The Matchup

by Alice Ward

  “Hmm.” We walked off the pier and onto the beach where Charles and Grace came up beside us. “Did you guys come here on the same plane Sloane did? She said she was sleeping, so she wasn’t sure.”

  Charles eyed me then shook his head. “Nope. I’d remember. I never forget a face.”

  Zane was really pushing it. I needed to change the subject and fast. “That speedboat ride out to the island was something else, wasn’t it?”

  Grace whistled. “I’ll say. I was scared shitless. I had to bury my face in Charles’ chest the whole ride. It seemed to take forever too.”

  Zane opened the door, allowing us all to go inside before him.

  “What a gentleman you are.” It seemed he surprised me with every move he made.

  “Be sure to tell my mother that. She gave up on me years ago.” He grinned and gestured to the large buffet. “This place has the best breakfast on the island. Get ready to be stuffed.”

  After filling our plates, we found a table for four and sat down to eat. I wasn’t about to ask too many questions too fast, so I made small talk as we ate and was happy when Charles invited us to go snorkeling after breakfast.

  Zane answered before I could. “That’s nice of you, but we can’t. Sloane has work to do.”

  Charles frowned as he looked at me. “What kinda work?”

  My lips parted to say that I could put it off, and we could join them. It would be perfect if we made friends with him, but again, Zane spoke for me. “She’s writing a novel while she’s here. She needs time to get some words in today. So we’re out for the morning.”

  “I see.” Charles leaned back and patted his round stomach. “What ya writin’ about?”

  I forced my face to relax and not give away my irritation. “It’s a romance. Nothing men care to read.” I put my napkin on top of my plate, silently fuming that Zane was speaking on my behalf. “I have to wash my hands. I’ve never managed to eat anything with syrup on it that didn’t somehow leave me sticky nearly up to my elbows. Come on, Zane, you got some of it on you too.”

  He looked at his clean hands then shrugged. “If you say so.”

  As soon as we got around the corner and out of their sight, I let him have it. “Zane Boyd, I can answer for myself. I want to go snorkeling.”

  “But you have to work. You said so last night when you turned my invitation down. Remember?”

  “Can’t a lady change her mind?” I asked, practically snarling.

  He blew out an aggravated breath. “I didn’t want it to be you who blew them off, so I took the heat of that.” He smiled at me and ran his hand over my cheek. “I got your back, baby.”

  I rolled my eyes heavenward, seeking guidance and patience from whatever saint helped women not to kill men. “Get off my back. I want to go. Let’s go tell them that I’ve changed my mind.”

  “Nope.” He shook his head. “You have work to do.”

  Who the hell did he think he was?

  “Zane, I will not…” His lips touched mine, and I shut the hell up as electricity welded my lips closed.

  He released my lips, leaving me under his spell. “It’s okay. I have your best interests at heart. Come on.” He took my hand and led me back out to the table. The couple looked up at us curiously. “We’ll catch you guys later.”

  “Actually, darling,” I said, batting my lashes at Zane. “I think I’ll be even more creative after a swim in all of nature’s beauty.” I smiled at Smith. “I’d love to go with you.”

  Grace lit up, happy to have some company. “That’s wonderful. Let’s meet on the pier in say, thirty minutes? The boat takes off in forty-five.”

  I beamed back at her. “Perfect. See you soon.”

  Zane didn’t say a word all the way back to my bungalow, but once we were inside, all the ones he’d bottled up came out in a rush. “Who are you? Why are you after Charles and Grace? Why in the hell are you being so cagey?”

  I’d gone through interrogations as part of FBI training. They sucked. Really sucked. So you’d think the questions coming from this man wouldn’t rattle me in the least. But I was a bit rattled. What had I done or not done for him to read me so easily? This wasn’t good. Not good at all.

  I crossed my arms over my chest and met his look straight on. “I’m Sloane Anderson, photojournalist and wannabe novelist.”

  His nostrils flared. “If you insist.”

  “It’s the truth.” I looked him straight in the eyes as I lied, ignoring the twinge of conscience the FBI hadn’t completely beaten out of me yet.

  His grip tightened on my shoulders, his expression stern. This wasn’t the playboy I met yesterday. “You’ll tell me the truth about everything, or I’ll out you to Charles. I’ll let him know all about your little midnight snoopfest last night.”

  I didn’t allow my face to change even as my heart sank into my gut.

  I had been caught.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Zane

  She was good.

  Her expression hadn’t changed, but the pulse throbbing in her throat was a giveaway. She hadn’t broken yet, but I had her almost to the edge of the truth.

  With exaggerated movements, I ran my hands down her sides and around her back. “I see you left the gun off this time.”

  Her expression still didn’t change. “You need to go.”

  I closed my hands on her shoulders again. “No. I’m not going anywhere until you tell me the truth.”

  She didn’t flinch. “It’s none of your business. We had one drink, one dinner, and one kiss. Walk away.”

  I wanted to shake her. I walked her backwards until she was trapped against the wall, my arms moving to either side of her head. “I don’t want to walk away.”

  She lifted her chin. “Too bad.”

  Time slowed and sped up as we stared at each other. I wanted to kiss her so bad my lips nearly exploded from my head. “Just tell me the truth. Please. I saw what I saw. You aren’t who you said you were. I don’t know if you’re a crook, a spy, a private investigator. I don’t know who Smith is or why you broke into his place. What I do know, is that you’re in some kind of danger. What I do know is that I’d take a bullet for your ass. And because of that, I deserve to know if I’m willing to do that for a good person or a bad person. Is that fair enough?”

  Confusion flickered in her eyes, but only for a moment before the walls of her emotions slammed down again. “I didn’t ask you to take a bullet for me.”

  “Too bad. I’m in. All in, Sloane. Now, tell me the truth.”

  She exhaled, her breath warm on my face, tears pricking her eyes. I nearly sagged in relief. “You can’t tell him about me, Zane. You just can’t.” The tears that she was desperately trying to hold back broke free, cascading down her cheeks. “I’ll tell you, but you have to swear to me that you’ll never tell a soul. Not one person.”

  I had her. She was being honest. Finally. Walking her to the little sofa, I pulled her down next to me and plucked a tissue out of the box on the coffee table and handed it to her. “I swear that I’ll never tell a soul a word that you say to me. But I have to know, Sloane. I have to.”

  With a nod, she wiped her tears away. “My best friend in high school, Beth Harris, contacted me a few weeks ago. She was upset because her husband of five years seemed to be cheating on her. She wants to get a divorce, but they have two kids, a huge home, and lots of money. She’ll get full custody, the home, and most of the money if she can prove he’s having an affair.”

  I was perplexed. Why get an old friend to do such a thing? Why not hire a professional if she was so rich? “And why did she ask you to get this proof?”

  She sniffed but didn’t miss a beat. “She eluded to Charles being into bad things. She said that he knew lots of people and she didn’t know who she could trust. She called me because she knew I wasn’t afraid of danger. I really am a photojournalist. The book writing is made up, but not my job. Being that I’m cool under pressure, she thought I could get the job done.
Take a few pictures and get them back to her, she’d go to a lawyer and file for divorce with evidence in hand.”

  I sat back and rubbed my temples. It was hard to believe, but I had called it. Sloane was out to get evidence of an affair. I felt pretty damn good about my intuition, and now that I knew everything, I felt damn good about Sloane.

  She was one great friend, one brave girl, and I was relieved she wasn’t a thief. “I thought you might be a cat burglar. Hearing that you’re really just a badass friend pleases me to no end.”

  Her hand ran up my arm, a smile playing on her lips. “A cat burglar, really?”

  “Yeah, really. I’ve thought you were a spy or a private eye too.”

  Her laughter was light and gorgeous. “Well, I guess you were close. I am spying on him for a friend, but 007 I am not.”

  I laughed too, thinking I really had let my imagination run off with me. “So, I’m going to help you with this job of yours. I can take lots of pictures in the wide open since we’ll be doing all kinds of things together.”

  She shook her head as her brow furrowed. “No. You can’t do that. It’s very important that neither of us ends up in the pictures. The way my friend talked, the man may be associated with a dangerous gang or the mob or something. If he ever thought either of us gave her that information, then we’d be in mortal danger. Let me get the pictures, Zane. Promise me. I’m supposed to take them with my cell and send them to her. After she gets them to her lawyer, she’ll delete them off her phone, so he’ll never know how she got them.”

  I was impressed. “You two really thought this shit through. I’ve got to hand it to you, but I still want to help. And, quite frankly, now that I know he’s dangerous, I’m going to have to really protect you.” I wrapped my arms around her, snuggling her close to my side. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re kind of growing on me.”

  She kissed my cheek. “You’re growing on me too. I’d like to have you watching my back.”

  I closed my eyes, pulling her closer to me. “While we’re admitting things, I should tell you that I saw you almost naked last night. And what I saw started a fire inside of me. One only you can put out.”

  She ran her arms around my neck. “Why would I want to put that fire out? In fact, I think I’d like to add some fuel, see how hot we can make it burn.”

  Oh, yeah. She was saying what I wanted to hear.

  Pushing my hand under her shirt, I ran it over her bare back. “I knew you’d be as soft as you looked, glowing under the full moon’s light like a silver angel.”

  She flattened her palms as she moved her hands down my back. Her eyes were dark with desire. “Can I tell you something else without you running for the hills?”

  Fuck.

  Could she?

  After taking a deep breath, I was ready to hear what she had to say. “You can.”

  She leaned in very close, her lips almost touching mine. I felt the heat of her words. “Your kiss made fireworks go off inside my head.”

  “Did it now?” I barely touched her lips with mine. “And the one in the café? What did it do to you?”

  “The same damn thing.” She brushed her lips against mine, nipping at my lower one before pulling it into her mouth.

  “I’m not running, and I saw shooting stars. You think that’ll happen again?”

  “Kiss me and let’s find out.”

  Oh, yeah.

  Pulling her close enough that her breasts pressed against my chest, I took her lips, intent on searing our souls together. Yeah, there were shooting stars again, but I didn’t let them scare me. I wanted to see them, and I wanted to know what else this woman could make me see.

  Zaps of electricity moved through me, resulting in a boner that grew at the speed of light. I moved with her until her back was on the sofa and I was pressing her down, grinding our sexes together through our clothes.

  We were both gasping for breath when my mouth left hers to kiss her jaw, her ear, her neck. “Zane, Zane…” I nibbled her neck then gave it a good bite. She groaned, then pushed against my shoulders. “Zane, we’ve got to stop.”

  I exhaled a long breath. “You’re killing me.”

  She groaned again, in frustration this time. “Me too, but we can’t do this now.”

  “Please.” I jutted my bottom lip out, and she laughed before taking it between her teeth.

  She let me go. “Our twenty minutes are almost up.”

  Well… fuck.

  I sank down on her, forcing her to take most of my weight. “Damn. Forgot about them.”

  Her lips brushed the place just behind my ear then she gently bit my earlobe. “Later?”

  Feeling like I weighed a thousand pounds, I pushed myself up onto my hands then to my feet. Her eyes widened and I followed to where she was looking. “See what you do to me?”

  She placed her hand over me, squeezed, and I closed my eyes. “Damn, Zane, you have a monster there.”

  “Set it free, baby. It’s hungry for you.”

  She laughed, which made me laugh, then I abruptly stopped when she began to stroke me again. The fantasy of last night was nothing compared to being with the real woman. The shooting stars had turned into a volcano that was erupting, spreading heat in its path, filling me with more than I knew was possible.

  She sighed and dropped her hand. “We need to change.”

  I stepped back, knowing she was right. “Need help?”

  Very slowly, she rose from the sofa, a big grin on her face. “Later?”

  My cock groaned. I swear it did. “Damn it.” I took her by the chin. “Promise me we’ll come right back here and continue what we started.”

  Her grin was sultry, sexy, and somehow it was also cute as shit. “That is an easy promise to keep. If you still like me after you’ve witnessed me in snorkeling gear, it’s a date.”

  Her ponytail was crooked, her lips swollen from my kisses, and she looked even prettier than she did before. I couldn’t wait to see her after she was freshly fucked.

  “I’m going to fuck you so long and so hard.”

  Those eyes gleamed. “Is that a promise?”

  I smacked her rounded ass. “Absolutely. Now go before I can’t resist any longer.”

  She crossed her arms over my chest. “This is my bungalow.”

  I’m a dork.

  “Well, I’ll go change. I expect to see you in something skimpy when I get back.”

  She stuck out a pinky. I grinned and wrapped mine around hers. “Hurry.”

  Without another word, I was out the door and pulling on board shorts so fast I nearly ripped off my dick. I was going to make sure she got what she needed with the cheating bastard, and we could put her little job behind us so we could get on to more important things.

  Like us.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Sloane

  Looking in the mirror, I smiled at my reflection. My little emotional meltdown worked like a charm, and it was a little embarrassing to be such a good liar. It was kind of hard to make myself appear that weak and pathetic, but one must do what one must do when on a mission. Even if it was acting like a little girl who’d lost her puppy.

  One thing for certain was that I hadn’t faked the way he made me feel with that kiss. He had me tearing myself apart. The sexual side of me thought I should just blow off the snorkeling trip. The agent part of me was thinking I had a job to do and blowing off any outing with the couple could terminate a social connection.

  If we got in good with the couple, they might invite us to all sorts of things, and then I’d be a lot more likely to find out where this money was stashed.

  Then it would be over.

  Which meant Zane and I would be over.

  I wasn’t quite ready for that.

  Pulling a sundress on over my bikini, I was ready to go just as I saw Zane pass by my window. “Ready?”

  I twirled, the skirt of my sundress flying out a bit. “Is this okay?”

  I hadn’t brought man
y clothes that would make me stand out. The bikini was plain black, no frills, but the sundress was pale yellow and see-through. Nothing nearly as sexy as most of the females around the island wore, but Zane looked at me like I was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen.

  His eyes seemed to darken as he came up to me, sliding his arms around my waist. “So okay that I might not be able to keep my hands off you.”

  “Who says you have to?” I ran one finger over his broad shoulder.

  I wanted him to show me affection — for business reasons, of course. It would make us seem more real to Charles and Grace. Things were falling into place quite well for me.

  Running my hand down his arm to link my fingers with his, I pulled him with me so we could get to the dock before the snorkeling expedition took off. The heat between us was off the charts. I thought it had been up there yesterday, now it was ten times hotter.

  Charles and Grace were sitting on one of the four benches, Grace’s head resting on the older man’s shoulder. They waved at us as we came up and Grace grinned. “I was beginning to wonder if you guys had changed your mind about coming with us.”

  “No.” Zane wrapped his arms around me from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder. It sent chills through me as he pressed his body against my back.

  “I had a hard time letting her get dressed, that’s all.” He kissed my cheek.

  I blushed and looked down as heat filled me right along with embarrassment. Grace laughed. “You two are adorable. How long have you been together?”

  I was quick to take on that question, so Zane didn’t mess it up by telling some outlandish lie. That was one thing I knew for sure, people who didn’t lie for a living didn’t know how to do it properly. “He and I met a while back in Pennsylvania. We kept in touch, and he told me he was taking a vacation out here. I thought it’d be fun to come out and surprise him, interrupting his chasing of the other female inhabitants of this island.”

  Zane kissed my cheek again. “I was glad she came to surprise me. The truth is, I’ve been crazy about her for years, but she plays a real tough game of hard to get. I’m not about to let her get away from me again. I’m taking this time to make her see that she’s as crazy for me as I am for her.”