by M. S. Parker
I bet underneath those suits of his, he was impressive.
He was actually impressive in the suits, but I was getting more and more curious about just what lay under them.
It took me a moment to notice that something about him had changed. He’d gone tense the second I touched him. Slowly, I lifted my eyes to his and found him staring at me.
I’d love to say I saw heat in that gaze, but as always, I couldn’t read much of anything in the pale green.
But his jaw had gone tight.
Letting a smile curl my lips, I nodded to the class once more. “Sure you don’t want to join in? I’ll go with you.”
“No, thanks.” He disengaged our arms, and I watched as he made a pretense of checking the time.
If I hadn’t been watching him so closely, I wouldn’t have seen it – two faint flags of color appeared on his cheeks, there for just a few seconds before fading away.
Well. Maybe he wasn’t as immune to me as I thought.
Dinner was a decadent ordeal. Millie had arranged for us to eat on the beach, a secluded area where none of the guests could wander. It wouldn’t be hard for her to arrange such privacy. She owned the whole island now, not just the resort.
With the sunset painting the sky a thousand different shades of yellow, gold, and orange, Liam and I walked over to the cute little covered area that Millie had her people arrange.
Although she’d greeted us when we arrived, she came out of her seat, hands outstretched and smiling as if she hadn’t seen me in weeks. I took her hands and squeezed them affectionately. “Grandma.”
She pulled me into a Chanel No. 5 hug. “Did you enjoy your walk around the resort?”
“I always do.” Pulling back, I grinned at her. “It looks like the yoga classes are still popular.”
She wagged a finger at me. “Don’t you start on that again. Heavens, yes, they are popular.” She heaved out a sigh and shook her head. “I’ll never question your ideas again, child.”
I winked. “That’ll be the day.”
She caught my hand in hers and shook her head. “No. I have complete faith in you, Mila,” she told me.
The intent way she watched had me narrowing my eyes at her. “What are you up to, Grandma?”
She gave me an innocent look that made me narrow my eyes even more. “Absolutely nothing…for now.” Before I could press her further, she turned her charming smile on Liam.
I took my seat as she laid a hand on his shoulder, smiling at him as though they’d been lifelong friends. “And what do you think of my island, young man?”
I waited, expecting one of his non-answers.
But to my surprise, a real smile tugged at his lips. “It’s a beautiful location. Not exactly my speed.”
“Pleasure Island isn’t for everybody,” she said, patting his arm before offering hers. Without pause, Liam took her arm and escorted her back to her seat, all of ten feet away. “Tell me, Liam, did Mila try to talk you into doing naked yoga yet?”
Again, he surprised me. He laughed, the sound a little self-conscious, before offering his answer. “Again, something that’s not entirely my speed.”
“It’s not mine either. If I’m going to be naked and sweating, it’s not while an instructor is calling out Downward Dog,” Millie said, winking at me. “But it was Mila’s idea, and many of the guests seem to enjoy it.”
“A lot of people find naked yoga can be very freeing,” I said loftily, mentioning one of the selling points I’d used when convincing Millie to give it a try. “Not to mention, it’s a great work out and excellent for relieving stress.”
“I can think of something else that would do all of those things,” Millie said, a glint in her eye.
I could see a faint flush rise to Liam’s cheeks as he came around the table. I might have teased him about it…if Millie hadn’t been around. “My grandmother enjoys shocking people,” I told him.
He glanced at me, his mask once more in place.
Curious if he’d give in to me this time, I offered my arm. “We should sit. Millie put a lot of work into this meal.”
Solicitously, he accepted my arm and led me to the chair across from Millie’s.
He took the one that faced up toward the path, but still gave him a fair view of the beach – and anybody who might approach.
“You can take the evening off,” I chided. “I’m perfectly safe here.”
“My security is top-notch,” Millie added. Then she fixed her bright green eyes on me and said, “Now…without trying to worm out of it this time, tell me why you’re traveling with a bodyguard.”
Millie had been excited when I told her I was bringing company, and the only way to keep her in line had been to tell her the truth – Liam was there for security.
I made a face at her and reached for the glass of water.
There was a bottle of wine open and breathing, but before I could make the decision to have some, a uniformed waiter appeared at my side. He pulled the bottle from the bucket and went through the display of presenting it to everybody. Liam just stared at it, and I wondered what he thought of all of this.
Would he tell me if I asked him?
I bit back a soft laugh.
He barely spoke five words to me that he didn’t have to say out of courtesy. Him chatting with me about my grandmother’s beautiful little oceanside dinner? I didn’t see it happening.
He declined the wine, which wasn’t a surprise.
But Millie did as well, and I took my glass with a lavish sigh. “I guess that just means more for me,” I said, lifting my glass to Liam, then my grandmother.
“I might have a drink later on,” Millie said, smiling at me as she took a sip of water. “But you enjoy, darling.”
Enjoy, darling…
Famous last words, I thought with a snicker as Liam walked along with me toward the bungalow where we were staying. We. It almost made it sound like we were here together.
Another thing to snicker about.
I realized I was probably just the slightest bit over the tipsy line and deliberately quelled my giggles.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Liam doing the security guard head swivel, checking out our surroundings. He didn’t even glance at me.
I’d never had any guy seem so completely unaware of me.
A question hovered on my lips, but before I could untangle my tongue to ask, I stumbled over the pathway.
Liam steadied me, coming to a halt as he looked down at my face. The pathway was lit by sconces at regular intervals, but the lighting was warm and low, not really enough to make out anything as I peered up at him. “You’re always so quiet.”
As usual, silence was his response. He let me go but kept a hand on the small of my back as we started along the path.
I didn’t want to let the subject go. “Do you know how quiet you are, Liam?”
“I talk when there’s something to say,” he responded evenly.
I rolled my eyes and tipped my head back to look up at the moonlit sky. “What’s the fun in that? I mean, do you only talk when you have something to say?”
“There doesn’t seem to be much reason to talk at any other time.”
I thought there might have been a smile in his voice, but when I craned my head to look over at him, his face was blank.
“We’re here,” he said, coming to a halt in front of our bungalow. He went to swipe the keycard, but before he could, I stopped him, stepping between him and the door.
I placed my hands on his chest.
I was dimly aware that the alcohol was making me a little less inhibited, but I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that I’d be curious about him…this. Under my hands, his chest was a hard, firm wall, and I thought about sliding my hands down, then dipping underneath the crisp white polo shirt he wore.
Tilting my head back, I stared up at him.
He was watching me, eyes opaque in the dim light.
“I’m curious about something, Liam,” I
said, keeping my voice low.
He closed his hands around my wrists, tugging them down.
I pouted for a second, but then satisfied myself by leaning up against him. The world didn’t seem quite so spinny that way, something I approved of.
“You know what I’m curious about?” I asked when he stayed quiet.
“From what I can tell, you’re curious about almost everything, Mila. We should get you inside,” he said, easing away.
I followed him, loathe to lose the warm, solid heat of him. “I don’t want to go inside yet. You know what I want?”
His lashes drifted down low over his pale eyes, then he met mine again, shaking his head. “I have no idea what you want.”
“I want you to kiss me.” Twisting my wrists, I broke free of his light grip and once more placed my hands on his chest. “Will you do that, Liam? Will you kiss me?”
His face went rigid, a muscle bunching in his cheek.
I thought…got you.
But all he did was tug my hands away once more. “You’re drunk, Mila. You should go into the bungalow and lay down.”
I had an immediate desire to snap back that I wasn’t that drunk, except he wasn’t entirely wrong. My head was spinning, and my limbs felt loose and easy.
I’d just made a move on my bodyguard, and he’d rebuffed it.
He’d also managed to ease up until I stood squarely on my own two feet, and he’d put a good eighteen inches of distance between us.
Sniffing, I crossed my arms over my chest and watched as he unlocked the bungalow. He gave me a hard look and pointed at the square of pavement under my feet. “You stay here while I check and make sure everything is secure.”
I huffed out a breath. “It’s my grandmother’s island! Nobody is going to try to hurt me here!”
But he ignored me, ducking inside and doing a quick walk through the bungalow. I heard him coming back, and I started inside.
We crashed into each other, his hands going to my arms to steady me. “I told you to stay,” he said, sounding just the slightest bit exasperated with me.
“I heard you coming back and knew everything was fine,” I responded.
He was standing close again.
Setting my gaze to his lips, I said, “You sure you wouldn’t want to kiss me, Liam?”
He let go of me as though scalded and immediately backed up a few feet. “You need to lay down,” he said again.
I sighed and walked past him, pausing inside the bungalow only long enough to kick my shoes off before heading on into the lushly appointed master suite.
“Fine,” I said over my shoulder. “Be that way.”
But my heart was racing a little.
I’d noticed something this time.
His gaze, for the briefest moment, had rested on my lips.
I fell asleep with a smug smile on my face.
13
Liam
She was driving me crazy.
It had started almost from the first, but the past few days – hell, the past few hours, it was like she’d ramped up her game or something.
She was in her room, sleeping. I could hear the soft, steady sounds of her breathing and was tempted to get up, go stand in the door and watch her as she slept. But that was a little too stalkerish, even despite the fact that I was developing an obsession with her.
Are you sure you wouldn’t want to kiss me, Liam?
Her sassy question, most likely inspired by a little too much wine, was still echoing in my head.
Did I want to kiss her?
Hell, yes.
I wanted to grab her and pull her up against me, cover that smart-ass mouth with mine and see what she tasted like.
Maybe if I didn’t know how things would end, I might have given into the idea too. But the last – and only – time I’d been with a woman, well, it had sucked. I shoved the memories and the frustration aside, as I set about making up the couch, so I could sleep.
Mila’s grandmother Millie had offered me a bungalow of my own, and if I wouldn’t have felt like I was slacking on the job, I would have taken her up on it just to get some much-needed distance in between me and the woman who was starting to haunt my every waking thought.
Kiss me, Liam…
The echo of her words danced through my mind once more, and I swore under my breath, straightening up and shoving the heels of my hands against my eyes.
I’d been tempted.
So, so tempted.
If she hadn’t been drunk, I might have even given in, although I had no doubt I’d regret it later on.
So would she. I had no doubt of that, so it was a good thing that she was more than a little wasted.
Still, what would it have been like?
I imagined feeling that wide, mobile mouth against my own and bit back a groan as my cock responded with enthusiasm. Down, boy, I told the bulge in my pants.
Not that my dick was going to listen.
Mila was almost like a drug, getting into my system without me really realizing what she was doing until it was already too late.
Lately, just the scent of her was enough to stir a reaction.
The libido I thought I’d managed to throttle into complete submission was raging out of control and just thinking about an imaginary kiss had things inside me raging to life.
I wanted to touch her, to do what she’d teased me about…kiss her.
Feel her sleek, supple curves against me as I pulled her close.
I wanted to feel her hands on me – not just the way they’d pressed into my chest earlier, but all over me.
Dropping onto the makeshift bed, I stripped off my shirt and let it fall to the floor next to my feet.
Kiss me, Liam…
“Damn it,” I muttered under my breath, forcing my rigid limbs to move, laying down on the couch that hadn’t been designed to accommodate a six-foot-tall guy.
I bet that bed is nice and soft, a sly voice whispered inside my head.
Yeah, I bet it was too. And Mila would be even softer, snuggled under the covers and breathing softly.
Stubbornly, I closed my eyes and willed myself to sleep.
“Come swim with us,” Mila said, dropping to her knees in the sand next to me.
I sat on a towel and tipped my glasses down to meet her eyes. She wore a bronze bikini that made her skin glow – and my fingers itched to roam all over those exposed curves.
Dragging my eyes away from her, I looked at the group of people congregating by the waterside. “I’ll stay here and keep an eye out,” I said, shaking my head.
“Oh, come on. You kicked off your shoes, put on some swim trunks…take it a step further,” she teased, reaching out to put a hand on my arm. “Relax a little, Liam. Live a little.”
She flung out her arms and tipped her head back. “Look around…there’s nothing here that’s going to hurt me.”
She’d delivered several variations of that argument throughout the day, insisting I didn’t have to accompany her everywhere.
I told her that my job insisted otherwise.
It was harder to tell her no this time, for some reason.
As if sensing my weakening resolve, she leaned in a little closer. “Come on, Liam. Come swimming with us.”
Don’t even think about it, my common sense warned me.
Not that I was going to get up and walk into the water right now. Mila’s nearness and the way the lotion smelled on her skin had caused my body to react predictably.
I wasn’t about to stand up and walk down to the water while sporting wood.
“No, thank you.” I pushed my sunglasses back up and focused on the horizon instead of her.
After a few more seconds, she rose and huffed out a breath. “You don’t know what you’re missing,” she said lightly.
I was better off not knowing too. I kept that in mind as the group waded out into the surf, then a little deeper.
I kept an eye on them, all the while scanning the beach.
She wa
s probably right.
She was most likely safe here.
I hadn’t seen even one person – other than myself – who didn’t seem to fit in just fine.
Laughter and shouts drifted back on the air to me, and I turned my head, watching as they all fell into a pattern of swimming or just floating in the water.
The sun beat down on my head and sweat trickled down my brow. I swiped it away, eyes drawn once more to the impossibly blue water.
Mila was splashing one of the guys swimming with her in the face.
He responded in kind, and I watched, refusing to allow myself a reaction, as the man moved in closer to her.
But after a few seconds, Mila smiled, then turned away, swimming off and away from the group at a diagonal.
Some of the others had already headed in, and a quick glance at my watch told me that they’d been in the water almost an hour.
I squinted, searching for Mila in the next group of people to arrive on the beach.
A few more lingered in the water, but Mila wasn’t one of them.
I scanned the water, searching for where I’d seen her – there. There she was.
I blew out a breath and told myself that maybe going into the water with her wasn’t such a bad idea.
At least I’d be able to keep up with her.
Shaking my head, I got to my feet and moved closer to the water’s edge.
She was pretty far out. I was just about to call out to her when she went under the water.
I held still at first.
She was playing with me. Again.
But she didn’t emerge.
Finally, after another ten seconds, she did, and she slapped at the water. There was something intrinsically panicked about her motions, and my instincts went on red alert.
Kicking off the flip flops I’d worn down to the beach, I ran through the shallows before diving into the water, my arms cutting through the waves as I swam to her.
14
Mila
I needed the swim.
Splashing through the water and talking with some of the clients who were staying at the resort was fun and all, but I’d woken up with a headache, and it had only gotten worse as the day went on.