“Condom?” she asked when they finally came up for air.
“What?” He kissed her cheek, then her ear, driving her to distraction.
“Do you have a condom?”
He hesitated, then slowly pulled away. “No.”
“I don’t, either.”
“I didn’t think that I’d…that we’d…”
“I know.”
He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. For several long moments, they held each other in the water, trying to catch their breath. Then he slowly set her back down on her feet.
“I’ll be better prepared next time.”
“Yeah, about that.”
He lifted his head and opened his eyes. “There will be a next time, Zoe.”
“I don’t know.” She pulled out of his arms and swam toward shore.
“Why not?” He followed her, then got up onto the grass to dry off.
“Something happened at work,” she said, as she accepted his help out of the water. Then she told him all about Natasha and Freddie. “So you see, I’m not sure if starting something is wise right now. People are sensitive about coworkers having relationships.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know why you don’t just quit.” He threw on his pants and shirt, and Zoe felt a spark of regret as his perfect body disappeared from view.
“I told you. I need the money and health insurance.”
“Why?”
She sighed and turned her gaze out to the water, wishing things hadn’t become so serious. “My mother is very sick. She has been for years. I need the health insurance and income in order to look after her properly, to pay for her stay in a private facility that deals with her type of mental illness.”
“You pay for your mother’s care?”
“Yeah. I’m all she has.”
“What about your father?”
Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned back to Tate. “When my mother first started showing signs of anxiety, we all ignored it. It was just Mom being…Mom. Then her anxiety turned into depression. She’d be in bed for weeks at a time, unable to do the simplest of tasks. That time was really hard on my dad, who was active and adventurous.” Zoe wiped the tear on her cheek. “People say that I’m just like him.”
“It must have been hard on you, too,” he said as he put his arm around her shoulder.
“Yeah, it was hard on all of us, but we still managed to have a few good times. Then, when I was in high school, dementia set in. At first we thought it was Alzheimer’s, but now, we’re not so sure.” She hugged her knees to her chest. “My father didn’t care what it was. He couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t want to hang around and watch his wife die, so he left.” She rested her chin on her knees as she remembered that horrible day. “He explained to me that he could no longer stay. He had found someone new, someone he could have fun with again. Someone who was in their right mind. He was leaving my mom and wanted me to go with him.”
“So you went?”
She flashed him an irritated look. “She was my mother, Tate!” She shook her head. “I couldn’t leave her. You can’t just run away from your responsibilities.”
He shifted uncomfortably. “What happened next?”
“My father gave me a little money to take care of her, then walked away.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “He walked out on the only family he had, leaving me to take care of my mom alone.”
“How old were you?”
“Sixteen.”
“Jesus.” He tightened his grip around her shoulders. “I can’t even imagine what you went through.”
“I did the best I could, graduating high school and taking college classes at night. I even found a part-time job at a catering business to help pay expenses. Meanwhile, my mom seemed to get worse and worse.” She sniffed and sat in silence a moment before continuing. “Sometimes I really hate my father for walking out on us and leaving me to deal with the mess. No matter what happens, you shouldn’t walk out on your family.”
“You said he couldn’t take the pressure anymore. It’s understandable. Sometimes it can become too much.”
“But he left us, Tate.” She straightened and flashed him an irritated look. “You don’t just walk away when things get tough. You stay and try to make it work.”
“Perhaps he did what he thought was best.”
“He was selfish and a coward. By walking away, he made things more difficult for those he left behind. That didn’t matter to him, though. All that he cared about was what he wanted.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes once more. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get so worked up about it. Anyway, that’s why I need this job—to keep my mother in a cutting edge mental health facility while they try to figure out what’s wrong with her. The health insurance helps, but it doesn’t cover everything. My salary is barely managing the co-payments.” She shook her head and looked back out over the water. “The commission for this wedding was going to help me keep up, maybe even put me a little ahead. Only now, it looks as if this wedding isn’t going to happen. I don’t know what I’m going to do.” She let out a long sigh. “I don’t expect you to understand.”
“I do understand, actually. Perhaps more than you know.”
“You do?”
“Yeah.” He picked up her clothes and handed them to her. “You’re not the only one who had a stressful childhood, but that has nothing to do with us.”
“Didn’t you hear me? I can’t lose this job.”
“And you won’t. What happened to Natasha and Freddie won’t happen to us. We’ll be more careful.” He waved his hand around them. “I’ll make sure I have condoms on me and we can go places off the resort like this to have some fun.”
“But—”
“As long as we get together on our off hours—and off the resort—management will have no reason to fire you.”
She thought about it for a moment as she dressed. “I suppose you’re right. We still have to work together on this wedding. I need it to go off without a hitch.”
“I know, and everything will work out fine. You’ll see.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He stood and held out his hand. “Now come on. I believe I owe you an ice cream.”
She smiled and took his hand. “You do.”
By the time they arrived back at the hotel, Zoe was feeling more like herself again. She loved how Tate made her feel better about herself. He seemed to be the perfect match for her.
But on the way back to her room, she remembered his words back at the spring. You’re not the only one who had a stressful childhood.
She realized that while she had shared a lot of her past with Tate, he had shared none of his with her. His comment about a stressful childhood made her curious, and she decided to try and find out more about his past the next time they were together.
Chapter Seven
Tate hung up the phone with his final vendor and ran a hand over his face in exhaustion. This was impossible. He had been calling people all day, and no one could get the supplies here any quicker. If he wasn’t able to use the wood on the island, there was no way that Zoe would get her chapel built on time.
He had hoped that, by some miracle, he’d be able to pull this thing off. The past several days had gone off without a hitch, so well in fact, that Tate and Zoe had fallen into a comfortable routine. In the morning he’d hit the site early and bark out orders at his crew, getting them to do as much as they could before the new shipment arrived. The sun was hot, and the work hard. By the time five o’clock came around, everyone was drenched in sweat. Then he’d hurry to his trailer, change, and meet up with Zoe and they’d take off to their favorite spring as a reward.
And what a reward it was. Zoe had a sexual appetite to match his own, and her adventurous nature led to some pretty crazy things. No matter what he dished out, she begged for more. It was difficult for him not to lose himself in the first hour and collapse from exhaustion. He couldn’t do that, howeve
r. He had no idea how long this little arrangement was going to last, especially considering he couldn’t get those supplies. He didn’t want to spend his short time with Zoe arguing when there were so many new sexual positions to try.
Everything about Zoe was perfect—well, almost perfect. While she seemed to open up to him physically, he knew that his unwillingness to share his past with her was coming between them. She kept asking him about his life outside of the island, and he kept distracting her with sex. He knew it couldn’t go on forever. Eventually she was going to find out that he wasn’t just the owner of a small start-up construction company, but the heir to an oil empire. Once that happened, she’d know that Tate had walked out on his family, in much the same way her father had done years ago. If she couldn’t forgive her father, there was no way she was going to forgive him.
He knew that Zoe wasn’t the type to shy away from conflict…but then again, she had never encountered his father. The old man was about as stubborn as they came, and had very strong ideas on the way things should be.
If you continue down this path, you are going to end up dying in a motorcycle crash, just like your brother. Tate ground his teeth as his father’s words from their last argument popped back into his mind.
No, Zoe would never understand why Tate had left his only family. She’d see his actions as selfish, and he couldn’t bear to see the feelings she had for her father directed at him. It was far easier to just live in the moment. Perhaps after the wedding, he could find another gig on the island. If he could find enough work, he’d never have to leave.
He rubbed his cock through his jeans, which had already swollen to painful levels just thinking about the new sex toy he had gotten that morning for them to try. He had heard that nipple clamps could send a woman’s orgasm off the charts, and he hoped that the rumors were true. Instead of taking her to the spring, he had rented a small, inexpensive condo on the other side of the island for the night. The added comfort and privacy would allow him to take his time. Sure, the first round of sex was always quick and explosive, but he was thinking after that was over, after he tied her to the bed and blindfolded her, he’d use the nipple clamps and lick that sweet pussy until her entire body shook with the force of her orgasm.
Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was still two hours before they were scheduled to meet. Two hours of sporting a painful hard-on and fantasizing about how he was going to make her scream his name in ecstasy. Damn, he was never going to make it.
Standing, he adjusted his pants and tried to alleviate some of the ache in his groin. His jeans rubbed against the fabric of his boxers, which in turn rubbed against his shaft. He let out a soft groan.
He was never going to be able to go out and see the guys like this. He was going to have to do something about this hard-on if he didn’t want his entire crew laughing at him.
With the decision made, he locked the door to his trailer to ensure some privacy. As soon as he heard the soft click, he turned his body so his back was up against the polished metal. He undid his zipper and freed his erection. Damn, he couldn’t remember a time when he had been this hard.
Closing his eyes, he slid down the door and settled onto the floor. He brought up an image of Zoe in his mind’s eye. She was just as he had seen her last night, naked and on her hands and knees in the grass before him.
“Are you ready?” he had said as he rubbed the tip of his cock against her opening.
“Oh yes.” She had wiggled her hips. “Please.”
She had such a firm, round ass. On impulse, he’d spanked it. The slap hadn’t been hard, but it was enough to get her attention. “What do you say?”
She’d moaned and closed her eyes. “Yes, sir.”
“That’s better.” He remembered sinking into her heat, feeling her inner muscles tighten around his shaft. She had felt so amazing. He knew he’d do anything to be inside of her again.
“Come on…” His words echoed in the empty trailer. “Open up for me. That’s it.” He gripped the base of his shaft hard as he imagined slowly pushing himself inside her body. Damn, she was hot. He loved the little squeal she’d made when he had grabbed her waist and pushed until his hips pressed against her backside.
“So perfect.” He ran his hand up and down his shaft as he imagined thrusting against her. Last night, she had moved against him with such enthusiasm. It had been so primal, so raw.
“You like that, huh?” he murmured. She had asked him to go harder, then moaned when he granted her request. As his need rose, he had sunk his fingers into her flesh and quickened his pace, moving inside of her like some wild animal in heat.
“Damn, that’s hot.” He shifted position on the floor, gripping his cock so that his fingers covered most of his length. He imagined her opening up to him, trusting him completely. He wanted to use that trust to take her higher than she’d ever been.
“Oh God, I’m close.” He moved his hand faster, gripped harder. All rational thought left him as he remembered the sway of her breasts and sound of her voice. He rested his head back on the door and let himself be caught up in the memory. Higher and higher he went, until he felt himself teetering on the edge of something vast and amazing.
“Come on, baby,” he whispered. “You know what to do.” He imagined her coming hard and coating his cock with her passion. The image was so complete, so consuming, that he swore he could feel her inner walls undulate against his shaft. He came hard, biting his lower lip so he wouldn’t cry out. Pleasure burst through his body, turning his limbs and mind to Jell-O. Again and again, he came as pleasure spiraled through his system.
When the last spasms of pleasure faded, reality set in, and he realized that he had made a horrible mess. His fantasy had spilled out over his jeans and the floor, creating a sticky pool between his legs.
As he sat there trying to gather the strength to clean himself up, he heard a knock on the door behind him.
“Tate, are you in there? It’s me, Gavin.”
Damn. While his best friend knew a lot of Tate’s secrets, he didn’t know all of them. This was one of those secrets Tate wanted to keep to himself.
“Just a minute.” Tate scrambled to his feet and grabbed some tissues from the desk. He cleaned the floor—and himself—off and pulled out his T-Shirt to cover the stain in his clothes. Satisfied that he was decent, he opened the door.
“Hey—sorry. I was in the middle of a project.”
“It’s okay,” Gavin said as he breezed past him. “I just needed to get away for a little bit. Everyone is all worked up about the company-wide meeting this afternoon. It was getting difficult to breathe.” He collapsed in a chair. “Oh, by the way, Alex wants to talk to you about something. He’s up at the site and says that he might have a solution to your supply problem.”
“Thanks.” Tate started to leave, but Gavin motioned him back. “Don’t leave yet. I need to talk to someone who isn’t freaking out over this meeting. Alex can wait.”
Tate retreated to behind his desk and sat. “What’s everyone uptight about?”
“You heard about that incident where a kid caught two coworkers doing the nasty in the pool shed, right? Well, the parents are threatening to sue, and the hotel is doing everything it can to make sure they’re never put in this situation again. Which means, more rules.” He shook his head. “One couple’s indiscretion has to ruin the fun for the rest of us.”
“They can’t really win a suit against you guys, can they?” Tate asked.
“I don’t think that matters. If it goes to court, it will generate a fair amount of negative publicity, something the hotel can’t afford.” He waved his hand in the air. “Sure, this place looks luxurious and expensive, but behind the scenes, we’re struggling. This wedding Zoe is planning is supposed to help push us back over the top.”
Tate leaned back in his chair as jealousy stabbed him. “You and Zoe seem to be fairly close.”
Gavin flashed his friend an incredulous look. “Come on, you know me. Have
I ever been tied down to one girl?”
Tate smirked. “No.”
“That’s right. There’re just too many beauties out there to limit myself.”
Tate’s smile faded. “Now you sound like Rob.”
“Rob was the best. Your brother could ride a motorcycle better than anyone.”
“It drove my father crazy.”
“He loved the ladies, too. God, he had so many women following him around with their tongues hanging out like puppy dogs’. My sister included.”
“He thought the crush was cute.”
“Claudia thought he was much more than cute.” Gavin shifted in his seat. “Did you know that I caught her secretly spying on your brother in the garage?”
“You’re kidding.”
Gavin shook his head. “She was taking pictures of him fixing up his bike. I yelled at her, of course, but I don’t think it did any good. She was determined to marry him.”
“Rob had that effect on women.”
“And he taught us everything he knew.” Gavin smiled at the memory. “Thanks to him, I now can have any woman at this resort. You can, too.”
Tate snorted. “You were always better with women than me.”
“Ah, you’re just being humble. I’ve seen how the women around here look at you. Take Zoe, for example—”
Tate held up his hand, stopping Gavin’s words. He didn’t want to talk about Zoe. It felt too personal. “I’ll never be as good as my brother.”
“No one will. He was such a rebel, always getting into some sort of trouble.” He pushed his fingers through his hair. “I think running your father’s company would have killed him.”
“Running away from my dad did kill him, if I remember correctly.” It had been a horrible night. Tate had huddled behind the sofa, listening to his father and brother yell at each other. They had argued before, but it hadn’t ever been this loud, or this emotional. His father wanted Rob to stop being so reckless. Rob refused to change, saying that their father was trying to turn him into something he wasn’t. In the end, Tate’s brother stormed out of the house and took off on his motorcycle. The next morning, a police officer had come to the door. Evidently, Rob had been found several miles from the property with some girl from town. They had been out drinking all night, and when Rob had gone to take her home, he’d wrapped his precious motorcycle around a tree, ending both their lives. The guilt on his father’s face when he heard the news had been almost tangible. Even today, Tate could visualize the horror and guilt in his dad’s expression. While he’d never blamed his father for what happened—Rob had gotten drunk and taken off after arguments before—Tate could tell that his father took full responsibility.
Secret Games (Tropical Temptation) Page 6