by LETO, JULIE
“I hope you have a lot of energy, mister. Warming me up will be no easy task.” Frustrated with her slippery progress, Ariana tugged off her sandals, wincing when her feet met the chilled wood.
“Maybe you’re going sailing with the wrong brother, then,” Ford claimed from above.
Max glanced up to find Ford leaning over the flybridge of their sixty-foot cabin cruiser, securing a line Max knew must be important though he had never taken the time to learn much about his floating investment. So long as Ford brought the boat back from charter fishing trips and pleasure cruises in good working order, Max normally ignored the operation all together. Ford wasn’t making them any richer, but he was happy and out of trouble, which was the reason Max bought the boat in the first place.
He nodded at Ariana, indicating that this was the brother he’d warned her about and that if she had a clever comeback to his insinuating insult, she was more than welcome to return the volley.
“You must be Ford,” Ariana said simply, obviously not wanting to play into their brotherly feud.
Ford slid down the ladder to the main deck, looking every bit the modern-day pirate with his windblown, shaggy blond hair and twinkling eyes. He’d obviously shaved for the wedding that never happened this morning, but he still managed to exude pure rogue charm wearing nothing but a wetsuit. He held out his hand when Ariana came closer. “I’ll be anyone you want me to be, sweetheart.”
Ariana stuck out her tongue as though she was gagging. “How about being original? That line was banned for overuse about ten years ago.”
Zing. Max grinned while Ford faked an injury to the heart, then took her hand and helped her on board.
“My brother told me you were different.”
“I said special, Ford. Ariana is special. Mind your manners. Your job is simple. Take us out on the bay. You can do that, can’t you?”
Ford chuckled and helped them both aboard. In minutes, the dual engines roared to life, a growling echo in a marina normally silent at this time of night. Max freed the bow from its mooring then joined Ariana.
She stood on the aft deck, hugging her leather coat close to her body as Ford eased the boat out of the slip and puttered slowly toward the bay. Max had two choices: pretend to know what he was doing enough to help his brother maneuver out to sea, or practice what he did know—warming Ariana. He motioned for her to come in closer to the cabin where the wind, already slashing against them before they even left the protection of the marina, would be buffered by the fiberglass walls.
“You could have told me we were going out on the bay,” she mumbled, only half complaining as he pulled her full against him.
“I didn’t want to ruin the surprise. You’re not afraid of the water, are you?”
She smirked. “Isn’t my fear of heights enough? I love the water. More specifically, I love looking at the water, sailing on the water. But let’s not forget that San Francisco Bay is shark-infested.”
He leaned down and nibbled her neck, blazing a path across her throat where his chin rubbed against her cleavage. “So I’ve heard.”
She pulled back enough to meet his gaze. “Maybe this boat is shark-infested, too. You should see the look in your eyes. I’m feeling somewhat like shark bait right now.”
“You don’t look like bait. You look utterly amazing. And you taste…fantastically…delicious.” With a shark-like strike, he returned to nipping her neck. She laughed and tugged his hair, the sound of utter freedom urging him. Rewarding him. He shrugged out of his jacket and pulled it around her shoulders. He no longer needed the extra layer to keep the chill away.
He was hot, and getting hotter. The slap of the wind and the spray from the waves as Ford increased the boat’s speed into open waters acted like agents of fire, spreading the sensual conflagration until he was sure he’d burn with wanting. He wanted to make love to her. Here. On deck. With the rock of the waves to give rhythm to their instinctual tempo.
And he would. As soon as he got rid of Ford.
They kissed and teased and touched and played until his brother slowed the boat and idled the engine. When Ford climbed down from the elevated helm, he took one look at Ariana and Max as he headed toward the bow to lower the anchor and smiled from ear to ear.
“Lady, I don’t know what you’ve done to my brother, but keep doing it. I haven’t seen him this loose since he was six and sniffed a little too much Elmer’s glue.”
Max socked Ford in the arm as he passed, causing Ford to howl with unbridled laughter.
“Damn, bro! You haven’t hit me since you were six, either. When I was a pain,” he said to Ariana, conspiratorially angling his hand across his mouth as if Max couldn’t hear him, “he used to steal my allowance. Then he’d invest it. T-bonds. Blue chips. I’m not kidding.”
Max put his arm around Ari’s waist, hoping to shield her somehow from the truth of his carefully planned and executed childhood, which led him to his carefully planned and executed life. “We had quite a portfolio by the time I turned sixteen, if I remember,” Max reminded him.
“Yeah, well…” Ford hedged, not the least comfortable with any point conceded, however true. “I would have rather had baseball cards and bubblegum.”
“Baseball cards and bubblegum wouldn’t have paid for a nice chunk of our college tuition,” Max chimed, shaking his head. He loved his brother, he honestly and truly did, but he didn’t understand how they could have been raised in the same household. Ford was in a constant state of laid-back, roll-with-the-flow relaxation while Max was in a perpetual siege of uptight, concentrated energy. At least he normally was. With Ariana around, he was acting more like Ford—and he was beginning to recognize the appeal.
Ariana obviously sensed an argument brewing, so she stepped between them while cuddling closer to Max. “Now, that would depend on the baseball card, wouldn’t it? People pay millions for some of the rare ones.”
Ford’s smile defined smugness.
“Don’t encourage him, Ari. He’s a hopeless nomad as it is. This boat is the only way I keep him in one place.” Max glanced out at the expanse of bay and ocean that was his brother’s workplace. “Relatively speaking.”
“Yeah, well, if you didn’t finance my boat, you wouldn’t have your own midnight charter cruise and captain, would you?”
“Actually, we could do without the captain.”
Ford scanned the sky, which was clear and full of bright, twinkling stars. Not a cloud in sight. Max grinned. He was not in the least bit qualified to captain this boat, but he did know the basics—how to untie the moorings, where to find the life jackets, how to turn the engine and bilge pump on and off and how to use the radio to send an SOS. He doubted he and Ariana would get into any trouble he couldn’t handle on his own.
At least, none of the nautical kind.
“I was just leaving,” Ford murmured. He lifted the top of a padded seat and pulled out a life jacket, shrugging into it and securing the straps. “I stocked the galley after you called. Ariana, I have a big, warm, hooded sweatshirt hanging on the back of my door. Down the steps, first cabin on your right.”
Ariana thanked Ford, then grinned at Max, smirking at the smoothness with which his brother had dismissed her. Yet without a word, she braced her hands on the railings and made her way out of earshot. He and his brother did have a few things to talk about.
“I had a great time at your reception,” Ford said by way of getting straight to the heart of the matter. “Got the phone numbers of two bridesmaids and several of Maddie’s cousins.”
“Then why aren’t you using the boat tonight?” Max quipped, not entirely sure which part of the truth he wanted to tell his brother.
Ford shook his head. “Who says I’m not already through? But that’s not the point, Maxie, and you know it. Who is she?” He gestured toward the cabin. “And where the hell is Maddie?”
Max groaned, then went to the stern to help Ford release the WaveRunner from its compartment to aid his departure. “I don�
��t know where Maddie is, but she’s the one who told her parents we eloped. She called me last night, just around midnight, and left a message on my car phone.”
“On your car phone? Why didn’t she call your house?”
“I suppose she wanted to make sure she was long gone before I even knew she was missing.”
“Mom and Dad are going to be disappointed. They really liked Maddie.”
“She’s not dead, Ford. She’s gone to find herself. Her lie just bought her some time. I respect her ingenuity.”
Ford nodded, obviously impressed himself. “Man, but the shit’s gonna hit the fan when Randolph and Barbara catch on. You should have seen them this afternoon. They played king and queen of the kingdom to the hilt.”
Max laughed. His brother had guessed a long time ago that Maddie and Max’s decision to marry wasn’t because they were in love. Ford had accepted their plan in his usual, laid-back style, somewhat entertained and resigned to watch the events unfold. “If you came to more family gatherings, you’d know that Randolph and Barbara Burrows play king and queen all day, every day. I’m sure Maddie will return ready and willing to handle them. I just hope she realizes she’d better get back here in a week. I can’t disappear forever.”
“Sure you can, bro. You just won’t. Too many deals brewing.”
“I’d say ‘I have my goals, you have yours,’ but that would only be half-true,” he quipped. He heard Ari closing a door belowdecks and remembered he had better things to do than berate his brother for the lack of direction in his life. “Don’t come back until after sunrise, okay? Long after sunrise.”
Ford climbed onto the WaveRunner and held out his hand to accept Max’s keys. Although it wasn’t legal, Ford lived on the boat. If Max wanted him out of the picture for the night, he’d have to relinquish his car and house in trade.
“You still haven’t told me who this Ariana is,” Ford reminded him while he unzipped a pocket on the life jacket and stuffed the keys inside.
Max considered his next words carefully. What could he tell his brother about this woman that wasn’t an intimate secret? A sensual confidence? Wasn’t that all he really knew about her? Those things private and personal and not open to discussion?
“She’s someone I know,” Max answered. “Someone who in one day has shown me more about me…more about this city…than anyone I’ve ever known. I just want to return the favor.”
ARIANA HEARD THE ROAR of a smaller engine and climbed back on deck in time to see Ford skim away on a personal water vehicle. Max was nowhere in sight. Except for the quiet hum of the retreating vehicle and the lapping of waves against the fiberglass hull, the night was soundless.
Then she heard music—cool jazz sung in dulcet tones and accompanied by a saxophone so mournful, she closed her eyes while the emotions rocked her. A moment passed before she heard Max climb down from the helm where he’d turned the on-board stereo.
He looked somewhat disappointed that she’d done as Ford suggested and traded her tight red sweater and sleek leather coat for his battered but surprisingly clean San Francisco Giants sweatshirt, size extra, extra large. The soft fleece swallowed her from shoulders to just above her knees, and though she’d rolled the sleeves at the wrist, her hands were still hidden in folds of gray. But she was warm. And judging by the hungry look in Max’s eyes, she was about to get warmer.
“Where’s Ford?” she asked, knowing he was gone but fishing for information about the timing of his return.
“I threw him to the sharks.”
“Ha, ha. I saw him on the WaveRunner. That’s incredibly dangerous, you know. Going out without a wetsuit at night.”
“Ford lives for danger, Ari. And he’s good on that thing. He’s just going back to the dock, where he’ll take my car to my house and live a life of luxury, which he won’t appreciate. He’ll come back in the morning. We have all night.”
She couldn’t help but smile as she smoothed her hand across the polished railing, then stretched her fingers toward the sky. “This is luxury. The night. The chill. The waves and wind and rush of being alone just far enough from the city where we won’t be disturbed, but close enough to see the skyline in all its glory.”
“Good point. What are we waiting for?”
Max took her hand and led her around to the bow. They were moored just off Sausalito, close enough to see the Golden Gate, yet far enough so they didn’t hear the hum and whir of cars and trucks crossing over. The skyline rose like a mountain range of twinkling shadows. Transfixed by the awesome beauty of the city, Ariana barely felt him lead her back onto a cushioned seat until she was cradled in the V between his thighs.
“This is wonderful, Max. Thank you.”
“No. Thank you. It’s been a long time since I saw the city from here.”
The wistful, sad timbre of his voice clued Ariana that more was at play here than the glittering lights of the skyline.
“How long?”
Max pulled in a deep breath, pausing while his gaze became lost in a tunnel of time. “I was nine. My grandparents had come from Florida and took Ford and me on a night cruise, a real tourist tour. We’d been living with my aunt and uncle in Palo Alto and I think they needed a break.”
“Where were your parents?”
It seemed a natural question to ask, but the moment the query tumbled from her lips, his chest stiffened. She turned in time to meet his tortured gaze.
“You don’t have to answer,” she said quickly, regretting that she’d delved into some painful part of his past. Not because she didn’t want to know everything about him—she did. She just hadn’t expected to stir up such an obviously difficult memory. “I didn’t mean to pry.”
She grabbed his wrists and pulled his arms tight around her. After a moment, he relaxed.
“It’s okay. My parents were back in Oakland. My father drove a cab for a living and he’d been shot by a robber.”
“Oh, my God! Max, I’m…”
“He was okay, but he couldn’t work for over a year. Mom was a public school teacher and she had to quit her job to nurse him. There wasn’t enough money to feed and clothe two growing boys, so we made the rounds of the relatives.”
Ariana’s heart pumped hard, bleeding for the little boy who’d known a poverty and loneliness she couldn’t imagine. Though her family had been stifling to her as she approached adulthood, her time as a child had always been secure.
“No wonder you’re such a driven businessman.”
Max chuckled, but the cadence lacked any real humor. “You don’t know the half of it. My grandparents told us on that boat tour that if my father didn’t return to work soon, we’d have to go to Florida with them. They acted like Walt Disney World and sandy white beaches would make abandoning my parents all okay.”
He buried his face in her hair, inhaling the scent of her shampoo. She nuzzled back into him. He was baring his soul to her. She wanted deeply to offer at least a silent comfort.
“I was so angry. You should have heard me—nine years old—negotiating a loan with my mother’s father, estimating the costs of supporting two boys and then adding on the expenses of a family on disability and welfare. He was so impressed, he brought us back to our parents and took out a second mortgage to help us out.”
Ariana’s chest eased at the sound of pride in his voice. “So you started working to pay back the debt yourself.”
“I sold newspapers, ran errands, collected bottles for deposits and, later, cans for recycling. I learned about investing and the stock market from a banker whose shoes I used to shine. By the time I was in high school, I knew the big bucks were in real estate. So, here I am.”
Yes, here he was—a man more complicated than she’d ever imagined, driven by the wounds of poverty and separation from his family to make an indelible mark on the financial world. She could now understand why a marriage of convenience to a wealthy, connected woman would fit with his needs, both professional and private.
“Here we are,”
he said. “We’ve got the view, each other, no money worries and six days to enjoy the city.”
Realizing he sought to restore the playful mood of their excursion with a lighthearted tone, she rewarded him with a seductive shimmy.
He responded in kind, sliding his hands down her silky skirt. The heat from his palms contrasted completely with the icy wind slithering through the thigh-high slit. He then ventured beneath the hem of the sweatshirt, bunching the material as he inched up past the waistband of her skirt. With the cold air swirling just on the other side of the thick cotton, his hands exuded pure fire. His fingers teased the lower swells of both breasts. When he skimmed her nipples, they were hard.
He sucked in a breath, moaning his pleasure at her arousal. “You’re very cold.” Nuzzling her neck through her hair, he plucked and pleased and toyed. In one afternoon, he’d learned exactly how to touch her. Exactly how to start that liquid pounding between her thighs, that rainbow euphoria that made her lose her mind.
Then tonight, he’d let her glimpse into his heart—into his soul. A powerful aphrodisiac she couldn’t—wouldn’t—fight. Nestled in his lap, she could feel the strain of his erection against her back. Memories of making love to him on his balcony—facing the view, with him deep inside her—kicked up her response to his gentle foreplay another notch. If he continued, she’d come right here, right now, with him doing no more than touching her breasts and kissing her neck.
“You’re…making me…hotter,” she said between gasps.
“That’s the idea.”
Moisture trickled down, kissing her inner thigh. “Too hot.”
“No such thing.”