Sand, Sun...Seduction!

by Stephanie Bond

  That photograph in Jack’s wallet, his acknowledgment that he’d wanted her from the moment he’d met her and his silence about why he’d come to the island had all combined to fill her with confusion.

  The evidence was circumstantial. But oh, it was damning.

  Maybe if she’d been a little stronger, she would have given him the benefit of the doubt. Or at least questioned him further and waited for his answers. In recent days, however, as she’d begun to open up her heart, to think she might actually be capable of giving it to someone again, she’d almost been waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under her feet. As if Jack hurting her was inevitable.

  And she was hurt. Badly. Not just because of the idea that he’d manipulated her, but the thought that she’d lost what she’d only started to realize she had.

  Love. She had been falling more deeply in love with Jack by the minute. It had probably started that first night at the bar when he’d refused to down that rum punch despite her snarky provocation. It had grown ever since. From his embarrassed admission about his seasickness to the way he’d danced with her in the moonlight, had carried her on the beach, had danced with her at Carnival…each moment spent with him had built on the foundation that she suspected had been there for a long time. Her walls had crumbled and he’d stormed past them, right into her heart.

  “Ahoy, there!”

  Startled by a voice out here in the middle of beautiful nothingness, Liz swiveled her head. She’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t even noticed the Duke’s massive yacht cruising closer and closer.

  “I’ve got someone here who wants to talk to you!”

  Confused, Liz merely watched and waited. A figure left the deck, descending a side ladder onto a platform where two Jet Skis were lashed down. It took her a few seconds to process that that someone was Jack.

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered.

  He’d come after her? Followed her? Again?

  For some reason, perhaps because she had been sitting here thinking about how much she loved the man, the realization that he was actively pursuing her again didn’t upset her. Not at all. In fact, she found it so heart-breakingly sweet, she melted a little right on the spot.

  Even from twenty yards away, she could see the paleness of Jack’s face. But he didn’t slow down, instead, he just stripped off his shirt, kicked off his shoes and dove into the sea.

  Liz immediately moved to raise the sails, worried about the distance. She needn’t have, though. His powerful arms cut through the water smoothly, his strong legs scissoring. Stroke after stroke he eliminated the distance between them, until he was within a few feet of her small sailboat.

  There he stopped, treading water and looking up at her.

  “Are you crazy?”

  He shook his head.

  “What on earth possessed you to do that?”

  “What, swim over here? I’m a good swimmer. Much better in the water than on it.”

  “I meant, why did you hitch a ride on The Regal Duchess? After the last time, I didn’t think you’d ever leave land again, unless it was in the first class cabin of a jet liner.”

  “I needed to talk to you,” he said nonchalantly, as if the occurrence was an everyday one for him, rather than the ordeal she suspected it had been.

  “So talk.”

  “It’s a little hard looking up at you like this.”

  “You asking if you can come aboard?”

  “Nope.” He reached for her, wrapping a hand around her ankle. “You come down here.”

  She could have resisted, he didn’t grip tightly and his tug wasn’t too hard. But she let herself go, let Jack drag her into the gentle water. They faced one another, each holding on to the side of the boat.

  “That’s better.”

  “You’re crazy. You do know you’re going to have to get onboard to get back to shore. Unless I tie you to the back and keel-haul you.” She pursed her lips. “Which, to be honest, sounds pretty tempting right now.”

  He lifted a hand and brushed a long strand of wet hair back from her face. “Why, Liz? What happened? What went wrong?”

  She didn’t explain right away. She couldn’t. What was happening was between her and Jack. It had everything to do with whether she could trust him, let herself love him. Bringing her sleazy ex-husband into the conversation sent the wrong message.

  Yet she had to know the truth.

  “I need to ask you something. A few somethings, actually.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “You said you’ve wanted me since the night we met.”

  He simply nodded.

  “Was I just oblivious? I mean, did you send signals I never saw?”

  “No. You were off-limits and I knew it.”

  He’d gone exactly where she needed him to, and she would not have to mention her ex’s name at all.

  “So you let it go. You would never have acted on it.”

  His eyes twinkled. “I’m not a saint, Liz. I can’t guarantee I never would have flirted with you or taken advantage of some random mistletoe if I’d ever found you beneath it.” The amusement faded. “Beyond that, no. I was content to wait.”

  “Wait for what?”

  “This might be painful to hear,” he warned.

  “I can take it. There’s not much I don’t know.”

  “Okay, then. I was willing to wait until you finally realized you were married to a manipulative, adulterous bastard and shook him off like the leech he was.”

  She swallowed hard. “You knew that would happen?”

  “I’m so sorry, Liz. Everybody knew. His affairs were so well-known it was only a matter of time.”

  “Affairs?” she asked, though she had already suspected. “Plural?”

  The color fell out of his face. “Jesus, Liz, you said you knew.”

  “Never mind.” She waved an unconcerned hand, her reaction probably surprising herself more than him. Because, while disappointing and more than a little revolting, that news no longer had the power to hurt her.

  Jack grabbed her shoulder, squeezing, forcing her to meet his eyes to gauge the sincerity there. “I am sorry. I would never have hurt you like that if I’d realized you didn’t know.”

  He was telling the truth. About everything. She knew it by the hitch in his voice, the sadness in his eyes, the twist of his mouth. He hurt for her, hated being the one to bring the painful news. Because he cared about her.

  She knew it. Had no doubt about it anymore. He cared.

  Maybe he even loved her.

  “You really waited, didn’t you? You sat back, not doing a thing to interfere…”

  “Like what?” he asked, appearing genuinely confused.

  “It doesn’t matter.” And it didn’t. She realized now that Jack had nothing to do with her marriage ending. That her ex’s infidelities could be blamed on nobody but the douche bag himself.

  Liz began to laugh a little, liking Jack’s influence on her. But the laughter didn’t last, because the other part of Tim’s accusation came to mind.

  “Is there something about a lawsuit that I should be aware of?” she asked, not wanting to play around anymore but to get to the bottom of things. An hour or so ago, when she had doubted Jack’s feelings for her, the idea had stung. But now, seeing the light of warmth shining in this man’s amazing eyes, not much had the capacity to bother her.

  Jack’s jaw fell open. “How did you know that?”

  “I had a phone message from a very unpleasant little birdy and he made some ugly insinuations.”

  “That bastard. I’ll—”

  She waved a hand. “He’s not worth it. But I want to hear the truth.”

  “About why I came here?”

  “Yes. Why you came. You know, beyond the stuff about how much you wanted me, blah blah. Get to the other part.”

  His lips twitched in amusement. “Blah blah? My feelings for you are summed up with the words blah blah?”

  Feelings. Love? She smiled a little, but pre
ssed on. “What’s the lawsuit about?”

  Jack immediately explained, and Liz fell silent, listening intently. Somehow, she could muster no surprise that the erotica writer was the vengeful type, nor that she, too, had been betrayed.

  “I’d say it served her right, if I gave a damn, which I don’t,” she said when he’d finished speaking.

  “Liz, I might have had the vague idea that you could help with this, but believe me, opening up all this garbage is the last thing I want to do to you. We’ll deal with Ms. Eros and her lawyers. I know a few good ones myself.” He moved a little closer, his handsome face blocking out the sun hanging low in the sky behind him, until his dark hair became a halo of fading daylight. “I’m sorry. So sorry that I didn’t tell you exactly why I came here. The truth is, after one day in your company, I knew I would never do anything to cause you that kind of pain again.”

  His words rang with sincerity and his expression was so loving she melted a little more, right there in the cool waters of the open sea. The amazing man treading water in front of her, having set sail knowing it would make him utterly miserable, felt the same way about her as she did about him. She knew it, deep down in her soul, the way her mother must have known her father would be the love of her life until the day they died together.

  It only remained to say the words. And to hear them.

  “I love you, Jack,” she said simply, no longer having any walls to hide behind or any reason to seek them out.

  “I love you, too, Liz.”

  They didn’t melt into each other’s arms, didn’t sink into deep, hungry kisses. Instead, they simply savored the moment, there by the boat, staring into each other’s eyes. The sound of the water lapping gently against their bodies was only slightly louder than the echo of the words they’d both just said.

  I love you.

  Finally moving closer, until their legs brushed and entwined beneath the surface, she whispered, “Thanks for coming out here for me. And for coming so far to find me again.”

  He ran the pad of his thumb along her lower lip. “I’ll always come for you, Liz.”

  His mouth finally lowered to hers in a long, tender kiss. For the longest time, they rocked on the water, touching, kissing, loving.

  Not letting go, not ever wanting to let go.

  Until finally the sun began to drop and she knew it was time to head in.

  “I hate to do this to you, but it’s a hell of a long swim,” she murmured as she pulled herself back up on deck. She extended a hand to help him, though he didn’t need it, easily hoisting himself up to sit beside her.

  “If it gets bad, I’ll just jump in the water.”

  “As long as you jump back out,” she said.

  “Deal.”

  Liz raised the sails, knowing Jack was watching every move she made. So far, he didn’t look too green. She took care in steering, trying to avoid any waves, which the Caribbean seldom had, anyway.

  “Doing okay?”

  He didn’t speak, he merely nodded. Which made her suspect he was going to need to take a swim soon. Thinking about it, she had to chuckle. “I don’t think your solution of jumping in and swimming every so often will help much on a Boston Harbor dinner cruise.”

  Instead of laughing with her, he asked, “Does that mean you think we might see Boston Harbor again?”

  She knew what he was saying. What he was offering. The incredible man was willing to do anything, give up his entire world, to be with her.

  Funny, though. She suddenly realized she was ready to do exactly the same thing for him.

  “I do miss snow at Christmastime,” she mused.

  He understood. “And I’ll bet the islands don’t have anything to compare with opening day at Fenway Park.”

  “Crisp fall days.”

  “Summer concerts in the park.”

  They were within sight of shore now. The masts of the boats docked at the marina shone brightly against the tropical greens and blues of the beautiful island.

  With an appreciative sigh, he admitted, “But this is good, too.”

  “No doubt,” she said with a laugh.

  “Okay, then. It’s settled.”

  “What’s settled?”

  “We’ll be bi-continental. The house is for sale, you know.”

  Her jaw dropped. “The house? That house? The one you’re renting?”

  “Sure. I might not be a gazillionaire, but I can afford it. We’ll come as often as possible, at least until the kids are old enough to be in school. Then we’ll have to work something out for summers and holidays.”

  She didn’t think it was possible for her jaw to drop any farther, yet it did.

  “Oh, come on, you don’t seriously think I’m going to risk letting you get away again, do you?”

  Tears rose to her eyes at the look of pure, unrestrained love on his face. Though the boat swayed beneath him, he dropped to one knee and took her hand. “Will you marry me, Liz?”

  She couldn’t answer, couldn’t make her voice work. All she could do was blink away her tears and nod.

  “I’d stand up again to seal it with a kiss,” he said. “But considering the way my head is spinning, I think you’d better come down here.”

  She sank down to face him, her sweet, funny, sexy man. “I’m not laughing at you, but I have to say, I’m glad you have that one single weakness. It makes you that much more adorable.”

  He shook his head slowly. “Oh, no, darlin’, you’re wrong about that. I’ve got two.”

  Moving closer, he pressed his lips to her forehead, her cheekbones, then finally her mouth, each tender caress telling her what his second weakness was.

  Her.

  “I love you, Jack,” she said, needing to say it again, knowing she would say it thousands and thousands of times over the next several decades.

  He sat down, pulling Liz with him so she could settle onto his lap. Wrapping his arms around her waist, Jack kissed her temple and held her loosely so their bodies gently rocked together on the waves.

  They stayed that way for a moment, bathed in each other’s nearness, as well as in the warmth of the last golden rays of tropical sun.

  And with his arms tight around her and his love filling all the empty places in her heart, Liz smiled as they sailed into the sunset.

  * * * * *

  FEVERED

  Lori Wilde

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  CHAPTER ONE

  MACY GATWICK fine-tuned the focus on her high-powered field binoculars and scanned the tropical forest, ostensibly searching for the rare, red-throated Costa Rican swallow like the rest of her bird-watching group.

  “You gettin’ anything?” asked Amelia Pettigrew, the spry older woman beside her.

  Amelia was dressed in camouflage cargo shorts, hiking boots and water-resistant knee socks. Her short, gray curls were tucked up inside a New York Yankees baseball cap. Macy had met Amelia and her traveling companion, Harry Longley, in the San José airport the previous day when they’d all ended up on the bus to El Marro Lindo.

  “Nope, not getting anything at all.” Macy grimaced, recognizing ironically how the conversation mirrored the sad state of her sex life.

  “Shh,” cautioned their guide, Stratford Kingman, from the Coronado Bed and Breakfast where the group was staying. Not counting Stratford and Macy, every single member of the tour was over the age of fifty.

  Stratford was around Macy’s age, but he stood a good four inches shorter than her five-foot-seven-inch height. He had a thin, sharp nose, intense brown eyes burning behind thick, black-framed glasses and from what she could tell, a near rabid fascination with tropical birds. “The red-throated Costa Rican swallow is quite shy.”

  Macy rolled her eyes. If she ho
ped to achieve her real objective she was going to have to shake off these bird enthusiasts ASAP.

  “However, they are highly passionate birds. Their courtship ritual is sudden and intense, but once they mate, they’re mated for life,” Stratford continued.

  “So if you’re a red-throated Costa Rican swallow the moral of that story is be careful who you mate with because you’ll be stuck with them for life?” someone in the group joked.

  “Sounds more like grand passion leads to great love to me.” Harry winked at Amelia, who coyly smiled and lowered her lashes.

  “This way,” Stratford whispered and tiptoed through the pond fronds. “And keep your eyes peeled. Often the thing you seek most is hiding right under your nose.”

  I’m going to find a runaway chemical engineer hiding under a palm frond? Who knew?

  One by one the group fell in line behind Stratford, leaving Harry, Amelia and Macy bringing up the rear.

  “Oh, darn.” Macy shoved a hand through her rapidly frizzing curls.

  “Do you have a problem, dear?” Amelia asked.

  “I forgot my camera,” she lied smoothly.

  “What’s that hanging out of your backpack?” Harry asked, cocking one bushy eyebrow up on his forehead.

  “Umm—” Macy stuffed her Canon Rebel deeper into the knapsack “—it’s broken. I forgot my good camera. I’m just gonna go—” she jerked a thumb behind her “—back to the B and B and get it.”

  “Shouldn’t you tell Stratford,” Amelia murmured, “in case you get lost?”

  “Will you tell him for me?” Macy asked. “I’ve got my compass.” She patted her jeans. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

  “Well…,” Amelia said, but Macy didn’t give her time to voice her objection.

  She turned and hurried back the way they’d come, but once she was out of sight of the group, she veered off the path and plunged into the vegetation, snatching the map from her back pocket as she went. She headed north toward the banana plantations, batting aside broad-leaved plants, her hiking boots sinking into the soft mossy earth, the binoculars around her neck bouncing against her chest.