by Niecey Roy
His pearl white smile wavered. “Paul.”
“Paul. Right.” I met Leo’s simmering gaze. “Did you need something?”
“Can I have a word with you?” His jaw muscles flexed again.
“You look like you could use a drink. Sit,” I said, gesturing to the empty stools around us. “You don’t mind if he joins us, do you?” Sarah shook her head. I glanced at Paul. “Paul?”
Paul’s rigid posture told me he did mind, but he shook his head. “No, of course not.”
Leo wedged a stool between me and Paul and sat down, forcing Paul to stand and scoot his stool over. The men shook hands, sizing each other up like a bunch of macho meatheads. I rolled my eyes to the blue sky and remembered I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. All this testosterone made me crave man food, like burgers and wings. Maybe a big basket of curly fries. My stomach growled.
“So, Leo, what is it that you do for a living?” Paul asked.
“Security.” Leo eyed the empty glass I slid across the bar to Sarah.
“Security? That sounds exciting,” Paul said, not sounding as if he meant it.
“Leo is Special Forces,” I said, then frowned because I sounded defensive, as if I cared or something. I didn’t. Nope.
“Ex,” Leo added.
“Special Forces,” Sarah breathed, taking another sweep of Leo’s firm build and wide shoulders. Okay, so he was impressive. “That must have—” Sarah glanced at his chest, “—taken a lot of training.”
“Yes,” Leo replied, though he didn’t sound as if he cared to talk about it. The experience hadn’t exactly been all glory for him, even if he’d come home with medals. Maybe a younger version of Leo would have bragged, but the man beside me was more grown up than the teenager I’d known, with arms the size of holiday hams. Holiday hams made me think of food again, and my stomach grumbled. I pulled the dish of complimentary peanuts to me and popped a couple into my mouth. Honey roasted. My favorite.
“Well, would you look at the time.” Paul stood, making an exaggerated show of studying his wristwatch. “I’ve got...dinner reservations.”
Mr. Smiley Doctor hurried away. I glanced over at Leo, whose smirk irritated me. Mostly because even his smirk was sexy. He caught my eye, flashed one of those smiles, and said, “Why don’t we get you something to eat?”
“Why don’t you get your girlfriend something to eat? I’m fine,” I lied, and turned my back on him. Really, what was his problem? This was seriously inappropriate behavior, especially after his girlfriend witnessed him shoving his tongue down my throat an hour ago. I flushed with the memory, remembering how my blood had warmed from the embrace and the way the gentle motion of the water had rocked me against him. The immediate sizzle of desire annoyed me more than the fact the peanuts were gone. I glared at him. “I’m sure she’s hungry.”
“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he said, and it was pathetic how my whole body perked up over this little nugget of information. Especially when it was none of my business. Not now, not ever. Pretending he didn’t exist was much better than rationalizing my feelings, so that’s what I did—ignored him.
Except after a moment of heavy silence, I gave him a sideways glance. “So who was the bimbo on your arm then?”
“Bimbo?” His voice laughed at me, and I straightened in my stool.
“Yeah.” She probably wasn’t a bimbo, but his very presence crawled under my skin, grating on my already fragile nerves.
“She’s just a woman I ran into in the lobby earlier while looking for you.” He met my narrowed gaze with an unwavering stare.
“Oh,” was my lame answer. I added a shrug. “Whatever.”
My stomach growled.
“You need to eat something, Lexie.”
“No, I don’t.” My obstinacy was a direct result of my irritation. Really, how would he know what I needed? Did he really think he could waltz back into my life after all this time and boss me around? The man was irritating. And even more frustrating was the awareness rolling through my traitorous body after I’d vowed immunity to the effects of men for the rest of my life.
And even more annoying, even after all this time, all these years, I’d never stopped thinking about him. It didn’t help I’d loved him since I was twelve. Leo had been a troublemaker with one of those hard-not-to-forgive smiles. Even as a boy, his mischievous grin made women hand him cookies, had caused girls to give up their favorite swings on the playground to kick rocks wherever Leo might walk by. Back then, I’d been just a girl with the ridiculous life goal of becoming Mrs. Leo Moss, right up until the moment he let me go. Through a letter.
Leo was a part of my past who wasn’t supposed to be here.
“What are you doing here?” I asked after it became clear he didn’t plan to clue me in any time soon.
Leo considered me for a moment before replying. “I guess I’m on vacation.”
“And that girl...she’s not your girlfriend?”
“No, she’s not.” The muscles in his face softened.
I couldn’t look away from the intensity of his gaze.
“And you just happen to be on the same island that I’m vacationing on?” This wasn’t just any vacation, but he was polite enough not to point it out.
“And I got here just in time.”
I stiffened at his insinuation. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Lexie, you can’t just take off to the Caribbean alone. It’s not safe.”
“It’s a five star resort and costs more than my monthly car payment for one night. I’m pretty sure it’s safe.” I stood and used the back of the stool for balance. “Leo, you shouldn’t have come. This was supposed to be my honeymoon.”
You weren’t invited.
He’d had plenty of time to come take care of me—six damn years!—and he hadn’t. So Leo was the last person I wanted for a babysitter while I walked around this resort in a drunken stupor. It didn’t matter he’d been Special Forces, or that protecting people was his job as a security specialist now. What mattered was how messed up I was at this very moment, and all because of the men I’d trusted and given my heart to. He happened to be one of those men, and I wasn’t in the mood to share this island—or anything—with him.
“Lexie.” His voice was low, as if he were ready to lecture me.
“My family sent you here, didn’t they?” I asked.
He shrugged, but didn’t answer yes or no.
I steeled my shoulders so he’d know I meant business. “How much are you getting paid for this babysitting job? I’ll double it just so you leave. I came here to be alone.”
“No one is paying me, and I’m not going anywhere.” He glanced over to my half full drink. “And you sure as hell need a babysitter. Look at you.” He was angry now. “You’re not a drinker, you never have been. You’re vulnerable walking around like this, all by yourself. You’re in no condition to make responsible decisions.”
“Like what?” I threw back at him. “Like me kissing you? That’s responsible? I just left my fiancé at the altar. It’s all over the damn news, Leo. I think I deserve some peace so just leave me alone.”
He frowned and took a step back. “I’m sorry.” His voice sounded strained. “I’ll leave you alone if you want me to, but I’m not leaving this island.”
The hurt on his face didn’t ease my already aching heart. Damn it, what is wrong with you? It wasn’t his fault my fiancé had turned out to be a toad. It wasn’t his fault Deborah had made it her mission to ruin my reputation. My past with Leo was just that—the past.
He came all this way to make sure I’m okay. My pulse quickened at the idea of it. And that kiss…
I shook my head. This was too much. He was too much. Everything is too damn much. I stepped away from the bar. “I’m going dancing. You have fun babysitting the bar.”
I didn’t have to look over my shoulder to see if he followed. He probably would. He was on duty, after all.
Chapter Five
Peekin
g an eye open, I glanced around the dark room from the bed of my private villa. I had no idea how I’d gotten here. Too much rum.
Most of the evening was a blur, fuzzy memories of Leo supervising from a short distance. There may have been body shots and dancing…on a bar. I pressed a palm to my forehead with a moan. I’d been at my worst, and so completely out of character—body shots? Really?
One thing was certain—his surprise appearance had really shaken me up. With my eyes closed I concentrated on breathing deeply, evenly. It was a miracle I wasn’t rolling around, sick and dizzy. And it would come, there was no question. With me, alcohol and hangovers came hand in hand. The dark room revealed more than likely the alcohol hadn’t yet had time to settle. I considered crawling to the bathroom to make myself throw up. Yes, that’s what I need to do.
I rolled over into warmth and my brain was sluggish to react to the body I wrapped myself around. When my head caught up with reality, I froze and my breath caught as panic set in. The sickness I had anticipated hit me deep in the belly, and I quivered.
I’d never had a one night stand before. Ever. I respected my body. The fact I’d taken a stranger back to the villa with me, into my bed, blew my mind—and scared the hell out of me. Clearly, I was more of a mess than I’d been ready to admit. A pasty, sick dread flowed over me. My body was on fire, feverish, and I trembled, fearful of what I’d done, who I’d done it with. Who the hell is in my bed?
“I told you, you need a babysitter.”
There was no way to measure the immense relief flooding through me. So much so that I clung to Leo—the Jaws of Life couldn’t have pried me away. Tears welled up in my eyes. I wasn’t about to become a headline in tomorrow’s paper! I pictured it: Tragic Murder of the Runaway Bride in the Caribbean. Deborah Buchanan would’ve had the clipping framed.
With my leg draped over his hips and my head tucked into his neck, I whimpered. My hand grasping him through the thin, rumpled sheet, and I said on a moan, “I’m never, ever going to drink again. Ever.”
Rum was bad. I was lucky the man I clung to was Leo and not some crazy person. My body still shook with the bullet I’d dodged, and his arms held me tight against his chest in a protective embrace.
“Don’t move. You’ll feel better in a moment. Just breathe. In and out. Let your heartbeat slow. You’re safe.”
Safe. What he didn’t know was I already felt better.
We lay in silence, and slowly my muscles relaxed. I was too weak to move or speak. I had a vague recollection of him cradling me in his embrace tonight as he padded across soft white sand under the full moon. Safe. The rhythm of his heartbeat lulled me to sleep.
The massive hangover I’d worried about pierced my eyelids and temples like little ice picks. My head pounded, and the room spun. With a moan, I rolled over and off the bed and crawled my way in the direction of the bathroom. I made it there with my eyes slit open just enough to reach my destination.
I knelt before the toilet, and the liquid poured out of me like a faucet with little effort on my part. Afterward, I sprawled out on the bathroom floor; the wood was cool against my feverish skin.
While I showered, I couldn’t get Leo’s face out of my head. He’d come all the way here just to make sure I’m okay. The very idea of it blew my mind. Who did that? Who flew all the way across the ocean to make sure an ex-girlfriend was safe? He had a big heart. A beautiful one. A heart I’d fallen in love with when we were just kids. He was all grown up now, but his heart was still the same.
I peeked out of the bathroom door, but the open, two-room villa was empty. I had no idea where Leo had gone. I dressed quickly. Room service arrived with a dinner tray and soothing, ice cold cucumbers for hangover therapy. I sat back in the plush chaise lounge on the stone patio looking out at the ocean and dialed Gen’s cell phone.
When she answered, I asked, “Do you have something to tell me?”
“Yes,” Gen said. “Cat is out of control with her breasts. She’s pulling them out all over the place to feed the babies.”
“Ew.” The cucumbers were cool against the lids of my pulsing eyes.
“Not ‘ew’. It’s a beautiful cycle of life,” Catherine called out, her precious twins wailing in the background.
“A cycle of life that Heartland’s Country Buffet doesn’t need to see,” Gen replied.
“I agree with Gen.” I pressed the speaker button and set the phone on my chest so I could massage my temples with my fingertips. “This is not a new conversation, so can we skip to the important reason I called, please?”
“How can you sound stressed when you’re on vacation on an island while we’re stuck here, freezing our asses off in a blizzard?” Gen huffed.
“You are not allowed to judge. Especially since I know you and Catherine Lynn are behind this.”
“Behind what?” Catherine demanded. “All I’ve been doing is breastfeeding babies.”
They had also put me on speakerphone.
“Don’t even think you can distract me with breastfeeding talk.” I drew my eyebrows together, and the cucumbers shifted precariously on my eyelids. From somewhere nearby a bird chirped amidst the gurgle of a waterfall dumping into a stream that wound its way around the resort, reminding me this was a place meant for relaxation. “I came here for perspective, and you send Leo?”
“What?” Gen asked, her voice dripping innocence.
“Don’t play dumb,” I lectured.
“Leo is there? That’s weird.” Catherine didn’t sound as interested as she should have. In fact, she sounded positively guilty.
“Yeah. Weird.” One of the cucumbers fell off and landed beside the lounge chair, but I didn’t bend to pick it up. Sudden movements were not my best friend right now, and this conversation was anything but relaxing. “Whose idea was it, yours or Cat’s?”
Even though Leo insisted no one had sent him, I couldn’t shake the feeling my sisters had a hand in it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gen said, then cooed to my niece, “Ooh, it’s okay, pretty girl. Auntie Gen-Gen loves you.”
“Tell her Aunt Lexie loves her, too.”
“The twins miss you,” Catherine said, and I could hear a lecture coming on.
“They’re three months old. They don’t even know who I am.” I pictured my towheaded niece and nephew and smiled. “But I miss them, too.”
“Cat, you can’t feed him again,” Gen said. “All he does is eat and puke.”
“If he’s hungry, I need to feed him,” Catherine insisted.
“You take Sophie and give Brendan to me,” Gen said. There was muffled movement on their end of the line and a long pause. “He just needs his binky, and I’ll rock him.”
“I can see this conversation is going nowhere.” Was it too soon to take more aspirin for my headache? My head still pounded. I hadn’t suffered through a hangover of this magnitude since my freshman year of college. “I just wanted to tell you that Leo is ruining my vacation.”
“Oh, he is not.” Catherine’s tone dripped exasperation. “I don’t know how he could ruin a vacation on the beach. Look at him.”
“Catherine!” My cheeks warmed. Look at him? That’s all I’d been doing lately. It wasn’t my fault. He’s the one who kept coming around. I’d been just fine ignoring him.
“What? I’m just saying. There’re worse things for you to have to look at while on vacation. You’re welcome,” Catherine said.
“Ah ha! So you admit you sent him here!” The other cucumber fell off my eye, leaving me no choice but to sit up and replace them both with new ones from the tray.
“Actually, we didn’t send him there,” Gen corrected. “Roxanna told him you took off to the Caribbean—alone—and he was on the next flight out.”
Butterflies, though a bit lethargic in action, flitted to life in my stomach. He’d come on his own.
“You went off alone,” Catherine reprimanded.
“This honeymoon cost me a fortune. I wasn’t going
to waste it. And I needed this.”
Neither of them argued.
“If I had a passport, I’d be there with you,” Gen said, and I smiled.
“I know you would have.” I fingered blindly around the tray for the glass of tea, then pressed the ice cold glass against my temple and cheek. It helped a little. “It’s really pretty here. I’m glad I came.”
“Have you done anything fun yet?” Catherine asked, and I pictured me in a pool with my legs around Leo.
“I may have Frenched the enemy.”
“What?” Catherine asked. “Jeremy’s there, too?”
“What?” I jerked and both cucumbers fell. One landed on my chest and the other on the patio. “No, he’s not here. I’m talking about Leo.”
Gen laughed. “Leo isn’t the enemy.”
“All men are.” I sucked down half the iced tea through the straw before setting it down on the table beside me. I was so dehydrated after all the alcohol I’d consumed last night, my tongue felt like a thick, dried out piece of driftwood in my mouth.
“I can’t believe you kissed him,” Catherine said.
“You can’t?” I could hear the smile in Gen’s voice.
“I mean, I can,” Catherine corrected. “But it’s not a good idea, Lexie.”
“No kidding,” I breathed. “I was pretty drunk, but I distinctly remember sticking my tongue down his throat.”
“Well, I think it’s great,” Gen said, and then she followed it up with, “Ouch. Sheesh, Cat.”
It was a good assumption Catherine had smacked my twin. I picked up a carrot stick off the tray and waved it in the air. “This is why you two should have talked him out of coming. I’m a mess and making bad decisions.”
Except, the kiss had been mind-blowing good. When was the last time I’d been kissed so thoroughly? I couldn’t remember; that’s how long it’d been. Clearly, things between Jeremy and I hadn’t been as perfect as I’d thought—there’d been something missing.
Yeah, like passion. What I’d done with Leo in that pool...