by Kelly, Erika
He watched her face screw up with the effort it took to push him over, and he burst out laughing.
“Don’t be a jerk.”
He turned fully to her. “I’m not a jerk. I just saved your life.”
“I’m on a Hobie. In a lagoon.” She blew out an exasperated breath. “I would’ve been fine.”
He gestured toward the other boats in the lagoon. “Everyone’s going back in.”
As she stood there watching the others heading back to shore, her long hair fluttered out behind her, and she looked like a warrior queen. That sexy mouth, those brilliant blue eyes, and that lush body made him want her with a fierceness that completely undid him.
“Stop looking at me like that.” She stepped back, losing her balance and nearly toppling over.
He grabbed her arm, steadying her. “Can you please sit down so I can get us safely to shore?”
She jerked out of his hold. “I can get myself back to shore.”
“In normal conditions you can. But with this wind you could flip. And you’d never get this thing back up by yourself.”
“God, would you stop with the flipping? I wasn’t going to flip.”
“You’ve never done this before, have you?”
She looked away. “Of course I have.”
“Great, Soph. You lied to Sam.”
“I didn’t lie.”
He gave her a weighted look.
“I went to camp on Catalina Island. I took a Hobie out. I think it was a Hobie.”
“When you were twelve?”
She held onto the rail, her hair whipping like ribbons in the wind. Fuck, she was hot. Fierce, sexy, and wildly independent.
“So, fine, thank you for saving me. Now, if you’ll jump off and get back to your day of banging women, we’ll both be happy.”
“Christ.” He’d hurt her. “I’m sorry about last night. I got carried away. You’re a beautiful woman, and I’m obviously attracted to you. I’m sorry I pushed it so far.”
She looked at him for a moment, as though measuring his sincerity. “I don’t blame you for anything other than pirating my boat. Just go, okay? And let me get back to my fun.”
“Take the boat out later with your friends.”
“You know, if I waited for people to do things with me, I’d never do anything. Look, I get it now. It did get a little scary there. But I’m good now. Thank you for helping me, but I’m going to head into that cove and wait out the wind.”
“Soph, I’m not trying to be a dick, but I grew up around boats. I’m serious when I tell you the Hobie’s not safe in these conditions. That’s why he put up the red flag. Let me just get you back to shore, and you can take it out another day. Okay?” The wind whipped his words right back into his face like a hard slap. He should be with his friends. Getting with girls like Carrie. Not fucking up Sophie Valentine’s life.
He had to point a little further away from the wind after the tack so he could gain some speed before heading up to the beach. “Can you please just sit on the trapeze so I can bring her in?”
“You completely ruined my morning adventure. So, screw you.” She shoved him, hard, and he lost his footing but didn’t fall in. “What are you, a duck? Do you have webbed feet? Get off my boat!”
“I’m about to, and so are you. Now jump off and get onto shore so I can bring the boat in.” Ryan motioned for Sam to come and help him, as the boat ground into the sand.
“You suck.” Sophie jumped off and strode away. Her feet left an imprint on the wet sand.
Anger pulsed under his skin, as he helped Sam drag the boat onto shore. Heat prickled under his armpits and sweat popped out on his forehead. He wasn’t normally an asshole.
He didn’t know why he was one now.
When they’d finished, Sam jogged over to help another guest. Ryan flexed his fingers, needing to hurl something. But instead he looked around for Sophie, found her storming across the beach. Where the hell was she going? She hadn’t even bothered to pick up her key card and phone.
Watching her stride away, Ryan’s anger mounted. Too impatient to wait for Sam to finish with the guests, Ryan interrupted. “Hey, can I get my phone?” He glanced over his shoulder to find Sophie hauling it up the beach. “And her stuff?”
“Sure. Yeah.”
He saw the way they all looked at him, like he was some rude prick. But he didn’t care. He had to catch up with her. Sam headed for his desk, reached into a cubby, and handed him her key card and white cover-up, along with Ryan’s own belongings.
“Thanks.” Pocketing his phone, Ryan took off after her.
The beach was empty at this hour, just some workers setting up umbrellas and beach chairs. So he hollered for her. “Sophie.”
She ignored him, sand kicking out with each aggressive stride she took. The round globes of her ass shaking with each hurried step drove him out of his mind. He followed her, the noise in his head so loud he couldn’t think.
He’d give her the damn key card and cover-up, take a shower, and go back to bed. What the hell was he doing getting up so early anyhow? He was on vacation. He rarely had a chance to sleep late.
She hit the arched walkway that led to the pool and disappeared.
“Sophie, dammit.” Fuck him. Fuck this noise in his head. He could leave her stuff at the front desk. It didn’t matter. She didn’t matter.
The moment his feet hit the pavement, he remembered he’d left his gym shoes by the chaise. Which meant he had to turn around, and that just pissed him off even more. Dammit. He didn’t want to turn back and get his damn shoes.
And where the hell had Sophie gone? Didn’t she want her keycard? He didn’t see that bouncing, round ass anywhere. But, holy shit, he could feel her clutching him, feel the press of her body against his. Desire burned through him. She’d been so fucking responsive last night. That’s what it was, really, what had made him so wild. Her response to him.
It was them. Combustible.
He remembered tucking his face into her neck, being surrounded by her scent, her silky hair. Her hands reaching under his shirt—her touch so hungry. Oh, Christ.
His heart pounded. Need burned a fiery path through his limbs. Where the hell had she gone?
He scanned the empty pool, the chaises, and the path to the terrace grill. Stalking towards the hotel, he peered through the glass doors but didn’t see anyone inside. She couldn’t have made it to the elevator that quickly.
The sound of water hitting pavement snapped his attention to the side of the building. To the outdoor showers.
An image sprang to mind. Sophie, naked, water glistening on that peachy skin.
Desire charged through him. Don’t do it. If he went in there, he’d touch her. And he couldn’t do that. She didn’t want it.
Go to your room.
Fuck that. Go to the gym. Work this crazy shit out of you.
He stood outside the hotel, every muscle tensed. A worker rolled a cart of clean towels out a side door and wheeled it toward the wicker towel stand.
But all he could focus on was the water splattering on concrete. Had she taken off her bikini?
None of your damn business. He turned away from the worker, but instead of opening the door to the hotel, he found his feet eating up the path, taking him toward the row of outdoor showers.
He’d just give her the key card and cover-up, and then he’d go. Leave her alone.
Water pooled outside a stall. “Soph?” He knocked, and then called for her again.
The door swung open, and she stood there in her red bikini, soap suds streaming down her gleaming body. Her features softened when she saw the cover-up and phone he held out to her.
Taking them out of his hand, she set them on a wooden shelf. “Thank you.” Then, she stepped under the spray and tilted her head back, her long dark hair streaming over her shoulders.
Holy hell. Desire rushed him so hard his breath went choppy, his knees weak. He closed and locked the door, heading right for her. Her eyes f
lared with surprise, but she didn’t stop him. The look in her eyes set his blood roaring. Heat, need, want burst inside him.
Her chest rose and fell with her rapid breathing. He moved toward her, crowding into her space, needing to touch her more than he needed air.
“I can’t believe you pirated my boat.”
Water splattered his calves, and his spine tingled with a lust so crazy he could barely control it. “It was too windy to be out there.”
She gave him a defiant look. “I don’t like people telling me what to do.”
Or she wasn’t used to it. No one in her family seemed to bother with her. “I’m not going to apologize for worrying about you.”
“Why?” Her voice sounded thin, shaky. Water beaded on her skin.
He was so hard he hurt, but even though he could barely think, he knew she deserved an answer. “Because I like you.”
She let out a shaky breath.
“Fuck, Sophie.” Leaning in, he watched the desire in her eyes turn fiery. Her fingertips traced a path down his chest, making him shudder. He licked the water droplets off her lips, and she sighed into his mouth.
He kissed her—fuck, yes—tongue stroking into her mouth, fingers sliding into wet hair, shoving it off her face. Cupping the back of her head, he shifted her so he could kiss her more deeply. Her mouth, so lush and hot, opened to him, and he lost himself in all the lusciousness that was Sophie Valentine.
Her hands pushed under his arms, moving restlessly over his back, gliding across skin that awakened to her touch. His body hummed. And then she cupped his shoulders, drawing him tightly against her.
Lifting the heavy hair at the back of her neck, he tugged the tie of her bikini top and pulled it down, exposing her gorgeous breasts. Oh, Jesus. Full, plump, round. Her nipples puckered, beaded, and he had to have them in his mouth.
When he cupped her, the bounty of her breasts overflowing his big hands, she sucked in a breath. He caressed her, gently rubbing his thumbs over the hard nipples. Her eyes went all soft with desire, and her back arched, offering herself to him. And so he kissed her, all the while caressing and gently squeezing those plump mounds.
He was losing his mind. “You feel so good, Sophie.” He spread kisses along her jaw, down her neck, and then he pushed her breasts together and licked her deep cleavage. His tongue flicked out, sucking first one nipple and then the other. Her hands clutched the back of his head, holding him tightly to her.
He took his time, savoring the feel of that hard nipple in his mouth, the generous mound in his hand. Those sounds she made—erotic whimpers—and the way her hips rocked with such urgency made him wild.
God, she lit him up. She woke him up. He was aware of everything, the smell of wet concrete, the sting of spray on his ankles. The scent of her body, so feminine, so blatantly Sophie. A little salty, a little floral, a lot sexy.
He reached for her hand and brought it to his dick.
“Okay, okay.” Yanking out of his hold, she pushed at his shoulders. “We have to stop.”
No. Jesus. Ryan closed his eyes, the loss of contact with her body hitting him with a painful jolt. He squeezed his dick to alleviate the unbearable pressure.
“I want this…I mean, obviously I do, Ryan. But I…God, I know myself. I can’t just have sex with you and then…”
The anxiety in her voice tore him out of the sheer, blazing pain of blue balls.
Her hands came up to cover her breasts, her wet hair streamed down her creamy skin, and she looked completely torn apart. “Just…please just go.”
The mix of aching desire and wild frustration overwhelmed him. But he understood. He had nothing to give her beyond a hot fuck in a shower stall. Yeah, he got it. He had to get out of there. Keep away from her, because she drove him out of his mind. Turning, he jammed his hands into his hair, pulling it off his face.
Christ. He could go so fucking hard in her.
But she didn’t want to be used like that. And she shouldn’t. She deserved so much more.
With a shaky hand on the lock, he lowered his head. He was out of control, no question. And it scared the shit out of him. Because it wasn’t getting better. He’d been dealing with this building frustration and aggression for months now, and it wasn’t going away. It was getting worse. Breaking up with Emma hadn’t helped. Taking this break? Only made it worse.
Chancing a look at her over his shoulder, he found her hands behind her neck tying the bikini. “I’m sorry.” And then he walked out.
CHAPTER SEVEN
All Sophie could think about was Ryan’s mouth. The wet, heat of his kisses, the hunger. Pushing him away had been the hardest thing she’d ever done. Because she’d lost herself in him completely.
So hot.
A lovely breeze fluttered the edges of the umbrella sheltering their table on the terrace. Mixed with the briny scent of the ocean, she caught a whiff of the exotic flowers hanging off the trellises surrounding her.
Honestly, this resort couldn’t be more beautiful. And she was with two of her best friends in the world. She forced herself to tune back into their conversation and just be here now.
“Did you guys see the picture I put up on my Facebook page?” Laura Denham, her friend since fifth grade, speared a piece of chicken and shoved it in her mouth. She chewed quickly.
See, this was good. The perfect way to take her mind off Ryan. “I’ll look it up right now.” She pulled her phone out of her bag and swiped the screen.
But as she opened her Facebook app, all she saw was Ryan’s face as he’d kissed her breasts in the outdoor shower. His expression—the utter ecstasy—had given her such a charge. She’d come so close to going all the way. And when he’d brought her hand to his erection…of course she’d wanted him as much as he’d wanted her. Her mind had jumped ahead to pulling his board shorts down. She would’ve loved to feel him in her hands, all hard and hot and soapy slick.
Heat burst in her chest, coursing in fiery pulses along her nerves.
But what he’d said just before—that he liked her? Well, she liked him, too. And giving him her body…she couldn’t do it. Just couldn’t give her whole self like that and then walk away unscathed.
It would kill her. She’d feel used—like he’d had his fun with her and then moved on. She wasn’t cut out for that.
“What do you think?” With her long blonde hair and toned body, Laura had never had an insecure moment in her life. Until now. “Does it look like we’re having a great time together?”
Sophie focused on the picture of Laura with some guy, both looking pretty wasted. “I guess.”
“Let me see.” Kat took the phone from her. After examining the screen, she let out a sigh. “He’s cute. Do you like him?”
Laura shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Sophie hated Laura’s mission to make her ex jealous. Since her recent break-up, she’d been on-edge and brittle. Normally the most confident person she knew, Laura now doubted her choices.
“Look at those guys.” Laura watched a group of men heading toward a table nearby.
“The tall one’s yummy.” Kat’s shoulders pushed back, and she gave a toss of her glossy hair.
Just like that, the guys turned to look at her. Sophie smiled. Yeah, that’s all it took. Kat was a magnet for hot guys.
“Okay, do your magic.” Laura made a sweeping motion. “Laugh or something. Get them to come over here.”
“You guys crack me up.” Sophie set down her fork.
“What?”
“You are two gorgeous women.” She motioned to Laura. “You play volleyball for UCLA. You got recruited to play professionally in Italy.” Then, she gestured to Kat. “You’ve got it going on. Looks, brains, everything. You guys don’t have to work so hard to get a guy.”
“I don’t want a guy,” Laura said. “I just want my ex to think I have one.”
“Well, I want one.” Kat blazed her bright white smile. “And I don’t have a problem admitting it.”
“Okay, well, you’re not going to find true love at Isla de los Amantes. I told you last night the guys who come to this place are looking for hookups not future brides.”
“Oh, come on,” Kat said. “When it happens it happens. We know plenty of hot guys with serious girlfriends.” She drew in a breath, gazing out toward the sea. “What is it about me?”
Laura and Sophie looked at each other. Sophie wasn’t about to lie to her closest friend, so she reached for Kat’s hand. “There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re beautiful, and you have a great personality. But I think you’re expecting sex to turn into love. And it hasn’t. So maybe you should change your expectations.”
“I can’t be like you,” Kat said. “Come on, if Ryan wanted me the way he wants you, I’d dive right in. That’s just how I am. I’m not going to pass that opportunity by because…you just never know.”
“Who?” Laura looked away from the guys settling in at their table. “You met someone?”
“The hottest guy in the resort last night wanted her, and she turned him down.” Kat pushed her plate away.
“He’s not looking for a relationship.”
“That’s what they all say,” Kat said. “What guy says he’s looking for a relationship? But it happens. Look at Dan Archer.”
For three and a half years, the quarterback of the football team had been a total man-whore. But then he’d fallen hard for a pretty freshman from Iowa. No one would’ve expected Dan to be in a serious relationship.
And what if his girlfriend had shared Sophie’s attitude? What if she hadn’t given him a chance? Not that this situation was the same. She and Ryan didn’t even go to schools in the same state. God, listen to me.
He doesn’t want you like that.
“It happens all the time, but you have to be open to it,” Kat said. “And in this situation, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I would never have turned a guy like that away.”
“I didn’t.” Her friends looked confused. “Not exactly.”
Kat stilled. “What?”
“Wait, what happened?” Laura set her fork down. She’d powered through her salad in the seven minutes since it’d been deposited in front of her. The girl was stressed out.
