by J. K. Coi
When he started the engine, it roared to life before settling down to a gentle purr. Her fingers clenched on the seat cushion in a death grip, but she had to trust that he actually did know what he was doing.
At least it certainly looked as if he’d done this before.
He turned to her and grinned. Dark sunglasses perched on top of his head, and he dropped them down to cover his eyes. Her chest tightened, but she couldn’t look away, and soon she was smiling back at him, still surprised by the revelation that he’d been to Antigua before and had his own boating license. It didn’t match the driven, single-minded man she remembered.
His hair had been tossed around a bit by the breeze. He looked wicked and carefree, like a young Indiana Jones on the first step of a new adventure—without the wide-brimmed hat. “Are you ready?” he asked over the rumble of the engine.
There was no turning back. She gave him a thumbs up, hoping like hell she wasn’t prone to seasickness.
…
Ben slowly pulled away from the dock and navigated the harbor carefully, mindful of the crowded slips and the shore snorkelers hanging around in the shallows.
Cades Reef wasn’t too far out, and it was a beautiful, calm day on the water, so he was optimistic that underwater visibility would be good. If he’d wanted to really show Beth something spectacular, there were better, more challenging places to snorkel in and around the island, but even though she hadn’t come right out and admitted it, he was almost positive she hadn’t done anything like this before, and he didn’t want to push her too hard, too fast.
He could have left everything alone and let the guide take them out snorkeling as planned, but seeing Beth again had made him realize just how much he’d missed the combustive chemistry between them. Today was an opportunity to seize the moment and let that chemistry finally work for him—so he could purge her persistent memory once and for all.
He tipped his face to the hot sun and let it warm him all the way through as he navigated the boat between the tall, colored buoys marking the harbor’s exit. He was excited to show Beth the reef and knew that he wouldn’t have felt the same way with just anyone.
He used to love a good challenge, but that spark had been missing since the devastating circumstances surrounding his would-be-partner Jeffrey Olsen’s death. He’d snuffed it out on purpose, but now he was kind of glad to get it back again, because he knew he would never make the same mistakes. He would be careful and more aware of those around him.
“You do that pretty well for a guy who supposedly spent the last year getting a new business up and running,” Beth called out to him, her hand over her eyes against the beaming sun as she watched.
“I’m a man of many talents.” He threw her an unrepentant grin and noticed she’d put that big floppy hat back on. A gust of wind blew up off the water and threatened to take the hat. She scrambled to grab it before it could blow away. He liked the way she stubbornly smashed it back onto her head. It was absolutely adorable.
When was the last time he had thought of anything as adorable?
“And you make it look easy. You always made everything look easy.” She shifted in her seat, re-crossing her long legs, and hell, but he liked that too.
“Starting a business is definitely a lot harder than college ever was,” he admitted. “If I didn’t have a friend who insisted on dragging me out here every once in a while in an attempt to make me relax, I probably wouldn’t even know what sunshine looks like.”
“Meredith Stone?” she asked. Was that jealousy in her voice or just wishful thinking on his part? “I saw the pictures of you and her. Isn’t she a lingerie model or something?”
He smiled. Definitely jealousy. “Meredith doesn’t model anymore. Now she designs and sells her own brand of lingerie.”
“She sounds very…accomplished. How did you meet her?”
“We met through my business partner, Steve Nolan.”
“She’s a beautiful woman.”
“Yes.” Maybe he should tell her about his relationship with Meredith, but it was complicated, and he refused to ruin the mood. It was too fragile and hard-won to risk.
Beth’s brows lifted in a delicate arch of skepticism. He even liked that, too. He liked everything about her. Maybe he should tell her that, but the time wasn’t right yet. He was pretty sure the cautious, reserved woman he’d known a year ago was still somewhere inside this confident, sexy siren. If he admitted how crazy she made him feel, she’d back away quicker than a skittish kitten. He’d spook her…like he spooked her before he went to New York.
He wanted her to admit that they could never have stayed just friends. What they’d felt for one another was too strong. They would have had to confront it sooner or later, whether he’d pressed the issue or not.
She looked out across the water, so he didn’t pursue it. He hadn’t intended for today to be about the past, anyway. He wanted both of them to have a good time, so instead, he faced forward and pointed. They’d just cleared the harbor, were now coasting in the slightly deeper water that opened up into the sea, but he could still make out the coral shelf.
“That’s Cades Reef.”
“It’s so beautiful.” Her voice was high with wonder. It was infectious, almost as if he could keep a piece of her joy for himself just by standing close to her.
Beth had scooted closer to the side and was looking over the boat carefully as if she was afraid it would tip if she got too close to the edge. The water here still wasn’t much more than ten feet deep, but it was so clear you could see right to the bottom.
She laughed and pointed at a sea turtle, darting out from beneath the hull of the boat toward a large section of brightly colored coral.
He had an idea. Lifting his arm, he motioned for her to come to him. “Are you ready?”
His gaze wandered the length of her again, appreciating the rise of her breasts, the curve of her waist…and those drop-dead gorgeous legs.
Suddenly, the question had a double meaning he hadn’t quite intended.
“Ready for what?” She eyed his outstretched hand with a suspicious glint in her eyes before glancing out over the twinkling blue ripples in the sea as if she was worried they would turn into monstrous waves and swallow the boat whole.
“You aren’t nervous, are you?” he teased.
She lifted her chin and glared at him. “What do I have to be nervous about?”
He shook his head. “Not a thing, the boat is perfectly safe.” She took that bottom lip back between her teeth again. This was a new habit of hers that he’d noticed last night, but holy hell it was one he could get used to. He imagined himself pulling her plump lip with his teeth, and when she groaned at the sharp pain, licking it.
Jesus. If he didn’t control himself, he was going to make a mess of things.
“I was thinking of taking a bit of a detour on the way to our snorkeling site. What do you say? Do you want to drive? Why don’t we open her up and see how fast this machine can go?”
She jerked her head up in surprise. “Oh no. We don’t have to do that. I mean, I don’t have a license or anything.”
“I’ll be right here the whole time.”
“What if I break it? This thing has got to be more expensive than my car.”
“Come on.” He knew exactly how to get the reaction he was looking for. “Don’t tell me you’re…”
…
“Don’t say it!”
“Chicken.” He actually said it. The jerk. She gritted her teeth and crossed her arms.
“You know you want to, Beth.”
She narrowed her gaze in response to his taunting.
“It’s not that hard. I mean, if I can do it, then surely you—”
She jumped to her feet and whipped off her sunhat, shoving it into his chest. She ignored the grin on his face and the thumping of her heart as she stepped up and edged her way into position in front of the wheel. She could do this.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched
him toss her hat away. It sailed across the deck like a Frisbee. “That’s better,” he murmured into her ear a moment later.
She was surprised to find him so close behind her and froze, holding her breath.
“You okay?” he asked.
She didn’t want to miss anything and accidentally push the one button that would sink the boat. She nodded, deliberately putting aside her awareness of him so she could focus on his instructions. But that was easier said than done.
He turned off the ignition with a twist of the key. “I’ll show you how all the instruments work, and then you can give it a shot. It really isn’t hard to learn at all.”
When his arms came around her and settled on the wheel, she drew in a sharp breath. She forced herself to stay relaxed—or at least appear to be relaxed. There was no reason why she should read anything into his proximity. He wasn’t even touching her.
…And then he was.
His chest pressed up against her shoulder blades, and his cheek was right next to hers as he leaned forward and flipped a switch. Whatever aftershave he’d used was unfamiliar, but it smelled amazing, like sandalwood and amber.
When he spoke, she got shivers all the way to her toes. “This is the power. Like a car, the boat has a battery for all the electrical systems, as well as fuel to run the engine. Once the key is in the ignition like this, you need to flick on the power.” He flicked the switch back up again and she watched all the dials jump to attention, much like the tiny hairs on the back of her neck as his words caressed her cheek softly.
“We need power,” she croaked, trying to ignore the fluttering of her stomach. “Got it.”
“Then you’re going to check all the gauges and make sure the systems are in order.” He tapped a glass-covered window. “This is the gas gauge. And this one here is the speedometer.”
“Okay. And what about that?” She pointed to another display.
As he explained what everything meant, his hand went to her hip, resting there like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do. It was almost impossible for her to concentrate, but she knew if she didn’t focus she would embarrass herself when the time came to take the wheel of this thing. That, or she would embarrass herself by spinning around and demanding to be kissed.
“Um, so what is this for?” She gripped the handle to her right.
“That’s the throttle. It’s basically like the clutch of a car.” He put his hand over top of hers and squeezed. The firm touch felt more intimate than he doubtless intended it to be. She hoped he couldn’t feel the mad gallop of her racing heart.
“Before you start the engine, you’ve got to prime it, like this.” His thumb pressed a button on the side edge of the throttle handle, and he started throwing it forward and back. He did it three times, her hand still trapped beneath his. “You keep your finger on this button and pump the throttle.” He cleared his throat. “Forward and back. Just a few times, there you go. Pump it.”
His voice had lowered, grown huskier. With one hand guiding hers, the other slid over the soft cotton of her sundress as he opened his palm over her belly. She tensed as waves of heat spread outward in a circle from the center of her.
Suddenly, all she really wanted was to leave this thing in park right here in the middle of the open water and have those hands working their way over every inch of her naked body. She wanted to feel the heat of the sun on her face and the heat of his touch everywhere else.
But that would be giving in…so easily. She couldn’t make it so easy on him…could she?
With a hitch in her breath, she tilted her chin to look up at him. The burning flames in his eyes scorched her. His mouth was so close, so tempting. As she watched, he pressed his lips together into a thin line as if he was also holding himself back by a thin thread of control.
At least she wasn’t the only one who appeared to be getting inappropriately turned on by a simple lesson in the operation of a motorboat.
“What do I do next?” she whispered, her gaze still locked with his. Feeling emboldened, she leaned back just a fraction of an inch.
An inch was all that had been separating them, and now the whole hard length of him was pressed deliciously against her. From her thighs to her shoulders, she felt him there, not quite demanding, but insistent. Not unyielding, but solid and real.
He didn’t take advantage of her movement to come even closer. Instead, he cleared his throat. “Let’s get the motor started.”
She stifled a groan and turned her attention forward. After a weighted pause, Ben knocked the handle back into the upward locked position. “Go ahead and turn the ignition.”
With shaking fingers and her head full of everything but driving the boat, Liz reached out and turned the key, bringing the engine to powerful, roaring life. It rumbled beneath her feet, in the floorboards, and all around them. Two of the dials in the dash behind the wheel jumped up again, fluttering a little bit before the engine settled into a deep, restful purr.
Her other hand was still under Ben’s on the handle of the throttle. Pressing the button once more to release it, he let go again quickly, and when he shoved the throttle forward, he did it slowly. It moved smoothly, and she could feel the power of the engine behind it.
The boat started to inch forward. Ben edged back again, letting go of her hand and holding onto the side of the boat instead. He planted his feet farther apart behind her, like a real sailor bracing himself for the rolling waves on the deck of a ship, and so she did the same. It really does make you feel a little more stable.
“There you go,” he said. “Now, the more you push the throttle that way, the faster we’ll go. When you want to slow down again just pull it back, but try and keep your movements smooth and—”
He broke off as the vehicle jerked forward. She’d incorrectly estimated the amount of pressure she would need against the handle of the throttle and shoved it down way too hard.
The nose of the boat reared up into the air like a breaching whale coming up out of the water, and then the craft jumped ahead. She pitched forward violently, smashing her knee on the console in front of her. She pictured those two large propeller things at the back of the boat digging beneath the surface, churning the water into an angry white foam, but didn’t dare look back.
Ben’s arm came around her waist just as she would have hit her head on the windshield. He jerked her back into direct, undeniable contact within the protection of his hard body.
The nose of the boat evened out slowly as they picked up speed, and in the blink of an eye, they were flying across the water so fast she couldn’t catch her breath.
She squeaked and yanked her hand off the throttle, and Ben immediately reached for it, pulling the throttle back in a smooth, controlled motion. As the boat slowed and then stopped, he returned it to the locked position.
The boat rocked forward and back and even side to side. This was no gentle, floating movement with the sea. They had disturbed the water, and the sea was rebelling against them. Waves slammed up against the hull and splashed right into the boat, pouring over her toes and calves, leaving the hem of her sundress clinging to her thighs, and soaking the cuffs of Ben’s pants.
“Smooth, slow movements,” he repeated with a chuckle. The arm around her waist squeezed.
“Oh my God. I almost killed us.”
“No you didn’t. Don’t worry.” He briskly rubbed her arms. “It would have taken a lot more than that to flip us, and trust me, this thing is harder to sink than it looks. Let’s try it again, but this time we’ll just go a little slower.”
She almost said no, but she couldn’t give up just yet. After taking a deep breath, she reached forward and put her hand on the throttle. She depressed the button, then carefully started to push the handle forward.
This time the boat gradually began to move through the water, picking up speed like a reasonably accelerating car.
“There, that’s better,” he said. She could hear the smile in his voice as he stayed i
n place behind her. “See how it feels?”
She nodded and glanced forward. Her breathing hitched. “We’re listing to the left a little, aren’t we?”
His arms came around her again. This time he rested those big hands on the wheel, enveloping her with warmth and strength. “So steer the boat where you want it to go,” he said.
After a few more minutes, her heartbeat calmed down, and she relaxed a little bit. With her hands on the wheel, she took in the vastness of the beautiful sea spread out ahead of them.
With the shore of Antigua at their backs, it was like looking at the end of the world, cloudless blue sky meeting calm blue water, with a couple of little islands here and there to break it up. She even steered the boat around one of them. It was barely big enough to be home to the trio of trees growing in the middle of it.
Ben had stepped back to give her more space. She slowly turned and saw him sitting back with his arms spread out across the bench seat and one foot propped up on his knee. He watched her with a shuttered expression that was serious, thoughtful, and a little dangerous, all at the same time, and she quickly faced forward again.
“You’re doing great, Beth.”
She glanced back over her shoulder. The serious look had smoothed out like it had never been there, and he was grinning. “Are you ready to open her up and go a bit faster?”
She laughed. “No, I think I’ve satisfied my curiosity. Why don’t you take over? I’ll just lay back and soak in the sunshine for a while now.”
When he came up behind her, she let go of the wheel and retreated to a safe distance, pushing her thick, curly hair back behind her ears before swiping her hands over her hips and thighs, smoothing out the invisible wrinkles in her dress.
“Why don’t we head to the reef and do some snorkeling?” he suggested, reminding her that had been the plan all along.
She arranged the damp fabric of her skirt around her knees before clasping her hands in her lap. The morning had advanced nicely, and the sky was a clear stunning blue, the sun bright and hot. The heat would continue to mount as the day wore on. Up on deck there was virtually no escaping it, but she loved it.