by Anna Lowe
Four sizzling weeks. Four fun weeks. Possibly the best weeks of her life. He’d swept her right off her feet without even trying, and she’d fallen for him from day one.
Right now, though, her hand squeezed into a fist. The tiny bump where his nose had once been broken — the only imperfection on that striking face — made a handy target.
“Ryan,” she managed.
“Mia,” he replied, equally tight-lipped.
The camera swung between them, and she might just have swatted it away if Mother Nature hadn’t intervened.
“Dolphins!” someone cried, and everyone jumped up to look the other way.
Everyone but Mia, who kept up her death stare, and Ryan, who maintained his unwavering gaze.
“Have you come all the way to Bonaire to embarrass me some more?” she muttered above the noise of the outboard.
Ryan jerked his head from side to side. “I’ve come all the way to Bonaire to apologize.”
She barked a humorless laugh and leaned over him. Good thing she was standing and he was sitting; it was easier to pretend she was imposing that way.
“Right. Apologize. Do it,” she dared him.
“I’m sorry, Mia.”
He said the words solemnly, but she just scoffed.
“Great. A quiet apology, so nobody notices. Try it loud sometime, Ryan, so everyone can hear. Lay yourself bare. Embarrass yourself as badly as you can, and you still won’t know what it was like for me. How humiliating.”
She’d never considered heaving a guest overboard, but she sure as hell was tempted now. And with all the adrenaline rushing through her system, she probably could lift his hundred and eighty pounds of muscle over the rail.
“I never meant to hurt you,” he murmured, and damn it if his voice didn’t stir something inside.
“My humiliation was public, Ryan.” She tried to control the shake in her voice, because he didn’t deserve to affect her like that. “Out there for everyone to see. To laugh at.” Her gut lurched just at the memory.
His eyes flashed and the lines on his brow drew tight. “Believe me, they stopped laughing real quick.”
“Oh, yes? When was that? I didn’t hear you protesting at the time.”
“Mia, I—”
She put a hand up. “I’m not listening to this. I’m finished with your games.” She smacked her hands together right in front of his face. “Finished.”
“I don’t play games.”
“Sure. Except with my heart.”
His lips tightened, and his back went ramrod straight. Good. Maybe the man had feelings, after all. Maybe he could be made to suffer just a little bit, like her.
“Mia, I—”
She turned her back and started checking dive tanks while the others squealed at the cavorting dolphins.
“Look!” Brenda cried. “The dolphins are going right over to that ship!”
“What is that funny boat?” Marc asked.
Mia kept her eyes down, fighting tears. Who cared what that funny boat was?
“That’s Neptune’s Revenge,” Hans said, gesturing toward the rust-streaked ship. “It’s the flagship of one of those extreme environmental groups, The Knights of Neptune.”
“The kind that stop whalers?” Brenda asked.
“Whalers, oil rigs, you name it,” Hans said.
Mia took another step forward. Another step away from the last man she ever expected to see here. But damn it, her legs were slow to obey, like they were still trapped in his magic spell. Being around Ryan always seem to turn off the thinking part of her mind. Her body was hot all over, her nostrils flaring as if to capture his scent and possess that little bit of him one more time.
Maybe she could sic Neptune’s Revenge on Ryan. Maybe that would do the trick.
She moved in short, jerky steps that had nothing to do with the gentle motion of the boat until she finally reached Lucky at the bow.
“Everything good, Mia?” As usual, Lucky hadn’t missed a thing.
“Peachy.”
Situation normal, she decided. All fucked up.
***
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Off the Charts
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All Julie Steffens wants is a quiet couple of days on a Caribbean beach. Just her, a good book, and the balmy sea breeze. But the minute she meets Seth Cooper, sparks start to fly, and all bets are off.
Other books by Anna Lowe
Serendipity Adventure Romance
Off the Charts
Uncharted
Entangled
Windswept
Adrift
Travel Romance
Island Fantasies
Veiled Fantasies
The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch
Desert Hunt (the Prequel)
Desert Moon (Book 1)
Desert Wolf: Complete Collection (Four short stories)
Desert Blood (Book 2)
Desert Fate (Book 3)
Desert Heart (Book 4)
Desert Yule (a short story)
Desert Rose (Book 5)
Desert Roots (Book 6)
Blue Moon Saloon
Damnation (Book 1)
Temptation (Book 2)
Redemption (Book 3)
Salvation (Book 4)
Perfection (a short story prequel to the series)
Charmed in Vegas / Shifters in Vegas
Paranormal romance with a zany twist
Gambling on Her Dragon
Gambling on Her Bear
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