plan to get to my father’s ear. I bet that didn’t happen too often. Not in his me-me-me world.

A smirk spread on my face.

He glanced at me. Frowned.

I didn’t care that he knew what I was thinking.

“Bye, Dad,” I said, my voice a little too light. “See you in a few days and good luck, let me know how you get on.”

“I will, buttercup. Now you have fun. And don’t worry, I’m fit as a fiddle.”

The copilot, Edmond, appeared and made a fuss over his passengers. He tipped his hat to me just before the door was shut.

The engines were running a little faster now, beginning to rev. My hair licked over my cheeks.

“We should get off the runway,” Dustin said with a scowl, then turned and marched toward the small wooden hut that functioned as an airport arrival lounge.

Nothing on the island was overly fussy. The people had a make-do attitude and it seemed to work for them. It was rare to see locals without smiles on their faces.

“There’s a hotel in the town,” I said, catching up to him, my suitcase rattling behind me. “I have the telephone number at the villa. You can come back with me then call and book a room, stay there.”

“What?” He stopped and turned to face me.

“The hotel. In the town. You can stay there until my father returns and you have your little chat.”

“Why the hell would I do that?”

I huffed. “Why the hell do you think?” I put my hand on my hip.

“I can’t think of any damn reason to book a hotel when I’ve just been invited to stay at a fancy villa for the next few days.”

“I’ll tell you why, because I’ll be there.” I flicked my hand between us. “And it’s my villa, not yours.”

He slipped his shades to the top of his head. Part of me wanted to stare into his angry eyes, show him that I wouldn’t back down, but the sound of my father’s plane shooting down the runway caught my attention and I watched it zip along and take to the air. The wheels quickly disappeared into the undercarriage as it tipped to the right and headed for the mainland.

“You really want me to go and stay in some damn hotel?” he repeated slowly. “Until your father comes back?”

“Yes.”

I turned, flashed my ID at the usual guy who sat in arrivals and headed toward the Jeep Dad had left in the lot. The keys would be in the ignition, waiting for me.

I’d annoyed Dustin that was for sure. He wasn’t used to being told what to do. He wasn’t used to not being wanted. Well, I didn’t want him. I wanted peace and quiet without a big hunk of a guy looming over me, distracting me, blowing hot and cold and calling me stupid names.

That was what I wanted.

 

*****

 

The villa was the same as it always was. It never changed and I liked that. It was as familiar as home and a place that housed many happy memories. From the long gravel driveway with the bright-orange flowers dotted on lush bushes, the naked cherub in the central fountain outside the front door that used to make me giggle as a small girl, to the soft furniture and sea breeze, it was definitely a place designed for privacy and rest and relaxation.

Well, the relaxation part would happen real soon hopefully.

I wandered in. Dustin followed, still in silence, the way he’d been the entire journey as I’d navigated the dusty tracks. Not bothering to take my suitcase in my bedroom or freshen up, I went straight to the small book we kept in the hallway that had the local contact numbers.

“Here,” I said, handing him the book after he’d dropped his soft leather bag on the floor. “The Hotel Grand. You should really have booked before you left if you were planning on a few days visit.”

He kind of grunted and took the book from me, tugged his iPhone from his back pocket and keyed in the numbers.

I folded my arms, watched as he dialed and then listened as he was quickly told the hotel was full.

“It seems they have a rush on,” he said after ending the call. “No room at the inn.”

He didn’t seem in the slightest bit put out, instead wandering past me into the large open-plan living area.

“But hey,” he said with a smile. “This place sure is big enough for two. You’ll hardly know I’m here.” He placed his hands on his hips and looked around, nodding approvingly. “I don’t know why you have a problem.”

Damn, he’d gotten his own way. I couldn’t exactly kick him out onto the street. There was only one hotel on the island, and if it was full, it was full.

Perhaps a lounger on the private beach out back? Mmm? I’d loan him a pillow. I could stretch to that.

But as for hardly knowing he was there? The guy filled up much more space than just his physical presence. It was his scent, his rough voice, how he seemed to change the electricity in the atmosphere in a way that spiked the hairs on the back of my neck and made my body so damn aware that he was breathing the same air as me.

And what about the one thing we hadn’t mentioned. The elephant in the room.

That kiss in New York.

Well, I wasn’t going to bring it up. He was the one who’d kissed me, after all. He’d backed me up against the wall, loomed over me and taken possession of my mouth without even asking. Taken advantage, if I was honest, since I was a little tipsy at the time.

I nibbled my bottom lip, remembering how his mouth had felt on mine. It was urgent and desperate, hungry, angry and passion-infused. I hadn’t imagined all of that. No way.

I turned, irritated that I’d been thinking about him in a nonprofessional manner, and stalked into my bedroom, dragging my suitcase behind me. I’d put on my vacation gear, get out of these hot jeans and go and dip my toes in the sea. I didn’t like to swim. I had a blown-out-of-proportion fear of shark attacks that stopped me from enjoying even a splash in the waves. But I liked to cool my feet in the water, sink my toes into the sand and watch the waves rolling toward me.

Perhaps I’d go for a nice long walk, too. Visit the market and get some of the coconut-spiced candy that reminded me of my childhood vacations here. That way I could avoid Dustin and the roller coaster of emotions his mood swings subjected me to. Why couldn’t it have been Phoenix or Ramrod who’d wanted to come and chat with my father? One of the players who was polite and respectful and wouldn’t have made me want both to slap him and kiss him.

Kiss him? I didn’t. God, what was wrong with me? It must be the stress and the heat.

Ten minutes and a quick shower later, I flung open the French doors of my bedroom and stepped onto the decking area wearing a vivid purple bikini and a black sarong. I held a soft cotton purse that was a lurid citrus-orange color, not my favorite, and black thongs.

A hummingbird was giving attention to a tub of pink lilies and I paused to watch as I piled my hair on top of my head. I recalled a time when Dad had helped me set up syrup feeders for them, and I’d spent a whole holiday recording their movements and markings, giving them all names. I loved the hummingbirds.

A movement out of the corner of my eye caught my interest. It was Dustin down on the beach at the shoreline, about fifty meters away. I stilled, stepped behind the fronds of a palm into the shade and watched him.

He had his back to me and was undressing. His shoes already discarded, he tugged down his soft jeans, dropped them to one side and then peeled off his t-shirt.

I swallowed. Damn, the guy was thickly muscled. I knew he was big, but the round balls of his shoulders, the roped tendons down his spine, the bulge of his biceps told me that he was huge. I’d presumed some of his size was hockey padding or clothes or something, but no, what I’d felt when I’d clung to him in that hallway, why he’d made me feel so small—it was because he was enormous. I was small next to him.

Suddenly he slipped off his boxer briefs exposing tight, round buttocks, the skin a fraction paler than the rest of him.

I gasped, put my hand over my mouth and, although the beach was privately owned, couldn’t help a quick glance left and right to make sure it was empty.

It was.

I returned my attention to the taut butt before me. Dustin was running now, into the surf, galloping through the waves stark naked, his skin glistening as the water splashed over him.

Several big steps and he leaped into the air, curled himself over and I watched, mesmerized, as his buttocks were the last thing to disappear beneath the dark surface.

My heart was racing. Really? Naked swimming. He’d only been here a few minutes and he was diving into the sea in the buff. I was part horrified, part full of admiration. I could never swim in the sea like that, dive in as though I belonged there. It was too damn scary. What was lurking in the hidden depths?

I scanned the waves, looking for him. Waiting for his head to appear.

It didn’t.

I stepped from the fronds and into the sunshine.

Shit. A shark had got him, or a ray or something lethal. It must have. He’d been down about ten seconds at least.

I darted my gaze around, tried to see over the breaking rollers. He’d really gone. Quickly I rushed to the edge of the decking. Went on my tiptoes, scanning the wider horizon.

Fuck.

In a sudden rush I sped onto the sand. It was burning hot but I hardly felt it. I reached his abandoned clothes, set my hand over my eyes to shield them from the sun and peered into the distance.

Suddenly he burst upward, not too far out at sea. His chest and shoulders were shining like polished bronze and his super-short hair sparkling with trapped drops. He stood waist deep and looked my way.

“What the hell are you doing?” I called, scanning his arms for signs of shark attack, checking the water for a slick of blood.

“Painting a fucking picture,” he shouted. “What the hell does it look like?”

“I thought you’d…”

“What?”

“Drowned or…or something.”

“Drowned?” He began to walk toward me. “What, in this shallow part?”

“Well, yes, things like that do happen, and…” Oh fuck, as he got closer the waterline dropped each time the ebb of the waves receded. I was getting glimpses of seriously thick hair below his navel, leading a dark trail to his groin and yes, there was a silvery appendectomy scar, right where I’d imagined he’d have one, in a perfect groove of muscle.

“And what?” His continued to push through the waves. He took no notice of the crests of foam breaking around him or the lowering water level.

“And there are creatures in there.” I pointed at the sea. “Predators, they might…”

He wasn’t going to, was he?

Oh yes. This was Dustin Reed after all. Of course he was going to. Why was I surprised?

He gave me a full frontal visual of his flaccid cock as he reached the shallows.

“What might these predators do?” he asked, seemingly completely unembarrassed.

“They might,” I made a pincer movement with my fingers, “they might bite you, you know, especially there.” Oh God, now I was staring and pointing at his cock. “They might think it’s a worm or something if you skinny-dip.”

He put his head back and roared with laughter, a great big guffaw that must have rattled right across the beach and into the lush forest beyond. His chest heaved and the muscles on his belly tensed, his cock waggled.

“A fucking worm. Oh my God.” Mercifully he quickly dragged on his boxers, making himself decent. “Me and my dick have been called many things over the years, sweet cheeks, but never a fucking worm.” He laughed again, screwing up his eyes and placing his hands on his hips, bending forward slightly.

I frowned. “You know what I mean.”

“I do, and it’s damn funny that you think I have a worm.” He rubbed a small hand towel over his legs then pulled on his jeans. Still chuckling, he grabbed his t-shirt and sneakers from the sand. “It’s made all this worth it hearing you say that.”

“I’m just trying to explain that it’s dangerous out there.” I pointed at the water. “I’ve seen shark fins many times, and I know some of the locals have been injured or had near misses.”

“But I was only a few fucking feet out.” He still grinned.

“They’ll come right up to the shore if they’re hungry.” I folded my arms. “And besides, it’s not just sharks, there are barracuda, rays, jellyfish, sea snakes, sea wasps, eels.” I paused for breath. “And down by those rock pools there are crabs that will draw blood and urchins that have poison in their barbs.” I shook my head. “You have to be careful. Really careful.”

“Jesus, you really have got a thing about the sea.” He furrowed his brow. “Yet you have this fabulous place right by it.”

“No, not the sea. The things that live in it that want to eat me. That’s what I have a problem with.”

“But you’re missing out. That was wonderful to have a swim after a plane ride. And there’s nothing there that will bother me if I don’t bother it. You should try it, I bet you’d like it.”

“No way, and certainly not in the…” I wafted my hand in the direction of his groin again. “In the nude.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn’t expecting to swim so I didn’t pack trunks. And then, well, after the shit that went down at the airport, and then here, you with the hotel thing, I just needed to cool the hell down before I punched something. I figured you were still in the villa, as you’d shut yourself in your room, and no one would see.”

He certainly looked cooled down. The sun was rapidly evaporating the seawater from his wide chest and golden shoulders, and his hair was so short it was almost dry already.

“I guess I’ll go find a shop, buy trunks if I’m here for a few days.” He grinned suddenly, crinkling the skin at the corners of his eyes. “That’ll save you from adding worms to your list of things to worry about in the sea.”

I tsked. “I’m going to the market. It’s about a mile down the beach and today is the only day of the week it’s on. I’ll grab you some trunks while I’m there.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“What?”

“I’ll come with you, to the market. You don’t know what size I am.”

I raised my eyebrows. I’d just seen his size, exactly. And it was pretty impressive for a man who was emerging from cold water. But I wasn’t about to tell him that. That would just add to his ego.

“I know you’ve read my file,” he said, pulling on his sneakers and grinning. “But that doesn’t list all of my statistics. Some of the most important ones are missing.”

That didn’t deserve a response and I knew that was what he wanted. So instead I shifted my sarong on my hips, dropped my thongs to the hot sand and slipped them on. When I looked up he was studying me, his eyebrows were pulled low and his grin had slipped. He looked angry again.

“What?” I asked, twirling the thin strap on my purse and quickly glancing at my bikini top to make sure it hadn’t shifted.

“Nothing,” he said huffily. “I’ll just put this towel back and go lock the villa door. Wait here.”

He turned and jogged up the beach, sending little kicks of sand up behind himself. His moods were like ice and fire and could flick like a switch. It was beginning to get tiring. Kiss me, don’t kiss me. Shout at me, smile at me.

I sighed.

After he’d gone onto the deck I didn’t wait. Instead I turned and marched along the beach in the direction of the nearest village. If I walked quickly enough, perhaps I’d lose him. Then again, that wasn’t likely to happen, him being a super-fit athlete and all.

I huffed to myself. Honestly. The worm thing hadn’t been that funny. It was simply a fact. I’d like to see how much he’d laugh if something in the sea really did have a nibble on his cock. I was sure he’d be crying then.