by Suzanne Rock
Caine stood. “I will.”
“Later. Now, we need to get this garbage heap moving. There's an ocean full of artifacts to collect, and I, for one, don't want to waste any more sun—hey, where are you going?”
“Here.” He fished around in his pocket for the boat keys and found the vial of oil he had taken from the spa yesterday. He had swiped it in the hopes of using it with Jenna. Seemed like a slim chance of that happening now.
He dismissed the vial of oil and grabbed what he was looking for.
“Come on, cuz',” Rex said as he caught the keys.
“Go out by yourself.”
“You know I can’t. What are you doing?”
Caine jumped off the boat and headed back up the dock. “I’m going to follow your recommendation,” he called over his shoulder. “I’m going to ask her myself.”
“But what about our excavation?”
“We’ll resume tomorrow.”
“Aw, come on, Caine. I have two potential buyers—”
“They’ll wait.” Caine had more important things on his mind than princes and Masters of the Island. He had to find Jenna and prove to her once and for all that they were meant to be together. No other man would ever touch her again. He’d make sure of it.
“So that's the story of my fucked up life.”
The tall, dark-haired man next to Jenna let out a long breath.
Jenna downed the last of her margarita and glanced up at the handsome man next to her at the poolside bar. The sun was setting, and most of the tourists were at dinner, but Jenna didn't feel like eating. She didn't feel like doing much except nursing her broken heart.
“You're right, that's fucked up.” He scanned the pool area as he talked, as if searching for someone. The poor guy had just come to the bar for a drink and had gotten Jenna’s entire sob story. On one hand she felt bad for the poor guy, who, if those scars on his face were any indication, had his own sob story. Still, it felt good to get everything off her chest.
“What I don't understand is why he asked me here,” she said.
The man shrugged. “Perhaps he wanted to get back together.” He took a sip of his drink and frowned at a couple on the other side of the pool. “That's what I'd do if I wanted to seduce someone.”
“You’d invite them to Eden?”
He turned to face her. “Yes—or a tropical paradise like this.” The haunted look in his eyes made Jenna a little uncomfortable.
“Was she surprised?”
He raised his brows.
“Sorry. It just—it looked like you were speaking from experience and I thought that perhaps…never mind.” Jenna turned away and toyed with the edge of her napkin.
“Yeah, well, we'll see.” The couple on the other side of the pool started laughing, which clearly irritated the muscled man next to Jenna. He finished his drink and stood. “It was nice talking to you, Jenna, but I'm afraid it's time for me to go.”
“Hot date?” she joked.
Shadows passed through his gaze, and once again Jenna felt a little uneasy. “Let me give you a piece of advice. If the man put forth the effort and expense to bring you to this island, then the least you should do is hear him out.”
“He hurt me.”
“Yeah, we all hurt each other,” he murmured as he glanced at the couple, who were now embracing. “You don't have to be a boxer to get punched in the gut.”
Jenna frowned as a memory surfaced. The man looked like one of the boxers she had seen in that poster outside of the spa. Odd that she hadn’t noticed the resemblance before. “You're a boxer?”
He ignored her question. “Consider what he's offering you, Jenna.” The man shoved his hands in his pockets. “He wants a relationship with you again.”
“True.”
“And you want to repay him by breaking his heart.”
Well, when he put it that way...”It was just a plan for revenge. I wasn’t sure if I was going to go through with it.” She tore an edge off her napkin and rolled it into a long line.
“It’s a stupid plan. Most people don't get a first chance at love, let alone a second.”
“But Caine orders me around like some puppet. He doesn't think about me or what I need.”
“Then tell him what you need.” He hesitated, as if he words surprised him a little bit. “Look, Jenna, love like that doesn’t come around every day. When you see it, you can't give it the finger. You need to grab onto it with both hands and hold on tight.” He pulled out his wallet and tossed some bills on the bar. “Don't let go, or it will slip away from you. Trust me, I know.” He turned to go.
“Wait!”
He paused, then met her gaze.
“I don't even know your name.”
“It's Malone. Xavier Malone.”
“The fighter?”
“That was a lifetime ago,” he said. “I've changed a lot since then. Your boyfriend can change, too.” He nodded and slipped on his sunglasses. “He just needs the right motivation.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
Jenna watched the boxer walk away. As he turned the corner and went inside, she realized she was alone in the pool area. It was almost as if someone had sounded a bell, or made an announcement, and all of the guests had gone inside. The sun was beginning to set, casting purples, reds and pinks on the horizon that strangely resembled the flashes of light she had seen in the foyer when she had first arrived. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and Jenna’s head felt as if it was being stuffed with cotton.
“Would you like anything else, ma'am?”
Jenna jumped at the deep baritone voice behind her. “No, I'm fine for now.” If she had one more margarita, she wasn't going to be able to find her room. She reached for her purse, but the bartender stopped her.
“There’s no need to pay.”
“No need?”
He flashed her a wide grin. “I overheard your story, and know what it feels like to have your heart broken.” He nodded to her empty glass. “It's on the house.”
“Thanks.”
He glanced at the clock. “You can stay, but I need to close up. There’ll be a party later, and all of this needs to be moved indoors.”
“That's fine. If you don't mind, I'd just like to sit here for a moment.” After drinking so much alcohol, she didn't trust herself to stand. She tried to count the number of margaritas she had consumed and only came up with three. When did she become such a lightweight?
Jenna watched the bartender close up, then make his way through a side entrance into the castle. The weather was warm, and Jenna wasn't sure if she wanted to be inside with all of those other people just yet. She moved from the bar to one of the lounge chairs, then toed off her sandals and sat on the edge of the pool.
People change. Jenna wasn't so sure. Her relationship with Caine had been explosive in St. Lucia, but now she realized that it was all for show. The real Caine and the one he presented to the world were two entirely different people. Could she learn to love the real Caine, the one who drifted through life without direction and skirted the law? She honestly didn't know. She was so tired of getting her heart broken. Once, just once, she wanted to love without fear of someone leaving her.
She kicked the water with her foot, sending droplets in all directions. Her thoughts turned back to their last night together on St. Lucia, and how Caine had convinced her to go skinny-dipping. She hadn't been skinny-dipping since.
Perhaps it was time that she did. After a quick glance to confirm she was alone, Jenna slipped off her clothes and eased into the pool. Warm water kissed her skin, reminding her of when Caine had taken her by the waterfall. She had loved the primal way they approached sex, but was it enough? She didn't know if she could have a relationship with someone who wasn't fully honest with her, or someone who didn't consider her feelings. Jenna dove under the water and remembered how she and Caine used to go diving in early mornings, how free she had felt. She wanted to feel that way with Ca
ine again, but with everything between them, she didn't know if such a connection was possible.
She slid under the water a second time and swam the length of the pool. When she came up for air by the diving board, she found Caine watching her.
He was sitting on the diving board in Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt. His sunglasses had been shoved to the top of his head and his angry gaze burned through her body, causing the fine hair on her skin to stand on end.
“What?” she asked.
“You’re not wearing any clothes.”
“So?”
“So…” He steeled his jaw for a moment, as if trying to get control over some strong emotion. “So, anyone could walk by here and see you naked.”
“I can’t see how that would possibly matter to you.” She swam to the side of the pool.
“Of course it matters to me.”
“Why?” She pulled herself out of the pool and placed her hands on her hips, giving him full view of her nakedness.
“Christ—cover up, Jenna.” He handed her a towel.
She didn’t take it. “Why?” When he didn’t respond, she lifted her chin. “I’m not some rag doll you can push around. This is my life, my choice.”
“This is my final warning. You better put on some damn clothes or I won’t be responsible for what happens next.”
Jenna snorted and pushed her wet hair back from her face. “Responsible. You don’t know the meaning of the word. A responsible person wouldn’t walk away from me.”
“A responsible person wouldn’t sell her body for sex.”
“I never did such a thing.”
He raised his brows. “Didn’t you?”
She stared at him for a moment before responding. “Are you talking about my work at the Ecstasy Spa?”
“Ha—you did do it, didn’t you?”
“It was a job, Caine.”
“There are millions of jobs out there where you don’t need to have sex with men.”
“It wasn’t like I was educated. I spent my entire life on a boat.” She shook her head. “I was paid four times what I would’ve made at other jobs.”
“Did you…did you enjoy it?”
She let out a long breath, unsure of how much to reveal. “I was a trained performer. My own personal pleasure had nothing to do with it.” She considered his set jaw and hurt features before continuing. “And if you didn’t leave with all of my money, then I would never have even considered working there.”
“Don’t you dare…” He pointed at her as some indescribable emotion crossed over his features. “Don’t you dare try to blame your actions on me.”
“Why not?” She crossed her arms, covering her breasts. “You’ve been doing that since the moment I arrived. You left St. Lucia because of me. You’re treasure hunting because of me. You probably even stole my money because of something I did.”
“I told you, I didn’t take the damn money!”
“Really? Then who did?”
Caine worked his jaw, but no sound came out.
Jenna lowered her arms and sighed. “I’m sorry, Caine, but this is never going to work between us.” She picked up her beach towel and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“Why not?”
“Because you refuse to be honest with me.”
“You want me to be honest with you?” He marched forward, closing the distance between them.
“Of course.”
“You really want me to be honest with you?”
She looked up and met his gaze. “I just said that I did.”
“Okay.” He grabbed her shoulders, although if it was to steady her or himself, she wasn’t sure. “The truth is, I’ve never stopped loving you. Wait—” He held up his hand, stopping her from speaking. “I know what you’re going to say. You think that if I loved you, I wouldn’t leave you. Well, I’m here to tell you that if I stayed, our relationship would have been destroyed.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do know that.” He ran his thumb over her shoulder, caressing her skin. “We came from different worlds, Jenna. You were some rich kid living the good life on her mother’s boat. She was so damn independent. It was the two of you against the world.” He shook his head. “I was a boy living on the streets, never knowing where my next meal was going to come from.”
“That didn’t matter to me.”
“But it mattered to me.” He squeezed her shoulders then let go. “I couldn’t see a future for us, not with how things stood. I couldn’t ask you to live my life when I didn’t know what was going to happen from one day to the next. And I couldn’t go on living off your mother forever.” He glanced away, but not before Jenna saw the pain in his features. “I was always faithful to you Jenna. Every day I worked and saved, hoping that one day I could return to you.”
“Return for what?” she asked when he glanced back at her. “For what, Caine? Nothing has changed. You’re still going from job to job. You’re still trying to make ends meet. The only difference now is that you’re blurring the lines between what’s legal and what isn’t.”
“This Master of the Island. He’s paying us a lot of money to find these artifacts. More than we think the artifacts are worth.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that even if we don’t sell some of the artifacts on the black market, I’ll no longer need to go treasure hunting. We could settle down and be respectable.”
She pressed her lips together for a moment in thought. “I know you, Caine. You’ll never be happy in one place. You live for the dive.”
“I’ll be happy if I’m with you.” He hooked his finger under a long strand of hair and pushed it over her shoulder.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You love adventure too much.”
“I love you, too.”
“You can’t give diving up. It’s in your blood.”
“It’s in your blood, too.” He inched closer. “Look, I don’t like what happened in Chicago, but can concede that you didn’t have my note and therefore had no idea of my true intensions. All of that is in the past. This is our present.” He inched forward. “Our future.”
She shook her head. “I can’t wait around for you to figure things out, Caine.”
“I already have everything figured out. I just need you to wait until the end of this job.”
“And what if another job comes along? What about Rex?”
He slid his arms around her body and pulled her close. “What about us? Don’t you want to at least try?” He leaned forward and brushed his cheek against her temple. “Try for me, Jenna. That’s all I ask.”
“Why should I try, Caine?” She asked as she eased away. “I gave you my heart before, and you broke it into pieces. Give me one good reason why I should trust you again.”
“You want a reason?” He leaned back and shifted his gaze to her mouth. “Because every morning when I wake up, I think of you. Every night when I go to bed, I dream of us, and how good we could be together. Give me another shot, Jenna. Do it for me. For us.”
The kiss was hard and demanding, just the way she liked it. Damn him for knowing her needs, and damn her for falling for him all over again. Tears filled her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. The towel around her shoulders fell to the ground. Caine swept his tongue into her mouth, causing her to shiver with need. He tasted so warm, so good. Jenna knew if she let herself, she could sink deep into this man and never come up for air.
When he finally broke away, she took in a large, steadying breath. Through an erotic haze she watched Caine flash her a seductive smile, then push her backward into the pool.
“Hey!” Warm water hit her hard, and once again Jenna was struggling for breath. She popped back up to the surface and wiped the water from her eyes. When she could focus, she saw Caine pulling off the last of his clothes.
“What are you doing?”
“Making you remember how good we had it—and how good it could be again.”
Chapter Seven
Panic set in as Jenna sunk underneath the surface of the pool. Caine wrapped his arms around her, preventing her from returning to the surface for air. She struggled against him, then realized what he was trying to do. This was a game that they used to play back in St. Lucia.
She opened her eyes and found him watching her. Bubbles floated up to the surface from his mouth at regular intervals and his bushy, blond hair fanned out like a halo around his head. When he realized that she had stopped struggling, he wrapped his arms around her waist and covered his mouth with hers.
There was something incredibly sensual about kissing under water. When done right, no water gets into your mouth and it feels so much more intimate than kissing above the surface. Caine and Jenna had practiced this often in St. Lucia during their down time on her mother’s boat. As his lips pressed against hers, she took in his life-giving air and slid her arms around his neck. Desire bubbled up through her veins as he pulled his long, hard body against hers. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she focused on kissing him back as memories floated to the surface of her mind. After all of this time, she had forgotten how exciting it felt to kiss underwater. As the seconds passed, she remembered not only the kissing, but the other things they did in the water as well.
The kiss broke away all too soon. Before Jenna could process what happened, Caine had untangled his body from hers and started swimming underwater toward the shallow end of the pool.
Bastard. Jenna raced after him, remembering their underwater sprints. Unfortunately, she was horribly out of practice. Caine easily beat her to the shallow end. By the time she reached him, he had already broken through the surface of the water.
Jenna surfaced with a gasp and pushed her long, wet locks from her face.
“You remember,” Caine said. The setting sun behind him cast a halo of light around his head, making him look almost angelic.
“Of course I do.” How could she forget anything so fun?