by Lori Borrill
“So, crap happens.”
“Apparently.”
Marc pointed a finger at his brother. “This isn’t something for you to spread around. The last thing I need is for this to leak to the press.”
“Our lips are sealed. You don’t have to worry about me and Margaret. But I’d say that dinners on the plaza probably aren’t the greatest move.”
“That was Rachel’s idea, not mine, though I can’t blame her really. She’s literally spent every day and night cooped up in our hotel rooms trying to avoid the people and the press. She’s going a little stir crazy. She hinted last night about getting out of here for a couple days, but I don’t know how we’d pull that off. Here at the resort, we’ve got the excuse of the business relationship. Off the grounds? How would we explain that?”
“Take her up to Burton’s cabin.”
“Up to Miwok Lake?”
“It’s beautiful up there. You’ve got the sun and the fresh air and there’s not a soul within miles. I take dates up there all the time. It’s a great place to get away from it all if you’re looking for privacy.”
Marc considered the idea, acknowledging it might not be a bad one. The Burtons were friends of the family who owned a cozy but nice cabin on a lake only a couple hours from the resort. On countless occasions, they’d told him and Brett it was theirs to use any time they wanted. Marc had never taken them up on it, though he’d always meant to.
“I was up there just a few months ago,” Brett went on. “I don’t remember seeing a soul once we passed the south fork. The water’s been low these past couple years so they aren’t getting the traffic they used to.”
The more Marc considered, the more he liked the idea. Maybe a change of scenery was exactly what he needed. And for sure, he needed something. This relationship with Rachel was supposed to have been a quick fling, a release of sexual energy to temper an intense physical attraction brought on by too many months without a date. But that whole plan was falling apart, and the more time he spent with her, the more his mind started to wander to places it had no business going.
He wasn’t supposed to be getting attached to Rachel, but here at the resort he was getting hit from every angle. Maybe getting out of this place would clear his perspective and help him see things straight.
At this point, with his heart running away from him and his inability to stop it, he was willing to give anything a try.
RACHEL GLANCED at Marc from the passenger seat of his BMW. “We’ve been driving for almost an hour. I think if someone were following us, you would have spotted them by now.”
He checked the rearview mirror out of habit still needing to convince himself they’d managed to sneak out of the resort without anyone seeing them. After that fiasco with the press two weeks ago and now Brett and Margaret in the know, he couldn’t take any more chances.
“You think so?”
“I know so. If any reporters had seen us leave, they’d be in the next lane snapping pictures right now.”
He laughed, knowing she was right. He was simply being overly cautious, not wanting anything to spoil the weekend he’d planned. But at this stage of the game, he knew she was right and that it was time to relax and let their secret getaway begin.
“Okay, no more worries,” he said. “Tell me more about your week. Rain’s parents were sure taken with you. That was nice what you did for their family.”
She shrugged. “It wasn’t that big a deal. She was bored and I needed a girls’ day out.”
“Still, you made an impression, one that made a difference to their family.”
“Yeah, well, we both know they’ll all go back to old habits when they get home.”
“Probably, but that’s not the point. When my family went on vacation, we all went our separate ways the moment it was over. The folks went back to their jobs, me and Brett went back to our activities. That’s how it works. But I still wouldn’t change those times we had together. That’s what vacations are about, connecting, even for just a little while.”
Rachel didn’t look convinced, but it was a concept Marc understood well. It was the whole reason he went into this profession, the kind of treatment he’d imagined for all his guests when he’d envisioned owning a resort. And after Rain’s parents expressed their heartfelt thanks and went home yesterday, he’d asked himself when he’d ever taken the time to really pay attention to the guests he was supposedly hosting.
He hadn’t missed the fact that in these few short weeks, Rachel had done the very thing he was still trying to grasp hold of. He hadn’t gone into this field because he wanted to run a resort. He’d wanted to be a part of it, to team up with his staff and create an experience for his guests that went beyond a typical stay at a typical hotel. And while he’d spent three years trying to figure out how to do that, Rachel had waltzed in and showed him the way as if it was as simple as taking a breath.
“I suppose,” she said, turning her face and staring wistfully out the window.
He reached out and took her hand in his. “You’re a better person than you give yourself credit for, Rachel.”
That got him a laugh. “I’m not the saint you think I am either.”
He laughed with her. “Trust me. I don’t think you’re a saint. I wouldn’t adore you so much if you were.” Then he sobered his tone and squeezed her fingers. “I’m just wondering when you’re going to stop torturing yourself and start believing in the real woman.”
For a long time, she didn’t respond. She simply stared out the window as they made their way up the highway.
“I keep thinking about that poor maid,” she finally said. “The one that landed me here. I wish I could do more to apologize, but the lawyers won’t let me. If I could go back and do it all over again, things would go very differently.”
“Then I think you should consider your stay here a success.” When she turned and met his gaze, he added, “Seriously. You’re not the spoiled princess I thought you were when you first showed up here. I was wrong. These past few weeks, you proved that tenfold.”
That got her laughing again. “Only because you made me so angry I stormed off and sent Stefan away out of spite.”
“And in the process, you discovered you didn’t need him.”
“He’s pretty handy.”
“He’s annoying.”
“I still can’t make my way around my own computer.”
“Half of America can’t. I’m telling you, that man was suffocating you. I seriously hope that when you go back home, you’ll stop relying on him so much.”
His own comment darkened his mood. Going back home to L.A. The idea of that shouldn’t bother him so much, but damned if it didn’t.
Since high school, he’d had a plan for his life that didn’t involve getting serious about a woman until he was ready. And up until now, he hadn’t come close to considering it. The resort was burying him in responsibility. He still wasn’t sure if even this brief overnight escapade would go uninterrupted by business. Trying to manage a serious relationship on top of everything else had disaster written all over it. And if he could keep his mind focused on that, he’d be fine.
“I am planning on making some changes when I get home,” she said.
“You’d mentioned spending some time abroad.”
She shook her head and sighed. “I don’t know what I’ll do. But after having this taste of a normal life, I only know that I don’t want to go back to the way I’d been living. I’m done with reality shows and modeling and life in the public eye. I want to do something meaningful. I just don’t know what.”
A fleeting, irrational voice suggested he ask her not to go anywhere, to stay and help him run the resort. He knew without a doubt she’d be good at it, and he could definitely use the help. Then he tallied up all the reasons that idea was preposterous and clamped his mouth shut. He had to keep remembering that what he and Rachel had was sex. Really hot, great sex. And the more he kept his mind focused on that, the less chance he’d hav
e of suggesting something they’d surely regret.
So as he turned off the highway and onto the last leg of their trip, he made himself a promise to keep his head about him and take their last week together in stride.
“A cabin on a lake,” Rachel said, glancing at the scenery as they neared the south fork. “It sounds wonderful.”
“It’s very rustic.”
“How rustic?”
“It has indoor plumbing and hot water.”
“Then I’m sure it will be fine.”
He drove through the wooded terrain beyond the more populated side of the lake where the water was deep for boating. He hadn’t been here in years, yet already he was recalling how scenic and relaxing this place was. He wondered why he hadn’t come up here more often. Rachel had been right. He did work too much, had let himself get too absorbed in the resort to the point where he hadn’t so much as taken a day to revive his own spirit. The north side of the lake was quiet and serene, the water too shallow for any larger motorboats, which kept most of the people away. Surely, somewhere in the past three years he could have blown the dust off his fishing pole and spent the day up here.
But time had gotten away from him, and as they turned down the narrow drive that brought them to the cabin, he promised himself he wouldn’t let time get away again.
“This is it?” she asked, looking at the modest A-frame structure perched a hundred yards from the water’s edge.
“This is it.”
He pulled the car up and parked, and she didn’t waste time getting out and taking a look.
“This is lovely.” She eyed him and frowned. “You made it sound like a shack.”
“It’s not Beverly Hills.”
He found the hidden key and let them inside, moving first to open the large front window to air out the musty smell.
She followed him in and surveyed the space. The lake side of the cabin consisted of a large great room that opened to the kitchen. Above, a loft looked out over the lake and down to the dining area below. Two large suites took up the back, each with its own adjoining bath. And though the decor was made up of rustic plaids and knotty pine, everything was clean and new.
“You think I expect room service everywhere I go?” Rachel asked. “Aside from the dead fish on the wall, I think it’s charming.” She stepped over to the wide-mouth bass that eternally peered one eye over the dining-room table and touched a tentative finger to it. “Is it real?”
“Caught right out back, if I recall.”
“Okay, then.” She snapped her finger back and swiped it on her jeans as though it might have left behind scales.
Marc laughed, pulling her toward him and taking her in his arms. “If he bothers you, I can put him in the closet.”
“I’m hardly intimidated by a bass.”
“No, I suppose you’re not.”
She pressed a kiss to his lips. “Though if you plan on making love to me on this table, I’d rather not do it under the watchful eye of a fish.”
He slid his hand around the nape of her neck and smoothed his mouth over hers, immediately feeling that heat that had become so familiar yet was still thrilling every time. Would he ever get enough of this? At what point would the sizzle fade to something he could more easily walk away from?
As he circled his arm around her waist and pulled her body close, he realized that might never happen. During these past couple weeks, the sizzle had faded. Gone was the thrilling spark in touching the forbidden fruit he’d spent too many days lusting over. In its place came the slow burn of something deeper and even more arousing. He hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it. He’d chalked it up to infatuation, but with every day that passed, Rachel kept throwing more weight on his already burdened conscience.
Spending the day with Rain, helping Anita and her daughter get their book published, bringing gifts to the housekeeping staff, happily signing autographs and making friendly conversation with the very people whose curiosity perpetuates the current life she lives. Though the papers portray a spoiled, bungling rich girl, Marc had gotten close enough to see the real person. And what he found was a misunderstood woman who desperately wanted the world to love her.
It tugged at something he wasn’t prepared to face.
Mingling his tongue with hers, he sank into the kiss and pushed his focus back where it belonged. He bathed in the luxury of her scent, the soft touch of her hair against his fingers, the luscious taste of her lips, her skin, her sex.
“There’s a bedroom down the hall,” he suggested.
He took her hand and led her toward the back of the cabin. Reorienting himself with the layout, he opted for the larger room on the west where a cross breeze freshened the air as he opened the two large windows. The light wind was cooled by the dense forest and scented with pine and earth. It brought back to him the memories of the restful time he spent here as a careless kid with few worries and even less responsibility. And as the surroundings soothed his spirit, he stripped his clothes and bared himself to the beautiful woman at his side.
She pulled her T-shirt over her head, revealing naked breasts that he wasted no time sampling. He took them in his palms, felt them against his lips and buried his face between them. She arched her body toward him, lacing her fingers into his hair and moaning soft words of encouragement.
“I love the way you touch me,” she whispered.
He suckled a nipple. “I love the way you feel.”
Lowering to his knees, he ran his tongue over her waist while he unfastened her jeans and slid them to the floor.
“This is what I’m looking for,” he said through a groan, grabbing her ass and pressing kisses across her thighs and the sensitive space between. He took his time exploring, running his hands up and around her silky flesh as he used his mouth and tongue to build heat that rocked her to the balls of her feet.
Her throaty groans encouraged him, those slim fingers digging into his shoulders when he hit the right spot. She hissed when he slid a finger inside, smiled when he slid another, and when he touched his tongue to her clit he felt the weight of her body against him, the arousal snatching her grip against gravity.
Instead of taking her to the bed, he held her firm, his cock growing achingly hard as he sucked her toward orgasm like he’d learned to do so well. He loved this body, loved her responsiveness to his touch and his ability to coax it in any direction he chose. He licked her to the brink, then shied away, touching his lips to her thighs and toying his fingers around her core before coming in for another teasing pass. Her palms leaned heavy on his shoulders but she didn’t make a move toward the bed, no doubt the sensations running through her too luxurious to deny for even a moment. So he worked her more quickly, sending her closer to that place that would break her apart.
He used his thumbs to part her folds, taking her fully in his mouth as she began to churn against him. Her breath heaved as her body swelled, her slick heat growing hotter, her fingers beginning to tremble with every light, fluttery stroke. And when she gasped and came hard, he lost himself in the glory of her surrender.
Right then, there was no existence outside this room. No troubling emotions, no conflicting desires to throw him off balance. When he and Rachel shut the world out and came together like this, all complications sifted down to two people enjoying the presence of each other, nothing less and nothing more.
But when he guided her to the bed and came to rest on top of her, he was hit with that same sensation he kept trying to deny. He could see it in her eyes, a connection further than skin deep. And he knew when she looked at him she could see it, too. No matter how much he didn’t want this, no matter how many doubts and fears he had about this thing between them, Rachel was finding a way in, and he needed to hold on to his perspective before his heart got carried away.
He had to remember this life they’d led these past few weeks weren’t reality. It was easy to get caught up in a fantasy when they’d shut themselves off from the world. Rachel had been his prisoner here
, his private temptress owing only to him and his resort. She’d cut herself off from her friends and family, they’d kept the gawkers and the press from their own island of paradise.
Would this still seem so perfect when the real world came rushing back in?
A sharp wave of pleasure brushed the question from his mind, and he upped the tempo, sliding his hands over her sexy body and pressing soft kisses to her lips. Waves rushed over him, filling his body with ecstasy as the heat in Rachel’s deep blue eyes warmed his heart. There was such beauty in those lips, the sweet curve of her jaw, the tender arch of her neck. He ran his fingers over those places, relishing the lazy smile he produced when he dipped his head and nipped her chin. But then the ripples grew to something dire, and he knew the climax was near.
Sliding his hand along her spine, he lifted her toward him and drove in harder, her breathy groans singing her satisfaction. He needed to get deeper, needed to hold her closer, and she seemed to understand when she wrapped her smooth legs around him and took him farther, pressing her mouth against his where she whispered an urgent, “Go.”
It was all he could handle. White heat hit him squarely, taking her along with him, and he buried his head in the crook of her shoulder and cried out his release. His limbs came around hers, smoothing and stroking over bodies moving to the rhythm of climax. Lips crushed against lips, breath mingled with breath until, finally, they came to rest, the only sound the heavy beat of their hearts and the gentle coos of the forest outside.
And when he shifted onto the bed and spooned her against him, he felt grounded in the knowledge that he’d settled the battle between his head and his heart. Rachel offered him great sex and lots of it, something he hadn’t enjoyed in far too long. That was all this was, and confusing that with something deeper would only lead to problems.
So as they rested and enjoyed the start of their weekend away, he promised himself that he’d keep his head about him, making sure that what he and Rachel shared stayed in the flesh where it belonged.
13
“I CAN DO THIS.” Rachel dipped the oar into the water and used all her strength to paddle the canoe across the lake.
