by Karen Booth
“Mr. Patterson? Are you sure everything is okay? Scott mentioned that you’ve been under a lot of stress.” Angelique looked at him quizzically, knocking her head to one side.
“Oh, yes. Sorry.” He shook his head in an effort to get it straight. He needed to get a grip. He and Allison had shared a kiss. It was no big deal. Scott would never know about it, and it would never happen again—end of story.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“My room key, I guess.”
“There are no keys on Rose Cove. You will enjoy more seclusion and privacy than you ever imagined. But I’m happy to have someone show you to your cottage.”
Zane picked up the map from the registration counter. “Not necessary. I think I’ve got it from here.”
“You can’t get too lost. Just stop when you reach the ocean.” Angelique winked and grinned, then waved goodbye.
Zane followed the path and the small wood signs to cottages eight and nine. As he walked under the canopy of trees, he had to remind himself that Allison was not fair game. He would be friendly and cordial. He might even spend a small bit of time with her while they were both there, but there would be no replay of that kiss. Scott was too important to him. He would not betray the bro code. Never.
Ahead, Zane could see the water and two cottages set several hundred yards away from each other, one a shade of sky blue and the other pure turquoise, each with painted white trim and a bright red roof. All around them, the powdery pink sand was a bright and summery accent, while the sun glinted off the calm crystalline sea. It could not have been a more stunning setting, and despite his worries over how he would handle the situation with Allison, Zane could feel himself unwinding, his spine loosening and his shoulders relaxing.
He opened the door to his cottage and stepped inside, his eyes immediately drawn to the stunning vista of ocean at the far end of the house. He set down the map and strolled through the open living room, which had a vaulted wood-beamed ceiling and entire wall of windows, all open and letting in the sea breezes. At center was a set of oversize French doors, which led out to Zane’s patio, covered in terra-cotta tile with an arbor above it for shade. Beyond that was his private plunge pool, surrounded by lush tropical plantings.
Not wanting to wait another minute for his vacation to start, Zane found the bedroom, which, as advertised, had an intricately carved wood bed with another beautiful view of the sea. His suitcase had been delivered by staff, and he wasted no time getting into his swim trunks, grabbing a towel from the beautifully appointed bathroom and making one more stop in the kitchen to grab a beer. He poured it into a shatterproof tumbler, and, sunglasses on, he strolled out onto the terrace and jumped into the pool.
The water was cool and exhilarating, the perfect counterpoint to the strong Bahamian sun. He slicked his hair back from his face and swam over to the edge of the pool, folding his arms up on the edge and drinking in the beautiful ocean view. As difficult as the last few weeks had been—hell, the last several years—Zane could feel that all fading away. Scott had been so right. Maybe he just needed some time to clear his head and stop thinking about Josh Lowell and Black Crescent.
Zane dropped his chin down onto the back of his hand and something caught his eye. More specifically, someone—a woman sauntering down to the water in front of the other cabin. Allison. It had to be her. She was turned away from him, but he’d have to be dead to not admire the view—her hair down the middle of her back, tawny skin set against a colorful sarong, lithe legs and bare feet. She stopped where the pink sand met the water and turned, ambling in his direction while gently swishing her feet in beautiful blue.
He wasn’t sure what to do. Call out to her? Submerge himself in icy water and try to hide for the next five days? This never, ever would have been a question if she hadn’t kissed him on Scott’s birthday. She was permanently off-limits, fruit so forbidden that he would be blowing up his entire life if he dared to go there.
Before he had a chance to formulate any sort of plan, Allison looked up and spotted him. His heart instantly began pulsing, jumping to double time when she raised her sunglasses up onto her forehead for a moment, smiled and waved. Good God, she was unfairly beautiful. And she was coming his way. He had no means of stopping this. He had to go with it and try to have a casual conversation with the sister of his best friend.
So he did what he would have done if they’d never kissed—he waved back and called her name. “Allison!”
* * *
As Allison walked up the beach toward Zane’s cottage, she could hardly believe this was really happening. How many times had she concocted some dream scenario in her head where she and Zane were alone? Too many to count. And what was unfolding before her was exactly the kind of fantasy she loved to weave—a perfect sunny day, not another human in sight, the breeze brushing her skin and the air so sweet.
Her pulse raced. Every nerve ending in her body was firing. Her breaths were deep, and yet she still felt as though she couldn’t get enough oxygen. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to hyperventilate or pass out. This was Zane’s effect on her. It was as if the real Allison was no longer in control and some other version of her was pulling the strings. It had been like this since she was thirteen and he was sixteen.
But Zane wasn’t a teenager anymore. And she wasn’t, either. She was twenty-eight years old, and she knew what she wanted. She also knew that the world didn’t go around handing out opportunities. Life didn’t work like that. You had to take what was yours when you had the chance. And as she got closer to Zane’s cottage and watched him climb out of his plunge pool, water dripping from his magnificent, lean and athletic form, she didn’t even have to ask herself what her goal was—she knew it in her heart and in her gut. She wanted Zane’s naked body pressed against hers. She needed his mouth on every inch of her. She had to have him, if only for a few days in paradise. Zane was not “for keeps,” but he could absolutely be “for right now.”
“Hey there,” she said, stepping up onto his patio. She studied him as he toweled off his chest. She’d only seen him with this shirt off a few times, but his shoulders were just as amazing as she’d remembered. Firm and contoured from thousands of hours playing basketball. His chest was even more glorious, with a tiny patch of dark hair right at the center. She wanted to tangle her fingers in that hair. She wanted to kiss him there. She hungered to skim her lips over every inch of his pecs, rake her fingernails across the warm skin of his abs and tease open the drawstring of his swim trunks.
“How weird is this?” Zane rattled her back to the present with the question. In her fantasies, he would have opened with something far more seductive. Maybe something like, Hello, beautiful. Can I help you with your sarong? “We live on opposite ends of the country but we both end up at your aunt and uncle’s resort at the same time?”
“What are the chances, huh? Small world, I suppose.” She couldn’t help but notice his body language—shoulders tight and hands clutching the towel to his chest, as if he was hiding from her. This was all wrong, and she was desperate to change the dynamic. “Can I have a hug?”
“Uh, sure. Of course.” He grabbed his T-shirt from one of the chaise longues by the pool and put it on. He was definitely trying to keep his distance. She might need to take things slow. She didn’t want to scare him off or freak him out. The last thing her already-bruised ego needed was another interaction like the one at Scott’s birthday party. She couldn’t endure it if he pushed her away again. She spread out her arms and gave him the sort of embrace only friends exchange. It was quick and to the point, and not at all what she wanted. Just that one little taste of his body heat left her longing. Her chest ached for more.
“So what are you doing here?” he asked.
“I needed a break, and my aunt is always begging me to visit.”
“Things stressful at work?”
She looked around for a pla
ce to sit. “Do you mind?” She gestured to one of two chaises under an umbrella.
“Yeah. Of course. Do you want a beer?”
“I’m good for now, but thanks.” She did want one, but she wasn’t sure it was a good idea. She needed to keep her wits about her while she was trying to suss out where his head was at. They hadn’t talked once since the kiss a few weeks ago. For all she knew, he thought she was a lunatic. “I just broke up with my boyfriend. We were living together, so it was a pretty big ordeal, moving out and all of that.”
Zane sat in the chair next to her and reclined, crossing his legs at the ankle. He had incredibly sexy legs, a mile long but still pure muscle, with just the right amount of dark hair. “I’m sorry to hear that. If you need a shoulder to cry on, I’m a pretty good listener. Plus, I figure I’m forever in debt to the Randall family.”
“For what?”
“Where do I start? Turning around my entire life when I was at my lowest point?”
Allison waved it off. He still clung to a debt of gratitude for her family, but the truth was that Zane had given them a lot, too. He’d never been anything less than a positive presence. For Scott and Allison, who’d had a mostly stable childhood, watching Zane battle through his family’s reversal of fortune had taught them a lot about humility. “Are you kidding me? My parents love you. And obviously Scott is obsessed with you.” Her phone, which she had tucked into her bathing suit top, rang. Things at work were so tenuous right now that she couldn’t afford to turn off her ringer, as much as she wanted uninterrupted time with Zane. “I’m sorry. I should look to see who it is.” She glanced at the caller ID. It was Scott. Did he have some sort of psychic ability to interrupt her at the most inopportune time? For an instant, she considered sending the call to voice mail, but she knew that he would just keep calling her back.
“Speak of the devil,” she said to Zane. “It’s my brother.”
“Oh. Wow.”
“I know.” She answered the call to speak to Scott. “Were your ears ringing? We were just talking about you.”
“What the hell, Allison? You’re down at Rose Cove by yourself and Zane is there, too?”
Of course he’s not only calling, he’s taken issue with the fact that I’m with Zane. “Yes. I’m doing this thing where you travel to a place where you don’t live and you relax. It’s called vacation. You should try it.” She glanced over at Zane, who she hoped would at least be smiling after her wisecrack at her brother. But no. Zane’s handsome face was painted with entirely too much concern. She’d seen that look before, and she didn’t like it.
“Is there something funny going on between you two?” Scott asked. “Don’t think I didn’t notice how weird you were being at my party.”
Being under Scott’s thumb had grown so tiresome. In many ways, Allison felt as though she’d been born under it. “We’re hanging out. He’s my friend, too.”
Zane cleared his throat. “Hand me the phone.”
Allison shook her head and held the receiver to her chest. “No. I’ve got this. He’s being ridiculous, and you and I are sitting by the pool, talking. He needs to get over himself.” She raised the phone back to her ear. “Unless you have something nice to say to me, I’m going to say goodbye now and get back to my vacation.”
“He went on this trip to hook up with women,” Scott blurted. “He told me as much. And I do not want you to fall for his charms. Nothing good comes of it, and you just came off a bad breakup.”
Allison grumbled under her breath. As if she needed another reminder that Zane had a zillion other women waiting in the wings. Her brother was ruining her fantasy, and she wasn’t going to sit around for any more of it. “Okay. Sounds great.”
“You aren’t listening to me. You’re just saying that so Zane won’t know what I’m saying about him.”
“Yep. You’re right. Anything else? I need to get going.”
“Are you watching the forecast? There’s a system forming in the Atlantic. The weather channel says it could dip down into the Caribbean. It could be upgraded to a tropical storm by late today. It could easily become a hurricane.”
Allison looked overhead. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. “You are such a weather nerd. I’m not worried about something an ocean away, okay? Plus, it’s June. The hurricane season just started. I’m sure Angelique and Hubert will let us know if it’s anything of concern. Now, go back to your life so I can try to unwind. Kiss the kids for me.”
“I’m calling you tomorrow. And just punch Zane if he tries anything. Or remind him I will kill him if he touches you.”
Allison didn’t want to tell Scott that if there was any smacking going on, it would be only of the playful variety, and only if she was very lucky. “Got it. Love you.” She pushed the red button on her phone and tucked it back inside her swimsuit top. “Sorry about that. I think he’s paranoid that there’s something going on between us.”
Zane got up from his seat and ran his hand through his hair. His forehead creases were deep with worry. “Then you need to call him back and tell him that absolutely nothing is going on. Or I’ll do it. Give me your phone.”
Allison sat back on the chaise and didn’t bother to cover up when her sarong slipped open, revealing the full stretch of her bare leg and a good bit of her stomach, as well. She loved seeing the way Zane tried not to look...and failed. Did he want her the way she wanted him? Did he crave her touch? Her kiss? The thought of unleashing all of her pent-up desire on him, especially in paradise, where they could be blissfully alone, was so tempting it made her entire body tingle. It would be so easy to undo the knot of her cover-up and let it fall away. Give Zane an eyeful. Run her fingers along the edge of her bikini top, right where the swell of her breasts could draw the most attention. She wanted to do it so badly that her hand twitched. But she had to play this slowly. “Don’t be threatened by my brother. He’s just watching out for me. It’s a bad habit of his. He needs to cut it out.”
“You know why he’s so protective of you. There’s a good reason for it.”
Allison did know there was a good reason, but she’d been a little girl when she got sick. She hardly remembered any of it—it was practically a lifetime ago. Most important, she was perfectly healthy now and had been cancer-free for more than twenty years. Her entire family needed to stop hovering over her like she was made of porcelain. “And because my family is always around, I think we should take this chance to hang out on our own terms. Talk. Like friends. We are friends, aren’t we?”
“I don’t know.”
“What? You don’t know if we’re friends?”
He shook his head, seeming frustrated, which was not what she was going for. She wanted him relaxed. At ease. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea for us to spend time together.”
“What are you afraid of, Zane? That I’m going to kiss you again?” She had a sliver of regret at putting things on the line like this at the outset, but perhaps it was for the best. If he was going to reject her, best to get it out of the way.
“For starters, yes.”
Allison pressed her lips together tightly. She decided then and there that if any moves were going to be made, the first would have to be his. If he wanted her the way she wanted him, he was going to have to show her. She wasn’t putting her heart and pride on the line a second time, especially not when he was so willing to say out loud that he was worried about what she might do. “I promise I won’t kiss you, okay? Just stop acting like you’re afraid of me, because I know you aren’t.”
“Of course I’m not afraid.”
“Then prove it. Let me make you dinner.”
Zane ran his tongue across his lower lip tentatively. It was one of his most adorable quirks and he always did it when he couldn’t make up his mind about something. Allison didn’t like that her offer required any deliberation at all, but she certainly appreciated the vision of hi
s mouth. “Dinner? Nothing else?”
Allison closed up her sarong and rose from her seat. “Fair warning. You might go home incredibly satisfied.” She patted him on the shoulder. “From my cooking. It’s really good.”
Three
Zane’s entire body was humming when Allison left, which left his brain running at a clip to catch up. If Scott knew what was going through Zane’s head right now and how that all centered on his little sister, he would end him. It wouldn’t be a quick death. It would be a long, painful one, during which Scott would drive home a single point—Allison was off-limits. Always had been. Always would be.
But here on a dot of an island, more than a thousand miles away from his best friend, Zane couldn’t deny his churning thoughts or the insistent pulse of electricity in his body. The second Allison’s sarong fell open to reveal the tops of her luscious thighs, the soft plane of her stomach and that little spot on her hip where the tie of her bikini bottoms sat, all bets were off. Or most of them, at least. He’d withstood an unholy rush of blood to the center of his body, so fierce that it nearly knocked him off his feet. Thinking about it was only providing an opportunity to put a finer point on the things he’d wanted to do to her—drop to his knees, start at her ankle and kiss every inch of her lovely leg, moving north until he reached the bow at her hip. The only thing that would make sense if he ever got that far would be to tug at the string, quite possibly with his teeth, slowly untie it and use his mouth to leave her curling her fingers into his scalp and calling out his name.
Thoughts like that were going to ruin Zane and everything he held dear.
He stalked into his cottage and opened the fridge, if nothing but for the blast of cold air against his overheated skin. It didn’t help. It somehow made everything worse—another bodily conflict to endure as the shot of coolness mixed with the balmy salt air—everything on this island felt good. Too good. He popped open another beer and took a swig, but dammit, it was only a pleasing jolt of sweet and bitter, a shock of frothy cold followed by a wave of warmth that made him pleasantly dizzy. The erection he’d tried so desperately to fight off was now at a full salute, begging for attention and hungry for release.
