Not that it mattered.
Her scowl deepened as she turned on the water, scooped it onto her face, then dried off with a towel. Who cared what she looked like, or whether or not Liam wanted her? She’d been crazy to run, crazy to think she wanted him, crazy to—
There was a tap at the lavatory door. What was with people, anyway? Occupied meant exactly that.
The tap came again.
“Just a minute,” she said irritably. She balled up the towel, dumped it, took a deep breath and undid the bolt.
Liam stepped inside the narrow little room. Jessie stumbled back as he shut and locked the door.
“Are you crazy? Liam, dammit, what are you doing? You can’t—”
“Just shut up,” he snapped, “just shut the hell—” His arms went around her and his mouth came down, hard, on hers.
He was crazy. And so was she, because the instant she felt his lips on hers, she moaned, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He groaned, spread his hands over her hips, pulled her against him and slid his tongue into her mouth. Jessie whimpered, arched against him and he whispered her name, slid his hands inside her jacket, under her T-shirt, and cupped her breasts. She fell back against the sink as he ran his thumbs over her nipples.
“Liam. Oh, Liam.”
For one wild, wonderful moment, they were lost in passion. Then Liam tore his mouth from Jessie’s, put his hands on her waist and leaned his forehead against hers.
No way was he going to take her like this. Not the first time. He wasn’t even sure how he’d gotten into the lavatory. He certainly hadn’t planned it. One minute he’d been sitting there, telling himself he really was interested in reading a review of a new Miami restaurant and the next, he’d looked up, asked himself why he was acting as if he was on an unimportant flight when he knew, dammit, knew, that this was the most important flight of his life. He’d shot to his feet and headed for the locked door and the woman behind it without really knowing why he was going after her or what he’d do when he got there. But when she opened the door, he knew he was there to hold her and taste her and remind them both that what had started in that garden was too powerful to deny.
She was looking at him now, a smile trembling on her mouth, and he sensed, without having to ask, that her anger had come from the same place as his fake disinterest. He sensed, too, that whatever was happening between them had never happened before, not to any man or woman on the planet.
“Jessie.”
Her smile broadened. It lit her face, even her eyes, and he felt his lips curve in response.
“Liam?”
“I know what you’re thinking.”
She laughed. She blushed, too, and he realized he’d never seen a woman blush before, not quite like that, as if she really meant it.
“I know what you’re thinking, too,” she said.
Hell, she was really something. He wanted to kiss her again but he knew it would be a mistake. It was difficult enough to just stand here without taking her in his arms and finishing what they’d started.
“I didn’t mean that.” He grinned and stepped back the inch the cramped space permitted. “I mean, yeah, that’s what I’m thinking, but—” he took a deep breath “—you’re thinking you did the wrong thing.”
Her smile faded. “Yes.”
“That you shouldn’t have run away.”
“Maybe,” she said in a little whisper.
“You’re thinking you know Bill and you don’t know a damn thing about me, and that you’ve never done anything so crazy in your life.”
He saw her try to smile again, but she couldn’t quite pull it off. “Yes and yes,” she said, her eyes lifting to his.
“Well, neither have I.” He reached out, tucked her hair behind her ears, smoothed down the collar of her lime-green jacket. Then he looped his hands loosely behind her neck and leaned his forehead against hers again. “I’ve never run away with a woman.”
“Never?”
Liam shook his head. “I’ve done a lot of things on impulse, but nothing like this.”
“I thought—I mean…” She licked her lips. “William always talks about how—how successful you are with women. And I just figured—”
“That I swoop in, snatch one, and carry her off when the mood’s on me?” This time, she really did smile and he kissed her gently, capturing her only with the kiss. “This is a first for me,” he said softly. “I wanted you to know that.”
She nodded. “Thank you for telling me.”
Her tone was solemn. Liam took the edges of her jacket and drew her close. “You’re welcome,” he said, just as solemnly. “You should know another thing, too.” He looked into her eyes. “We’re not going to Hibiscus Key.”
“We’re not?”
He shook his head. “I know a place off the Florida coast. Flamingo Island. It’s beautiful. White sand beaches, bright emerald water, soft blue sky, privacy so complete you’ll think we’ve gone back to the Garden of Eden and that we’re Adam and Eve.”
“Ah,” Jessie said with a smile she hoped didn’t show what she was feeling. “A personal recommendation from Adam himself.”
Liam had been there, all right. He thought of explaining how and why, decided this wasn’t the time, and shook his head. “Only on business, sweetheart. Never with a woman.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You didn’t have to.” He framed her face in his hands, lifted it to him. “Everything about the next few days is going to be a first, Jess. For you, for me…for us.”
The next few days. Well, he’d told her what he expected and she had to admire him for his honesty. William had offered forever, but that had been love. This was lust. She knew it, Liam knew it, and it was silly to pretend it was anything else.
“Jessie? Will you go there with me?”
She lifted her head and in that terrible, wonderful moment when their eyes met, she knew that she’d go anywhere with him, if he asked, that she would stay with him, if he asked.
“That sounds…” She smiled. “It sounds wonderful.”
Liam kissed her. Then he unlocked the lavatory door and stepped into the cabin.
“The coast’s clear,” he whispered.
It was true. Nobody was watching them. The flight attendant wasn’t in sight, and the man in the front row was sound asleep. Still, Jessie didn’t take an easy breath until she was seated beside Liam again, safe in the protective curve of his arm. He drew a blanket over them, tucked it in and brought her head to his shoulder. It felt as if they were in a cocoon, with the rest of the world locked away.
“Close your eyes,” he said. “See if you can get some rest.”
She nodded and burrowed closer. She was exhausted, but she was too wired to sleep. So much had happened. She’d done things she’d never have believed herself capable of doing. Her life seemed to be spinning out of control and she still couldn’t decide if that was terrifying or exhilarating. All she knew was that she’d never felt more alive than she did now. And she felt safe with Liam’s arm around her, but how could that be? Nothing about him was safe. He was everything she’d avoided, everything she’d been afraid to want.
Maybe there were times it was best not to think too much about what you were doing.
Maybe this was one of those times.
* * *
NIGHT HAD FALLEN by the time they landed in Miami.
Liam told her he’d made some calls while she slept. Everything was ready for them, he said, holding her hand as he led her through the terminal.
She caught people looking at them. Why wouldn’t they? Liam was so handsome. Gorgeous was the word. And she was probably glowing with excitement. It was hard to remember how frightened she’d been a few hours ago. She gave a soft laugh, and Liam looked at her and smiled.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just—I can’t believe this is me. I mean, I never…” Jessie hesitated. “It’s awful, isn’t it? That this feels so right when William—”
/> “Don’t think about Bill,” Liam said quickly. “Not tonight.”
He was right, Jessie told herself as she waited near the cash register in a brightly lit terminal gift shop. “I need some stuff,” Liam had told her, and she’d nodded, knowing he meant things like a toothbrush, knowing he’d probably also meant condoms, but trying her best not to think about it. Not that she didn’t want him to buy condoms. She was glad he saw that as his responsibility. The problem was, she could feel her nerves starting to take over again, feel the anticipation giving way to wariness.
Any second now, she half expected her conscience would demand to know if she had any idea at all of what she was doing.
She did. And she was going to do it anyway.
Liam caught her eye and smiled as he headed for the register. She smiled back, tried not to think about the condoms, looked down at the counter and the cheap souvenirs arrayed on it. She picked up a plastic alligator boasting a mouthful of teeth and an articulated tail, toyed with it, put it down, picked up a small plastic globe that held a bright green palm tree standing on white sand, set against a tropical cardboard sea. She tilted the globe and the sand turned the placid scene into a hurricane.
“Would you like that?” Liam said, and she looked up to find him standing close beside her.
“No.” She gave a little laugh, put the globe down. “I mean, it’s just silly, but…” Her voice trailed off. “Well,” she said briskly, “did you get everything you needed?” Color flew into her cheeks. “I mean—”
“Everything I need, for now,” he said easily. “There are shops at the place we’re going to. We can take care of the rest tomorrow.”
“Fine,” she said, even more briskly. “I won’t be able to pay you back until after I return to—until I can get to my bank again.”
“Jess.”
“Hmm?”
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Why would you think—”
Liam picked up the little plastic globe. “You were looking at this thing as if it were a crystal ball.”
“Was I?” She tried to smile, didn’t quite make it and shrugged her shoulders instead. “It’s just weird, that’s all. I mean, one minute, the scene inside is so peaceful. Then you just give it a little tilt and it’s as if this storm comes along and sweeps everything away.” To her horror, her voice suddenly quavered. “It’s frightening. That the world can tilt and your whole life can change in the blink of an eye.”
“Let the world tilt,” Liam said softly. He put his arm around her, drew her against his side. “I promise, I’ll keep you safe.”
* * *
THE PLANE THAT AWAITED THEM was small, and they were the only passengers. It lifted into a black sky hung with a huge ivory moon. Ivory, like the color of her wedding gown, Jessie thought, and shivered.
Liam shrugged off his leather jacket and draped it around her shoulders. He put his lips to her ear so she’d hear him over the roar of the engine. “Cold?”
“A little.” She hesitated, then put her mouth to his ear. “How far is it to—what did you call this place?”
Her breath tickled his skin, her fragrance rose to his nostrils. Liam closed his eyes, told himself to take a couple of deep breaths when what he really wanted was to take a fistful of her hair and bury his face in it. But that would only make her more skittish than she already was. Jessie was vibrating like a tuning fork and only an idiot wouldn’t have realized that she was having second and third and fourth thoughts. The last thing he wanted to do was rush her, or let her see how much trouble he was having hanging on to his self-control. He never lost control. Never. And that was all he’d done today, all he’d done since last night.
He sat up straight and cleared his throat.
“Flamingo Island,” he said calmly. “I’ll let you know when it comes into view.”
When he did, Jessie looked out the window. All she could see was a glow in an otherwise inky sea. The plane circled, began its descent, touched down lightly. Liam thanked the pilot, climbed out, helped her down and led her to a canopied Jeep waiting in the short grass alongside the runway. The driver greeted him by name as they climbed into the back seat, and they set off.
“You won’t be able to see much in the dark,” Liam said, putting his arm around her shoulders. “I’ll take you for a tour tomorrow. Okay?”
“Fine,” she said, and she’d have laughed if she hadn’t been afraid the laugh would turn into a sob. What was she doing here, in the middle of nowhere, with a man she didn’t know? With her entire life, her oh-so-safe life, a million miles away?
The driver said something about the weather. Liam answered. Jessie just sat there, taking deep breaths and planning how and when to tell Liam she’d changed her mind again because she surely had. She wasn’t going to stay on Flamingo Island and she certainly wasn’t going to sleep with him.
Not that he’d said anything about sleeping.
Carefully, as if he might not notice, she eased free of his encircling arm.
They were traveling a road that skirted the water. She could hear the boom of the surf, smell the salt tang, but Liam had been right when he’d said she wouldn’t be able to see much. Jessie bit her lip. Actually, all she wanted to see was the desk clerk, so she could find out how to arrange for a flight back to the mainland.
Finally the Jeep slowed. Several small buildings, and then a much larger one, blazing with lights, were just ahead.
Thank God, she thought—but the driver didn’t stop. Jessie craned her neck and looked over her shoulder. “Wasn’t that…” She licked her dry lips. “Wasn’t that the hotel?”
“That was the main building, yes. But we have a private villa.”
A private villa. She was still processing that when the Jeep bounced to a stop. Liam leaned forward, exchanged soft words with the driver. The man handed over a key; Liam handed over a tip and helped her from the Jeep. From the effusiveness of the driver’s thanks, she knew it was a large tip. She’d been right, then, when she’d figured that his luck had been good lately. That was the way it went for men like Liam Malone. Good luck, followed by bad luck. One woman, followed by another.
She spun toward the Jeep. “Wait,” she started to say, but she was too late. The vehicle was roaring away.
“Jessie?”
Liam held out his hand. She hesitated, took it, and he led her up a narrow path of crushed white shells toward a villa that rose like a block of white sugar in the moonlight. She hung back as he opened the door and switched on the light.
Jessie caught her breath.
The villa was one enormous bedroom. White tile floors. Soaring white walls. Wood ceiling fans, blades turning lazily. A wall of glass looking out on a white beach. And a bed. An enormous four-poster bed mounted on a low platform like something out of a stage set, and draped in yards and yards of gauzy white lace.
Liam had brought her to a lover’s paradise. Long, hot days in the sun. Longer, hotter nights in that bed. She felt as if a cold hand had wrapped around her heart. They weren’t lovers, she and Liam Malone. They were a man and a woman brought to this place by lust, and once they’d sated their hunger, they’d go their separate ways. She’d understood that.
Except, she couldn’t go through with it.
She took a quick step back. “I can’t,” she said. “I can’t do this.”
Liam shut the door, leaned back against it and folded his arms. “And just when, exactly, did you reach that decision?”
His tone was polite, his expression pleasant. But there was something just under his words, something flickering in his eyes, that made her shiver.
“Does it matter? I only know that—that—”
“That you can’t do this.” A muscle knotted in his jaw. “Is that how you ended up saying yes to Bill when he asked you to marry him?”
Her head came up. “What?”
“You heard me. Is that how it happened? Did you lie to yourself about your feelings, tell yourself you loved him when
you knew that you didn’t?”
Jessie stood straighter. She dropped the tote bag and put her hands on her hips. “I never lied to William.”
A tight smile etched Liam’s mouth. “I didn’t accuse you of lying to him. I asked if you’d lied to yourself.”
“That’s ridiculous. Lie to myself? About my feelings?”
She tossed her head and the spill of her hair over her shoulders was like the swirl of a flamenco dancer’s skirt. Liam unfolded his arms and dug his hands into his pockets. It didn’t matter that she was beautiful, that he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted a woman in his life or that he could seduce her in a moment because, even if she wasn’t ready to admit it, her need for him was as wild as his for her. What mattered was that she come to him on her own, that she put aside the lies and give herself to him fully. That was how he wanted her; it was the only way he wanted her. It was the way she wanted him, too, and he needed to hear her say it.
“Why would I lie? William’s a wonderful man.”
“You don’t love him.”
“He has so many wonderful qualities that I could never list them all.”
“And you still don’t love him.”
“He’s kind and good and decent, and he’d never, not in a thousand lifetimes, do what you’ve done.”
“No, he wouldn’t.” Liam narrowed his eyes and stepped away from the door. “That’s the difference between us, I guess. I see what I want and I take it.”
Jessie’s skin prickled. “Charming. I bet that goes over big with the ladies.”
“Maybe I should clarify that.” He reached behind him, turned the lock, then came toward her as lithely as a big cat, his green eyes locked to hers. “I only take what’s offered to me. I’m honest in what I want, Jessie. I don’t lie to a woman.”
“That’s even better,” she said, and hoped he couldn’t see the pulse leaping in the hollow of her throat. “Really a smooth come-on, Liam. You telling a woman you know what she really wants, even when she says you’re wrong.”
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