by T. M. Cromer
It occurred to him he might be a little lonely. At thirty-five, he was tired of not only the rat race, but the sameness of his relationships. Quickly, he shoved the thought aside. Thinking along those lines would have him delving deeper and looking for something more than a casual affair. He reminded himself once again, he didn’t do forever.
Abruptly he stood, startling a wide-eyed blink from his beautiful dinner companion. “Time to call it a night. It’s been a long day.”
“Oh. Yes. Sure.”
She seemed confused, and he couldn’t blame her since he’d stopped her mid-tale.
He almost caved and asked if she wanted to stroll along the beach. Yet if he did that, would he be sending the wrong message? Would she start looking at him with stars in her eyes? That was the trouble with lust. In his experience, it led to women wanting more, and he was never prepared to provide it.
Shonda was left wondering what the hell had happened. Based on their conversation, the smoky looks, and their pre-dinner kiss, she assumed they were heading toward a brief affair. Now she stood in her suite puzzled and alone. Mason had left her with a quick buss on her cheek and a promise to check with her tomorrow so they could sync their schedules enough to make it look like they were a couple.
She thought maybe it had been a bad idea to drag him into this hare-brained idea and pretend he was her boyfriend. Obviously, he wasn’t interested in a sexual relationship with her. Tomorrow she would let him off the hook. At dinner, she’d noticed other women alone. Surely she would be safe enough without the pretense?
Thinking back over the day, she prepared for bed. After changing into her tank top and shorts, she stepped out on her balcony and curled up on the chaise. Movement across the way caught her eye. There he stood, as he had earlier today, staring out over the horizon. Her breath caught in her throat. The man was stunning, no doubt about it.
The fanciful part of her brain seemed to believe he was made for the night. He could very well have been a vampire had such mythical creatures existed. His mere presence electrified and drew her in. Not only her, if she were being honest. No, she’d registered the looks of longing on some of her fellow female passengers during the flight and at the airport, then again at the restaurant.
Mason had a wow factor. Though for the life of her, she couldn’t understand why he held such a fascination for her when other men, more handsome than he, never did anything to spark her interest. They’d never swayed her into responding so readily to a look or a smile—or a kiss for that matter!
Remembering Mason’s kiss made her overly warm. The cool evening breeze did nothing to lower the temperature of her overheated body. As she continued to study him, she witnessed the stark loneliness flash across his face right before he took another long swallow of his drink. Her heart clenched. Why would someone so charismatic and gorgeous be lonely? It had to be self-imposed. But again, why?
Shonda tried to remember every scrap of information she’d ever heard about the Sharp family. Other than their father leaving when they were young boys, no other known tragedy had struck them. Or at least none she could recall.
Mason straightened from where he’d been leaning on the rail, finished his drink, saluted some unknown entity in the sky, and spun about to head inside.
“Goodnight, Shonda.” His voice came clear and soft across the courtyard.
He’d known she was there ogling him the entire time! She should be embarrassed, but she wasn’t.
“Goodnight, Mason,” she said, but he’d already gone.
The night had lost its magic, and a chill chased down her spine. She called herself twenty kinds of fool. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be weaving all sorts of fantasies about the two of them. It was well past time to turn in for the night. She could only hope sleep would bring a respite from her constant thoughts of Mason Sharp. If slumber didn’t help, she could turn to her battery operated boyfriend. It could never replace the real thing, however it could help to scratch her pesky itch.
The morning dawned bright and beautiful. Sunlight and sea air streamed in past the billowing curtains. For a moment, Shonda enjoyed the smell of the ocean before she sat straight up in bed, heart hammering out of her chest. She was almost positive she’d locked the bedroom windows last night. The air had been set to seventy-three and the ceiling fan set to low. The windows shouldn’t have been open at all.
Without leaving the bed, she made a quick scan of the room. Everything seemed to be in place. She eased out from under the covers, careful to not produce any sound, and tip-toed to the bedroom door. Peeking her head around the frame, she scouted the area. Her heart went into overdrive upon seeing the slider standing open a few inches.
Someone had been in her room!
She raced for the front door, whipped it open, and charged out—straight into a hard wall.
Arms came around her to break her fall and help her to lean against the entry.
“Dear God, I think I broke my nose,” she moaned.
“Let me see,” a warm, concerned voice ordered.
Mason. His deep, sinful voice was the only one able to send an immediate flood to her lady parts.
He examined her nose as a few stray tears of pain leaked from her eyes. “I don’t think it’s broken. Want to tell me why you were running out of your room like all the hounds of hell were on your heels?”
“Oh!” He brought back to light the reason for her fleeing her digs in the first place. “Someone was in my room. I don’t know if they’re still in there.”
“Stay here. Let me check it out.”
“No! You’re not going in there by yourself. What if they have a weapon?”
He snorted his disbelief. “Chances are they’ve already escaped out the back with all the commotion you caused here in the front.”
She hated that he had a valid point.
“Well, then I guess it doesn’t matter if I go in with you, does it?” She heard the snarky quality of her own voice. She should be ashamed because he was only trying to help, but he acted as if she were helpless. Something which greatly annoyed Shonda.
“Are you always this difficult?” Mason asked, irritation heavy in his voice. “The longer we sit and argue, the more time the perp has to escape.”
She fumed in the hallway as he investigated her suite of rooms. Of all the high-handed attitudes! Right now she was finding it difficult to remember what she’d found so attractive about him in the first place.
“All clear.” He stopped in front of her and thoughtfully gazed down into her face. “Let’s call the front desk and get this reported. You might want to put on something a little less revealing, love.” He accompanied his words with a trace of her shoulder strap.
The hot look in his eye forced her to give in to the wisdom of his words. She’d never thought her sleepwear was particularly revealing prior to now, but Mason made her feel differently. Chill bumps rose across her skin in response to his casual caress. Damned if she hadn’t been bitten by the lust bug.
As they waited for the local law enforcement to conduct their investigation and listened to the never-ending apologies of the management, Shonda and Mason said little. Nothing seemed to be missing, which convinced the police she’d probably left the door unlocked herself. Anger boiled deep within her soul at how they treated her like a bimbo. She was a responsible adult who knew how to lock a damn door. Frustrated, she ordered them all out.
“If you have any further problems, Miss, please call.”
Shonda stared at the officer like he possessed two heads. “Why? So you can all treat me like a dumb blonde again? No thanks.”
The slammed door gave her a bit of satisfaction. Breaking items would have made her even happier. Although, the bill associated with giving into her temper would be astronomical.
Shonda whirled and headed to her bedroom. The sight of Mason with one broad shoulder resting against the wall, arms and legs crossed, brought her up short. The anger on his face matched hers.
“You th
ink I made all this up, too?” she demanded only inches from him.
“No. Not in the least. I couldn’t sleep last night. When I went out on my patio, I looked over to see if your lights were still on. Everything looked closed at the time.”
“Why didn’t you say anything to the police?” she demanded.
“It wouldn’t have done any good,” he said matter-of-factly. “They weren’t interested once they’d discovered nothing had been taken.”
She plopped down in one of the armchairs with a heavy sigh. If she took a few extra breaths to regulate her breathing after being so close to him, well, she’d let him believe it was all due to her anger over this incident.
“Want to tell me why someone would break into your rooms, not harm you or steal anything?”
Her head came up at his words. He’d effectively stopped any amorous thoughts cold. “How the hell should I know?”
He pushed off the wall to stand directly in front of her chair. The intensity in his eyes had her nerves standing on end. “Don’t lie to me.”
A deep gulp was necessary before she could croak her answer. “Never.”
More than a dozen heartbeats later, albeit fast ones on her part, he nodded. “Let’s go get some breakfast.”
Chapter Four
“Why don’t you tell me why you think someone would want to break into your room and not take anything?”
Mason caught her off guard. Good. He’d planned it that way. The blooming flush on her cheeks told him she wasn’t happy with his line of questioning. Too bad. He needed to know what he’d signed up for when he agreed to be her pretend boyfriend.
“I told you back in the room, I have no idea.”
A huge part of him wanted to believe her, but in his experience, women were less than honest on any given day. He took the time to study her. The wide-eyed innocent stare, the slightly parted lips, and the way her body leaned forward in earnest, all made him doubt she was lying. But if she wasn’t, then the situation had gone from bad to worse.
“Technically you said, ‘How the hell should I know?’ which speaks to me of avoidance. But okay, let’s say for a moment I believe you. You either have a stalker or someone was searching for something. For now I’m ruling out stalker this far from home unless you acquired one in the last twenty-four hours. The question of the hour becomes: did the person committing the B&E find what he or she was looking for?”
“Again, I have no idea. I don’t know what I could possibly have that anyone would want,” she said. Frustration coated her words, and she threw the bacon she’d been nibbling down on her plate.
He reached over and snagged the piece she discarded. “Think. There must be something. I believe a stalker would have taken a souvenir or maybe tried to harm you in some way.”
A shudder racked her body. He didn’t mean to frighten her worse than she already was, but they needed to get to the bottom of this. The police had brushed it off as her imagination. They both knew it wasn’t.
“Mason, I swear to you, I don’t know. Assuming someone followed me to St. Thomas, why? Why not attempt to break into my home or office? It doesn’t make any sense,” she reasoned.
He huffed a frustrated sigh. She was right. It didn’t make any sense. “So what? We put it down to some crazy and double our guard?”
“This isn’t your issue. You didn’t sign up for all this drama. I understand if you want to walk away.”
Her voice was so small and vulnerable, he knew he couldn’t. She was putting on such a brave face when she had to be terrified someone had been in her room while she slept.
“I’m not walking away, Shonda. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Her lips tightened, and she gave a slight nod. Worry was written on every line of her face. She probably didn’t realize how shaken she looked. Mason reached out and captured her hand, intertwining their fingers.
“We will. I promise,” he assured her. He signed the check and helped her to her feet. “Now let’s go do what we came here for and soak up some sun.”
His words brought a reluctant smile to her face.
From his towel, Mason could see Shonda down by the water’s edge. Her expression showed her lost in thought—most probably worrying about last night’s break in. Intuition told him anyone who stressed so much over a situation was innocent of all wrongdoing. Experience called him an idiot to be taken in. Regardless, nothing could be done about it right at this particular moment.
In addition, he’d noticed a few brave souls ignoring his glower and venturing closer to hit on Shonda. Time to reinforce his pretend claim and take her mind off her problems. Without a by-your-leave, he jogged to where a couple of young, twenty-something guys were chatting her up. Mason scooped her into his arms and charged headlong into the aqua water. He twisted his body to take the impact of the fall, but still, they both went under.
When she surfaced sputtering mad, he couldn’t help but laugh. Talk about a half-drowned kitten.
“God, you are such an asshole!” she snapped.
“Don’t be mad. Come here, I’ll let you sniff me,” he teased.
“Oh!”
Her rage was complete. And she was absolutely adorable in her anger. He found it impossible to suppress the grin fighting to take hold. She had such fire. His thoughts turned to the things he could do with all that passion, and he found himself becoming aroused again. God, she turned him on. If she stormed out of the water now, he wouldn’t be able to follow without severe embarrassment due to the tent that was forming in his board shorts.
“Come here,” he commanded softly.
Her mossy eyes flew wide. He could tell she recognized his desire as her gaze involuntary dipped to a spot below the water. He quirked a brow in challenge.
She waded closer and stopped two feet shy of him. “If this is a game and you dunk me again, I will kick your ass.”
He lunged forward and snagged her around the waist, pressing himself against her. “Does this feel like a game?”
“N-no.”
He trailed a hand along her abdomen and lifted a brow. At her nod, he dipped a hand into her suit to stroke her core. “Mmm, seems like the water isn’t the only thing that’s made you wet.”
Her cheeks flamed, but she didn’t pull away. She cast a look over his shoulder. Her voice was breathless as she said, “People are watching.”
“Let them. What will they see? A couple enjoying a bit of necking?”
He trailed kisses down the side of her throat, nipping the soft skin. He sunk down lower in the water and pulled her closer still. When she wrapped her long legs around him and pressed her mound to his erection, he groaned low in his throat.
“Is that all we’re doing?” she asked, breathless.
Mason ground against her, wishing the barrier of clothes was gone. “I want to fuck you so hard right now.”
He hadn’t meant to say it. His words surprised them both if her gasp was any indication. Her breasts pebbled against his chest in response. Apparently Shonda liked dirty talk. One hand tangled in her hair, and he gently tugged her head back so they were face to face.
“I don’t do long term. If you want this, know it’s only for the duration of our stay. You cool with that?”
She paused for what seemed like forever. “Yes,” she finally whispered.
He closed his eyes in relief. Had she said no, he didn’t know what he’d have done. The desire he held for this woman was more than he’d felt for all the women he’d been with in the last five years combined. That alone should have him tearing off in the opposite direction.
The touch of her hand as it wrapped around the base of him sent his eyes back in his head. She caressed him with long steady strokes. He returned the favor by finding her clit and teasing her with his thumb then inserting his index finger into her heat. Wordlessly they played with each other. Each bringing the other to the brink and backing off.
“If you’re clean, I’m on the pill,” she panted.
His
pulse sounded loud in his ears. “Are you saying what I think you are? Right here, right now?” He’d only planned to tease her, not take it all the way. But damned if he didn’t now feel as if he would die without coupling with her.
She nodded her answer.
He moved them a little deeper, turning his back to the shore. Eyes locked, he lowered her suit bottom, removing it completely and gripping it in the hand splayed along her ass. She reached over and shoved his suit below his hips, freeing his cock. Once again, she wrapped her legs around him, but this time she impaled herself with a long, low sigh.
“Oh, damn!” he said on a tail of a low groan. “You feel so good. So tight.”
She moaned, and laid back in the water. Her arms moved in time to the gentle waves lapping against them. Holding her hips in place, he plunged into her. Slowly. Steadily. Shifting only his hips below the surface of the water, he attempted to move in a way so as not to be too obvious as to what they were doing.
Her long blonde hair floating in all directions, the slack expression on her face, the heavy lids, the green eyes now cloudy with desire, all lent to her siren-like appearance—as if she were a mermaid taking human form to temp him to a watery death. He’d gladly give up the ghost to her. Sex didn’t get any better than this.
“Touch yourself,” he heard himself say.
She nearly drowned in her shocked response. Had he not been holding on to her and so deeply imbedded inside her, she would have sunk like a stone.
“What?”
He grinned. “I said, touch yourself. With one hand tweak your nipple. The other on your clit.”
“I…” She trailed off and gripped his shoulders as she sat up.
“Now, or I stop.”
“People will see.”
“I don’t care.”
She cast a furtive glance around and tentatively raised her hand to her breast.
