by Ana Sparks
“I think I'll hang out here for a bit longer.”
Allison followed my gaze and grinned. “Oh, I see where your head's at. Good luck, hon.”
She patted me on the butt before sauntering off toward where the other members of her team were piling into a black SUV. I had to shove aside the momentary embarrassment of being caught in the act of ogling the consulting doctor when a strong gust of wind pulled my hat off my head and sent it tumbling toward the beach. I went running after it, wondering where the hell this sudden wind had come from. It had been mild all day. Then again, tropical storms were known for being unpredictable.
I cursed under my breath the whole time I chased the hat, and by the time I scooped it up and jogged back toward the cabin, almost all of the cars in the driveway were gone, save for two. One was mine. I couldn't see anybody, and had no idea who owned the other car, but I had a feeling it was Joel's. It was obvious that he'd been dragging his feet while everyone else was packing up, too. He had nothing to pack up. He could have left hours ago if he wanted to, but something must have compelled him to stay. I wanted to know what that was.
“Hello?” I called out.
The wind sucked my voice from my throat, and I wondered if I'd even made a sound at all. Then, Joel came around from the other side of the cabin, a look of relief evident on his features.
“There you are,” he said. “I was beginning to think something had happened to you.”
I waved the straw hat weakly in my fist, calling to him, “The wind wanted to steal my stylish accessory for itself.”
He closed the distance between us, brows furrowed. “Before he left, the location manager warned me that there's a pretty bad storm coming.” He looked up at the sky, now overcast and an angry shade of gray. “It's a long drive back into town. Is there anybody else here?”
I shook my head. “I don't think so. Just me.”
A faint smile crossed his lips. I smiled too; I couldn’t help myself.
An earsplitting and decidedly ominous crack of thunder interrupted our moment. I jumped at the sudden noise, and Joel reached out to steady me.
“Sorry,” I said, feeling embarrassed. “I'm not really that afraid of thunder. I just get startled easily.”
I had to raise my voice over the screaming of the wind, which seemed to have doubled in intensity in just the time we'd been standing there. There was a flash of lighting that lit up the whole sky and cast shadows over Joel's handsome features, then another loud rumble of thunder.
“We should—” Joel was interrupted as the first drops of rain began to fall, fat and heavy, onto the sand. Rather than starting with a few drops and building up from there, the rain seemed to come down in one sheet that soaked through my shirt as if I'd just stepped into the shower with my clothes on.
The look that passed between us took less than a second, but it felt like we stood there for years. We couldn't leave. Not now, when the weather had turned so violent and unpredictable. Tropical storms could be devastating, and it wasn't worth chancing the drive in this weather.
“Let's get inside.” Joel put his arm around my shoulder, as if to shield me from the elements, and began leading me in the direction of the cabin. I put up no resistance, mostly because his arm was warm and heavy, and I was resisting the urge to snuggle against him.
The door was locked, but luckily, due to my job and having to get to the set hours before most everyone else, I was one of the few crew members with a key. I wriggled it in the lock and we burst into the dark, quiet cabin a moment later, dripping rainwater all over the timber flooring.
“I'll find us some towels,” said Joel, slipping out of his shoes and running a hand through his sodden locks. “I'll be right back.”
I wasn't sure why only he could go find towels, but I found it kind of invigorating to let him play the hero. Plus, it gave me time to check my face in the large wall mirror to make sure that I didn't have any black smudges under my eyes from my makeup. Joel returned a moment later with two fluffy white towels. He draped one around my shoulders and rubbed my back and arms with it. The gesture was meant to be sweet, not sexual, but somehow it ended up being a combination of both.
“Thank you,” I said. “You’re quite the gentleman, huh?”
He winked. “When I want to be.”
A shiver ran down my spine. “So, what are we going to do?”
Joel was rubbing the towel over his hair, still standing close enough for me to catch whiffs of his masculine cologne. The world narrowed down to this cabin, and this cabin only.
“We’ll probably have to spend the night,” Joel said. “Or at least part of it, though I think I’d personally rather tuck in for the night whether the storm dies down sometime after midnight or not. Is there anybody you need to let know you’re here?”
I nearly answered that there was nobody at all. I was free as a bird to stay here with Joel and let the storm pass. Or not pass. I didn’t particularly care.
But then it all came flooding back in. My sister. My sister’s crime. The whole reason I’d sought Joel out in the first place. I wished I’d met him some other way, that he didn’t currently know that my sister and I were on the run from an unspecified threat, or that my face was going to look completely different not long from now. Of course he knew, because he was going to be the one to change it.
“Uh, my sister,” I said.
“Right.” He smiled. “How could I forget?”
I pulled my phone from my soaked jean shorts and wiped the screen on the towel. Joel walked over to the other side of the room as I texted Chelsea, telling her I was trapped in a cabin with the surgeon while we waited out the storm. I made sure she knew that I was fine and unharmed, not that she’d been taking my safety and security into consideration much these days, anyway.
Chelsea texted back a moment later with a simple ‘Be good!’ and a winking emoji.
Be good? Me? Bah. She was the one who needed to be good.
I put my phone on the coffee table and walked to the kitchen, where Joel had disappeared into moments before. I found him boiling water on the stove, his abandoned towel hanging off the back of one of the breakfast bar chairs.
“It’s a shame this place hasn’t got a fireplace,” he said, evidently hearing my approach. “But hot tea’s going to have to do the trick.”
“I wish there was wine instead,” I joked. “I could do with a glass of pinot, considering we’re missing the wrap party and all.”
Joel turned to face me, a smile quirking his lips. “I wouldn’t speak so soon, darling.” He stepped backward and opened the fridge, revealing a selection of beverages that must have been left over from the day’s shoot. It was sloppy work from whomever had been assigned to clean the cabin and remove all traces of our time there, but I was grateful for it, now.
I opened the cupboards in search of wine glasses, retrieving two and setting them on the counter while Joel poured our tea.
“Do you want wine with your tea?” I asked.
Joel chuckled. “Sure. Why not? We can double fist them, like college kids.”
“I hardly think you would catch any UCLA students chugging back yerba mate and Pinot Grigio, but sure.” I poured out the glasses and handed him one. He handed me a mug of tea in exchange.
“Do you think there’s a deck of cards around here or something?” I asked, suddenly nervous to be standing in the kitchen alone with Joel.
It was an intimate setting, with the storm raging on outside, and I wasn’t sure if I had the kind of cool nerves the situation necessitated. In a perfect world, romance would flourish from this point, easily and organically. But it wasn’t a perfect world, and I was far from a perfect social specimen. Hence suggesting a game of cards.
“Screw cards.” Joel tilted his head in the direction of the living room. “Let’s just talk.”
Did he have to be so perfect? I headed into the living room, putting the tea down next to my phone on the coffee table and pulling my knees up to my chest o
n the couch. My clothes were still damp, but I didn’t have anything to change into, so I’d just have to grin and bear it. Joel was clearly going through the same thing, not that I minded. His shirt stuck alluringly to his muscular chest, and I had to be careful not to stare.
“What do you want to talk about?” I took a careful sip of wine, watching him.
“Of course what I want to talk about most is why you’re so desperate to go under the knife,” Joel replied, “but that’s hardly polite conversation when you’ve got no escape, is it?” He took a sip of his tea and smiled. “How about something basic. Where did you grow up?”
I told Joel about growing up in Seattle, and how I’d always dreamed of moving to L.A. to work on sets. He told me about his family’s pressures for him to become a lawyer, and how he had always wanted a simple, pleasant life.
“A lot of people think that plastic surgery is a vocation for greedy doctors,” he explained. “The type who don't care about helping people. That's not the case for me. I know that my skills could be put to use in an emergency room, but this is all I've ever wanted.” He spread his arms out, as if to encompass the whole island. “And I still help people, too. Many of my patients are the victims of disfiguring accidents and such. I won't pretend that I'm changing the world doing what I do, but I enjoy it. Each client is a new puzzle to solve, and the reaction I receive when I do a good job helping them feel beautiful is very rewarding.”
I'd never thought about plastic surgery that way. In fact, I'd never thought much about it at all. But the way Joel spoke about what he did was inspiring to me somehow, even if—like he said—he wasn't changing the world.
“I like that about you,” I said finally. “I also like how you're so honest.”
Joel's eyes flashed mischievously, and his lip curled just enough to make my stomach flutter.
“If only the same could be said for the two of us, eh?” When I struggled to form a reply, Joel laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. “I'm just messing with you, Megan. Probably more than I need to. I guess I'm still just trying to figure you out.”
I sighed. “You and me both.”
I wished I could figure Chelsea out, once and for all, too. Why would she steal so much money from her employer? Why would she put us both at risk like that, without so much as a thought?
“How's your tea?” Joel asked.
I sipped it tentatively, nodding in satisfaction as the bitter liquid rolled over my tongue. “Good. How's your wine?”
He mirrored my movements but with the wine, nodding and smiling afterward. “Good.”
We both laughed.
The attraction I felt towards Joel was intense and unyielding. I knew that I shouldn't be having such romantic fantasies when I was destined to disappear after Dr. Lockhart had done his work, but I couldn't help myself. I imagined that instead of being stranded in this beach hut because of a storm, we'd come here on a romantic weekend getaway, or something like that. All we needed was some candlelight and the image would be complete.
Gah. If only.
“I'm going to use the bathroom,” I said after a moment, unable to stop staring into the endless green of Joel's eyes. “Excuse me.”
I put my drink down on the table and headed down the hallway to the cabin's one bathroom. After I closed the door, I took a long, hard look at myself in the mirror. Before Chelsea's unwelcome arrival, I'd never paid much attention to the face looking back at me in the mirror. Not close attention, anyway. Now I committed to memory every slope, angle, and curve. I wanted to remember who I was before, and I realized that until we went for the surgery, I'd probably do this every time I stood in front of a reflective surface.
There was a loud bang from somewhere outside, louder than before, and the lights flickered out.
I resisted the urge to scream, but not by much. The inside of the bathroom was completely black, and in the absence of light, the sounds of the storm raging outside seemed even louder. Wind howled and rattled, rain whipped and thrashed, and the whole cabin felt like it might fly away at any given moment.
I found the door handle and opened it, calling out into the dark hallway. “Joel?”
“I'm here.” The voice was closer than I expected. “I was just coming to make sure you were okay.”
“I'm fine,” I said, walking toward the vague shape in the darkness. “You okay?”
“Yeah. But I can't find any candles. Any ideas?”
I reached Joel and put a hand on his arm to cement his existence in my new, inky reality. His bicep was strong and thick, and I felt the urge to wrap both hands around it to measure just how thick.
“I have no clue.” I frowned, though he couldn't see it. “What are we supposed to do? I guess there's the light from our phones...”
The back of Joel's hand brushed over my cheek, a feather-soft touch that caused me to quietly gasp with its gentleness.
“Let's not bother with lights,” Joel said, his voice low and husky. “I kind of like the dark. It heightens the other senses.”
My heart somersaulted in my chest. “Yeah, that's true, I suppose.”
“Megan...” He said my name like a whispered prayer. “Tell me if I'm being too forward, but I just can't resist you.”
Before I could respond, I felt Joel's warm lips brush across mine. That small touch ignited an inferno in my belly. He pulled back a little, as if to give me room to object, but I seized the front of his shirt and yanked him back down.
Joel's arms wrapped around me, pulling me tight against his hard chest as our lips danced together in the dark. His kiss was firm and demanding, but with a sensual edge that left me weak in the knees. I wanted to live in that kiss forever.
“You're beautiful, even in the darkness,” Joel murmured, lips feathering over mine. “I've wanted to kiss you for a long time.”
If my heart raced any faster, it would explode.
“Me too,” I managed to force out. Then I kissed him again, pushing myself up on my toes and sinking into him. His hands traced down my back and along my sides, exploring my body with as much enthusiasm as I explored his.
It didn't matter that in a few days, a few weeks, I'd be gone. It didn't matter that this was one of the worst ideas I'd ever had. I wanted Joel.
Nothing else mattered.
Joel's mouth trailed a path down my neck, nibbling on my collarbone and throat before making his way back to my chin, my lips, the tip of my nose. He kissed me everywhere, as if he were a blind man and the only way he could see me was to kiss my face. It was more intimate and sensual than any sexual experience I'd ever had. The only way to describe what I was feeling was pure bliss.
“Let's find the bedroom,” Joel whispered.
I nodded my head in wholehearted agreement, forgetting that he was still kissing my cheek. My forehead smacked his cheekbone and he laughed.
“Sorry!”
“It's okay.” Joel slid his hands up to my face, cradling it gently. “Being head-butted by you is ten times as exciting as what I originally had planned for my night.”
“And what was that?”
My eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness. I could see the faint outline of his features in the shadows, the curve of his jaw and the arch of his lips.
“I’d probably be sitting at home, thinking about you.” He kissed me again, leisurely and slow, and began walking backward down the hallway, testing doors as we went.
It was a simple two bedroom, so the odds were in our favor. The first door led to a closet, but the second was the bedroom. We stepped inside, the room lit briefly by a flash of lightning streaking across the sky.
Joel began peeling my clothes away, revealing my bare skin inch by inch. I shivered, and I wasn't sure whether it was from excitement or the chill in the air. Joel trailed a finger up my arm, feeling the goosebumps, feeling what he was doing to me.
I returned the favor, letting my fingertips explore his skin with the lightest of touches. A brush along his forearm. A stroke across his face. A
press against his lips.
Joel made a deep, throaty noise of satisfaction when my touch trailed down his neck to the top of his chest, and I began slowly unbuttoning his shirt.
It was as if we were alone in our own world, free from outside distraction or disruption. I felt like I could take my time, which was something I unquestionably wanted to do. If I was only going to have this one night with Joel, I wanted to sear it into my memory so deeply that I would never forget the feel of his muscles rippling under my fingers. I wanted to remember the way he sighed as I bent my head to kiss his chest, the way his hands squeezed my waist and held me close.
My lips feathered kisses from his clavicle to his belly button, following my hands while they unbuttoned his shirt. When it was open, I slid it down over his shoulders and ran an exploratory hand over his chest. The man was ripped. What was meant to be a brief exploration became a full-on investigation, both hands now coming into the mix. Joel chuckled, but didn't stop me, as I squeezed and stroked his muscled chest, marveling at his washboard abs. He really was like a Greek god.
“My turn,” he said a moment later, and his voice was so thick with need that I nearly buckled to the floor.
His touch was firmer than mine as he pulled off my shirt and bra, his hands rougher. He cupped my breasts in his palms, squeezing and massaging my nipples, then bending down to kiss them. I leaned back, pleasure swirling with every caress. I'd never felt so treasured before, so wanted. It was a feeling I knew I would crave for a long time afterward.
We moved over to the bed, stripping the rest of our clothes off along the way. Joel was eager to explore my curves, pushing me down against the mattress as he kissed along the plane of my belly and the swell of my breasts. I was so warm and full of need that I thought I might burst. Every nerve ending in my body was sitting up and taking notice of the way he worked me expertly. He was a master musician, and I was an instrument of his own creation, one he could play perfectly.
He left the bed for a moment, pulling a condom out of his wallet in his pants, then came back to kiss me, sheathing himself with one hand while he did. But instead of heading right for the main event, Joel teased me with his fingers first. His swirling touch was divine. Delicious. His mastery of my strings had never been more evident.