Steele Family Romance Collection

by Cami Checketts

  Preston’s footfalls splashed through the water, and she glanced at him. He stepped up close, and her heart thudded loudly in her chest. When he reached toward her face, all of the muscles in his shoulder flexed. “You have some black stuff …”

  “The makeup from the party,” she said, itching for him to touch her … which made no sense, as she knew she couldn’t let herself fall for him, and she felt embarrassed she’d been so sharp with him about not complimenting her or touching her unnecessarily.

  “Do you want me to get it off?”

  “Yes, please.” She stood, almost afraid to move and dislodge this connection arching between them.

  He ran his fingertips under the water and then gently rubbed the top of her cheek. His mouth twisted in concentration and he rewet his fingers to try again. “Stubborn stuff,” he muttered.

  She laughed uneasily. His touch was doing funny things to her insides.

  Finally, he rubbed one last time, then declared, “I think I got it all.”

  “Thank you.”

  She thought he’d drop his hand, but instead he trailed his fingers along her cheek and across her jaw. His hand traced back into her hair as he studied her. His fingers must’ve hit a hairpin, because he slowly slid one out. The sensation was incredible, and Ally’s body flushed with heat at the even warmer look in his eyes.

  “Do you want me to pull them out?” he asked softly.

  Ally should’ve said she could do it herself. Instead, she nodded. “Please.”

  He lifted both hands and tenderly worked his fingertips along her scalp. When he found a pin, he would slowly pull it out. More and more of her hair tumbled around her face, and his left palm was full of bobby pins. He cradled her head gently with his right hand. The moment went slow and sticky between them, much hotter than the tropical heat.

  “You’re incredibly beautiful, Ally,” he murmured. His dark eyes caressed her face, as if he truly meant his words.

  Who was she kidding? She stepped back and cleared her throat, awkward and unsettled and still wishing he was touching her face and looking at her in that special way. This was Preston Steele. She needed to wake up and face reality. Yet maybe this was their reality. Maybe his brother would never find them.

  “Do you want me to take those?” She opened her hand to take the pins.

  He dropped them into her palm and muttered, “I’m sorry.” He jammed a hand through his hair, and the way the muscles flexed in his arm made her stomach flip-flop. “I forgot quickly that you don’t like compliments.”

  “I …” What woman didn’t like compliments? She couldn’t explain that she would like them if she thought they were true, if she thought he meant them. Yet that look in his eyes … Could Preston Steele really think chubby Alyandra Heathrow was beautiful? She pushed out a breath. No. It was just this crazy situation. Yet if memory served her right, he’d said she was beautiful back at Bucky’s party, but then she’d had so much makeup caked on her face he probably couldn’t even see the real her.

  “You’re fine,” she finally muttered.

  The splashing waterfall was their only accompaniment for a few seconds; then Preston cleared his throat and asked, “Are you doing okay?”

  “Surviving.” She smiled to show him she was teasing and hopefully break the tension.

  He chuckled. “That might be our MO for a while.”

  The beautiful yet awkward moment from before had passed. He took a long drink and then stepped under the water and let it splash over his head and face. It dripped down his chest. Ally stared like a teenage girl with a desperate crush. She couldn’t have torn her eyes away if a rescue helicopter hovered overhead.

  Preston’s chest, shoulders, abdomen, arms … they were all bulging with muscle, covered with smooth, dark skin, and quite simply he was glorious. His face was wet from the waterfall, and with the kind way he treated her and how she enjoyed talking and teasing with him, she found herself panting for air and having delicious fantasies of wiping the moisture from his cheek and then trailing her fingers along his chest. Listening to him say how beautiful she was and living in a fantasy where they actually had a relationship. She hadn’t kissed a boy since middle school and had never been around a man to equal this one.

  Preston stepped out of the stream and blinked the water from his eyes. Meeting her gaze, his dark eyes flashed with a mixture of concern and intrigue that quickly turned to … desire. Did he truly desire her?

  “Ally?” he said in a deep, appealing voice.

  Terror rushed through her. She couldn’t let herself fall for him, only to have her heart broken when they returned to civilization.

  Her concentration on him broke and she stumbled back in the knee-deep water, needing to get away so she could get in control of this … attraction was the only word she could think of. Unimaginable attraction that she didn’t need to be feeling. She could lie to herself and say it was only because of their extreme situation, but she knew no other man could or would yank her in like this. She could remember a few men in college trying to talk with her, but she’d remained focused on studying and working and they’d left her alone quickly.

  Preston’s hand wrapped around her elbow, probably to steady her, but it was too much contact. Heat crept through her, and it took all of her self-control not to reach out and touch him. Just one touch. That might be enough.

  “Are you okay?” he asked again.

  “Fine, fine. Why do you ask?” She pried her eyes from his handsome face and studied the rocks that formed their small waterfall.

  “You were looking at me like …” His voice dropped. “Like a woman looks at a man that she’s interested in.”

  Ally’s heart slammed against her chest. His words were far too bold, and they challenged her to do something about the attraction building inside of her. That would be insane. She wasn’t the type of woman Preston Steele dated. No matter how kind or complimentary he was being, as soon as they returned to the real world, he’d drop her like a hot rock. If they ever returned to the real world. Many voices in her head were begging her to take advantage of this opportunity with this incredible man and just kiss him. She’d never kissed a man of Preston’s caliber and never would again. Why not enjoy that he seemed willing because they were in such a crazy situation?

  No! Horror rolled through her. She would be the one taking advantage of the situation if she pushed herself on him.

  Pulling her arm from his grasp, she worked her way through the shallow water, the uneven rocks pushing against her tender feet. Her feet needed to toughen up. Her heart needed to toughen up more. How was she going to survive emotionally with Preston? She said a silent prayer for bravery, for protection from Preston’s charms, and—most of all—for Preston’s brother to find them quick.

  As she walked toward the supplies, she could hear Preston coming behind her. No privacy. She was not going to have a moment alone in this forsaken paradise.

  She set her bobby pins next to the small kit that had a toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb, shampoo, body wash, and lotion, and then spun on him. His dark eyes were filled with determination, and that scared her. He was going to get to the bottom of her longing look; she could feel it. A man didn’t get to Preston’s level of excellence without hard work and determination. She needed to get away, and now.

  “I need to use the restroom,” she blurted out. It was true, but she’d been holding it so she wouldn’t make things awkward.

  He nodded. “Okay. I’ll turn my back.”

  “I’m going into the trees a little bit.”

  “No. I’ll turn my back,” was all he said. He turned and faced the waterfall to give her some privacy.

  Ally glared at his broad back. She wasn’t going to pee right here close to their supplies, fresh water, and sleeping spot. She crept backward into the trees, hoping he couldn’t hear when a branch snapped. She squatted down and peed, having to drip-dry, which was gross, but she didn’t dare use a leaf without a clue what was poisonous or not.r />
  As she straightened, she heard a sliding noise coming from her left. Her eyes darted to the sound, and her stomach dropped when she saw a large snake slithering toward her.

  Maybe she should’ve frozen or played dead, but no way was she lying down. She shrieked and sprinted away from that monstrous terror.

  “Ally!” Preston whirled and rushed toward her across the small clearing.

  “Snake!” she yelled.

  Preston reached her, lifted her off the ground, and swung her away from the snake. Glancing around his arm, she saw it slithering toward them. She screamed in horror. Preston pushed her farther behind him, darted to their boxes of supplies, and grabbed the knife. Ally’s gut churned as she saw the snake was almost upon them. Its ugly head reared up, hissing so that its small, pointed teeth were visible.

  Preston dodged the snake’s head, and before Ally could do more than back into their supplies, he brought the knife down in a swift chopping motion. The knife cut most of the way through the snake’s ugly body. The snake’s teeth snapped at Preston’s leg.

  “Preston!”

  He leapt away from the snake’s head and plunged the knife through the body again and again. Within seconds, he’d chopped the horrific creature in half. Ally’s eyes bugged out. The snake’s head wilted to the ground. Preston shifted the knife to his left hand and bent down. He grabbed one end of the snake and hurled it into the forest, then did the same with the other end.

  When he turned to her, he looked glorious, like a superhero. His face and body were taut and hard, ready to take on twenty more snakes. He’d just killed that snake for her.

  His face softened. “Ally?” he murmured. “Are you okay?”

  “Y-yes,” she managed to get out.

  Preston rushed across the space between them, dropped the knife to the ground, and gathered her into his arms. Ally gasped from the surprise and sheer pleasure of being held tightly against him. Her hands were balled into fists, her entire body felt coiled from the encounter, but she found herself relaxing, melting into Preston.

  “It’s gone,” he said. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

  Ally wrapped her arms tightly around his back and just held on. She never wanted to leave the circle of his embrace again. Preston was safety. Preston could protect her. She buried her head in the warm flesh of his chest and prayed that was the only snake on this island, even though that wasn’t likely.

  He simply held her close for a while and then said, as if she was the most important thing in the world to him, “It didn’t hurt you?”

  “No.” She quivered.

  He ran his hands along her back. “When did you see it?”

  “I-I stood up and the snake—it was huge! Right as I stood up, it was coming toward me. I screamed and ran. Then you killed it, like Rambo! Now … you’re holding me.” She loved being held by him. It was a sense of home she wasn’t familiar with, as her family had relocated so often. How could Preston’s arms be home? She was probably just overreacting because of the snake. She shivered, despite the warm temperature. “Do you think there are any more?” She spoke into the crook of his neck, then let herself glance up at his handsome face.

  “I don’t know, sweetheart.” He said the words so tenderly, then brushed some hair away from her face, and she found herself aching for him to trail those fingers across her lips. “I wish I had a clue if it was poisonous or not, and I’m afraid there are more,” he reluctantly admitted.

  His words slammed her back to reality—the reality that a snake could be coiling around their ankles as she was distracted by this wonderful man. She broke away from his arms and her eyes darted around the clearing, searching, searching.

  Preston touched her hand. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

  She shook her head quickly, trying to clear it. “You’re right. It’s okay. I’m okay. You’re good at killing things with that knife. You’re a good Boy Scout—no, you’re like Rambo or something. I’m glad you learned to kill things as a boy.” She never thought she’d be happy about killing. “And we have a tent. Snakes can’t get through the tent.” She looked at the tent, which looked pretty flimsy at the moment.

  “I hope not.” He didn’t make light of her fears, instead reassuring her. She appreciated it, and she didn’t care if he wasn’t being completely truthful. “If another one comes, I’ll kill it with the knife.”

  “Yes!” she said. “You will. Thank you, Preston, for being a killer.” That made him chuckle. “It’s all good. I’m okay, I’m okay,” she repeated a few times to reassure herself. She wrung her hands together and shivered. “You have no clue how much I despise snakes.”

  Preston smiled grimly. “Me too.”

  “How did we get in this nightmare?” she muttered, staring at him.

  Preston pushed a hand through his hair. “It’s my fault. You wouldn’t be here without me.”

  “Let’s not go there.” Now she was the one trying to reassure him. “I’m not blaming you.”

  Preston stepped right up to her and pushed his chest out. “Come on. I’m blaming myself. You said it. We’re in a nightmare, and you never would have gotten here without me and whatever Gunner has done.” He paused. “Hit me.”

  “Excuse me?” She stepped back.

  “Hit me. It’ll help you conquer the fear of the snakes, get out the frustration over our situation. It helps, I promise.” He gave her an irresistible grin. “I told you I grew up with three brothers. We hit each other all the time.”

  She stared at him. She wouldn’t mind hugging him again, but she wasn’t going to hit him. “I’m not just going to hit you.”

  “Try it.” He offered his chest. “Use me for a punching bag. Come on. It’s great therapy.”

  “I guess since there isn’t a licensed therapist around to talk through our concerns, we’ll just hit people instead.” She shook her head. “You’ve lost it, my friend.”

  “Come on, Ally. You’ve dealt with all of this so impressively, but almost too bravely. The snake is the first thing that’s snapped you. Thanking me for being a killer.” He chuckled. “Hit me. It’ll make us both feel better.”

  She glared at him for a few seconds. “You’re being ludicrous.”

  “I know. But try it.” He pushed out his chest again. He looked so good standing there, she didn’t want to hit him.

  “I’m hungry,” she said. “Let’s sort through the food.”

  “After you hit me.”

  Hit him? Maybe she’d do it once, simply to appease him so they could move on and eat something. She batted at his chest. The muscles were solid. She really wanted to open her hand and flatten her palm against those glorious muscles.

  “That wasn’t a punch,” he said.

  “Now you’re just taunting me.”

  He grinned.

  “Do all those muscles help you take hits on the field better?” They’d helped him kill that vicious snake.

  He flexed, and her eyes widened. Wow. “Yeah.” He eased in closer to her. “And I can take anything you can throw at me. Come on.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “Tiny little thing like you, you can’t hurt me.”

  It was the wrong thing to say—or, if he wanted to rile her up, it was exactly the right thing. Ally wasn’t tiny and had never been. The way he’d phrased it made her embarrassment heat up to fury. She didn’t think Preston would ridicule her for her size, but she didn’t know him that well. Maybe brothers teased differently than sisters.

  Winding up, she punched him hard in the abdomen. It stung her hand, but it did feel good to hit him.

  “That’s right.” His grin grew. “Let it all out. Don’t worry, you’re too little to hurt me.”

  Ally’s jaw dropped. Preston wasn’t the type to mock her, but the teasing hit too close to her insecurities. She smacked him again and again. Preston hardly flinched as she landed punch after punch on his chest and abdomen. Anger overtook her as it didn’t even seem to hur
t him. She balled her fists, moved in closer, and simply banged on his chest. Tears sprang up and trickled from her eyes. All the frustration and fear over being kidnapped, being stranded, and seeing that awful snake poured out as she wailed on him. Past angers surfaced as well—her parents never once telling her she was attractive; Trevor Ollie pretending to like her, then telling everyone she was too fat and how gross it felt to touch her; and getting the charity invite to prom because the kid’s best friend wanted to take her twin, Shar. She’d been so excited and he hadn’t even asked her to dance all night, standing awkwardly by her side as everyone danced around them.

  The punches kept landing and Preston kept taking them as tears raced down her face. She probably looked unglued with her hair wild and sweat popping out on her forehead.

  More frustration from years past poured out. Overhearing her mom telling her dad that she was concerned about how overweight Ally was, especially compared to her perfectly thin sisters. Being at one of Kim’s movie sets, where the director wanted Shar to be part of the show, but turned his nose up at Ally. It felt like she was always comparing herself to the gorgeous Kim and Shar, yet hating herself for it. They were both kind and good and loved her, and she had this deep-seated resentment over something none of them could control. She’d semi-starved herself for years and exercised most days of the week, and though she’d lost weight and had tried to embrace her curvy body, she still wasn’t fit or gorgeous like her sisters. She’d convinced herself it didn’t matter, but it still hurt.

  She had no clue how long she’d banged on Preston’s chest and cried, but suddenly he held on to her wrists and murmured, “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s okay.”

  She melted against him as hot tears still stung her eyes and raced down her face.

  “I’ve got you. You’re going to be okay.” He released her wrists and wrapped his arms around her back.

  Ally’s arms wound around his waist, and she simply laid her head against his lovely chest and clung to him. Neither of them said anything as they held on to each other.