by Liz Ireland
Cody laughed. “You sound tipsy.”
“I guess I am. Why don’t you have some wine, too?”
“One of us needs to stay sober.”
“Why? We don’t need a designated driver. We could both get pie-eyed if we wanted.” She would dearly like to see Cody as happy as she was.
Happier! she thought generously. Without Cody, she would never have made it out of Heartbreak Ridge. She would still be facing a life sentence with her brothers.
Yet ever since they’d arrived in Mexico, Cody had seemed broody. And worse than that, he kept looking at her with those stark blue eyes of his in a way that made her very uncomfortable. Every time his eyes met hers, she felt shivery all over…especially when she thought about that double bed waiting for them in their room.
But maybe that was just the wine, too. Cody had been nothing but a gentleman since their engagement, and she sincerely doubted that he was going to turn into a wolf now that they were married…much as she might secretly want him to.
That was the problem, she realized. That was why she felt as if her whole body was flooded with electricity, why she kept guzzling wine—as if that would douse the fire smoldering inside her. It was a strange phenomenon she’d never experienced with such intensity before: sexual frustration.
Her cheeks heated, and she let out a nervous stream of laughter. “Okay, if you don’t want to drink, how about a dance?”
A small salsa combo was playing at one end of the restaurant in front of a dance floor that was already crowded. Anything would be better than sitting still with no one to look at but Cody, who seemed to be doing a bang-up job of reining in his animal desires. Maybe if she were moving, dancing, she would be able to release some excess energy and get herself under control.
Cody shook his head. “That’s not a good idea.”
She reached out to him. “Come on, groom, let’s have some fun on our big day.”
That searing gaze of his pierced her again, making her flush right down to her toes. “Don’t you want dessert?”
“We’ve already had dessert,” she reminded him.
“Since when did that ever stop you?”
She laughed. “I’m a bride. I’m being dainty.”
She’d meant it as a joke. In her new hot-pink Mexican outfit, she felt anything but dainty!
Cody, however, wasn’t laughing. In fact, he seemed to be giving the matter grave consideration, the way a general might consider sending troops into battle. “I suppose some exercise might actually help.”
She tilted her head, a little concerned. “Help what? Are you stiff?”
He didn’t reply to that. “One dance.”
“Hot dog!” She jumped up, grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the dance floor.
Ruby had never had a dance lesson in her life, but that didn’t stop her from going native. She spent a few awkward, frenetic moments of staring at what other people were doing before she caught on to the simple steps that seemed to make her sway and wriggle automatically to the seductive rhythm of the music. Ten minutes later, she was practically an expert.
Cody was hesitant to follow her lead.
“C’mon.” She coaxed him with a wink and sexy smile, then placed his two hands on her hips as she rested her hands on his shoulders. “It’s easy.”
His expression was an agony of indecisiveness for a moment, until finally, at long last, something in him seemed to snap. His hands tightened on her hips, pulled her forward, and with an oomph! of surprise, she found herself practically plastered to his body, stepping in time to the music. His forehead touched hers, and a big grin broke out on his face.
Suddenly, the mild-mannered Texas deputy had more energy than an entire flamenco troop. And she had wondered if he could dance! Maybe he wasn’t the most graceful man on the floor, but he was definitely the most enterprising, and to her mind, at least, the best-looking. The sexiest, for sure. Hands down.
But if she’d thought dancing would be a release of energy and a way to calm her jittery wedding-night nerves, she was mistaken. Just the opposite. Having Cody’s hands around her, having his body touching her so intimately, was whipping her into even more of a frenzy, so that by the end of the dance, she was clinging to him not only because they were dancing, but because it seemed his grasp was all that was keeping her rubbery-kneed frame upright.
His sexy blue eyes gazed into hers as the music changed. “How about a tango?”
“How about dessert?” she countered breathlessly.
He grinned. “You’ve already had it, remember?”
“Then let’s take a walk,” she suggested, feeling the need suddenly to get away from the sexy, insistent rhythms that were putting the most tempting ideas into her head.
Outside, the evening was picture-postcard perfect. The air smelled of jasmine and hummed with music, the moon was bright on the cobblestone streets, and she was walking arm-in-arm with Cody. Getting away from the music hadn’t helped at all. With every step, her awareness of him grew, as did her need for him.
Before they rounded the corner of the street their hotel was on, she decided to go for broke. She stopped and turned. “Do me a favor?”
One of his dark blond brows lifted inquisitively.
“Kiss me?” she asked.
His eyes darkened, and after just the briefest hesitation, he did kiss her. His lips touched hers and, for an instant, she felt herself transported to somewhere romantic, exotic, wild. Then, with a gasp of realization, it struck her that she wasn’t transported—she was already there! In Mexico.
In Cody’s arms.
His tongue danced with hers expertly, making her shiver with pleasure. They were mostly in shadow on the empty street, Cody leaning against stucco wall. As his hands lazily roamed her back in a seductive, messaging motion, she melted against him, aching to get closer. She stood on tiptoe, slanting her mouth to give him better access, and when he hauled her against him so she could feel his manhood straining inside his jeans, the possibilities tantalized her so she couldn’t help but moan in pleasure.
She shouldn’t feel this way. Couldn’t.
But she did.
Cody pulled away enough to look into her eyes. His breath was ragged. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“I wanted you to!”
He chuckled. “Not half as much as I did, believe me.”
She grinned. “Cody, I have a request.”
“What?”
“Make love to me.”
“What?” He held her at arm’s length.
“Don’t be shocked. After all, we are married.”
He didn’t smile as he reminded her, “It’s not a real marriage.”
“Yes, it is. The preacher said so, remember?” She snaked her hands around his neck and let her fingers tease the soft hair there. “And since we’re really married, there’s no reason we shouldn’t do real married things.”
He froze. “Yes, there is.”
“We’re adults. Why shouldn’t we make this a real honeymoon?”
“Because we’re filing for a divorce as soon as we set foot back on American soil. This was just going to be a little holiday, remember? A prelude to your really getting away from Heartbreak Ridge?”
She sighed, annoyed. “We are away from Heartbreak Ridge.”
“But I’m going back there. For keeps. And I wouldn’t want to live with myself thinking that you were my friend and we ended it by having a tawdry little fling.”
She drew back. “It wouldn’t be tawdry!” Although, now that she thought about it, the phrase tawdry little fling had a certain appeal. Pressing herself against Cody, some fairly intriguing tawdry ideas occurred to her. She grinned. “Or would it?”
He looked into her eyes, and for a moment she detected raw hunger in those blue orbs. Would he relent?
This was a new situation for her. At the rare moments when she’d made it to this sensitive juncture with a man, it had always been she who slammed on the brakes. The truth w
as, while her brothers had ruined many a romance, she had ruined a few, too—because some men didn’t want to be bothered with a woman who wouldn’t go to bed with him, and she didn’t want to sleep with a man who wasn’t absolutely perfect, with someone who felt, after buying her a cheeseburger and a movie ticket, that she owed him something.
Cody had done considerably more than cheeseburgers. For her sake, he had married her. She owed him more than she could say, but the feeling roiling in her wasn’t gratitude. It was desire, and some warm emotion she couldn’t begin to put a name to.
Cody shook his head. “Ruby, you’re a virgin.”
“That’s the problem, remember?”
“It’s not a problem.”
“It is when I’ve waited all this time and now even my husband doesn’t want to sleep with me.”
“I’m only your husband for the duration of the honeymoon.”
“Then let’s make this a honeymoon to remember,” she suggested. “Then, when it’s all over, we can look back on our time together with smiles on our faces.”
He put his hands on her shoulders, which she supposed was intended to calm her down but had the exact opposite effect. Cody had large, graceful hands. Expressive hands. Sensual hands.
Her observation was perhaps gratuitous, because from the stoic look in his eyes, holding hands seemed to be as far as this relationship was going to go.
“That’s not how I operate, Ruby, and I don’t think it’s how you operate, either. Making love shouldn’t just be a passing thing. It should be a commitment.”
She frowned. She supposed that was how she operated. But damn it, how did he know that? If all her romantic conquests came to a crashing halt at this critical juncture, she was in for a pretty bleak future.
She stepped back, arms akimbo. Her motor, which was revved up for love, apparently would forever be idle. “From now on I’m going to have to operate differently, or I’ll never have any fun. How am I supposed to have adventure and romance? What on earth was the point of getting out of Heartbreak Ridge if I’m going to have scruples?”
He shrugged, chuckling. “You’re going to have to figure that out for yourself.”
“You’re being a big help!” she said sarcastically as they started walking. In the middle of the street, she stopped. “Would it have been any different if I’d told you I wasn’t a virgin, that I’d slept around with a dozen guys?”
“But you are a virgin. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gone to the lengths of marrying me to get yourself out of Heartbreak Ridge, remember?”
“But just suppose…” Suddenly, she wanted to see how ironclad Cody’s ethics were when it came to women.
He looked at her long and hard, and as he did, the heat flared in those blue eyes of his again. For a moment she wondered if the Scout could be swayed. Anticipation coiled inside her.
So this was what desire was like, she thought in shock. What it was like to really, really want someone…
And then he shook his head. “It wouldn’t make any difference, Ruby. Not with you.”
Every blood cell inside her screamed in protest. He was saying no! Her first real effort at seduction—with her own husband, for heaven’s sake—was a dismal failure!
“Well, this is great.” Her words were almost a snarl as she fell into step beside him. “I’m in Mexico, on my honeymoon, and my husband respects me so much he wants me to save myself for some Antonio Banderas look-alike!”
When Cody chuckled mirthlessly, she wheeled on him in frustration. “If we’re not going to sleep together, what the heck do you suggest we do?”
He let out a ragged sigh, then forced a grin. “How about sight-seeing?”
9
THIS WAS the least restful honeymoon Cody ever hoped to have.
For three entire days, he and Ruby had been on the go. First they shopped. Or rather, he watched while Ruby dashed through little stores and outdoor markets picking up souvenirs—jewelry and clothes and piñatas. Tortilla presses and juice squeezers and all sorts of kitchenware, planters and vases. They bought so much stuff, they had to buy new suitcases to load it all in.
When they were worn out from shopping, they fortified themselves by eating. Even that was exhausting. Cody had always liked Mexican food, though he soon discovered that enchiladas were just the beginning. He and Ruby became Mexican food junkies, downing vast meals of soups made from cactus, shrimp by the dozens flavored with lime and pepper, incredible pastries filled with cheese and spicy sauce. And when they were on the streets, they would stop for tacos and barbecued meat and caramel made from goat’s milk. He ate until he thought he would pop, if for no other reason than he hoped it would tamp down another hunger he was suppressing—his hunger for Ruby.
But it didn’t.
They visited every church, mission and cathedral within a hundred-mile radius. They saw waterfalls and lakes. They spent hours exploring beaches. Not sitting on beaches, mind you. Exploring them. Lying in the sand and sunning would have been one step away from ripping all their clothes off and throwing scruples to the wind. So they hunted seashells and crabs and looked at rock formations. They jumped in the waves and swam until they were worn out.
And he wore out easily these days because he hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since arriving in Mexico. After their argument the first night, he’d decided that both of them in the double bed should be avoided at all costs, so he’d slept on the floor. The man who made this tile obviously hadn’t done so with an eye toward a good night’s rest.
Of course, he’d immediately thought he should go get another room. That would solve a lot of their problems, certainly his back problems. On the other hand, they were registered as husband and wife, and the hotel clerk was bound to think something strange was going on when newlyweds suddenly requested separate rooms. Besides which, Ruby had already been fussing nonstop about his sleeping on the floor, and threatening to get another room herself, and he’d only kept her from spending the extra money to do so by insisting that the floor was perfectly comfortable and that he was used to a hard mattress anyway. If he bugged out now, she would know he’d been lying.
But as they dragged back into their hotel room at the end of the third day, Cody had reached the end of his tether. The double bed with its soft cotton bedspread looked so welcoming, so soft and comfortable, that he couldn’t help flopping onto it. He was so exhausted he barely noticed the squeaking and bumping as Ruby lay down next to him.
“My legs ache,” she moaned.
He grunted.
“I’ve shopped till I can’t walk anymore,” she elaborated.
He draped his arm over his eyes, blocking out the last rays of afternoon sun pouring through their windows. “That’s okay. If you walked, you’d only walk to a market, and if you did that, you’d just spend more money. And you told me yesterday you were broke.”
“Mmm. I am. And I think I’ve got a sunburn from the beach, too.”
She did. He’d been smiling at her pink cheeks all day. He grinned just thinking about them.
“Not to mention, I’m so full I could pop,” Ruby said. “I’m so stuffed I don’t want to eat dinner.”
“Me, neither.”
The mattress jostled as Ruby moved closer. She put her hand on his shoulder and rubbed. He would have gotten up, except that she was rubbing the exact place that ached the most—the point where his shoulder dug into the tile as he was supposedly trying to sleep. “Mmm…”
“Feel good?”
He groaned as she continued to massage the muscle in a soothing, circular motion. “Feels great.”
“You know what else would feel great?”
He lifted his arm so he could look at her. She wore a mischievous grin.
“A kiss.”
He groaned again, but this time bolted up to sit.
She hopped after him, grabbing those sore shoulders; she knew they were his Achilles’ heel. “It’s just that I keep thinking about it, and I know you do, too. Isn’t that why we�
�re going, going, going all the time until my feet feel like lead? Isn’t that why I’ve spent every penny I brought and have gained ten pounds in three days?”
“I guess.” So it wasn’t working for her, either.
“Cody, if we keep this up, by the time I get back to the States I won’t be in any kind of shape for running off and having adventures. I’ll be too tired and too fat to move. So wouldn’t it be better if you just kissed me?”
She had a crazy sort of logic going for her. Maybe it would be better just to kiss and let the chips fall where they may. He was tempted. He’d considered it a hundred times in the past couple of days. Even if they ended up getting carried away, what did it really matter? After all, no one would blame him for having sex with his own wife, no one at all.
He looked at her and felt his resistance melting like an ice cube on a radiator. She was so beautiful, she made his heart stop. He wasn’t sure when platinum blond hair, shiny brown eyes and a pert, upturned nose had become his ideal, but he couldn’t remember wanting anything else. He couldn’t imagine wanting any woman other than Ruby for the rest of his life. And the way she was looking at him, with her eyes misty and her red lips parted, he couldn’t imagine that she could ever want another man, that she would ever leave him.
But she would.
In all their time together, that had been the one constant refrain. She wanted out of Heartbreak Ridge. He’d gone along with her because he understood her dreams, had sympathized.
But he felt as if there were something hot and sharp piercing his heart. He couldn’t believe it was Cupid’s arrow, but maybe it was. He suspected it had been embedded there for weeks and that it would be stuck there for a long time to come.
He shook his head. “I don’t want to have a fling with my wife.”
Her parted lips parted even further, and she sucked in a shallow breath, as if she’d just realized something. Something important.
“Oh, Cody, I don’t want to have an affair with you, either!”
