The Key to Paradise (10 page)

As we got closer to the island I could make out more details. We were approaching a small sandy beach; behind it the dark line of the hardwood hammock started. It was filled with dense underbrush. On either side of the small beach, mangroves marched down to the ocean with their feet in the waves. It was wild and natural, almost a scene out of the Jurassic period. It didn’t take too much to imagine the eye of a velociraptor peering at you from behind the screen of palm fronds.

We pushed forward until the hull of the boat landed with a soft
thwump
against the sand. Landon was out first burying the anchor in the sand while I explored the small beach. Unlike some other areas I had been to this one was meticulously clean. No soda cans or cigarette butts littered the beautiful expanse of white sugar sand.

“You come here a lot, huh?” I asked having a good idea that Landon was behind the spotless little patch of nature.

“Yeah, it was my grandfather’s when I was a kid.”

“Ah, the mysterious Fitzpatrick land. Something only mentioned in hushed tones normally reserved for national tragedies.”

“It’s a pretty standard story actually. Not all that uncommon down here.”

“What happened?” I asked cracking open two Coronas while Landon sliced the lime.

“My grandfather used to run charter fishing trips for the tourists. It was a small operation, only a handful of boats but he did ok for himself and started saving up some money. Time went on and he saw more and more problems with the tourists. They were rowdier and drunker. They would throw their garbage right overboard not caring where it ended up. Gramps was always really big on nature. I spent half my childhood camping and hiking through the hammocks with him. We would go birding or snorkeling together and there always seemed to be some sort of wild animal being rehabbed at his house. My favorite was the little key deer with the broken leg we managed to set right and rerelease into the sanctuary.”

It was easy to picture Landon carefully splinting the leg of a tiny deer or catching bugs to feed a hungry baby egret.

“Anyway, long before I was born he started buying up land. Little islands like this one or areas where there hadn’t been human encroachment yet. He always told me that he felt he had been placed on Earth to save these places and keep them safe for future generations. We would come out here and sit right on this beach and he would tell me ‘Landon, this is what I’m leaving you. It’s not a gift but a responsibility.’” I could see Landon’s jaw set a little firmer than usual. His eyes had a far off look that made me think he was seeing his grandfather right now.

“My grandfather passed away when I was ten. I lived with my father since my mom was gone and he’d had a drinking problem and money problems for as long as I could remember. But those always seem to go hand in hand, don’t they?

“It started off small. He’d sell a little piece of land to pay the mortgage that month. Another piece the next to pay the bar bills until the only thing left was this.” With one hand he waved to the dark swell of vegetation behind us. “The only reason this was spared was because no one wanted to buy something so small. He died when I was twenty. I left college to come home and settle his affairs and I found out how much land was left. Thank God my grandfather wasn’t around to see what had happened.”

My heart broke for the calm way he delivered his story. “I’m so sorry, Landon. I had no idea.” I reached across the great gulf of our experiences and patted him softly on the shoulder. I couldn’t imagine how he felt, having such a responsibility placed on his young shoulders and being unable to stop his father from destroying it all. It was no wonder he hated the idea of my hotel. No doubt his family land had long ago been paved over to make room for mini-marts and roadside motels.

“It’s alright. We can’t let our past define us, can we?” He gave me a lopsided smile full of emotion. “Now, I told you my deep dark secret. It’s your turn.”

“I don’t have any deep dark secrets.”

“Of course you do. I love Joan to death but no beautiful young woman in her right mind moves in with her crazy grandma unless something has gone wrong in her life.”

“You think I’m beautiful?” I purred trying to redirect the conversation but Landon wasn’t having any of it.

“The more obvious question is: do I really think you’re in your right mind. Now come on, spill.”

“It’s a tale as old as time. Girl meets boy. They fall in love and get engaged. Girl supports boy through law school. Girl finds boy fucking his study partner in their bed. Girl has nervous breakdown and flees the state.” I tried to keep my voice light and silly.

“He’s a fool.” Landon practically spat.

“Yes, he was but so was I. I was so wrapped up in forcing a relationship that should have ended years before that I lost sight of who I was. I didn’t like who I was when I was with him. I was needy and insecure. A lot of that is because of things he did to make me insecure: hanging off other girls, letting his girl-friends flirt with him constantly. But instead of being strong and just ending it I pushed and pushed to salvage something I should have let sink. I hope I’ve learned that while relationships need a lot of hard work they shouldn’t be
that
hard.”

I couldn’t believe the words that were spilling out of my mouth. This morning had started out so bright and carefree but now here I was sitting with Landon Fitzpatrick on a secluded beach and sharing our most intimate experiences. I had to admit, I may have hoped for a different kind of intimate this morning but this left me feeling raw and exposed.

“But enough of our tales of woe,” I said jokingly hoping to break the growing tension. “The water is really warm today. Maybe we should go for a swim…or if you want another drink first…” I stopped my rambling when I realized he had shifted closer to me in the sand. I could feel the heat of his arm as it pressed against the side of my body. My eyes dropped down. I couldn’t meet the gaze I felt burning into the side of my face.

“Olivia, look at me.” A whisper in my ear, the puff of his breath stirring the small hairs at the base of my neck. My eyes stubbornly refused to rise as if held in place by lead weights. “Look at me.”

I forced myself to raise my head and turned my eyes towards the deep tenor of his voice. Through my eyelashes I could see the cool grey of his eyes regarding me with a new intensity.

“He was a fool.” Gently he raised his hand and ran the fingers softly over the sensitive skin of my neck making me shiver. A dull throbbing had started between my legs. “Any man who lets you get away is a fool.”

His strong fingers tangled in my curls pulling softly until we were face to face. His Michelangelo lips an inch away from mine. The air between us was thrumming with an electrical current. Everything was hanging on a precipice just waiting for release when he finally leaned forward and claimed my mouth with his own.

Softly and slowly he pressed against me; the barest flutter of a touch setting my skin on fire with need. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I parted my lips and sighed against his. He growled softly in response pulling me closer and deepening the kiss. He opened his mouth against mine and I could taste the tart of his lime on his tongue. It was a kiss to end all kisses. It waxed and waned building in intensity while he worried my lower lip between the pearls of his teeth. Every part of me was screaming and begging for more.

Landon pulled away, breathing heavily as he nuzzled against my neck.

“Oh God, I hope you have that grandma bathing suit on under there.” He moaned as his fingers traced lines of fire against the top of my thighs.

“You should be so lucky.” I whispered still struggling to catch my breath. My neck and back arched into the soft nips of his mouth along my shoulder. He pulled the hem of my sundress higher and higher as he kissed until it slid over my head leaving me in my tiny bikini on the snow white sand. I watched his eyes darken with lust as they raked over my body. I had never felt so wanted before. I felt a rush of power to see the effect I was having on this beautiful man.

I was desperate to see more of him too. I wanted every inch of Landon’s body bare beneath the probing of my fingertips. Roughly, with an unquenchable hunger I tore his t-shirt up over his head and threw my leg over his hips pushing him down into the sand. His chest was heavily roped with muscles, not the kind made in gym but through long days of hard work. A few small white scars stood out as faint tracery against his tan skin. I traced my fingers along the raised line of one realizing for the first time that this body was a stranger to me. I had spent years mapping Chris’ body until I knew it as well as my own from the scar on his shin from a bike ride when he was six to a pattern of freckles that looked like a smile on his right shoulder.

“Are you ok?” Landon stared up at me, concern flashing in his eyes. His hands kneaded softly over my hips.

I pushed the thoughts of Chris away and smiled, kissing the worry away from him. There would be plenty of time to learn the secrets of Landon’s body. My senses were too overwhelmed to focus on more than the here and now. The weight and heat of him pressed up between my legs as I shifted in his lap desperate for more of that delicious friction. His hands closed tight around my hips pulling me forward roughly.

His fingers found the straps of my bikini top and peeled them down over my shoulders until it pooled around my waist. His hot mouth closed over the aching nub of my nipple soothing it with the slow swaying of his tongue. It sent a shiver of electricity straight through my core to the growing throb between my legs.

He worked slowly, playing my body like a violin beneath his touch. He seemed to anticipate my every need: now faster, now softer, now slower, now harder. Each touch pushed me closer and closer but held me on the edge. I was losing myself in my need for more. My fingers were wrapped tight in his hair, pulling his head against me urging him to take more of my overheated skin in his mouth. I could feel my lips forming words I had never said before; begging and pleading with Landon to take me, to fuck me, to help me lose myself in the fire between us.

“Say it again.” He growled, his mouth vibrating against my flesh.

“Fuck me. Please, Landon.” My voice was breathy and unfamiliar.

Without another word he threw his arm around my waist and rolled me over onto the sand. The weight of his body pressed down against mine and my legs fell open. This was finally happening. All the tension that had been building for weeks was finally going to break like a wave and wash me away.

He shimmied my bikini bottoms down over my hips while my own questing fingers found the hem of his shorts and started tugging desperately. I needed the weight and hardness I had felt earlier inside of me, filling me.

Unbidden—like a ghost from another life, shadowy and unformed—the image of the red shoe rose in my mind. I pushed it away with a shake of my head but a more troubling thought took its place. The image of Chris’ face when we had made love the night he proposed. The rough palms running up my legs were unexpected. Chris’ hands had been smooth. The weight pressing against my thighs, nudging them further apart was Landon’s. And then, it was gone.

My eyes snapped open. Chris’ face was gone. Landon’s face was gone. He was lying beside me in the sand breathing heavily.

“This was a mistake.” He said and my heart broke all over again.

Chapter Fourteen

Landon

It was the moment I had been waiting for. She was right there waiting for me. Olivia Campbell in all her infuriating, heart stopping glory. She was practically mewling in my hands and begging for me to take her.
And there was nothing I wanted more in the world
.

These past weeks had been heart wrenching. We would come together like magnets drawn by an irresistible pull and then something would flip. I would say something stupid and anger would flash in her eyes. She would do something careless and my nerves would bristle. Just as irresistibly we were pushed apart, repelled by one another.

But deep down inside I had held out hope that the rough edges of our relationship would smooth over time like a stone beneath a wave until we fit together in a way that was undeniable. I had the first inkling it was possible that night at Captain Joe’s and again when we went snorkeling. Inch by agonizing inch we were making peace.

I had never had a problem attracting women and I’d had my share of love affairs and one night stands but none had ever challenged me the way Liv did. With a quick turn of phrase she could needle me into a rage and just as quickly make me laugh. She was incurably stubborn which also meant she was passionate and driven. She was hard as a stone yet wore her heart on her sleeve raw and exposed. The endless contradictions made my head spin in a way I could get used to.

When she first told me about her fiancé I had almost called her a liar. Only the obvious pain in her eyes made it clear that she was telling the truth. I couldn’t imagine the man that could worm his way into her difficult heart and then abandon that so carelessly. Now, here I was doing the same thing and I suspected it was something I was going to regret for the rest of my life.

Pride had always been my failing. The older people on the island called me stiff-necked, a nice way of saying it I suppose. Proud and stubborn, my girlfriend in college had taken to calling me ‘Mr. Darcy without the redemptive arc.’ I had read Austen in my Intro to Lit course and I couldn’t blame her for the nickname. Still, my pride has been one of the few things that helped me get through hard times and now it was flaring to life again, a beast awakened.

I thought it would be enough to have her. To feel the touch of her skin. But it wasn’t. I could see her thoughts plainly on her face. At that crucial moment she had been a million miles away and it didn’t take a mind reader to figure out where her thoughts were. Was her heart still with him as well?

It wasn’t something I was going to chance. As much as my heart—and other parts of my anatomy—were crying out for more my pride refused. If I was going to have Olivia Campbell I was going to have her completely with her dark eyes staring up into mine and truly seeing me.

The ride back from the island had been stomach churning. My heart was in my throat the whole time while she sat awkwardly on the cooler. I wanted to say something—anything—to ease the tension but every time I opened my mouth to speak nothing came out.

Everything I could think of to say sounded desperate and possessive. Like I was the jealous boyfriend and my pride couldn’t handle that. So instead I just dropped her off at the beach. The memory of lifting her into the boat seemed so distant even though it had only been an hour ago.

The one thing I would always remember was the look on her face as I hauled anchor. She was standing on the beach, the sun shining on her face and a look of utter contempt written across all her features. It hit me in a way I didn’t even know was possible.