Marriage Prey

by Annette Broadrick

  She smiled at the sight of his broad back, remembering the feel of it beneath her hands. She lay quietly, a sense of exhilaration sweeping over her. Yesterday had been so perfect, from the time she opened her eyes on the beach and saw him there until she fell into an exhausted sleep a few hours ago.

  She couldn't imagine experiencing so much intimacy with anyone else. Steve had teased her about thinking he was a wonderful lover, but she knew the truth. She'd heard friends talk about sex, and more than one had considered it highly overrated. She'd been glad that she'd never been intimate with anyone before, that she had waited until the absolute perfect time.

  She discovered that she was more than a little sore from all the unaccustomed activity and decided to slip out of bed and take a soothing soak in the tub.

  Deciding not to disturb Steve, she returned to her bedroom. She went into the bathroom there and filled the tub with warm water and a herbal-salt mixture, then sank into the healing liquid with a sigh. She leaned her head back against the sloping back of the tub and closed her eyes. What a wonderful vacation this had been. There was so much that she wouldn't be able to share with Cindi, but, oh, she would never forget a single moment.

  She was so glad that Steve had looked for her yesterday, grateful that he'd acknowledged his interest in her. She drifted into a state of steamy satisfaction, aroused when she heard Steve's voice calling.

  "Robin? Robin, where are you! You had better be here, damn it! I don't want you leaving without—"

  "Steve! I'm in here," she called, repeating herself in a louder voice until he pushed the door open and peered inside. "Good morning," she said, smiling at the look of rumpled grumpiness he wore. His hair stood out in a riot of curls around his face. He had on a pair of shorts and, as usual, no shirt or shoes. He looked wonderful to her. "You okay?" he asked, frowning down at her. She wrinkled her nose at him. "Well, if you must know, I'm a little sore, but nothing that a nice soak in the tub won't help. We may have been a little over-enthusiastic yesterday."

  He knelt by the tub and rubbed his knuckles against her cheek. "Oh, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. I never even thought— Of course you aren't used to—" He shook his head. ' 'What was I thinking?''

  "I don't think either one of us was doing much thinking."

  He sat back on his heels. ' 'I know. When I woke up and found you gone, I panicked. We're going to need to leave here in a couple of hours in order to get you to St. Thomas in plenty of time to make connections with the ship. In the meantime—"

  He paused, as though uncertain what to say.

  Robin spoke. "In the meantime...I need to gather my clothes, which as I recall are still in a sodden pile in your bathroom, and get them dry so I can be ready to leave."

  He touched her, running his hand along the tops of her breasts. "I don't want you to leave," he said. "I keep thinking of the first days you were here. Look at the time we wasted!"

  “And all the money I won playing poker and pool. If I were to cash in those chips, I could afford to charter a plane back home," she teased.

  "Do you realize I don't know how to reach you in Texas? I need a phone number, an address, something to—"

  She sat up in the tub. "Steve? Are you planning to stay in touch once we leave here?"

  He frowned. "Isn't that a given? There's no way we can just walk away from what we've discovered here." He slowly stood and looked down at her, "Unless this was just some holiday fling you were having."

  "Of course not!" She let the water out of the tub and stood, pulling a towel around her. Robin couldn't remember a time when she'd felt so vulnerable. She dried off and quickly put on the caftan Carmela had brought her.

  He followed her into the bedroom and sat down on the vanity bench. "Then what's the problem?"

  She gave an embarrassed laugh, walking toward the window. "Well, don't you see how awkward this is going to be? I don't intend for my family to find out about my stay here on the island. So I can't very well go back and tell them all about meeting you."

  She could feel his gaze boring into her back. When she glanced over her shoulder, he said, ' T never saw you as a coward, Robin."

  She turned and faced him. "I never saw myself as a coward, either, but so much has happened and I'm not sure how to handle it."

  "So rather than face up to what has happened, you want to hide-it? Are you ashamed of what has happened?"

  She looked away. "Not ashamed. Not exactly. Maybe I'm a little shocked at my behavior. But I'm not sorry that I met you, that we, uh, that I—''

  He moved abruptly to the door. "I get the picture, Robin. Sorry I was so slow to understand. This is all you ever wanted—a vacation fling—and I happened to be conveniently available. Well, hey, that's fine with me. You certainly livened up my vacation for me." He turned away. "I'll go see when Romano will be ready to leave. We need to eat, as well."

  Robin stared at the doorway where Steve had been. Boy, did she ever mess up that particular conversation. She hadn't said anything that she'd meant, nor explained how she felt about him.

  Part of the reason was that she was truly confused about her feelings.

  Weren't vacation romances almost a cliche? All the promises to see each other again, to write and stay in touch eventually lapsed as each of the parties returned to their regular life and routine.

  Facing her family with the news of a romantic meeting while on vacation would be tough, but she would be willing to do that if there was a chance that she and Steve could have a lasting relationship.

  He seemed really hurt by the idea that she might have been using him. She had to make sure he understood that her feelings ran far deeper than that.

  She went back to his bathroom and scooped up their wet clothes and the towels they'd used, then went to the other part of the house.

  Steve was in the kitchen, sipping on coffee and eating one of Carmela's mouthwatering pastries.

  "You misunderstood me," she said, then went into the washroom and put their clothes in the washer. When she came out, she poured herself a cup of coffee, grabbed one of the pastries off the tray and sat down across from him. "You are much more than a vacation fling to me."

  He studied her in silence over the rim of his cup. Finally he said, "Glad to hear it."

  "Here's the problem as I see it. We've been here alone for several days, and we've had a chance to get acquainted. But neither of us really knows what the other is like in our real life. We need that time, to see each other in our own environment, to decide—"

  "Which is exactly what I was saying. We haven't taken the time to exchange addresses and phone numbers. I know that you're busy with school, but maybe on your spring break you could come to L.A. and let me show you around. We'll drive up to Santa Barbara and—"

  She began to laugh. ' 'Oh, Steve. If you could just understand how protective my family is! They threw a fit— at least my dad and brothers did—when I announced I was coming on this cruise. I would have three escorts if I attempted to visit you in L.A."

  He leaned back in his chair. "Does that mean that they'd want to go on your honeymoon with you, as well?" he asked.

  Robin could feel herself flushing. ' 'Well, no, but since that isn't what we're talking about here—"

  "It could be," he said softly. "I don't want to lose you in my life, Robin. If it means getting married first and getting better acquainted afterwards I'd do it."

  Robin fought down the panic his words caused her. "Married? You and me?"

  He studied her in silence for several minutes, which didn't ease the tension between them in the slightest, then rolled his head on his neck in a silent acknowledgment of the tension. "Robin, I realize that you don't know me very well, but I'm not the kind of person to indulge in casual sex. I never have, and I certainly didn't decide to do so because I'm on vacation. I know we haven't known each other long enough to make long-term commitments, but we need to explore that option for later down the road. You're the first woman I've ever met to whom I'm ready to mak
e a commitment, even if I met you less than a week ago. Are you saying you never considered marriage as an option?''

  She dropped her head into both hands, her elbows resting on the table in front of her.

  "I can see how thrilled you are at the prospect," he muttered, pouring another cup of coffee. "It's not that." "Oh?"

  "At least, not exactly. What I mean is, we can't just rush into something on the basis of—"

  “Of what? No matter how careful we were yesterday and last night, those things aren't 100 percent foolproof. And the truth is, I wouldn't care if you were pregnant. I'd like to have some time alone with you before we started a family, but—''

  "You're serious, aren't you?" she whispered, her body shaking as though she were going into shock. And maybe she was. This was the last thing she thought might happen.

  "Yes."

  He let his stark answer hang in the air between them.

  "I need more time," she finally said weakly.

  "I'll give you all the time you need." He pushed back from the table and arose. "Let's check those clothes and see about getting you back to your ride home, okay?"

  He went into the washroom, and she heard him moving the clothes to the dryer, and turning it on.

  She lifted her cup with both hands and shakily sipped on her coffee.

  He didn't say anything more. Neither did she. Her thoughts were whirling around like a cluster of tornadoes. Telling her family about meeting Steve was one thing. Telling them that he had proposed marriage was another.

  They would think— Well, they would think exactly what had taken place. And there would be hell to pay. She didn't want to have to face the turbulent scenes, nor did she want them attacking Steve for something that she was responsible for creating. She had encouraged him every step of the way. She had wanted him to make love to her. She had wanted him to teach her all the pleasures that could be shared between a man and a woman.

  He had done that. Oh, boy, had he done that.

  Somehow, she had thought that she would be able to lock away all those experiences and go back to her life the way it had been before she met him. California had seemed like a safe place for him to live. If she'd given it any thought at all, she would have thought that they might exchange addresses and possibly Christmas cards. That he would be a wonderful memory she would always carry with her.

  This was not turning out the way she had expected.

  Not at all. And she had no one to blame but herself. In the few days she'd gotten to know Steve, she'd discovered that he was a man of integrity, a man who unabashedly loved his family. It was true that neither of them had discussed their attitudes toward matrimony, but Steve had talked about how tough his profession was on the men he worked with who were married. She had gotten the impression from their conversations that he preferred being single to trying to juggle a home life with his demanding profession.

  Could she have made such an impression on him that he was willing to readjust his views? She was glad that he didn't consider her a casual encounter in his life. Of course she was. But she hadn't expected him to push for a serious relationship in such a short while.

  Robin heard the door close behind her. Steve had left, probably to go see Romano. She needed to gather together the few things she'd brought with her.

  When Steve returned she had everything in her bag and was pulling clothes out of the dryer.

  "We'll be leaving as soon as you're ready," he said. "Are you going with us?"

  He said, ' 'I know this may sound strange to you, but I'm not in a hurry to tell you goodbye. Do you have a problem with that?''

  She smiled. "Not at all." She walked over to him and put her arms around his waist. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Steve. Just have a little patience with me, okay?"

  He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. "You want to know the embarrassing truth? I'm scared to death of losing you. It seems as though I've waited for you my whole life. And I have this sinking feeling that once you leave this island you're going to disappear and I'll never see you again."

  She raised her head from his chest. "That will never happen."

  "I'm going to trust that you mean that." He stepped away from her. "And you'd better get some clothes on or I'm going to have you back in bed in two minutes flat." He ran his hands up her spine, then cupped her buttocks, pulling her hard against him, making sure she recognized just how aroused he was.

  She stepped back from him, picked up the clothes from the dryer and hurried into the bedroom. When she came out, she discovered that he had also changed clothes.

  He was dressed more formally than she'd ever seen him—in a pair of khaki pants and a Polo shirt with his dock shoes.

  "I feel distinctly underdressed in my shorts and top."

  He took her hands and eased her closer until he could kiss her. "Mmm. Thank you for that. And I like to see you underdressed." He reached into his pocket. "Here's my card. I wrote my home address and telephone number on the back, so you can reach me at all times—either at work or at home. lust don't lose the card. My number's unlisted."

  She handed him a piece of paper. "Here's my number and address."

  He carefully folded it and put it in his billfold. “Thank you." He said it as though she'd given him an invaluable gift. "We really need to go," he said, dropping his arm around her shoulders.

  They went outside and down to where a dock jutted out into the water. Romano smiled and greeted them, before helping her board.

  Steve followed.

  They sat in the back while Romano sat in the captain's chair and steered them away from the dock, heading out to the open sea.

  Steve wrapped his arm around her shoulders and Robin rested her head against his chest. The island quickly receded from view. She listened to the steady beat of his heart beneath her ear. It was hard to believe that her five days with him were over.

  They'd spent so much of their time talking about their lives and yet had never discussed—until this morning— the connection they had made and what it might mean to their future.

  Robin admitted that she was scared. She wasn't ready for this. She needed time away from Steve's magnetic personality to look more objectively at what had happened between them.

  There was so much ahead of her that she'd looked forward to doing—taking the job with the agency, getting her own apartment, becoming independent of everyone. If she married Steve, she would become a part of another person's life and be expected to make compromises and deal with all kinds of issues she thought she wouldn't face for many years.

  But the thought of never seeing him again scared her even more.

  "Thank you for this week," she finally said.

  He leaned down to hear her, then smiled at her words. "The pleasure was all mine. Believe me."

  "How much longer will you be here?" she asked after a comfortable silence.

  He shrugged. "I don't know. A week, maybe. I haven't decided. It isn't going to be the same without you."

  The rest of the trip was filled with long silences and casual remarks. Robin was surprised when she saw an island growing larger on the horizon. "We're almost there," she said.

  She had a sudden rush of relief as they drew closer and she saw the cruise ship sitting in the harbor. Steve directed Romano to take her directly to the ship. When they pulled alongside, one of the ship's crewmen was there to help her board.

  She stood, trying to keep her balance in the rocking boat. "Call me when you get back to L.A.," she said.

  "You can count on it," Steve replied. He kissed her, a searing, devouring, possessive kiss that turned her knees to rubber and her brain to jelly.

  When he finally let her go he stepped back and said, ' 'Take care of yourself for me, okay?''

  She smiled, even though she felt tears welling up. "You do the same." Then she clambered onto the ship and watched as the launch moved away. She waved at Steve and blew him a kiss, then turned and headed toward her room.


  Her fantasy vacation was over. Would what they were feeling for each other last through the coming weeks and months?

  She was afraid to guess. Either way, her life would never be the same again.

  Seven

  “Omigosh! You're back! When did you get back? Nobody told me that you were going to rejoin the cruise. I thought you'd already flown home! Oh, Robin, am I glad to see you!"

  Robin groggily sat up in her bunk. She'd returned to their room and decided to take a nap. Now she stared in sleepy bewilderment at her exuberant roommate who had landed on the bed, talking a mile a minute.

  "Was it horrible, being marooned on an island? I couldn't believe they actually went off and left you! How rude. I gave the captain my opinion of the crew's behavior, let me tell you. Of course, he reminded me of the rules and how often they had stressed them, but...still!" Cindi hugged her, then pulled away and stared at her. "Are you okay?"

  Robin began to laugh. "Well, I thought I was, until Hurricane Cindi hit the room." She pushed her hair back from her face. "It's good to see you, too." Still chuckling, she added, "Did you really give the captain a bad time about leaving me behind?"

  "Of course I did! You would have done the same for me. I was so worried that something awful had happened to you. At least they reassured me that you'd called to say you were all right. How in the world did you find a telephone?''

  "Remember we were told that the island was privately owned?"

  Cindi nodded.

  "Well, there's this gorgeous home on the island with a caretaker couple who look after the place." She paused, carefully choosing her words. "There was a man who happened to be vacationing there who found me on the beach and invited me to return to the house with him. He was very kind. He contacted the cruise line and got the number of the ship for me so that I could call. Once he found out that the ship wouldn't be back in this area for another five days, he insisted that I share the house with him. He was really very nice to me."

  Robin could almost see Cindi's ears perk up as she explained. "A man? You actually met a man while you were stuck on the island?'' She broke into peals of laughter. "Leave it to you to have all the luck! So tell me about him!"