Chapter Eight
What the hell am I doing, being such a possessive dick.
It had to be because he didn’t want her falling for some other guy and complicating his mission to protect her and get her home safely. There was no other explanation for it. Of course, that still didn’t explain why he wanted to throat-punch Colin every time he looked at her with goddamn lust in his eyes. If Josh weren’t undercover, he’d have straight-up laid his claim and made it 100 percent clear to everyone that Holly was his.
His.
Shit, wait, no. She wasn’t his. Well, just for this week she was.
Unnerved by the direction of his thoughts, he inched back and checked the time. “We need to get a move on.”
Holly stood there for a moment, her mouth open, poised, but if he kissed her, if he tasted her sweetness, felt her warm and welcoming body pressed against his, no way in hell would he be able to stop there. No, he’d have to strip that scrap of a bathing suit from her body, toss her onto the bed, and drive into her so far and deep that when they were done she wouldn’t remember her name, but no way would she ever forget his. Jesus, his depth of desire for her was a bit unsettling. He felt a quick flash of panic at that thought, and cleared his throat to pull himself together.
“Okay,” she whispered. Dark lashes blinked a few times, then she slipped into her shoes and grabbed a bottle off her nightstand.
“Did you lotion up?” she asked.
“No,” he bit out, a little too harsh, his pulsing cock yelling at him to stop being a fucking Boy Scout and take her already. Oh, but he’d take her, later. Anticipation gripped him, and he tamped it down. Right now they had someplace they needed to be, and the last thing he should be sporting was the hard-on of all hard-ons.
She flipped the cap of a bottle of sunscreen and blew a wispy strand of hair from her face. “Here, let me.”
He captured her wrist and held her hand away from his body. Her eyes—honey flecks in the sea of brown now a shade darker—shot to his. “No, Holly. If you touch me, we’ll never get out of here.” A tremble moved through her as he took the lotion and poured a generous amount on his chest. He rubbed it in as her eyes visually caressed him.
“You know you’re going to pay for this.”
“For what?” she asked innocently.
“For looking at me like that when I don’t have time to do anything about it.” He closed the lid on the bottle and tossed it onto the bed. “But when I do have time, it’s payback.”
She grabbed a beach bag, tossed her key and a few other things into it, and shrugged as she walked to her door, a little extra shake to her hips. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Josh shook his head and followed her out. Innocent she was not. They made their way to the dock, climbed on board the catamaran moored there, and settled themselves on the starboard side. Holly shifted restlessly beside him and shaded her eyes from the sun as she scanned the sea.
“I’m suddenly not so sure about this,” she said as the boat rocked.
“Do you get seasick?”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
The instructors climbed on board, and everyone took their seats around them as the boat started up and began to make its way to toward the coral reef.
Josh leaned into her. “Then what are you worried about?”
“Sharks.”
He grinned. “I think we’ll be okay.”
“Says the guy who doesn’t have an open cut on his heel.”
Josh laughed. “I’ll protect you.”
She gave him a dubious look, and he laughed harder. “From a shark?”
“Just stay close to me, okay. I’ve done this before, and I won’t let anything hurt you.”
She eyed him. “What, beat off a shark, or snorkeling?”
Both.
“Snorkeling, but I’ll take on a shark for you.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
“Good,” he said and settled himself against the side of the catamaran, oddly pleased at how much trust she put in him. He angled his head and looked her over as she stared into the water. For a spoiled little rich girl, she had a lot of courage and wasn’t afraid to try new things, even if it came with risk and would get her hair wet. His ex wouldn’t go near the water for fear it would smudge the makeup she’d spent hours applying, or ruining the hair she’d gelled, sprayed, and straightened.
As he looked at Holly, took in her clean, girl-next-door fresh face, he tried to put the pieces together. The senior analyst position meant independence. From who? An overbearing father? There was a threat against her life, right? Surely to fuck, her father hadn’t sent him here to convince her to go back home just because he wanted to keep her under his thumb. As he chewed on that, an uneasy feeling churned in his gut.
With a huge smile on her face, Holly turned his way, her skin glistening in the warm sun. “Did you see that?” she said, the enthusiasm in her voice stroking his cock.
“No.”
“Look.” She pointed to something in the distance as excitement raced through the others on the boat. “A big turtle.”
He continued to stare at Holly, unable to wipe the stupid grin off his face. She hit him in the arm. “Right there, Josh, look.”
He’d seen turtles before, many times, but he turned, anyway, because she wanted him to. “Maybe we’ll see some when we snorkel.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Yeah, we can probably get pretty close, too.”
“Oh my God, really?”
Her innocence and fervor made him laugh. He absolutely loved this relaxed side of her. “Sure,” he said. The boat rocked and she fell against him. “Whoa.” He wrapped his arm around her. She blinked up at him, and he expected her to pull away—after all, this affair was secret—but she snuggled in closer, and damned if it didn’t feel right holding her like this.
Easy, Josh, she’s not yours.
They stayed like that a long time, conversation and laughter from the others falling over them as everyone teased each other about sharks and stingrays. As the sun shone down on them and water sprayed up over the sides of the boat, contentment cloaked him. Then Holly leaned forward, and her eyes came to rest on his knee.
“Josh,” she said, a waver in her voice. His entire body stiffened, unease kicking contentment to the curb. “What happened?” Dark eyes full of worry met his as her finger traced over old scars that reminded him of his mission, and how the cash from it was going to give him a second chance in life, and how he owed that to his fallen comrades who never got one.
“An accident.” He took her hand in his and looked at the once ugly purple scar that had morphed to a lighter shade of pink over the years. “Happened a long time ago.” She opened her mouth, but he looked away. Nope. No way was he going there with her, not only because he was pretending to be someone he wasn’t, but because the genuine alarm in her eyes twisted him up inside. Who’d have thought a pampered little rich girl would give two shits about anyone and anything other than herself. Then again, he hadn’t really given her the benefit of the doubt, had he? Thanks to lessons learned back in college, he’d taken this assignment with preconceived notions.
Before he had any more time to think about that, the catamaran came to a stop, and the instructors called them all to the back stairs where they were given their snorkeling gear and foot fins. One by one, they slipped on their gear and jumped into the water. Josh stood behind Holly, and once she was in, he slid into the ocean behind her.
They swam toward the reef together, and when they reached it, he pointed out a bright green fish. Holly reached for it and it swam off. Her eyes were wide behind her mask, and he grabbed her hand, swimming out a little farther. Off in the distance, he spotted a turtle and gave a tug. They swam close, and Holly went still as she watched it.
It swam away, and they followed it for a bit, until a school of yellow fish caught their attention. They stayed under and played for about a half hour, then they were all called back to the boat for lunch.
Once on board, a breathless Holly whipped her mask off, and Josh nearly fell when he caught her smile. Jesus, she should smile like that every day. Getting away from the office had been good for her. So had all the sex.
“That was amazing,” she said.
Josh laughed and put his mouth close to her ear, his thumb brushing her arm. “You’re kind of amazing yourself, Holly.”
Color moved into her face, and he loved how she blushed. “I wish I had my camera.”
“I got lots of pictures,” Colin said, holding up his waterproof camera as he followed them on board. “I’ll email them to you.”
“That would be great, Colin. Thank you.”
He nudged Holly with his elbow, and Josh stiffened. “It’s the least I can do, considering you picked this adventure for me. If you want to get together later, we can go over the ones you want me to send you.”
Josh glared at him, and the smile fell from Colin’s face. “Wait.” He waved his finger back and forth between the two of them. “Are you two…?”
“We’re friends,” Holly said.
Colin relaxed, but Josh didn’t. “Oh, okay. For a minute there I thought…”
“Thought what?” Josh asked, making a mental note to do a bit of research on the guy. Could he be trying to get close to Holly because he’d made the threat? Then again, Josh was beginning to wonder if the threat was even real.
“Nothing, never mind.” Colin rubbed his stomach. “I’m starving. You can really build up an appetite out there. Holly, text me if you want to go over pictures later.” Twisting, he made his way to the bow, where boxes of food were being distributed.
Josh turned back to find Holly staring at him, hands placed on her slim hips. “Why don’t you like Colin?”
His fingers fisted at his sides. Why the hell was it that another man’s name on her tongue pissed him off so much? “He rubs me the wrong way.”
“Are you jealous, Josh?” she teased.
He squared his shoulders. “What if I am?” he said, sounding far more serious than he would have liked.
She faltered backward, but he cupped her elbow. “I…we just…” She blinked and stumbled over her words.
Shit. She wanted a one-week affair, had made it perfectly clear that was all she was looking for. Acting like a possessive asshole was going to give her the wrong idea about what he wanted—which was one week of sex. If he didn’t cool it, he’d scare her off, and he needed to stay close for his mission.
“This week you’re mine, and I’m not into sharing. Simple as that.”
“Simple as that,” she repeated, but as her soft words swirled around him, seeped under his skin, he got the distinct impression that there was nothing simple about what they were doing.
Anita emerged from the water, pulling off her goggles and shaking out her hair. It splattered over Josh, and she laughed, touching his arm and squeezing his bicep muscle.
“Sorry, Josh.” She grabbed her towel and pressed it against him. “Let me dry you.”
She brushed the cotton over his chest and wiped him down. “I didn’t mean to get you all wet.”
“I was already wet,” he said, flicking his hair back.
She grinned at him. “Yeah, me, too.”
Yeah, she was being blatantly sexual, and he didn’t have a problem with that. He liked a woman who went after what she wanted, and any other time he’d have gone for a confident woman like her. But these days he was too busy, too focused on taking night courses for his MBA so he could start his own business. His fucking around and carefree days were behind him. Well, they used to be, until he saw another side of Holly, a warm, relaxed, sexy side that made him forget she was off-limits.
His stomach took that moment to grumble, and Anita laughed. “I see you’ve built up an appetite.”
“Yeah, starving,” he said, and turned to find Holly watching the exchange. He’d asked for exclusivity this week, and in no way did he want her to think he had a thing for Anita. He didn’t. How could he, when he could have a woman like Holly?
They made their way to the front of the boat and collected their meal of chicken wraps, juice, rolls, and chocolate-covered raisins. After they’d eaten, the catamaran started up and took them back to the dock, where they were told they’d have free time until tomorrow, but to use it wisely and get to know one another better, because tomorrow’s activities included Capture and Escape Rooms.
Josh had heard about those rooms, but he was only interested in capturing Holly, and preventing her from escaping by tying her to his bed. But Jesus, she was standing with the others and they were convincing her to join them in a volleyball game. He supposed it would be the best thing for her. Jeff would expect all the employees to be bonding, but dammit, he wanted her to himself.
As a group, they cut through the resort, walking along the water to the sandy shore. Everyone stopped when they heard music and a bridal party began walking toward the big white gazebo set up for the wedding. The men, dressed in khakis, white shirts, and sandals, stood waiting—all looking relaxed, except the groom, who paced restlessly as he awaited his bride. The music changed and the bridesmaids in their light summer dresses proceeded toward the gazebo, followed by the bride and her father.
Silence fell over the group, and beside him, Holly exhaled a breathless little sigh, a look of happiness and longing on her face as she folded her arms across her chest and watched the wedding. Interesting. Josh pushed his almost-dry hair from his face and studied her. For a girl who didn’t want to get married, her gaze was pretty damn riveted on the ceremony. Why, again, was it she’d sworn off marriage? He wasn’t sure, but one thing he did know was that there was a lot more to her than he’d read in her file, and dammed if he didn’t want to scratch below the surface and get to know everything about her.
Make her his.