High Passion

by Vivian Arend

  Oh God, she could as good as hear her father say the words. She lifted her head and forced herself to look Vincent in the eyes. “That’s his opinion, but I don’t agree. Did you come all the way from Toronto just to upset me?”

  He reached for her hand, capturing her before she could safely pull out of reach. He nodded slowly. “You’re right. I started all wrong. Causing you distress wasn’t my intention. I’m interested in what you’re doing here. And I’ve missed you.”

  Okay. That one was off in a new direction. “There’s nothing to miss, Vincent.”

  “There should be.” He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand and hummed gently. “You’re so soft considering what you do for a living.”

  “I’m not made of iron. I’m trained to deal with situations.” She tried to free her hand, and he let her go. Alisha took advantage of the opportunity and stepped away from the table under the guise of being hospitable. “Can I get you a drink?”

  “Please. Just water.”

  Vincent rose and paced her apartment while she ducked into her kitchen and found him an actual glass glass and ice cubes.

  Because just water meant something far different to Vincent than when Devon said it, and she knew it.

  She paused in the door of the kitchen area, resting her head on the door frame as she looked around for him. Vincent had vanished—she could only wish it had been out the main door to leave her in peace. She didn’t have much more to give today, not between the rescue and the shock and Devon and . . .

  Alisha dragged in a deep breath and fought for control. Maybe she shouldn’t have chased Devon out so quickly, but old habits of keeping secrets were hard to break.

  When Vincent didn’t reappear, Alisha stepped cautiously down the short hall, disturbed to discover him in her bedroom. “I have your water in the living room.”

  He turned from the window and nodded, stepping past her without pausing, brushing close enough their bodies touched.

  She stared at the street and dug deep for the strength to deal with this. Deal until he left, and she could finally collapse.

  He smiled as she joined him, his long fingers lingering on the glass as he lowered it. His neatly trimmed nails made her remember more clearly Devon’s sturdy hands. The hands that had held her safely that morning, and so many times over the past years. While getting involved with Devon might have been crossed off her list for many good reasons in the past, she’d take him in a flash over Vincent, no matter how debonair and smooth the man appeared.

  Devon loved the mountains. Loved excitement. He understood what made her blood thrill in a way Vincent never would.

  She swayed on her feet as exhaustion rolled over her hard.

  Vincent caught her around the waist. “You said you did a rescue this morning?”

  Embarrassment rushed her as she stepped away, dragging her hands through her hair and fighting to stop from yawning. She wanted to present a strong, competent woman, not someone ready to fall over in a faint. “Got called out at five A.M., so I’m ready to crash.”

  “Then I won’t keep you.” He picked up his suit jacket and slipped it on. “Get some rest, and I’ll take you to dinner later. We can get caught up then.”

  Probably needed to bring up the deadline her father had set. Convince her it was time to come home and be a dutiful daughter. “I really don’t feel like going out tonight, Vincent.”

  He smiled indulgently. “Of course. I’m staying at the Banff Springs Hotel. Room twelve fifty-three. If you change your mind, please call. Otherwise, we’ll make it tomorrow.”

  Drat, a one-day delay only. “Are you in town for long?”

  “As long as it takes.” He straightened his collar, checking his hair in the mirror by the front door.

  She didn’t want to know what that meant. She really didn’t. Silence seemed the wisest thing as he strolled past her, again closer than he needed to be.

  Vincent turned in the doorway. He stroked his fingers over her jaw, his gaze playing over her face. “You need sleep. You’ve got bags under your eyes.”

  A snort of laughter escaped before she could stop it. Charming. “It’s been a long day.”

  He leaned in, and she twisted to the side so his lips landed on her cheek instead of her mouth. Cool, not warm. Nothing flaring between them to make her want to have his attentions on her, no matter that she’d dreamed about him in the past.

  The current reality had nothing that made her want to explore more.

  He stepped down the stairs and she closed the door. Locked the knob and the deadbolt, and then chastised herself for being an idiot. She was the one who’d opened the door in the first place.

  Twit.

  Her limbs quivered as she attempted to keep vertical. Alisha barely made it down the hall to her room, using the walls to guide her. She pulled off her clothes and crawled under the covers, praying that the physical overload would overwhelm the mental stress and allow her a few hours of oblivion before she had to wake and deal with the crap that had landed on her plate.

  It wasn’t the rush of water that filled her mind, though, or Vincent’s unreadable expression. Thankfully, and hauntingly, it was Devon she saw as she fell asleep. The concern and caring in his eyes, the protective embrace as he clutched her to the wall.

  The world might be shaking around her, but she wasn’t completely alone. Even if Devon was pissed off, he had her back.

  Teamwork. What they’d trained into their very hearts and souls, and as fingers of unconsciousness wrapped around her, it was Devon’s blue eyes she thought of.

  CHAPTER 7

  Dropping off to sleep at four P.M. meant she was wide awake plenty early enough to have to decide. Did she follow Devon’s orders and show up at the swimming pool?

  If she’d slept through she’d have felt no guilt in skipping out, but now it would be a deliberate choice, and Alisha couldn’t bring herself to do that. He’d given her a break the previous day—a huge, life-changing break. He deserved a little leeway.

  Still, gathering her gear together had more of a funereal sensation than the usual buzz of anticipation that came before a workout. Normally a kind of dread and desire hung over her, knowing that once she got moving the endorphins would wash through and chase away some of her blues.

  Devon hadn’t specifically said which pool to meet him at, so she took a chance and headed to the one at the Banff SAR school. The parking lot was fairly full, reminding her that a new class of students had recently entered their first semester of training. Sure enough, as she pushed through the glass doors into the moist air of the pool setting, the sounds of splashing, whistles, and loud shouts carried on the warm air.

  Warmth—another reason the pool was so much better than open water.

  Approaching the observation area took willpower. A mental bracing she’d begun as soon as she crawled out of bed. Bright overhead fluorescent lighting made the tiles underfoot shine brilliant blue and white, the morning sun only beginning to peek through the tall windows. The bleachers along the side of the pool were empty except for one broad-shouldered individual who kept his gaze fixed on the bodies splashing in the water.

  Alisha walked slowly toward him, examining his face—the firm line of his jaw and his tousled blond hair. He probably hadn’t done more than drag a hand through it, and he still looked good enough for a photo op. The light scruff on his chin made her itch to rub herself against it—

  And this had to stop. As lovely and distracting as it was, now even more than before she needed to keep Devon in the right place in her mind. That he was willing to help her was fabulous.

  She wasn’t about to crawl into his bed, especially if Lana had recently been in it.

  A shrill cry rang out and she turned in time to duck a splash of water flaring from the pool into the spectator area. The student who’d caused it resurfaced, his smile shining as he waved at them.

  Alisha laughed, and lowered herself next to Devon. “Becki’s little brother, right?”

/>   Devon nodded. “Colin seems to be having fun.”

  “What are they up to?” Alisha glanced down the deck, checking for the instructor. The same man who’d put them through their paces years earlier still held sway over the water training.

  Devon pointed around the pool. “Looks like stations. Some workouts, some rescue simulations. Coach Williams doesn’t believe in much variety.”

  “If it’s not broken, why fix it?” Alisha repeated solemnly.

  He laughed. “God, how many times did we hear that over the years?”

  They sat and watched for a few minutes, the familiar routine calming the nerves she’d developed walking through the doors. “We’ll have to wait until they’re done for our training.”

  Devon twisted to face her, his gaze serious as he evaluated. “Let’s talk about that. You’re here, which first off, I’m impressed. I didn’t know if you would show.”

  “You told me to,” she pointed out.

  “Well, you had a hot date and all, I didn’t know if—”

  Whoa, that one was stopping right here. “No. No hot date. I crashed yesterday, and hard. Vincent is not a date, in any shape or form, so forget that nonsense.”

  Devon stared. Alisha wiggled.

  “He’s not a date,” she insisted.

  Devon shrugged. “I don’t care if he is or he isn’t. I’m saying you’re here now, and that’s good. You comfortable?”

  Alisha ignored the comments about Vincent and considered how she felt. “I feel some stress because I’m being judged by you. It’s a pool, Devon. I’m not afraid.”

  “So being in the proximity is fine? Take your time, think it through. If you want to strip and meditate for a bit, I won’t complain.”

  “God, you are so annoying.” She stared at the water, the gentle waves on the surface flashing in the increasing sunlight. “Nothing. It’s a fucking pool.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Alisha had to pause for a moment to think about what she’d said, then swung her gym bag at him as he laughed. “Try really hard to get your dick under control, even though I know it’s the larger of your two brains.”

  Devon faced the water. “Well, we’re here. We may as well make it worth our while. Just to be sure.” He faced her. “I thought about it more last night, and I want to make it clear what we’ll do if something big comes up before we’re sure you’re a hundred percent. If we get a coastal call before then, I mean.”

  “There’s not much odds of that situation arising, is there?” Alisha hated the note of begging in her voice. She cleared her throat, and spoke quieter, even though there was no way they could be overheard with the bedlam rising from the class. The students had switched exercises and were now egging each other on through an obstacle course around the pool. “Marcus said we’ll extend our territory, but chances are low we’ll get called out anytime soon, and even if we did, I can beg off the first situation without anyone crying foul.”

  Devon sighed. “So you’ve got a bit of leeway. But, Alisha?” He turned his blue gaze on her and she was mesmerized, like a deer caught in the headlights. “If you have to call off a rescue, that’s it. That’s your last chance. If we’re not both confident you’re safe, promise me you’ll give notice. I won’t demand you tell Marcus why—you could give any excuse you want so you could eventually get back into SAR, but that seems to be the only logical solution.”

  She swallowed around the lump in her throat. “You’re right—”

  His instant grin made her roll her eyes, and the awkward tension faded, to be replaced with the unending pull of competition and attraction rampant between them.

  “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, but I mean it. I submit to your master plan—I hadn’t thought it through that far, but your strategy makes sense. Only, I am completely fine, Devon. I won’t have to quit.”

  “Hmm, now that sounds like the Alisha I know and love to beat at any and all challenges.” He flashed his smile again, then jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward the pool. “Ten bucks says I can finish the obstacle course they’re doing faster than you can.”

  Nice.

  She faced the water. The screaming had gotten louder in the past few minutes as they talked, the last of the swimmers working through the course with their entire teams egging them on. She glanced through the challenges.

  He raised a brow. “What’s it going to be? You calling it quits and buying me lunch straight off?”

  “Bullshit.” The instant response to Devon’s challenge came from a deeper place in her gut than she could stop.

  Uncertainty had been her companion for a day. Her need to be the best had been in place a lot longer than that.

  Devon rose and grabbed his gym bag. “Then I’ll meet you on deck. I’ll let Coach Williams know we want the course left out once the class is done.”

  Alisha nodded and followed him, breaking off to one side to hit the women’s change room.

  She was interrupted before she could clear the deck. Colin came running toward her, water dripping from his body. “Alisha. Good to see you.”

  She returned his smile, then deepened her voice. “Hey, no running. You want to slip and crack your skull?”

  They both laughed, glancing guiltily toward where Coach Williams and Devon were talking. Colin wiped the water from his shoulders with the towel in his hand. “You training this morning?”

  She nodded. “Once you guys are done. Are you enjoying your classes?”

  Colin shrugged. “First weeks are slow. Lots of review since I took summer school, but once the rest of the group gets caught up . . . What am I saying? They’ll never catch up to me.”

  He winked, and it was easy to see the family connection between him and Marcus’s partner. “You are just like your sister.”

  Colin made a face. “Well, she can climb and all, but hell, I’m not old and—”

  “Yes? Old and what?”

  Becki stood a few feet behind them, clipboard nestled in her folded arms as she gave her younger brother a dirty look.

  Colin didn’t even blink. “Old and slow.”

  Alisha covered her mouth to hide her grin.

  Brother and sister glared at each other for a moment before Becki ignored Colin and looked over at Alisha. “Hey, you. Heard you did an awesome job yesterday.”

  Alisha forced a smile. She had done well in rescuing Paul, that much was true. “Marcus has a good team. And you trained us as well.”

  “That must have been before I got old and slow.”

  A laugh escaped. “I don’t think either word can be applied to you.”

  The students were streaming off the deck, curious glances directed their way as most of them left, whispers rising as they caught the identity of Alisha and Devon, who’d finally rejoined them.

  “Coach Williams said no problem. He’s using the course for another class this afternoon, so he was leaving it set up anyway. It’s all ours.”

  “You’re running the obstacle course?” Colin asked, his grin spreading wider. Alisha saw it coming from a mile away, but there was no way to stop it. With the bravado of youth and the familiarity of family, Colin poked his sister in the arm. “Bet you I can do the course faster than you.”

  It was in their blood. The need for competition. The urge to be the best.

  Becki adjusted her clipboard to place her fists on her hips. “You and what army?”

  “Boys against the girls?” Devon suggested.

  Colin’s face lit up. “Seriously? Dude—yes.”

  God.

  Becki turned to the change room. “Fine. Just means you get to be defeated by your sister. Again, I might add.”

  “Damn.” Colin muttered it under his breath before smiling at Devon. “So, gonna help me take revenge for the last few times she’s beat me?”

  Devon frowned. “How many times have you challenged her and lost?”

  Colin shuffled his feet. “Five.”

  “Shit.”

  Becki called from the chan
ge room door. “Five times in the last week. Come on, Alisha, let’s plan our strategy.”

  It was tough to remain nervous in the midst of this kind of energy and enthusiasm. Alisha cast one last glance over her shoulder, noting Devon had watched her the entire way off the deck.

  * * *

  He was no expert in dealing with fear, but as far as he could tell, Alisha was fine. Nothing had triggered her. In fact, she’d laughed more than a dozen times in the past few minutes as she and Becki taunted Colin and they all prepared to run the gauntlet.

  She’d told him the pool wasn’t an issue. Wild anticipation and the drive to excel were the only emotions visible on her face. Reassured that Alisha was in control, Devon was able to concentrate on another important item.

  Winning.

  Lunch was on the line. He’d ignore the part of himself that dryly noted he won no matter what because he’d get to be with Alisha, no matter what.

  Vincent wasn’t a romantic interest? Good to know that on her side. She might not be aware the guy had other ideas, but it was obvious to another man. It was time for more than testing her nerve. Devon had had enough waiting—it was time to test their sexual chemistry as well.

  He pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the course. “We running one after another for total time elapsed?”

  Becki straightened the edges of her bathing cap. “I propose a free-for-all. Since teamwork is supposed to be what we’re good at.”

  “So you and Alisha do the course simultaneously, and we compare your time with ours?” Colin asked.

  Becki shook out her arms. “Hell no, little boy. That’s not nearly exciting enough. I mean we all leave together, and see which two make it to the other end first.”

  Alisha adjusted her goggles. “Sounds good to me. Ready? Go.”

  The women must have discussed this in the change room, because Alisha took off with a shallow dive as Becki stepped closer to her brother and hip-checked him. Colin floundered for a moment, arms flailing in circles before gravity won and pulled him into the shallow end with an enormous splash.