Her head shot up, eyes wide with surprise.
He knew she was a teacher because Katie cited her future mother-in-law as the reason she’d changed her major to education halfway through her sophomore year. He guessed school would resume on the first Monday after the New Year.
“I bought a ticket on Caribbean Air, no changes allowed.”
“You can fly back with me on my plane. Since Katie and Jack won’t be coming back for another week, there will be room.” The whole thing made perfect sense to him, a couple of extra days in the sun for him to wine and dine his way into her good graces. Nothing was more convincing than a fancy hotel and private jet.
She cocked her head at him and her fists hit her hips. “Are you one of those people who want everyone to do things his way, thus making the world perfect?”
Grant abandoned his persuasion with money strategy. Perhaps a little honesty would work. “I am. I’m sorry if I came off so pushy. I only wanted to be sure you had a good time while you were here.”
She fixed him with a glare even the near darkness couldn’t hide. “I was having a good time until a second ago.”
He had one more trick up his sleeve. If this didn’t work, he’d admit he was out of his league with this woman. “Then would you do one thing?”
Chapter 3
God, she was such a sucker for blue eyes. His sparkled and danced enticing her to comply. As if that weren’t enough, his dark hair and Roman nose reminded her of what Aries might have looked like: a beautiful warrior who was accustomed to getting his way.
He continued, putting more than a touch of persuasion in his voice. “I promise I won’t ask for anything else. You won’t even have to speak to me the next time our families get together.”
Abby remembered she’d have to see him every holiday now they were related so it was probably a good idea to make nice. She still didn’t trust him. He switched personas too easily: paternal with Katie, a hard-ass with his employee, and charming with her. “What?” she asked with the same suspicion she used when a student tried to hand her something he’d picked up on the playground. Twenty years of experience had shown her it was usually something she wouldn’t like.
“I want to finish our dance. I had a really cool spin I was planning for our finale I didn’t get to do.”
The man was good. Not only did he offer her something she couldn’t resist, he threw in a measure of guilt to boot—and didn’t wait for her to agree but pulled her to him.
She opened her mouth to point out there wasn’t any music but the French doors leading to the ballroom opened and music from the reception flooded the patio. If she believed in magic, she’d swear he’d willed the unfolding events. Everyone and everything around him seemed to bend to his will.
His smile revealed a pair of dimples. “Perfect.”
He moved the two of them in a small circle, not exactly dancing as much as swaying in time with the music. Then he started humming, a low rumble she couldn’t help but feel since he was holding her to his chest. His hearing must have been better than hers since she couldn’t make out the song. Then again, the sound of blood thrumming in her ears drowned out everything else.
After a moment her heartbeat settled. This was lovely, almost perfect, as he’d declared. Between the sound of the surf and the breeze caressing her neck she let her body relax. Perhaps this was more innocent than she thought. She’d let herself become jaded in the last few years. Not everyone was trying to pull something. He was being nice. “I’m sorry I was rude earlier.”
He looked down at her, his brows arched. “Does this mean you’ve changed your mind?”
“No, I didn’t want to seem ungrateful. You’ve been so generous already.” Abby felt she owed him an explanation. “Even talking about scuba diving makes my palms sweat.” She spent so many years being cautious that the idea of doing anything adventurous seemed foreign. Neither did she want to be in his debt. She valued her independence more than anything.
“Don’t apologize. I like that you stood up for yourself. Katie tells me I can be a bulldozer. It does my ego good to be told ‘no’ once in a while.” He resumed swaying and humming.
It felt good to clear the air. She didn’t want to do anything to make things awkward between them.
Abby wasn’t good at keeping up polite conversation, but he didn’t fill the silence with chatter either. Within seconds her mind wandered down another rabbit trail: luggage to pack, early morning flight to catch, thank you notes to write.
When Grant took a step she wasn’t ready for, his thigh brushed hard against her. The friction burned through her, bringing her back to the here and now and awakened dormant parts of her body. She jerked back to give them some space. The last thing she needed was for him to feel what his contact had done to her breasts. Unfortunately, when she stepped back her heel caught the edge of the pool. Crap! She teetered, unable to regain her balance.
Grant pulled her to him. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t realize we had gotten so close.”
Deftly, he moved them away from the edge. If he noticed her embarrassment or could feel her still pebbled nipples pressing against him, he was gentleman enough to hide it. He moved them to the shadows which was a good thing because he couldn’t see the pink which had bloomed from her neck to her ears.
The bad thing was the darkness only made her more aware of how good his arms felt around her. It took every ounce of self-control to keep her hand resting lightly on his upper arm where it belonged because her fingers itched to take in the strength, to let her hand trail down his arm. The laws of attraction were hard at work making her want what she shouldn’t have.
When the song ended, he stopped moving but didn’t let her go. She tried to ease herself out of his embrace. He only drew her in closer so their bodies connected from her cheek resting on his chest to his hips meeting the soft part of her belly.
“The song is over,” she whispered.
His hand skimmed over her bare back sending shivers down her spine. “I know.”
“You can let go.”
Instead, he kissed her. Lips soft as suede brushed against hers, moving tentatively. Cologne filled her head with its delicious sandalwood scent. His body warmed her to the bone. Abby’s hand moved to his neck and brought him down hard against her lips. When his tongue begged entrance, she opened and let him explore her mouth hungrily. He tasted of whiskey and something wonderfully spicy.
The sound of laughter brought her back to reality and threw cold water on her lust even better than the pool could have. Any number of wedding guests could have strolled by to see her making a fool of herself. Abby broke away, rushing blindly toward the hotel.
Grant was on her before she got two steps away, pulling her to a stop. “Wait.” The lights showed on his face, revealing hooded eyelids and a warrior's scowl.
She had to get away. Not because she feared what he would do to her but what she wanted him to do. She couldn’t trust her self-control to stand there and explain. She shoved him away as if her life depended on it.
Her fear had given her physical if not moral strength. He took a step back. Then she saw what lay behind him. In slow motion she watched his arms pinwheel. She reached out to him and their fingers connected for the briefest second before he slipped from her grasp. Abby watched behind splayed fingers as he fell backward into the water.
By the time she was kneeling at the edge he was breaking the surface. He gasped for air. “Oh God, I’m so sorry,” she cried.
She extended her hand, part help and part peace offering. Instead, he planting his palms against the pool’s apron and catapulted himself out of the water. She scrambled to her feet in time to see him fishing a phone from his pocket.
“I’ll pay to replace it.” More a plea than a promise.
He stared at the thing in his palm as if willing it back to life before running his hand over his scalp. She should have looked for a towel to give him, apologized again, something to make the situation better.
Then he burst out laughing, a deep masculine rumble she would have enjoyed under better circumstances. “I didn’t see that one coming.”
She wrapped her arms around her waist and took a step back. “Again, I’m so sorry. I’ve never…”
wanted someone so much
“...overreacted like that.”
He shoved the phone in his pocket and placed his hand on her arm. Even in the dim light she could see the sincerity in the depths of his blue eyes. “It’s me who needs to apologize. Obviously, I overstepped my bounds.”
She hated him shouldering the blame since she’d wanted the kiss as much as he did. But, admitting as much would only lead him to think she was a cougar who routinely prowled weddings. She extended her hand to him and offered him a smile she didn’t quite feel. “Let’s chalk it up to the romantic atmosphere.”
As he took the hand she offered, he didn’t seem so sure. “Sure, okay, that’s probably what it was.” He looked over his shoulder at the hotel then down at his clothes. “Everyone should be coming out in a few minutes for the fireworks. I guess I need to make myself scarce.”
She took a step toward the hotel. “If anyone asks, I’ll tell them you needed to take a phone call from work.” The fib pricked her conscience because he wouldn’t be taking any calls from his office thanks to her. Once she got back home, she’d have to find a way to make things right with him.
After slipping through the French doors, she took a minute to pull herself together. Just because her insides were in a knot, didn’t mean she wanted to look like a hot mess. She ran her trembling fingers over her hair. Only a hairspray-defying curl had gone astray, and she quickly tucked it behind her ear. Her hopes of blending in with the other guests were obliterated when she looked down. The front of her dress was completely soaked.
She considered returning to her suite but she’d miss the fireworks and bouquet toss. It might not be the most important part of the wedding, but Katie had made a point of asking Abby to be there. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
With the reception drawing to a close, the lights of the ballroom had been raised. To her relief the remaining guests were focused on the main door where the bride and groom would make their final appearance. A gaggle of bridesmaids and Katie’s other single friends were waiting for the bride to throw her bouquet.
Fleetingly, it dawned on Abby her new daughter-in-law might have been planning to throw her the bouquet. The idea of getting married might have been laughable if her mistakes with men weren’t so unfortunate. She couldn’t even manage a simple dance without turning it into a disaster. She eased around the perimeter of the room hoping not to be noticed by the other guests.
“Where have you been?”
She jumped at the sound of Chris’ voice. His gazed slipped from her face down to her dress and back again. “What happened?”
“A wave got me.” Which was mostly true. Except the wave hadn’t been the ocean or even the splash from the pool. She’d been caught up in a tsunami named Grant Davis.
Chapter 4
“Right here’s fine.”
Abby leaped from the backseat of the taxi while it was still moving. She met the poor fellow who was huffing and puffing to keep up with her pace by the trunk and thrust the fare and tip into his hand. Taking her suitcase in one hand and the garment bag in the other, she strode to the automatic doors of the airport. Finally, the knot that had been sitting in her stomach since Grant kissed her began to untangle.
When she reached the check-in desk, not a single light was on, nor a person visible. She checked her watch, three hours till her flight left.
What was wrong with these airlines? Didn’t they know how desperately she needed off this island?
She scanned the lobby hoping to see someone dressed in the bright blue and green uniforms of the Caribbean Air. She’d talk whoever she could find into letting her check in early.
Suddenly the message board blinked to life. As the announcement scrolled past, the knot returned. Her airline, the one from which she’d purchased a nonrefundable, nontransferable ticket back to Atlanta, had gone bankrupt and folded last night.
I can fix this.
She scooted over to another line feeling hopeful again. It was the hometown carrier and surely they could come up with a solution. When her turn came, she put on her best “please help me” smile and approached the ticket agent.
Twenty minutes and a couple, “I’m sorry that’s the best I can do,” replies from the agent and she was left with two choices. She could borrow a thousand dollars from Chris, or see if Turks and Caicos needed any special education teachers. She thanked the agent and stepped aside to make the call.
As she drew her phone from her purse, she formulated a plan to pay back her friend. It was only till she could cash in one of her savings bonds. But, that meant she wouldn’t be remodeling the bathroom this year. Oh well, another year in the 1930s wouldn’t kill her and reminded herself how much she liked the white porcelain fixtures and nickel faucets.
She was about to push the send button when out of the corner of her eye she caught someone approaching. She turned to face the last person she expected or wanted to see. Grant had on perfectly worn jeans, snug white T-shirt, and a pair of aviator sunglasses that reminded her of a taller, better-looking version of Tom Cruise in
Top Gun
. To top it off he was sporting an ear-to-ear grin.
Why did his smile always make her think he was up to mischief?
“Hi,” he said as he thrust the blue silk wrap and matching purse she’d worn to the wedding toward her. “You left these by the pool last night.”
She took her things, tucking them in her carry-on. “Thanks, but you didn’t have to come all the way here just for that.”
He took a step closer, eyeing all five and a half feet of her. “I heard about Caribbean Air and came because I want to offer you something.”
He was close enough she could catch a whiff of his aftershave. Her pulse kicked up a notch as she breathed in the spicy scent. “What?”