Radio. Radio. And it hit him. Radio Martí, the American-based broadcaster of news to Cuba. “So, anyway, dude, when you get out, what are you going to do?”
He snorted. “Well, I sure as shit am never talking to a reporter again.” There was that subtle inflection, which might have been a dig at the bastard who ratted him out and landed him in jail, or it could be a clue. “But, you know, I’ll see my friends. Have a nice cold Amber Bock.”
And there was that emphasis again. He scribbled the words Amber Bock on a pad.
“Where are you?” Mal asked.
“Here and there,” Gabe said, having no intention of telling their invisible audience anything else.
“Some things never change,” Mal mused.
“You have, but then prison does that to a man.”
Mal laughed. “I haven’t changed,” he said coolly. “I’m still your biggest fan, Rossi.”
“God knows I could use one.”
“Hey, I gotta go. I’ll see you on the flip side, Angel Gabriel.”
Something twisted at the sad note in Mal’s voice. He’d gone down, way down, for doing the most honorable thing. Gabe would never forget that. “When you’re out, man, call me.”
“You bet.”
Gabe ended the call and stared at the paper in front of him, considering what he had. Radio Martí was basically a federally funded broadcaster that distributed news to Cuba, to the consternation of the Castro regime. Plus the word reporter, maybe, and the name of a beer. He’d had worse clues to find things. And he never wanted to find anyone more than he wanted to find her.
*
Kate came out of her room in a long, strapless, yellow dress, with a bikini top tie visible around her neck. She looked like she’d walked out of a magazine advertising summer clothes and beach living. All pretty and bright and warm. Except for the look in her eyes, which was sharp and cold. Still pissed, Alec guessed.
He glanced down at his own choice of board shorts and a T-shirt, totally clueless about what one wore to a couples massage at an exclusive resort. Rough and painful Russian massages after a fight were done bare-ass naked.
He swallowed at the possibility that they might also be done that way at beachfront resorts and how he’d handle that as a bodyguard. And what if her massage therapist was a man? How would he handle that?
“Ready?” she asked.
“To lay down and have my body slathered in oil and slapped by a masseuse?”
She gave him a look he couldn’t quite read.
“What?” he asked. “Is it lie down?” He was going for a joke, but her green eyes didn’t spark with laughter.
“Yes, and it’s…massage therapist. No one says masseuse anymore.”
He knew that, but really wanted to break her ice. “Got it. I’ll keep my mouth shut so I don’t embarrass you.” And his eyes, so he didn’t embarrass himself by springing a boner at the sight of Kate half-naked on a bed next to him.
“You don’t embarrass me. Tick me off, but not embarrass.”
“I got that, too.”
She breezed by him to the door, but he caught up to her, grabbed his ball cap and sunglasses from the table, and walked her out into the sunshine.
He slapped on the hat and glasses and put his arm around Kate’s bare shoulders, almost sucking in a breath at how smooth and feminine her skin felt under his hand. Of course, she tensed under his touch.
“It’s show time,” he reminded her, leaning close enough to whisper the words and get a whiff of her clean hair.
“I know.” But she still felt stiff as he tried to make them look like a couple.
“Work with me here, Tilly.”
She looked up at him, no sunglasses to cover the storm brewing in her eyes.
Just then, a couple came out of the front door of the next villa, laughing and talking, stopping while the man wiped some sunscreen off of the woman’s nose and finished the job with a kiss.
Kate turned away and walked a little faster, making him speed up to keep hold of her.
“We should be behaving a little more like that,” he said, knowing that anyone who watched them with even casual interest would see they had zero connection.
“And cross barriers?” she asked, slapping some serious attitude on the last word.
And making him remember his final words during their conversation on the patio this morning. “Out here there are no barriers.”
She nodded. “I’m cognizant of the situation.”
He stifled a laugh. “Whatever that means.”
“I’d love to teach you, but, you know. Barriers.”
He slowed his step as they reached the beach, adding a little pressure with his arm so she didn’t just shoot forward without him. “What exactly is wrong with you?” he asked.
She let her head fall back to really put all she had into an eye roll, which anyone could see was rich with sarcasm—including the two women in bathing suits who walked past them just that second.
“Hey, if it’s that important to school me in your great big words, knock yourself out,” he whispered after they’d passed. “But let’s not fight in public. Any one of these people could be one of those ‘eyes and ears’ Gabe warned us he had.”
She didn’t reply, but kept up her quick steps even when they were on the sand, headed toward the row of draped cabanas along the shore. This time, he snagged her with a stronger hand and stopped her. “You need to chill,” he warned her.
“I’d love to chill,” she shot back. “I came here to chill. I didn’t come here to…to…”
Another couple came closer, holding hands and umbrella drinks. They smiled at Kate and Alec, and he nodded, pulling her close, as if they’d just stopped to confess true love. He put his hands on her cheeks, her face feeling small and delicate against his fingers.
“Seriously,” he said between gritted teeth, “I don’t know about you, but I don’t have any other option but this place. Let’s play by the rules and make it work.”
She shuddered slightly, her jaw quivering. “I just wish you didn’t…”
“What?” he asked, half-terrified and half-dying of curiosity at what she might say.
She shook her head, biting her lip.
He kept his hands on her face because it made it impossible for her to turn away. And because it felt so good to hold her. “You wish I didn’t what?”
“Dislike me so much,” she said on a whisper.
He couldn’t have heard that right. His hands loosened and fell away from her face. “You’re kidding, right?”
“You don’t have to lie,” she said. “It’s so obvious you look for the closest hole to hide in when you have to look at me. I don’t know if it’s because you’re stuck here with me, or you think I’m some kind of prima donna, or you just can’t stand redheads, or you feel like you’re cheating on someone, or what.” Her voice rose with every word, making him pull her closer, wondering if he should just kiss her to shut her up before the lady in the orange dress and massive sunhat coming their way heard her.
“Listen to me,” he said, reaching for her shoulders to pull her in. “Just listen. We’ll talk about it later, okay?”
“No, we won’t,” she insisted, managing to wrest from his hands. Twenty feet behind them, the giant orange sunhat was powering closer.
“Yes, we will. Come here.” He reached for her hand, but she jerked away.
“I’m sorry, I know I’m acting stupid, and I feel stupid, but all I wanted from you was—”
“Stop,” he ordered, now able to make out the features of the woman who was about to witness all this. She had dark eyes and red lips and was riveted on their little drama on the sand.
“—a simple lesson! How hard would it be to teach me—”
“Tilly, honey,” he said firmly. “I really do want to, I promise.”
She closed her mouth, staring at him, obviously not sure what he was talking about.
“You’re right, it’s a great idea.”
“You’ll do it?” Kate drew back. “You’re not lying?”
He gave her the warmest, most husbandly smile he had just as Orange Hat was next to them, making no effort to hide the fact that she was eavesdropping.
“I would never lie to you,” he assured her.
Orange Hat hadn’t moved, still taking it all in. Finally, Alec turned to her. “Can I help you?” he asked coolly.
She lifted a carefully drawn brow. “You appear to have your hands full, young man. And the couples massages are right there in cabana three,” she added with a quick smile. “And it’s not good that she thinks you might be lying.”
Alec fought the urge to let his jaw open in shock and give the orange busybody a piece of his mind. Instead, he just nodded, using Kate’s own moment of being off guard to wrap his arm around her and lead her across the sand.
“Let’s go, baby,” he said sweetly. “This should be fun.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Hello there!” A young woman stepped out from the linen-enclosed cabana and waved Kate and Alec closer. “You’re Tilly and Ben, right? What’s taking you two so long out here? Hailey and I were starting to think we heard an argument.”
“My wife thinks she can teach me a thing or two,” Alec said quickly.
The therapist’s eyebrows raised. “Is that so?”
Damn it. Kate had to get in this game. She shook off the last argument and jumped into her role. “And my husband has never had a couples massage, so I was trying to explain what to expect.”
“Expect the unexpected,” the woman said, making a grand gesture toward the opening of the cabana. “Expect to relax and fall even more in love than when you walked in here.”
They shared a look that would have been funny except…it wasn’t.
The cabana was cool, thanks to what looked like a special sun-blocking material on the top and privacy drapes all around. Inside, it was filled with brightly colored pillows, a table with cold drinks and fruit, and two white-draped massage tables not two feet apart. New Age music played from tiny speakers, and the scents of spices wafted through the air.
“I’m Brenna, and I’ll be massaging Mrs. Carlson.”
“And I’m Hailey.” From behind a curtain in the back, another woman appeared, dressed similarly in clean white scrubs. “Unless you prefer a male therapist, Mr. Carlson.”
“No, I’m…fine.” But he didn’t sound very fine.
“And, of course, there’s Madame Valaina.” Brenna swooped in and directed them to the massage tables. “She’ll be joining you after we’ve finished.” She added a sympathetic smile. “You two sounded like you could use an hour of Vibes.”
Kate didn’t dare look at Alec to get an I told you so warning.
“It’s not unusual,” Hailey added. “After the stress of the wedding, and all. Madame Valaina is just what you need.”
“What exactly does she do?” Kate asked. The description in the resort brochure had been brief and left plenty to the imagination. And, of course, Kate’s had gone wild.
“Vibes,” Brenna said, laughing. “Really good vibes.”
“Valaina’s Intimacy Breathwork for Enhanced Satisfaction is what she calls it,” the other woman said. “She’s one of the foremost breathing experts in the country.”
“Breathing,” Kate and Alec said in near unison, both sounding relieved.
“Is that all?” Kate asked.
“We know how to breathe,” Alec said.
“Not like this,” Brenna said with a wink. “She specializes in intimacy, ecstasy, and, of course, Tantra.”
Tantra.
“You’ve heard of Tantric sex, of course.”
They both just stared at Brenna, silent, making her laugh.
“Trust me,” she said. “You will love her. And each other even more.”
“We really don’t need…that,” Alec added. “Thanks, but a quick rubdown is all we want. Just the basics. In fact, I can wait while—”
“Dude!” Brenna gave him an easy punch. “You’re here to have fun and chill with the love of your life.” She turned to Kate, who was trying to balance her reaction to the breathing coach and her disappointment that, of course, Alec wanted nothing that would require them to get closer than five feet to each other unless Gabe might be looking.
“Typical man,” Hailey said with a laugh. “They all think they know how to breathe and have sex, but after an hour with Madame Valaina, you will realize just how wrong you’ve been doing it. And by it, I mean it.”
Kate’s mouth went completely dry.
“Why don’t we leave you two to get undressed?” Brenna asked.
And then Kate’s legs went a little weak.
“Anything you like,” Hailey said. “Down to suits or nothing at all. Though”—she turned to Kate—“I do recommend at least taking your top off. We’ll be right outside, and all you need to do is reach out of the drape and drop the yellow flag that’s there. We’ll know you’re comfortable.”
Alec looked like nothing could make him comfortable.
Brenna gave him one more compassionate smile. “You’ll love it, trust me.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he murmured as they left and closed the front drape, but Kate caught the comment.
“What are you afraid of?” she asked.
He met the question with a direct gaze, taking a few seconds before he replied. “Not much,” he admitted. “I face killers in the cage and fighters in the ring. I marched around Baghdad on patrol and picked up a few IEDs with my bare hands.”
“But you’re afraid of me,” she said, suddenly realizing what had been eluding her.
“I’m afraid of…” He closed his eyes. “Yeah, let’s go with you.”
There was more to it, much more, but she wasn’t going to find out here in this cabana with two massage therapists waiting for them to strip. And the way he looked at her, the little bit of vulnerability that darkened his eyes, was not only so out of place on such a big man, it was endearing beyond description.
“Let’s make a deal, then.”
He laughed. “Always the dealmaker, aren’t you?”
She smiled. “A good lawyer can compromise.” She took a step closer and lowered her voice. “Let’s play the game they expect us to play. How hard can it be?”
His eyebrow twitched, and he nearly smiled. “How hard?”
Then she realized what he meant, shooting a blast of heat through her. “Oh, I get it. A double entendre.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “It only gets worse when you use those big words, Smarty-Pants.”
She bit back a laugh, still heated from the thought of what he’d meant. “So instead of us being all weird and uncomfortable around them and making them jump to a million wrong conclusions, which would only incur the wrath of Gabe Rossi, let’s just…”
“Get our fakeness on and our clothes off?”
She nodded.
“Okay.”
For a long second, they stared at each other, neither one moving.
“I guess I could make this easy and turn around,” he said, a thin note of resignation in his voice. He pivoted slowly. “Go ahead and get on your massage table and cover up, and when you’re ready, I’ll take my T-shirt off and let them know we’re ready. That ought to satisfy them.”
Kate stayed right where she was, pulling down her strapless sundress and untying the bikini top before climbing onto the massage table and pulling the sheet over her bottom.
“Okay,” she whispered, lying flat.
Slowly, he turned, and even more slowly, his gaze drifted over her prone body. Staring at her, he grabbed the neck of his T-shirt and yanked it over his head, revealing his hard, hot, muscular body.
As he walked by her to go to the drape and drop the notification flag, he put a light hand on her head.
“Now all we have to do is relax.”
She snorted, because they both knew that was impossible.
*
Alec pretended to
sleep, or at least be in a Zen state, but the little massage therapist hadn’t even come close to untying his knots. Kate, on the other hand, drifted off fairly quickly, allowing him to stare at her through nearly closed eyes and watch her body be oiled, rubbed, pressed, and caressed.
And through an act of God and the world’s most incredible willpower, he did not sprout an erection against his massage table. But for fifty minutes, he didn’t turn his head—if the massage therapist thought that was weird, then too fucking bad—but used the time to do what he’d done for days: watch Kate.
But something was different now. He couldn’t put his finger on it, or maybe he didn’t want to, because she let some kind of wall down that really was better, safer, saner, and easier left up.
The sheet was pulled down to her waist, giving him a view of her bare back, her arms at her sides, denying him a chance to see even a glimpse of her breasts. But he could imagine—and did, way too often. As always, his gaze shifted back to her face, making him think about what it had been like to hold her cheeks in his hands out in the sun and how much he’d wanted to kiss her to quiet her. And just kiss her again.
Her eyes popped open, and she caught him. But he didn’t look away. For what seemed like an eternity, they stared at each other, playing the game, of course. They looked across the small space that separated them like lovers would, unblinking, unsmiling, all the walls down.
A very, very dangerous place for Alec Petrov to go.
“And we’re done,” Hailey whispered, keeping the mood calming in the cool cabana. She pulled up his sheet at the same time the other woman completely covered Kate. “Rest for a few minutes, have some coconut water and fruit. Madame Valaina will be right in.”
“I’m already here.”
Alec lifted his head and squinted into the light pouring into the open cabana, the sun nearly blinding him. No, wait. That wasn’t the sun.
It was a big orange hat.
Swearing under his breath, he turned to Kate and watched her come to the realization that the woman who’d witnessed and commented on their argument on the sand was their own personal sex guru.
Barefoot With a Bodyguard (Barefoot Bay Undercover) (Volume 1) Page 13