The volleyball game had been one of the many organized activities on today’s agenda, along with an eighteen-hole game of golf, a hiking expedition, a scavenger hunt and a lesson in culinary cooking. There seemed to be something for everyone, and while he had no interest in any of those offerings because it meant making inconsequential small talk with people who’d once taunted him, he was curious which events Ali had opted for.
He didn’t have to wonder for long. A woman exiting the hotel caught his eye, and he glanced in her direction, immediately recognizing Ali’s silky blond hair and striking features, even though she was wearing a pair of sunglasses. She’d hidden the shape of her curves beneath a flowing purple thigh-length cover-up, and wore sandals on her feet. A large tote bag was slung over her shoulder and she picked up a towel from the attendant.
She was all alone, and his hands gripped the patio railing as he watched and waited to see where she was going. But instead of joining either the volleyball game or the other women lounging poolside, Ali slipped down a paved pathway that led to the resort’s low-key lagoon, a place set aside for those who wanted more privacy and relaxation.
She disappeared from sight, but now that he’d seen where she’d gone, he knew exactly how he was going to spend his afternoon. Heading back into his room, he changed into a pair of swim trunks, slipped into a pair of flip-flops and made his way to the lagoon. The pathway gave way to a lush, tropical area, surrounded by rock formations, crystal-blue water and even a few waterfalls. Where the main pool area was high energy, this place was tranquil and pure Zen. And best of all, he didn’t recognize anyone from his reunion.
He spotted Ali reclining on a lounge chair across the way, her sunglasses perched on top of her head, the upper half of her body shaded by a large palm tree, and her long, bare legs soaking up the sun’s warm rays. She was totally engrossed in the e-reader she held in her hand.
He started toward her, enjoying the few moments he had to take in the tantalizing vision of Ali in a two-piece bathing suit. Black and trimmed in gold, the top and bottom accentuated her feminine curves in all the right ways. While her choice of swimwear was modest compared to the other micro-string bikinis and thongs that covered just the bare essentials he’d seen at the main pool, he much preferred a suit that left a little to the imagination. Like Ali’s.
But there was still a helluva lot of creamy skin exposed for his admiration. As he neared, his mouth went dry as dust as he thought about running his hands up her slender legs and supple thighs, feeling them tremble beneath his flattened palms. Her belly was flat and toned…and pierced with a dangling crystal sunflower, hinting at a bit of a naughty side to her good-girl personality. Her full breasts were completely covered by her halter-style top, but there was no denying she had a gorgeous rack, the kind that deserved to be worshipped with the caress of his fingers, the heat of his mouth, the stroke of his tongue over the pert nipples he’d felt beneath her bra last night.
Before his imagination caused the lower half of his body to rise to the occasion, he shut off those lustful thoughts and stopped besides Ali’s chair. “Hey, there.”
She’d been so lost in the book she was reading that she didn’t hear his approach and glanced up at him in startled surprise. “Oh, hi!”
“Hi, yourself.” He grinned down at her, deliberately keeping his gaze above her neck. From what he could tell, other than a bit of gloss on her lips, she wore no makeup, and she was still beautiful, her skin flawless. “Enjoying the day?”
“I am.” Her eyes, the color of rich moss, held a hint of reserve. “How about you?”
“I am now,” he said, making it very clear she was the reason his day had just gotten brighter. “Mind if I join you?”
That wariness remained. “Um, sure. I guess.”
Her response was less than enthusiastic, and after last night, he was expecting a more welcoming reception. Taking his cue from her, and hoping to hell he’d misread the whole situation, he offered her an easy way out. “If you want to be alone, I completely understand.”
She hesitated a moment, then clearly relaxed. “No, sit down. Really. I want you to,” she assured him and waved a hand toward a nearby lounge chair. “I just didn’t know what to expect after the way you ditched me last night.” She bit her bottom lip uncertainly.
He resisted the urge to smack himself in the head when he realized the thoughts that must have gone through her head. Yeah, leaving last night without an explanation might not have been the best decision on his part, especially after the way he’d rejected her back in high school. It probably felt like déjà vu for her.
“Ali, I didn’t ditch you,” he said, his tone emphatic. He never meant for her to think he’d blown her off. “Ditching implies I didn’t want to be with you. And that’s the furthest from the truth.”
She set her e-reader aside, still not looking completely convinced. “Then why did you leave?”
He dragged the chaise close to her chair and sat down, deciding that the truth was the simplest, and easiest, explanation. “I knew if we spent any more time together, I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands to myself.”
Her face flushed from the sexy overtone of his words, but she appeared relieved to know his reasons for leaving her had been honorable. “Okay, fair enough. Though I don’t think that would have been a bad thing.”
“Good to know,” he said, and chuckled, glad to know she wasn’t opposed to more kissing, and touching, and other things.
In full view of the sun, he pulled off his T-shirt and settled more comfortably on the lounge chair, unable to miss the appreciative look in Ali’s eyes as her gaze dropped below his neck. Not that he minded. As an adolescent, he’d been tall and gangly. Thank God he’d filled out over the years. He still wasn’t into sports, but he did enjoy strength training and cardio, and that had gone a long way in defining muscles and developing his build.
“How come you’re not out doing one of the many planned activities for today?” he asked.
“Organized events aren’t my thing.” She shrugged, the movement causing her breasts to bounce oh-so-enticingly.
Yeah, he looked. He was male, for crying out loud, and it was impossible not to appreciate those twin works of art. “I know what you mean,” he agreed, quickly switching his gaze back up to her face, because lingering for more than a few seconds stepped over the line to ogling. “I’m more of a one-on-one kind of guy.”
A slow, sultry smile curved up the corners of her mouth. “You do one-on-one very well.”
Her flirtatious tone and the insinuation in her words shot heat straight to his groin. “So, no golf or game of bikini Twister for you?”
She shuddered at the mention of the latter. “Bikini Twister is a just a little too up close and personal for me, especially with people I don’t care to be up close and personal with. I’m very happy just to relax for the day. In fact, I even scheduled a hot stone massage and facial for this afternoon.”
“Nice.” He tipped his head curiously at her. “By the way, I thought I saw your best friend’s name on the roster. Is Renee here at the reunion?” If she was, Will wondered why Ali wasn’t spending her free time with her friend.
“Yes, she came to the reunion, but not to hang out with old classmates,” she said, answering his silent question. “Do you remember her old boyfriend, Jake Copeland?”
The name was familiar, and he thought for a moment until the recollection settled in. “Yeah, Jake was in my English lit class our senior year.” He’d also been one of the few guys who had been decent to Will.
“That’s who she’s with all weekend long. The two of them reconnected a few weeks ago online and decided to meet up here.” Ali grinned, obviously happy for her friend. “Renee didn’t make it back to our room last night, so I’m assuming everything is going well between her and Jake.”
“Good for them,” he said, just as a poolside waiter came up to them and delivered a small tray of fruit with some kind of dip and a glass of iced tea for A
li, which she must have ordered before he’d arrived.
“I’m happy to share my fruit with you,” she said as she signed the receipt for the items. “Would you like something to drink?”
He shook his head and told the waiter, “I’m fine right now, thanks.”
Once the guy was gone and they were alone again, she picked up a strawberry and dipped the tip into some kind of white, fluffy concoction. Will watched her take a bite, closing her eyes and moaning as she chewed. When her lashes fluttered back open, she looked like she’d just experienced ecstasy.
“Oh, my God,” she groaned. “This is the sweetest, juiciest strawberry I’ve ever had.” She picked up another and immersed it in the creamy dip. “Here. You have to try one,” she said, offering him a bite.
While he could have taken the fruit from her and eaten it himself, he went with the spontaneous urge to grasp her wrist and tugged her hand up to his mouth. He took a bite of the strawberry, which smeared the delicious, marshmallow cream dip onto her fingers, giving him the perfect excuse to lick them clean—slowly, sensuously.
Her eyes darkened, her breath quickened, and her hand went limp as his tongue lapped along her fingers, and sucked them into his warm, wet mouth. “Mmm, very juicy and sweet,” he agreed as he nibbled on one sensitive tip.
She visibly shivered, her nipples peaking against her bikini top, and not because she was cold. After retrieving her hand back, she abruptly stood and tossed the sunglasses still perched on her head onto the chaise. “Okay, I think I need to jump into the pool to cool off after that,” she said, her voice filled with humor, probably to ward off the heated awareness that had settled between them. “Care to join me?”
He folded his hands over his stomach, preferring to watch rather than participate. “You go ahead. I’m good.”
The view as she walked away was worth a million bucks. Her slim waist flared into nicely rounded hips, and she had an ass that was high and firm and connected to long, slender legs that prompted images of how they’d feel wrapped around him tight in the throes of passion. She could have easily posed for Playboy and made a fortune with that centerfold body, but he loved that she wasn’t one to exploit herself, or her sensuality. But he had no doubt she’d give it all to one special man, and he wanted to be that lucky guy who laid final claim not only to her body, but her heart.
The possessive thought initially startled Will, but he couldn’t deny that Ali still had a hold over him, that there were still feelings between them that could lead to something far more lasting than a weekend fling. But first he had to be honest with her, something he planned to do tonight.
She dove beneath the surface making a minimal splash, and swam the length in steady, even strokes. She did a few laps, then took the steps back out of the pool, rising like a gorgeous, tempting water nymph—blond hair slicked back, droplets falling off her body, her skin wet and gleaming, and tempting him to run his hands over all that sleek, slick flesh. Or his tongue. Oh, yeah, he liked that idea. A whole lot.
His private little fantasy made him grow hard and he shifted on his lounge chair for a more comfortable position. Hell, maybe he should have gone in for a cold dip, too.
Stopping next to his chaise, she squeezed the excess moisture from her hair, then grabbed her towel and took her time drying off. “That felt really good.” She sighed like a woman who’d just indulged in some incredible sex.
He clenched his jaw. Jesus, she was killing him. She stood directly in front of him, putting Will at eye level with the crux of her thighs and the material that clung to that sweet spot hidden beneath her bikini bottoms. Desperately needing to focus on something less enticing, especially since they were out in public, he shifted his gaze higher. The pretty crystal belly ring she wore sparkled in the sunlight, catching his attention, and he reached out and touched the dangling bit of jewelry.
“I like your sunflower.” Geez, even that sounded sexual.
“Thanks.” Oblivious to where his mind had wandered, she laid her damp towel over her chair and sat back down, stretching out like a pagan goddess. “I pierced my navel in a small act of rebellion after my breakup, but I actually really like it. It reminds me that I need to make choices for me, and no one else.”
She’d never struck him as the defiant type, but she’d obviously felt the need to exert independence after she found herself standing at the altar with no groom. Last night, she’d managed to skirt the issue of the painful details about what had happened the day of her wedding. But now, he took a chance and brought it up because he wanted to know what had gone wrong. How could any man have been foolish enough to walk away from a kind, caring and beautiful woman as Ali, who, to him, was the complete package?
“What happened, Ali?” he asked.
She didn’t pretend to not know what he was referring to. She slipped her sunglasses back on, possibly to shield her expressive eyes from him as she looked his way. “Michael was a nice enough guy,” she said, her tone slightly apprehensive, as if she really didn’t want to talk about her past, but didn’t want to keep it from him, either. “He’s a partner at a big law firm in Chicago, and my parents instantly loved him. After five months of dating he asked me to marry him.”
She gave a small shrug. “At the time, it seemed so easy to say yes. He told me I fit perfectly into his life, and I think that was part of the problem. I fit into his life on a professional level, but not a personal, intimate level. I was great at being the quiet, supportive girlfriend who accompanied him to dinners and work functions, who looked the part of an attorney’s wife, but there was no real passion between us. I wasn’t happy like a woman should be when she’s about to marry the love of her life…because he wasn’t the love of my life.”
Will listened intently, though he remained quiet, letting her tell the story in her own way, in her own time.
“Michael was obviously having doubts, too, though we never really talked about it, which was another huge flaw in our relationship. We just didn’t talk the way a couple should.” Her hair had begun to dry in soft, loose curls, and she tucked them back behind her ear. While her eyes were still shaded from his view, there was no concealing the raw emotion in her voice. “The day of this big, grand wedding, I was a mess, and my mother assured me that it was all normal wedding day jitters. But I knew she was wrong, that getting married to Michael was wrong. Still I was so afraid of disappointing everyone and causing a big scandal by calling off the marriage. Pretty stupid, huh?”
“Not at all,” he said softly, refusing to judge Ali or the situation. “I’m sure it was a very difficult thing to go through.”
She nodded, seemingly grateful that he understood. “About a half hour before I was supposed to walk down the aisle, Michael came to see me and told me he couldn’t marry me. He said he wasn’t happy and he’d made a huge mistake. And that easily, it was over.”
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, because it seemed the right thing to say.
She shook her head. “He did the right thing. We both would have been miserable in the long run. I mean, don’t get me wrong, his rejection hurt and the situation was humiliating. People gossiped and speculated for months about what I’d done to make Michael call off the wedding. I have to admit, that part had been tough.”
Will couldn’t help but see the similarities between her broken engagement, and the way he’d treated her back in high school. He remembered the gossip that had run rampant throughout the school after he’d canceled their date, the hurtful rumors that had put Ali in the spotlight, and not in a good way. At the time, he honestly believed he’d been doing her a favor, that he never really had a real shot with her anyways. Now, seeing the situation as an adult ten years later, he knew better.
She reached out and picked up a slice of peach from the tray and took a bite. “As difficult as all that was with Michael, it made me realize that I can’t settle. I want passion. And I deserve to be happy, no matter what choices I make. And every choice I’ve made since then has been for me, be
cause it’s what I want, and not because I think it’s the right thing to do.”
He heard the strength and determination in her voice, and smiled. “Are you happy now?”
Her gaze met his, her irises a bright green shot with threads of gold. “At this moment? Very,” she said meaningfully, her answer telling Will that she’d included him in her equation. “Though there’s always room for a little more happiness in my life.”
“And passion.” He grinned wickedly.
“Yeah, that, too,” she said, her voice dropping to a husky pitch.
Her phone beeped, and she picked it up to read the text message that just came through. “Looks like it’s time for me to check in for my massage and facial.”
She stood up and started gathering her things, but before she left, Will wanted to ask her something. It was ridiculous, but even now, ten years later, he felt a little nervous asking her out. “Ali, are you going to the reunion’s dinner and dance tonight?”
She’d been bending over to grab her bag, tormenting him with another glimpse of her ass before she straightened and glanced at him, a tentative look in her eyes. “Depends on who is asking.”
“I am.” The sun shone behind her, and he had to squint to see her face. Her expression seemed a bit reserved. “Would you go with me?”
A slow smile curved her lips. “Are you asking me out on a date, Will Beckman?”
Oh, yeah, déjà vu. Those were the same words she’d spoken ten years ago, when he’d tried, albeit so very awkwardly, to invite her to the movies with him. “Yes, I am.”
She thought for a too long moment, probably to make him suffer a bit. Then she finally let him off the hook. “I’d love to go to the dinner and dance with you. You can call my room later, number 641, and let me know when you’ll be by to pick me up.”
The Guy Most Likely To...: Underneath It AllCan't Get You Out of My HeadA Moment Like This Page 10
