PARADISE COVE - 3 BOOK SET: PARADISE COVE SERIES

by Patrice Wilton

  “Sure. We could probably arrange that.” Leaning against the railing, he glanced around the pool. He spotted Taylor speaking with her mother and an older guy with graying hair. Kinda had that smooth George Clooney look. He’d bet his other nut that the guy was a doctor down at Mount Sinai. Brilliant, successful, everything he wasn’t. Probably thought his shit didn’t stink.

  Colt turned his back once more, concentrating on the fading sun over the ocean. Jennifer leaned over the railing as well. “It sure is pretty. I can see why Kayla loves it here. I’m more of a city girl, I guess, but I could get used to this.”

  “It gets in your blood. When I want to do something special, I can always fly away for a few days, but I don’t get that urge very often.”

  “What do you get the urge to do?” She asked it quietly, but the meaning was clear from the look in her eye, and they way she shifted so her breasts brushed up against his arm.

  “Well, I don’t have a whole lot of urges either. I have a ten-year-old boy that lives with me, and between him and my business, well there isn’t much free time.”

  The sparkle in her eye dimmed and he was almost sorry he’d mentioned Jamie. But Jamie was the most important thing in his life. Getting laid was a distant second. “Oh. You’re married?” She glanced down at his ring finger which hadn’t seen a ring on it for the past year.

  “Not any more. Divorced.”

  “Oh!” She grinned. “I went through one of those. Not much fun, is it?”

  “No. Pretty crappy, matter-of-fact. Not such a picnic for Jamie either, getting shuffled back and forth. His mom lives in an apartment just south of here. She’s a nurse at the Lower Keys Medical Center. Got a boyfriend down there. A resident doctor. Which is quite a few steps up from someone who catches fish for a living.”

  She laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I see.”

  “Well, just telling it the way it is.” He shifted toward the other guests again. Taylor was laughing with the George Clooney look-a-like.

  “If you’re happy, it doesn’t matter what you do. Bottom line, that’s all that counts.”

  “I am happy. Sure beats working in an office or cutting into people all day.”

  She snorted with laughter. “You are too funny. Come on, let’s grab another drink and a table before they’re all gone.”

  He gave Taylor another look, but she seemed to have forgotten him already. “Sure. Sounds good.”

  * * *

  Taylor turned just in time to see Jennifer and Colt refilling their drinks at the bar. She watched them leave the pool area and take the stairs to the beach. They headed over to the reception area, found a nice view table, then he pulled out a chair for Jennifer and sat down. They didn’t have any formal seating arrangements, but she had thought he’d be eating with her.

  She bit her lip, fuming inside. Her eyes smarted, and she wanted to smack something. Like his too-handsome face. She could see him leaning in Jennifer’s direction and their shoulders bumped as they laughed over something he’d said. If she hadn’t acted like an idiot over the fact he’d been married once, she might be sitting with him now. He’d be whispering nice things in her ear, smiling at her.

  Sean had been married and had a child too, but that hadn’t stopped Kayla from loving him. Yet it was more than that. She wanted to believe in happily-ever-afters, but deep inside she knew it was a lie. Life didn’t come with guarantees. And she wasn’t the sort to gamble. That’s why she continued to push Colt away. Not because he’d been married before, or had an eye for the ladies. She believed him when he said he didn’t want anyone but her. The real problem was, as much as she cared for him, she was afraid to risk her heart.

  She was the problem. Not him. And it wasn’t fair to keep him dangling. He deserved companionship, a loving woman to share a part of his life with. If he found it tonight—even for a few hours—she should be happy for him. After all, he’d offered it to her plenty of times and she kept turning him down. Always wanting to play it safe. Avoiding heartache at any cost.

  Glancing at them again, she had to admit that Colt seemed more than content to be where he was. And more than likely he would get what he wanted tonight. Not with her, but with someone else. Brittany had warned her that she might send him into another woman’s arms, but she hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. Not tonight.

  This was her sister’s wedding, dammit! Nobody had the right to mess with that. Nobody. Not some hot-to-trot dame from Philadelphia who would be going back to her real world soon. And not Colton Travis either.

  He should respect her enough to wait for another evening. Another woman. Someone she didn’t know. Not a guest of theirs—a long time friend of Kayla’s. Not in front of her. It was wrong, wrong, wrong.

  She wanted to be with him again. To share his hot kisses and feel his hands and mouth everywhere. He had been the best lover she’d ever known. She remembered every detail of their night together, and relived it day after day, all alone in her bed. And yet she’d sent him away. This was her doing, and she just had to suck it up. Timing in life was everything, and this wasn’t their time. How many times had she told herself, and him, that?

  Dr. John Sinclair came up to her and put his hand on her back. “Your mother would like to get a table. Will you be joining us?”

  She turned with a forced smile. “I will indeed.” She pranced along beside him and her mom, who kept up a lively chatter with the handsome doctor.

  Taylor would have chosen a table on the far side, away from Colt and Jennifer, but John took the decision out of her hands. He pulled a chair out for her mother, and Anna sat down like the Queen herself. She had one of those little Chinese decorated fans that they sell in junk shops and she fanned herself prettily, giving John fond looks behind lowered lashes. It was almost embarrassing to watch.

  Although this was the last table she would have chosen because of it’s proximity to two people she preferred to ignore, it did have the nicest water view. Now that the sun had set, the sky was a mauve and pink shade, and the ocean glimmered with the help from the tiki torches. On any night this would be extremely romantic, but she was sitting with a guy who was a little too full of himself and her mother.

  Only two tables away Colt sat with a pretty young woman, who unlike herself, drooled over him. She kept touching his arm, inching her chair closer and closer, like she wanted to end up in his lap. It was all too obvious that Colt, her Colt would not be lacking for female companionship tonight. And she didn’t like it. Not one bit.

  She shot him a look, and catching it, he lifted an eyebrow. Dammit, if it didn’t make him sexier than he already was. He gave her a slight nod and a half smile, which she determined to mean—see, I got lucky. Thanks for the tip.

  She grimaced, and wiped her sweaty hands on the napkin. “So, John. Are you in the same field as Sean? A cardio surgeon?”

  He smiled. “You mean cardiac surgeon. No, I’m not. I’m a lung guy. A pulmonologist. I do get to see too many of Sean’s patient’s though. After cardiac surgery they are highly susceptible to catching pneumonia. If they return to the hospital after they’ve been released from his care, more often than not, it’s to see me.”

  “Why, that’s terrible. Isn’t it, Mom? To get deathly ill again when their immune system is down, well, that just sucks.”

  “I’ll tell you what sucks,” Anna said. “I’m out of wine. John, dear, would you mind waving over that waiter?” While he was distracted, her mother leaned close and whispered, “What are you doing? Why are you with us, instead of saving your boyfriend from that barracuda over there?”

  “She’s not a barracuda. And besides, even if she is, it’s obvious that he doesn’t mind. She’ll be leaving at the end of the week, so it’ll be one night of hot sex and it’s Hasta La Vista, baby!” Taylor shrugged. “So let him have a good time. What do I care?”

  “A lot more than you let on. I’ve seen you sending him looks all night. Your face is beet red right now, and your skin is all p
rickly. That means something.”

  “Yeah. That I’m allergic to him. I get this every time he’s near. And my breathing gets bad too. Maybe I need a lung doctor.” She glanced at John, then back to her mother. Leaning over she whispered in her ear. “You like him?”

  She nodded and blushed like a girl. “And you?” she asked.

  “Not like that.”

  Her mother beamed and Taylor excused herself and got up from the table. She sashayed over to Colt’s table and put her hands on his shoulders. She smiled at Jennifer. “Everything all right, here? Is Colt being attentive? He’s one of our favorite people here at the Cove.”

  “I’m sure he is,” Jennifer said with a big smile for him. “He’s been awesome. He was telling me about his son, and I told him I’d love to meet him. We were trying to figure out a time when we could all go snorkeling together.”

  “Really?” Taylor dropped her hands and moved to Colt’s side. “Aren’t you a little busy for a snorkeling trip? You’re booked with Sean’s father and brother-in-law tomorrow. And we’ve pretty much got you working all week.”

  “Jennifer said she could take a few extra days and stay over.” His eyes locked with Taylor’s, and he put his hands in the air. “I’ve been telling Jennifer that this is a crazy week with the wedding guests, but that I’d do my best to fit her in.”

  Taylor felt heat radiating from her. Like her skin was on fire. Especially when he turned to his new best friend with a smile, and put his arm casually around the back of her chair. “Right?”

  “Right.” Jennifer bumped his shoulder. “You might see me snorkeling tomorrow over by the pier. Hear it’s a great place to see plenty of fish.”

  Taylor gnashed her teeth. She’d never had a hissy fit, but could feel one coming on. “There is certainly a lot of fish in the sea. I’ve been telling Colt that. He’s divorced, you know.”

  “So he said.” Jennifer gazed up at her. “He also has a son living at home.”

  “Well…yes…” Taylor sputtered, furious to see amusement in Colt’s eyes. “But Jamie spends weekends with his mother.”

  Jennifer smiled. “Then he’s free every weekend.”

  Taylor spun on her heels and marched off, desperate to get away before she made more of a fool of herself.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Colt had watched the interchange between the two women, and probably should have put a stop to it, but he’d wanted to hear what Taylor had to say. And damn, he wanted to pump his fist in the air. If that woman wasn’t crazy about him, then he didn’t know jack shit.

  She’d been spitting mad, and he loved her for it. Not love, exactly, but admired her, that’s for sure. He admired everything about her. Her stubbornness, her integrity, her passion in all she did, and even the damn fact that she stuck to her principals knowing she possibly faced a personal loss.

  Not that she was gonna lose him. He had no intention of sleeping with Jennifer no matter how hard she begged. But Taylor didn’t know that, she actually thought he was getting lucky tonight. Well, after seeing that streak of jealousy, he had hope again. All was not lost. And all was fair in love and war.

  Whoever said that, sure knew what he was talking about. Because the game was on. He had the rest of the night to woo Taylor back into his arms…and hopefully his bed. No, he didn’t feel bad about it. They were good together. Very good. If she could just accept that fact and stop fighting it with every breath, both of them would be a whole lot happier. He wanted to make her happy…in so many ways.

  Sex was a primal need as much as hunger and thirst. He’d love to convince her of that, one tasty nibble at a time.

  “What are you smiling about?” Jennifer asked, giving him a pointed look. “What the hell was that? Are you two hooking up or something?”

  “I’m sorry. That took me by surprise too.” He gave her a lazy grin, and removed his arm from the back of her chair. “Not sure what to call it, but we are something.”

  “And that means what, exactly?”

  “I wish I knew. We’re definitely friends, but I would like us to be more. She’s got a problem with that.”

  “I see.” Jennifer tossed down the last of her champagne. “I see I’m wasting my time. You need to figure things out between you, and I’m just getting in the way. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you, Colt—but I think I’ll join my other friends at their table.”

  He nodded. “I’m sorry. You’re a terrific girl and if I wasn’t such a complete idiot, I’d be all over you.”

  “You can’t always choose where your heart is.” She stood up, and touched his shoulder. “Good luck. You might need it with that one.”

  He chuckled. “So true. She’s a spitball, that’s for sure.”

  Colt didn’t want to watch Taylor enjoying herself at the table with the doctor and her mother, so he shifted his chair to watch the moon over the horizon. It was half full, a beautiful backdrop in the magnificent sky. The music had started and people were getting up to dance. He’d wait it out a bit, and if Taylor didn’t come to him, he’d make the move himself. Jennifer was gone. What in the world was Taylor waiting for?

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Taylor get up and move around the tables, stopping to talk to people. His heart raced. This was all an act. A ruse for her to casually come over to him, as if it was nothing more than a courtesy. He’d let her play it anyway she wanted. He’d take what he could get, and give more back in return.

  She was two tables away, smiling and laughing with a couple of men. Dammit to hell. He tapped his fingers on the table, crossed and uncrossed his legs. Sat up straighter, then pushed his chair back. He couldn’t sit still another minute.

  He pushed himself up and strode over to her. Sliding an arm around her tiny waist, he pulled her toward him. “Let’s dance.”

  “But I was talking…

  “You still are.” He smiled. “Dance with me.”

  “I don’t want to.” She tilted her chin in the air and he laughed.

  “Are you pouting?” He couldn’t get the grin off his face. “You look about twelve. A beautiful sexy twelve. But still too young for me to want to do this.”

  He tugged her again and she came up hard against him. He walked her backwards onto the grassy area set up for dancing. She tried to push away, but his grasp on her waist didn’t relax. “You are going to dance with me.”

  “No. I’m not.”

  “Yes, you are. I might have you do more than that, if you’re not careful.”

  “And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  His eyes flickered across her mouth, down to her chest, and back up again. “I might want a lot more than just a dance.”

  He could feel her heart pound, and he tightened his grip, moving her slowly between the other dancing couples. They were the only two doing a slow dance to a fast number, but he liked it that way.

  “What did you have in mind?” She sounded breathless.

  “You know exactly what I have in mind, and after your little hissy fit with Jennifer, I’m pretty damn sure you want it as much as I do.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong.”

  “For once in your damn life, will you please shut up and kiss me?”

  “No!” she sputtered. His mouth came down on hers hard, making her incapable of speech. His leg was moving between hers and if she didn’t cling to him, she would have tripped.

  He gentled the kiss, but didn’t let her mouth go. It was sweet, tasting of champagne and strawberries, and for now she wasn’t fighting him. He was tired of fighting too. He just wanted…everything.

  * * *

  Taylor sighed with pleasure. They were kissing on the starry-lit grassy dance area, in front of guests, her family, beneath the moon and the stars. It felt so right, so good, so magical. His arms held her like a safe anchor where she could dip and twirl and be more than herself, and he’d be there to keep her from harm.

  Maybe it was too much champagne, but she let herself relax in his
arms, and allowed him to guide her though the moves. He was a wonderful dancer—another surprise. It was as if a more sophisticated Colton Travis had come out to play. Dressed in his new suit, he was self-assured, polished, exciting in ways that the hunky shirtless, self-deprecating guy she knew was not. Although that Colt got under her skin too.

  She looked at his face in the moonlight, and her breath caught. The sharp angles of his face, his full mouth, blue eyes and fair hair made her weak-kneed with want. He looked so impossibly handsome. Swoon worthy, but of course, she was not a swooning kind of girl.

  No sirree! She pulled herself upright, and took a step back evaluating what to do next. Put an end to this nonsense, or for once in her practical life allow the emotions swirling inside of her to guide her.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked with caution. “I prefer when you don’t think.”

  She laughed. “I bet you do.” Her eyes roamed over his face. “You look incredible. Like The Gatsby. That’s what I was thinking.”

  “Hmm. Okay, you can think some more.”

  “Really? I have permission?”

  “If you’re going to get cheeky about it, then no.” He pulled her up close again. “Just think about us, and how good I can make you feel.”

  “That’s the worst thing I should think about.” Her steps faltered. “I want to think about the moon and the stars, and the beautiful wedding—and the fact that my sister is so very happy, and so dearly loved.”

  “Okay. I’m good with that.” His hand was warm on her back, sliding up and down, making her feel very…very unpractical.

  “Now you’re telling me what I can think.”

  He smiled, not taking offense. “No. I’m just happy you’re having good thoughts.”

  “I guess that’s okay then.” She snuggled up to him. “Could we maybe go for a walk on the beach? I’d like to kick these heels off. They’re starting to pinch.”

  “Let’s go.” He took her hand and they left the music behind and strolled down toward the sand. Just before the mangroves, he bent down to remove her shoes, and then before she knew what he was doing, he picked her up in his arms and carried her across to the other side.