by Nina Strych
He brushed the sand from her feet, then touched the top gently. “Does it hurt?”
“Nope, not yet anyway.”
The cream was warm from her purse, but still felt cool against her skin. His hands were strong, but his touch was gentle and the sensation of a man touching her feet wasn’t one she’d experienced before. No one touched her feet except on the rare occasions she splurged on a pedicure out of desperation. She was glad she’d gotten one now.
He touched a pale pink nail and said, “Cute.” Then he looked up at her with those fire-touched brown eyes and added, “I like pink.”
The way he said it was sexy, almost pornographic, as if he was looking at her naked and touching the pinkest parts of her. Her knees slammed together out of instinct and he grinned mischievously. He knew what he was doing and he was enjoying it.
Well, she was too, so there’s that.
He didn’t stop with her feet, smoothing the cream up her calves and squeezing the muscles there, leaving her relaxed, but also entirely awake and alive at the same time. If this was the kind of prescription called for by modern medicine, then she needed lots and lots of it.
When he was done, he said, “I’ll keep an eye out for more burning. You never know.”
Amy got a quick flash of his hands on her hips, touching her lower back where the skin was so sensitive, and running up her thighs. She coughed at the vividness and pulled her sun hat out of her bag, squashing it onto her head with more force than required.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Seven
Mike had never been to any spot on earth like this. This was a place for rich people, not farmers who worried about tree diseases or water rights. The sand was like sugar and the woman next to him a luscious beauty. When he’d finally touched her, her skin felt like silk and suddenly, this didn’t feel like a job anymore. The whole thing was more like some sort of daydream he might wake up from.
But that was how he felt. She, on the other hand, was clearly still nervous. They’d chatted at that first get together and again just now during the meal, but they were still essentially strangers and she definitely hadn’t shifted to a more social mindset yet. Amy was still looking at this as two people in an awkward business relationship. They needed to do something that would wash the distance away, to get them comfortable…or rather, to get her comfortable with him.
He was really looking forward to what might happen after she made that shift in view. He glanced over and saw the breeze teasing at those tempting curls over her shoulder, a hint of that long neck peeking out with each waft of the warm, island air. Yes, Mike wanted her to shift paradigms very much.
She must have some sort of plan for this trip. Well, plans other than me, that is, he thought. This was a paradise, the book in his room outlining a bounty of nature’s wonders just waiting to be seen.
Maybe that was the key. Perhaps they just needed to do something other than focus on the reason she’d brought him here. Get her interested in things that were outside of the situation, sights and experiences that were beyond just the two of them together.
“Do you have any ideas about what you might want to do while you’re here?” he asked, trying to keep any eagerness out of his voice.
Amy jerked a little, then made a face as if caught doing something wrong. “Actually, I haven’t even thought about it. I was just looking for someplace where no one would know me. Oh, that came out wrong…”
Hurt, but not wanting to show it, Mike shook his head and kept his eyes on the blue water, “No biggie. I get it.”
“Well, you know, someplace I’ve never been, where I can get away and no one from my life would be here to remind me of stuff. That’s what I meant.”
Mike nodded. “Gotcha. So, no plans? Is there anything you’d particularly like to do?”
The way her eyes shifted to his chest and then back again, so quickly that he knew she didn’t do it on purpose, almost made him give a fist pump and shout, “Yes!” He refrained though, and waited for her to think.
She looked down the beach at some small cottages away from the main beach area and said, “You know, I didn’t even look at the book in my room. I should. There’s probably so much to do and I’ve never been to the tropics before.”
“Really?” Mike said. “I haven’t either. I’ve always wanted to.”
Amy grinned at him and nodded, “Me too. Never any time.”
This was good. If they got a chance to know each other, then what she needed—and what he so wanted to give her—had a much better chance at happening. Charlie had seen another client of Lisa’s for the same reason Amy had hired him. Though there was no vacation involved, Charlie said it wasn’t until they got to know each other a little better that he’d been able to “move her needle.”
“Should we check it out?” he asked.
Amy looked again at the cottages, then back at him, clearly trying to decide. She shrugged a little and said, “Sure, let’s go.”
She hopped up from the sand without waiting for him to help her, then brushed off her butt and legs, giving him a view he wouldn’t soon forget. He wanted to press against her backside, wrap his arms around her and kiss her shoulders, her neck—
“Are you okay?” she asked, looking up at him from under the brim of her hat, concern clearly written in her expression. “Do you need water?”
Mike laughed, recognizing almost this exact conversation. He wondered if she’d been thinking about him the way he’d just been thinking of her. He hoped so.
“No, I’m good. And I think we already had this conversation. Maybe we both need water.”
Amy looked at him like she just realized what he meant. She gave him a sidelong glance, her lips turning up in a smile that made his knees almost weak. She did know, for sure.
Instead of heading back toward the hotel, Amy strolled down the beach. “Are you not staying here?” he asked, wondering if she’d gone so far as to actually make sure they weren’t in the same hotel.
She looked away and waved her sandals in the direction of the little cottages by the water. “I’m in one of those.”
“Nice,” he said, really meaning it. To wake up with the view he had from his room would be amazing, but she was really going to have a treat. “You should sleep with the windows open so you don’t miss a thing.”
She eyed him from the side. “I thought you might think I was cheaping out on you. I was lucky to get anything here.”
He laughed. Cheaping out? Mike wasn’t dumb, but he could see she was serious. Amy was genuinely concerned that he would feel like he got a lesser deal. Mike wanted to take her back to his room and show her exactly how nice it was, and mess up the sheets a little in the process.
He had no idea what was going on, but for some reason, every time she opened her mouth or looked his way, he wanted to kiss her.
Instead of doing any of that, he said, “You should probably see my room before you judge. It’s really nice.”
She nodded and he could tell she was relieved to hear him say that. This was important to her. She was genuinely nice on top of everything else. Did she not realize how wonderful she was? He guessed by the way she shrugged away from compliments, covered her mouth when she laughed, or walked with her arms tucked tightly to her sides that she didn’t know at all.
Whoever had made her feel that way should be whipped. And if it was somehow something she had manufactured in herself, then it should be kissed away…and often.
She let him in and then went suddenly shy again once they were behind closed doors. Gripping her beach bag tightly in front of her waist, she nodded toward the mini-fridge and said, “Help yourself.”
He brought out two bottles of ice-cold water and handed one to her, gently disengaging the beach bag from her tight grasp as he did. He smiled at her, wishing she didn’t have so much nervousness around him.
“I’m not going to bite you, you know,” he said, trying for a lighter tone.
She let out an ex
plosive sigh and rolled her eyes heavenward, dropping onto the couch in front of windows that looked out over that marvelous expanse of blue. “I’ve got to relax. You just…well, you’re so…” She trailed off there, waving up and down his body as if that explained everything.
“Can I sit?” he asked, hoping she’d invite him to the couch and not the chair next to it. He wanted to feel that tingle he got when he was within a foot of her.
She nodded, pointing with her eyes to the cushions next to her. Trying not to smile too much—because at this point, she was wound as tightly as a spring—he sat, then leaned back and tucked a couch pillow against his stomach. It may have looked weird, but if she so much as breathed on him, he was sure he’d rise like a totem and say hello in exactly the wrong way.
“Why don’t we just forget about all the other stuff for right now,” he offered, trying to get her to meet his gaze and stop looking everywhere except at him.
She finally looked at him, her brows drawing together. He wanted to smooth the stress away. Someday. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean, you’re nervous. I’m nervous. This is weird. Let’s just face that and put it aside. We’re in paradise and there are absolutely no rules. This is your vacation and there’s no one to say you have to do anything at all except enjoy the island while you’re here.”
She nodded, though hesitantly, as if the very thought hadn’t occurred to her. “Go on,” she said, grabbing the other throw pillow and squeezing it against her stomach in a way that almost matched him.
“All I mean is this. Whatever happens during this week is your call, so why not do all the things you want to do. There’s so much to see here, so much to do. Wait, let me show you.”
He brought the book propped up untouched on her table, then opened it to show her the snorkeling, diving trips, boat trips, picnics on the beach, nature preserves, and all the rest. He’d only been able to flip through it briefly in his room, but the way Amy shut down when they were away from other people brought it back to mind. This might be a way to simply be together in a way she felt comfortable with being together. After all, if she was going to stress out the second they were in a room together then nothing much was going to happen between them.
And maybe, just maybe, she would see him as something other than a weekly rental too. Where that idea came from was a mystery, but it popped up in Mike’s head like a neon sign. He glanced at her as she flipped through the brightly colored pages, the tip of her tongue soothing her sun-chapped lips. Yes, he definitely couldn’t wait to kiss those lips.
Her index finger jabbed onto a picture of bright blue sky and blue green water. “Ooo, they have private boat rentals! Sunset on the water even. Let’s do that!” She seemed to consider her words, then amended them with, “Would you like to do that?”
Mike reached over and grabbed the hotel phone off the side table and set it on the couch between them. “Why not!”
Eight
The water was like something other than the clear stuff she’d spent her life taking for granted. It was something new and different out here. Mysterious, inviting…possibly even sexy if such a term could be used. Not by itself, of course, but it seemed to whisper that it would like for her to slip into its depths with someone of her choosing and do what she liked.
Or maybe that was the growl of the boat engine vibrating under her seat. Either way.
“We can stop if you want to swim,” the boat driver said as he slowed down near a reef he said was interesting.
They’d already stopped at two other spots and he’d been right about how clear the water was. Each spot was a natural wonder and Amy had been amazed at all the interesting life just below the water’s surface. A rock formation at one spot made the wind whistle and moan and they’d listened in silence with the engine off and the boat rocking under them.
While Amy had her swimsuit on underneath her clothes, there was no way she was going to take those bits of visual armor off just yet. They were too alone. There would be nothing else to see except her and she wasn’t ready for that yet.
“I’m okay, but I’d like to look around,” she said, then turned to Mike. He was looking into the water over the side, his dark hair ruffling in the wind and his strong hands braced on the side of the boat. They were big and didn’t look like the pampered hands of someone who had never worked with them. His hands were exactly the kind of hands Amy would want to touch her.
She had to look away as a jolt of something good shot up her spine and then landed deep in her belly. Desire. No question about it. She cleared her throat and determined she would not look at his hands again.
“Mike, would you like to swim? I certainly don’t mind at all. I’d like to look in the water a bit.”
He eyed her uncertainly, probably trying to figure out if she was being nice or if she really meant it. The boat slowed to a crawl as they neared the reef. Supposedly, there was a wreck in this cove that they could see from the surface when the conditions were right. Not to mention that the sea turtles were supposedly plentiful.
She smiled and said, “I really would like to just sit in the boat with the engine off and enjoy the view.”
That seemed to settle it and Mike whipped off his shirt, tossing it to the bench seat while kicking off his boat shoes. The sight was pretty much enough to knock over any woman who liked a fine looking man. Amy coughed and turned to the boat driver rather than gawp with her mouth hanging open.
“He’s going to swim.”
The driver nodded, glanced back and said, “Let me get into a good spot. The water is calm today, so we might see the wreck from the boat.”
Amy nodded as if that actually mattered, but the truth was, that wreck could disgorge an entire crew of tango-dancing ghosts and she probably wouldn’t notice after getting a look at Mike’s bare chest. She couldn’t just face away from him the entire time. He would notice and absolutely know why she was doing it.
As casually as she could, she faced him again, meaning to make some innocuous comment about the wreck or the water or the sky or whatever else. Instead, she stared. Wearing only his board shorts, he looked like an advertisement for something very manly. He was bigger without clothes than with them, which seemed odd.
His chest was broad and beautifully defined, his torso a sculpture of muscle and bone instead of stone. His arms were defined in ways she didn’t think was at all possible without photoshop and when he turned to look at the world around him, she saw a perfect ass covered in brightly colored cloth.
Holy macaroni, she thought. I’m in serious trouble with that. Or I’m the luckiest woman on the island.
The boat engine changed pitch as it growled to a halt. Once the engine cut off, the boat bobbed in the water. The sea felt strong once the motor wasn’t propelling them along, even though the water looked calm. It bobbed enough that Amy had to keep a hand on something to steady herself. Mike rubbed his hands together in excitement and said, “My first swim in the Caribbean! Are you sure you don’t want to come in with me? It looks super calm.”
She shook her head and tried not to stare at the way his chest muscles moved when he moved his arms. It was almost hypnotic. And what was up with those shoulder muscles? Why should that be alluring?
The driver came to the back where they were and opened a little panel, then lowered a wooden platform that skimmed the water. He flipped over the ladder on it and said, “Please stay close to the boat, if you wouldn’t mind, since there’s only me today.”
Based on the rental, it was clear this was meant to be sight-seeing only, but the one with a larger crew of two that allowed swimming was already rented. The driver—or should she call him captain or maybe a guide?—was making concessions for the two of them and Amy appreciated it. Particularly now that she’d seen so much of Mike’s skin.
“No problem. I’ll stay close,” Mike said. Then to her, “You’re sure?”
“I’m fine!”
The boat driver moved away, then pointed
over the other side of the boat and called, “You can see it! Here’s the wreck. Come to this side.”
Amy nodded toward the water and said, “Have fun!”
Rather than watch the spectacle of what Mike lowering himself into the water might do for his muscles, Amy turned away and looked over the side where the driver was. And she could see it. The way the water shifted on top made it hard to get a clear view, but it was there all the same.
She wondered what that had been like, to feel your ship breaking up and sinking like that. “I hope no one was hurt,” she murmured.
The boat driver laughed a little and smiled at her. “You are very nice to think of those sailors from so long ago.” He shrugged and then looked back into the water. “Life wasn’t always so kind. No GPS, you know. Very risky, but also high rewards. Some people are born to love the sea and will always go into it, even with risk.”
He gave another philosophical shrug and smiled at her. “That is what we humans are like. We take risks all the time for things. It’s like we are born to try to do something new.”
Mike swam into view then kicked his legs as he looked down into the water below. He was a sight to see and Amy forgot about the wreck for a second as he ducked under, then surfaced again and flipped his hair out of his face.
The boat driver called, “Can you see it?”
Mike splashed in the water a little as he tried to flatten himself face down in the water, his broad back with its subtle tan facing the sun. He lifted back up with a grin on his face, “I can! Just barely though.”
The boat driver lifted the seat and pulled out a mask. “Here! Take this!” Mike swam in their direction and the driver tossed it when he was within reach.
With strong strokes, Mike dove beneath the surface. Amy held her breath when he stayed down for a good, long time. At last, he streaked up to the surface and called out, “Can you dive? We should dive.”
She gave him a smile and a nod, but she had no actual intention of doing anything like that. No way. She loved the water and being in it, but the whole notion of going too far down to come up for a breath was not one she felt good about.
