Now, with him deep inside her, she felt every twitch of his muscles. He lit her up, a match to gasoline.
“Ah, my Sophia,” he whispered. “My beautiful, beautiful Sophia.”
In that moment, an emotion unlike anything she’d ever before experienced overtook her. She couldn’t name it, but she felt it to the center of her soul.
He moved purposefully, the rhythm easy and languid. He was, after all, a purposeful man. She whimpered and pressed against him, urging him to pick up the pace, but he only laughed and went even slower.
The pressure built, tight and heavy. She was acutely aware of every breath, every pulse beat. He cupped her buttock as he slid in and out, building momentum, working toward something grand.
Soft mewling sounds escaped her throat, slipped into the darkened room to mingle with his pleasure-induced groans. His mouth burned the back of her neck, hot and erotic, tender and loving, but he never lost the rhythm. Their bodies were joined, fused, perfectly matched. Each movement elicited more delight, more surprise.
Then he rolled onto his back, took her with him, turning her around until she straddled him. Their gazes met and Sophia dropped into the exciting comfort of his eyes. He locked his hands around her waist, helping her move up and down on his hard, long shaft.
Swept away, she quickened the pace. Gibb met her challenge, raising his hips up, digging his heels into the mattress, giving her a ride to end all rides. He kept at it, chasing her pleasure with a devotion that dizzied her.
Higher and higher he drove her toward climax. She smiled at him and he laughed with delight. At the peak, she cried out his name.
He followed right behind her, and together they flew high into the blue sky, soared the wind currents and touched the stars.
He held on to her protectively as she buried her face at his neck. She drew in the scent of him. This was the smell of their lovemaking. They clung to each other, quivering and spent.
Gibb stroked her, murmured sweet nothings until her heart rate returned to normal and her body had stilled.
“I’ve never felt so special,” she whispered.
“That’s because you are special.” He lifted her chin, looked deeply into her eyes again. “You are one in a billion, Sophia Cruz.”
14
S
OPHIA
’
S
PLAN
WAS
to creep out of the motel room before dawn, sneak like an orchid thief into the night before Gibb awoke. The thought of goodbye choked her up inside, but she’d no more than laid her hand on the doorknob, her clothes clutched to her chest so she could dress in the outer room, when he said, “Running out on me, Amelia?”
She paused, turned back to look at him. He was propped up on his elbows, his hair sexily mussed, his eyes dark and inviting. It took everything she had in her not to crawl back into bed with him and make love to him all over again.
“Um,” she said. “I thought I’d just get out of your hair.”
He sat up, patted the end of the mattress. “Come here.”
She shouldn’t go, but damn her she did, creeping back to him, using her red sundress to conceal her nakedness. “What is it?”
“I just wanted you to know that the last two days have been the best of my life.”
She laughed. “That’s kind of sad. We crash landed on a deserted island, had passion fruit chucked at us by spider monkeys, thwarted orchid thieves—”
“My point exactly. Being with you is fun, Sophia.”
“If we were together all the time it wouldn’t be like this. It’s only because things were strange and new. A big adventure.”
He picked up her hand, pressed his lips against her knuckles. “You think the way we steam up the sheets isn’t special?”
“It’s special.” She nodded. “But we come from different worlds.”
“Cultural differences can be negotiated with understanding and patience.”
“That’s not the difference I’m talking about. I’m American enough to bridge that gap.”
He stroked her cheek with a finger. “What is it, then?”
“You’re rich, I’m not. You’re a mover and shaker who is always reaching for the stars. I’m perfectly content spending my life just flying tourists from Libera to Bosque de Los Dioses.” She gave him a sad smile. “Although eventually, when you get your transportation system up and running, I won’t even have that.”
“I told you that you could come work for me.”
She stood up, put on the sundress, backed away from him. If he kept touching her, she would agree to anything he asked. “I’m not Cinderella waiting for some handsome prince to sweep me off my feet. I’m not Blondie. I need an equal partnership, not a sugar daddy.”
“I wouldn’t try to control you.”
She had to laugh at that. “Of course you would. You can’t help yourself. You control people through your money. That’s why money is so important to you. Your best friend can’t even live the life he wants without your interference. You simply can’t accept that Scott would rather be with the woman he loves than make millions on a project with you. You’ve got to understand something, Gibb. Money isn’t everything.”
“But Scott can’t love her,” he insisted.
“Why not?”
“Because Scott has only known her a month.”
“That’s a whole lot longer than we’ve known each other,” she said quietly and walked out the door.
* * *
A
LL
THE
WAY
to Florida, Gibb thought of Sophia.
Everything she’d said about him was true. He did use money to control people. The need to control every outcome was what drove him to make more and more money when he already had more than he could ever spend.
She was also right that they barely knew each other, but he had such strong feelings for her. Feelings he’d never had before about anyone. Was this the way Scott felt about his Jackie? That was a startling thought.
He might not be able to woo Sophia, but after a woman like that, one thing was for sure, he could not go back to Stacy. He tried to call Stacy from the jet to tell her they needed to talk, but he got voice mail and decided to hang up. He’d deal with that later.
His pilot touched down in Miami first where Gibb changed out of the blue T-shirt and khaki shorts he’d bought on Island de Providencia and put on a suit. After that, he returned to the airport and took his jet to Key West, arriving just after two o’clock. He hired a car to take him to Wharf 16 where the wedding was being held on the
Sea Anemone.
Workers, deep in preparation, scurried to and fro.
Gibb stopped a woman with a clipboard who looked official. “Can you tell me where I might find the groom?”
She pointed behind him.
Gibb turned to see his buddy standing there in his Coast Guard dress blues. He offered up a big smile, but Scott wasn’t buying it.
“If you’re here to start trouble, just turn around and walk away,” Scott growled. “Jackie is the woman I love with all my heart and soul. You’re my best friend in the whole world, Gibb, but I will not tolerate one unkind word said against her.”
Gibb surrendered.
“If you can’t be happy for us, you can go.” Scott pointed toward the car Gibb had driven up in.
“I didn’t come here to break the two of you up.”
Scott stared at him in disbelief. “No?”
“All right, I admit it. I originally came here to try to talk you out of marrying a woman you barely know, but somewhere over the Caribbean Sea—” on a little deserted island to be precise “—I altered my thinking.”
Scott crossed his arms over his chest, a suspicious expression on his face. “What happened to cause this change of heart?”
“I understand now.”
“Understand?” Scott’s brows dipped in a perplexed frown. “Wait. What are you saying? Did you meet someone?”
Gibb thought of Sophia and he clinched his jaw, shrugged.
“There’s a woman?” Scott sounded positively
gleeful.
“Yes,” Gibb forced the word past his lips.
Scott rubbed his palms together. “So what’s she like? Tell me everything.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Ah, I get it. You haven’t told her that you love her yet.”
“I...” Was he ready to say the
L
word out loud? “It’s complicated.”
“It’s only complicated if you make it complicated.”
“I don’t really know her,” he admitted. And yet, he felt as if he knew her better than he knew anyone else in the world. He knew exactly what happened when he tickled the back of her knee and what she looked like first thing in the morning. He knew she had more courage in her little finger than most people did in their entire bodies. And talk about passion! The woman was off-the-charts passionate—about flying, about orchids, about sex. Whatever she did, she threw herself into it one hundred percent.
“This special woman got a name?” Scott asked.
“Sophia. Sophia Cruz.”
“Costa Rican?” Scott guessed.
“Half American by birth, fully Costa Rican by nature.”
“Ah,” he said. “She’s laidback.”
“Yeah.”
“Easygoing.”
“That, too.”
“Exactly what a hard-driving guy like you needs.”
No denying it. Sophia had taught him so many things in such a short amount of time. Chief among them was that smelling the roses was worth slowing down for and that money truly wasn’t everything. Other people had tried to tell him that, but none had shown him the way Sophia had.
With Sophia, he finally saw the path to a different life. One he never knew existed.
“What does Sophia do for a living?”
“She’s a pilot.”
“Skilled,” Scott said. “And I’m guessing smart as a whip.”
“She is.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
Scott’s mouth dropped open, then he snapped it shut and scoffed. “Unbelievable.”
“What?”
“You have love in the palm of your hand and you’re going to walk away from her?”
Was he? Gibb wasn’t sure anymore.
Scott looked sad and disappointed. “You’re a tougher case than I thought.”
Why was it so difficult for him to admit he was falling in love? “Like I said, I don’t really know her.”
“Yeah?” Scott cocked an eyebrow. “Let me put it to you in a language you understand. What do you do before you fund a product or invest an upstart business?”
“Figure profit and loss.”
“So let’s make it all about money since that’s your emotional currency.”
“I resent that.” He felt as if he were choking and loosened his tie.
“Have you changed in some fundamental way?”
“I’m working on it. I’m trying.”
“Okay, tell me this. What do you like most about Sophia?”
Gibb smiled. “I like how calm she stays in the face of a crisis and how everything makes her smile. When she smiles it’s like the sun coming out after a month of rain. And she wears this sassy pink straw cowboy hat cocked back on her head and she’s got long, thick, straight jet-black hair. How she doesn’t allow me to snow her with nonsense. Scott, she has the most amazing power to see right through me, to the kid I used to be. You know, how I was before my mom married James and I started turning myself inside out to prove I was worthy of James’s love and respect. Sophia puts me in touch with that kid who I’ve tried so hard to run away from. She...” He paused to take a breath.
“Sounds very special,” Scott finished quietly.
“Yes. Yes, she is.”
“Now let’s look at the loss side of the column. What is the downside of pursuing a relationship with Sophia?”
“We’re night and day. She’s down-to-earth and I drive a Bentley. She lives in a secluded mountain range in Costa Rica and I own homes in Miami, Santa Barbara and Aspen.”
“You didn’t always.”
“I know.”
“Here’s the big question. What is it that you are so afraid of?”
Gibb snorted. “Honestly?”
“I’ve found it’s the best policy.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know how to be ordinary anymore. I’m out of touch with the real world, Scott.”
“When was the last time you did something ordinary?”
Gibb grinned. “I made campfire s’mores with Sophia.”
“She’s good for you.”
“I know.”
“So what are you still doing here, Gibb?”
“I was hoping you’d let me be your best man, unless you’ve got someone else for the task. Ah, hell, what am I saying? Of course you’ve already got a best man—”
“I do,” Scott said, “and I’m looking right at him.”
“You didn’t ask someone else already?” Gibb was surprised at the rush of gratitude that filled him. Scott was not only forgiving him for his behavior but he still considered him his best man.
“I did ask my dad’s closest friend Carl to step in, but he said if you showed up and wanted the job, he’d happily serve as an usher instead.”
“Really?” It was ridiculous how happy this was making him. He clamped his teeth together to keep his eyes from misting up. Scott was a damn good friend. Better than he deserved.
Scott clapped him on the shoulder. “I hoped you would change your mind and come to your senses and wish the best for me and my bride.”
“Thanks, guy,” Gibb said, and then shut his mouth before he got choked up.
Scott touched the platinum bracelet on his right wrist. “Remember what we said the day we bought these?”
Gibb’s fingers went to his own bare wrist. “Blood brothers forever.”
“Hey, what happened to your chain?”
“Long story. I’ll tell you at the reception.”
“Doesn’t matter, does it? The chain is just a symbol. It’s what it represents that counts. I’m just so glad you’re here.”
“Me, too.”
“C’mon. I’ll introduce you to Jackie, but after the wedding, I want you to do something for me.”
“Anything. You name it.”
“Get yourself on that corporate jet and get your ass back to Costa Rica and tell Sophia that you’re in love with her.”
“What if...” Gibb swallowed hard and then finally voiced what he had feared most. “What if she doesn’t feel the same way about me?”
“You’re good at taking risks, but this doesn’t sound like a risk at all to me. The list of profits is long and there’s honestly nothing on the loss side of the equation.”
“But if I tell her I love her and she doesn’t reciprocate I don’t think I can stand losing her.”
“Buddy,” Scott said. “What if she does love you right back? Do you really want to walk away and cut your losses before you ever find out?”
* * *
S
IX
HOURS
LATER
, after Scott and his bride had sailed off on the
Sea Anemone,
Gibb paced the lobby of a private hangar at Key West International Airport. He was waiting for a lightning storm to pass before he and his pilot could take off for Costa Rica.
He’d only been there a few minutes, but he was terrible at waiting.
Calm down, amigo, where’s the fire?
Sophia’s laughing voice whispered to him.
Immediately, he smiled and stopped pacing. Blowing out a deep breath, he plunked down in a lounge chair to watch the evening news on the big-screen TV. At this hour of the night, he was the only one around.
“In financial news,” the anchor said, “communications giant Fisby Corp has announced they own the patent to an innovative ecological transportation system destined to change the way the world travels.” On the TV screen there was a detailed picture of the travel system that was eerily similar to the one that Gibb had invested in. “Stay tuned for more on the story after the commercial break.”
What? Not again!
Gibb jumped to his feet, unable to believe what he’d just heard. Despite all his precautions, a corporate spy had zinged him again! How in the hell had Fisby managed to get a patent through before his inventor?
The broadcast resumed and the news anchor picked up the story again. The camera flashed to a live action shot of the CEO of Fisby Corp climbing into his stretch limo with a beautiful blonde woman on his arm—a woman that Gibb knew intimately. The woman who loved giving his black credit card a good workout.
Stacy.
She was the corporate spy all along. He’d been sleeping with the enemy.
Stunned, he stared at the TV, waited for the anger to hit him, braced for feelings of betrayal and indignation, but oddly, those feelings didn’t come.
He sat back down on the chair. Well, what do you know? Stacy was the corporate spy. He had to give credit where credit was due. She’d certainly pulled the wool over his eyes.