By the time they climbed the stairs to board the plane once again, her facial features were more relaxed than he’d ever seen them. The softness actually made her appear more beautiful. Which actually seemed impossible, which made him glance at her several more times.
Yeah, he’d had several fantasies about this woman, waking up with a raging, painful erection more often than he wanted to admit. In his dreams, he was doing things to Olivia that would really infuriate her if she ever found out.
“Better?” he asked.
The blush that stole up from her neck to her cheeks was interesting. And those brown eyes…they couldn’t seem to meet his own. Even more interesting, he thought.
“I’ll just…” she pointed her thumb towards the plane. “I’m going to check and make sure that everything is ready for the flight.”
He nodded his head, staring at her. Trying to figure her out. Pete was starting to think that maybe he’d had her all wrong.
Deciding that he needed a moment more to process this possibility, he headed into the office. “Hey Mindy…” he called out, then froze when he spotted Mindy and Gus coming out of the back room where Mindy kept all of the files. Mindy was smoothing down her sweater and Gus was…!
He stared for a long moment, none of them saying a word. When he realized what was going on, he jerked to attention, shaking his head and looking away. “Sorry!” he said and headed back out of the office. He was halfway back to the plane when it hit him. Mindy? Bubbly, uber-efficient Mindy and the gruff, always-angry, always-grumbling Gus?!
Chuckling, he headed back to the plane, shaking his head as he stepped into the cabin.
He was just about to open his mouth and share what he’d just seen when a furious Olivia turned to him, pointing a spoon at him as if she might be ready to bonk him on the head with it.
Olivia was furious with herself for revealing so much to Pete. The man was the worst! He teased her about anything and everything, just trying to get a rise out of her. He’d then laugh at her, wink at her or do something else that was equally obnoxious, increasing her fury!
Now he had a weapon and she knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to torment her about her fear of flying. Oh, he was so annoying!
So when he stepped into the plane, ducking down slightly because he was so irritatingly tall that he almost didn’t fit, she swung around, ready to do something horrible to him just to keep him quiet.
“If you so much as breathe a single word about my issues with flying, then I will…” she stopped, pressing her lips together because she couldn’t come up with a dire enough threat.
Pete, the horrible man, moved closer. Closer! His eyes were daring her, his body pressing hers back against the metal cabinets of the galley and she stared up at him, her mind shifting, her body tingling in ways that she didn’t completely understand. It was always like this whenever Pete was too close. She felt like…like her body was on fire. As if she could just throw herself into his arms and run her hands over every inch of him, discover what was hidden underneath that too-sexy pilot’s uniform. Good grief, the traitorous thoughts running through her mind were…well, crazy!
She absolutely did NOT find Pete attractive! The man was irritating and obnoxious. Yes, he was handsome in a classic kind of way. But not attractive. She needed to be connected to someone mentally before she could form any sort of attraction towards the man!
Good grief, her mind was spinning out of control.
Backing up, she tried to shake away the sexual tension that seemed to cocoon them. But Pete only moved closer. “Can’t come up with anything good?” he asked. His eyes moved over her face, her lips, pausing at her mouth. His own mouth quirked up slightly, a mocking smile forming on those too-handsome lips. “Pity.”
He stepped backwards and she inhaled the fresh air, filling her lungs with much-needed oxygen.
Then the anger hit her. Hard! Swinging around, she turned to face the galley. “Just go do your pilot thing,” she ordered.
Unfortunately, that only brought him right back to her. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw him close the distance between them. Suddenly, one strong hand was braced against the metal cabinets beside her head and she felt the heat of his chest close, so terrifyingly close, to her back. She could even feel his thighs against the back of hers, but he wasn’t touching her! Not even a little!
“That sounded dangerously like a command, Olivia,” he growled in her ear. “One thing you should know about me, Gorgeous,” he said softly, oh so devilishly softly. “I give the orders.”
She trembled, fighting back the insane desire to press back against him, to feel his body against hers. That was so troubling, she actually leaned away from him. She didn’t dare turn her head because his cheek was just too darn close. Too temptingly close!
“And what if I don’t follow your orders?” she asked. Well, it was more of a whisper.
Her stomach tightened when she felt him smile.
“Try it,” he taunted. “I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy the consequences.”
A moment later, he was gone again, leaving Olivia still standing at the short countertop, gripping the metal because if she released her hold, her knees would give out due to the intensity of the images flashing through her mind.
Shaking off his threat, she took in deep breaths. This was not happening, she told herself. It simply was not happening! “Oh for the days of a commercial flight. I could lock the beast into the cockpit!” she mumbled under her breath.
Unfortunately, she must not have said that softly enough because she immediately heard his laughter coming from the cockpit.
Clenching her teeth together, she moved through the cabin, going through the rooms once more. There was nothing else she needed to do. Everything was set. Every romantic detail she could think of was ready and waiting for the happy couple. Their luggage was even stored away in the cargo hold, having been brought to the airport earlier in the day.
Chapter 2
Sometimes, life was just too wonderful to bear, Olivia thought as she closed her eyes, the warm, Saint Martin sunshine soothing her skin and helping her muscles relax.
The warmth, the sand, the sound of the surf rhythmically beating against the shoreline…yeah. Life was good. Zeke Steele had brought the beautiful and ecstatically happy Marcy to St. Martin for their honeymoon, which meant that Olivia was here until they decided they were ready to leave. They were scheduled for a week, but Olivia was on standby and the happy couple could decide to leave at any moment. She’d learned to stay close to the airport during her travels unless she was sure that the flight schedule wasn’t going to change.
And best of all, no Pete!
A noise beside her startled her out of her relaxation mode. Lifting her sunglasses, she watched in amazement as Pete dropped a beach chair right next to hers. Too close to hers. He was looking out at the surf, his sunglasses covering his eyes as she surveyed his strong, long legs in the board shorts.
“Gorgeous day!” he said as he dumped his book onto the chair.
She pushed up from her own beach chair, glaring at him. “You know, there’s a whole lot of empty sand down there,” she said, pointing further down the beach. She’d chosen this spot because it was a bit further away from everyone, out of the crowds. Since it was off-season, the beach was unusually peaceful, but there were still some locals that were enjoying a leisurely day at the beach. Enough so that it was fun to people-watch, but not too crowded that it was annoying.
But then he did the unforgivable.
He took off his tee-shirt!
Olivia forgot that she’d whipped off her sunglasses. She forgot to look away. And she forgot to keep her mouth closed as her eyes surveyed the rippling, startling, amazing muscles that packed Pete’s chest, arms and stomach. The man was already tall, but now she knew that he was ripped! Like Adonis ripped!
Wow!
He’d been keeping a lot hidden underneath his pilot’s uniform, apparently.
“Tell me when
you’re done.”
Olivia pulled her eyes away from his chest and six-pack abs, trying to understand what he was saying. Why would she be done? Why couldn’t she simply sit her and gawk at…
“Oh!”
She’d been staring at Pete! Good grief, she’d literally been staring at the man with her mouth hanging open!
Snapping her mouth closed, she pushed her sunglasses back on to cover her eyes and turned to face the ocean. The waves! She was here to enjoy the waves! And to read. Darn it, where was her book?
She leaned forward and looked around but Pete was already picking the book up off of the sand, flipping the pages to get the sand out. He then turned it around and looked at the title, then down at Olivia. Despite the heat from the tropical sunshine, she couldn’t hide the blush that stole up her cheeks when the odious man lifted a dark eyebrow above his sunglasses.
With a huff of frustration, she grabbed her book out of his hands and leaned back against her beach chair, determined to ignore the man.
Hard to do, though, when his deep, sexy laughter sends tingles of awareness throughout her whole body.
But she could do it! She would do it! The man was just…a jerk! Olivia wished she had a better word for him, but she was a lady and wouldn’t reduce herself down to cussing.
“What’s your book about?” he asked.
She slapped it shut, her temper firing up. “Listen, I came here to relax and read. Not to chat with you. So if you want to talk with someone, go find another person to annoy. But if you’re going to sit here, then be quiet.”
Another laugh and he pushed his sunglasses higher as he leaned back, absorbing the sunshine.
Okay, so her eyes drifted over his tanned legs. That wasn’t criminal!
“You’re not reading,” he announced.
That got her eyes off of his feet. Why she even considered his feet to be sexy, she hadn’t a clue but…
“Of course I’m reading!” She straightened in her chair. “Go away!”
“You’re not reading, Olivia. Why not just talk to me?”
“I’m reading and this is a riveting book,” she argued right back.
He chuckled and sat up slightly. With one strong, too-tanned arm, he reached over to her. Before she knew what he was going to do, he picked up her book and turned it right-side up, then casually leaned back in his chair. “There. Now you can stop ogling me and read your romance novel.”
Olivia tried not to sputter with her fury and embarrassment. She really did! But he was just such a…he annoyed her! He was horrible and she hated him! Goodness she really hated him! Oliva had never hated anyone as much as she hated this man!
And his feet weren’t sexy! They were just feet!
Tossing her book onto the top of her bag, she leaned back and lifted her face to the sunshine, wanting to get a tan. Okay, so she wanted to ignore him, but reading wasn’t working. Taking a nap might work better. Yes, if she could just ignore the man and go to sleep, maybe he would get bored and go bother someone else.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t get comfortable. Not with him right next to her. She was hyper aware of every movement he made. Trying to keep her eyes closed, to completely block the man out of her mind, just wasn’t…
“What are you doing?!” she demanded, bolting upright when she felt his hands on her calf.
“You’re burning, Olivia. I’m putting sunscreen on you.” His hand grabbed her ankle when she tried to pull away from him. But he was too strong and his touch startled her! She could barely breathe, much less fight him on his efforts. So she let him. Her eyes watched, fascinated as his tanned hand moved up and down her calf, her shin. He squeezed more sunscreen onto his hand and pulled her other leg closer, repeating the motions. It would have been hypnotizing if it wasn’t doing things to her body that she didn’t want to define.
Then his hand moved higher, rubbing along her thigh and she jumped up. “I can do that!” she gasped, grabbing her sunscreen from his hand.
He watched her for a long moment and Olivia prayed that he wouldn’t notice how her nipples were tight, pressing against the thin material of her black bikini. She didn’t want him to know what she was feeling. She wanted to…
“Are you sure? I don’t mind.” He paused and…were his eyes zeroing in on her breasts? “In fact, I was enjoying it.”
Olivia’s mouth fell open because…well…because he hated her just as much as she hated him.
Didn’t he?
Surely she was misunderstanding. They fought and snapped at each other at every possibility during a flight, as long as no one else could overhear their zingers. He couldn’t possibly mean that he enjoyed touching her! That just…he couldn’t…she wasn’t….
Olivia shook her head, glaring at him. This about face was just a ploy, she told herself. He was going to do something horrible to her, like…hide her keys. Not that he’d ever done anything like that. Thinking back, the worst that Pete ever did to her was tease her about her regimented ordering of supplies or about how stiff she came across.
Blinking, her lips pressed together in frustration and confusion. She needed him to fight…whatever THIS was…so that they could avoid any misunderstandings. Because right now, his eyes were conveying one, big huge signal that didn’t make any sense.
Grabbing the sunscreen, she twisted the top. “I’m fine. I can handle things.” Because she knew it was the right thing to do, she nodded her head. “Thank you. My legs are a bit pink but I’ll take care of sunscreen.”
He shrugged one of those incredible shoulders and leaned back again. “You could return the favor,” he told her.
She blinked but, thankfully, he couldn’t see her confusion since her sunglasses were once again shielding her eyes from his intense gaze. “What do you mean?”
“I didn’t bring any sunscreen. Can you put some on my legs?”
Oliva looked down at his tanned legs thinking that he seemed to have the kind of skin that didn’t burn. Of course, that wouldn’t stop the sun’s rays from damaging his skin but…
“Here,” she told him and tossed the sunscreen to him. “I have more.”
And with that, she sat back down and grabbed another bottle of sunscreen. Because of her pale skin, she always carried several bottles with different levels of protection. This bottle was a bit higher on the SPF than the stuff she’d just tossed him, but she didn’t care. Anything to keep him from touching her again.
And darn it! She didn’t want to think about touching him!
What game was he playing? She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, trying to figure him out. Unfortunately, all she saw was his big, muscular body and her mind kind of…blanked.
She squeezed out a large amount of sunscreen, rubbing it onto her thighs, arms and stomach. When she started to do her chest, he stopped, turned and watched. “Nice,” he commented and she rolled her eyes. Again, he couldn’t see her derision because of her sunglasses, but she had to believe that he felt the eye roll.
Ignoring him, she finished rubbing in the sunscreen on her chest, then leaned back against the chair again, determined to finally ignore him.
“You need a drink.”
She shook her head. “I have water.”
“No,” he countered. “You need a real drink.”
Ah! This was more like it, she thought. He was going to tell her how uptight she was. “I’m fine.”
Silence for a moment. Then he said, “You know, you get free drinks if you walk up to the bar topless.”
Olivia lifted her head, then shifted her sunglasses to look at him, wondering if he was teasing her or if he was serious. She wasn’t sure. “You’re kidding, right?”
He shook his head, not even turning to look at her. “Nope. Women who go to the bar topless get free drinks. The sign is right there,” he told her and pointed to the beach bar. Sure enough, when she turned to look over her shoulder, there really was a sign that read, “Topless Women Drink For Free At The Bar”.
Huh!
“I know you don’t.” He was still sunning, not really doing anything but she could see the smirk on his mouth.
She glared at him as she leaned back against her chair, pushing her sunglasses higher on her nose. She wasn’t going to ask.
She didn’t care!
Don’t ask! Just ignore him!
Olivia shifted on her chair. Thought about picking up her book. Anything to help her ignore his comment.
But it was too much!
With a jerk, she jackknifed up, twisting around to look down at him. He looked so tan and strong and muscular…she wanted to just…do something horrible to him!
“What do you think I ‘don’t’ do?!” she demanded angrily, twisting around so he would get the full impact of her glare.
He shrugged one of those frustratingly broad shoulders. “You don’t have the guts to do anything so outrageous as to walk around in public topless.” He even had the audacity to pat her arm. “It’s okay Olivia. It takes a certain kind of daring to go topless.”
Her mouth fell open at his taunt. Again! Was there no end to this man’s insults?
He was using yesterday’s weakness. She’d admitted to her…concerns about flying and he was teasing her now, saying she was too scared to take her top off! Oh, the gall of the man!
Yes, she had concerns about flying, but she’d been a flight attendant for years! She faced her fears every single time she climbed up the stairs to the plane. She banished her fears and did her job and she was very good at her job! She was so good at her job, that she’d landed the position with Steele Industries, one of the coveted private flight attendant jobs! How dare he ridicule her for her fears!
Beyond Love and Hate (Steele Brothers Book 7) Page 2