by Pamela Stone
She exploded. Her heart pounded and the only breath she could draw came directly from his mouth. She wrapped her legs around his hips, arched her back, and invited him deeper. All she could see, feel or think was Aaron.
He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in her neck. He stilled and then relaxed against her.
Even in the shade of the boat canopy, the tropical heat took her breath. But, she wasn’t willing to turn him loose. His tanned skin shimmered with perspiration and his damp hair curled in the humidity.
Cupping his hips, she held him tight. “Don’t leave.”
He was already pulling back. “I don’t have the strength left to hold myself up.” He eased over on his side, taking her with him. Cradling her into the crook of his arm, he planted a kiss on top of her head. “Oh, man.”
Perspiration trickled down her back and she was sticky from head to toe, but it didn’t matter. With one finger, she traced a wet curl plastered to his forehead. The tendril corkscrewed around the tip of her finger in a tight caress. Dark, sooty lashes accented his intense green eyes.
Rolling over on his back, he took her with him and pushed her up until she was straddling him. He reached to the side and handed her the bottle of suntan lotion. “Your turn.”
She grinned, squirting a dollop of lotion into her hand. “You don’t need this. All mine is on you already.”
As she lathered the lotion between her hands, her phone chimed. Before she could reach it, Aaron grabbed the phone out of her purse and pushed the button. “You have reached the cell phone of Charlie Brody,” his deep voice advised whoever was on the other end. “She is otherwise occupied and unable to come to the phone at the moment, but if you’d hang up she’d be very appreciative.” He disconnected.
She swiped the lotion off her hand onto his chest and retrieved her phone. Pressing the button to view the last caller, her mouth fell open. “You hung up on Edward.”
“I’m sure he’ll be delighted,” Aaron assured her with a wry grin, taking the phone and turning the power off.
He stood up wearing nothing but his God given glory, scooped her into his arms, and started toward the rail.
“No! Don’t,” she shrieked as he tossed her over the side.
Her heart stopped and she clawed at air, plunging toward the water. Before she could orient herself to figure out which way was up, Aaron landed in a tornado of bubbles beside her. She plowed her way to the surface and grabbed for him, struggling to grasp his oily shoulders.
“Whoa, slow down. It’s okay.” He wrapped one arm securely around her waist.
She clutched frantically. “Don’t let go.”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s not that deep and you can see the bottom.”
His arm stayed around her waist until she eased her choke hold on his neck and looked down. The water was the color of an aquamarine gemstone, crystal clear and shimmering. There weren’t any waves in the cove. She counted to twenty until her breathing regulated. Self-consciously, she moved out of his hold and began treading water on her own.
His eyes watched her, waiting for her to freak out again. “Sorry about that. The boat’s right here,” he said.
“I’m fine. I just prefer pools.”
“This isn’t much different than a big swimming pool and I’m here. Come on, one lap around the boat.”
She swam beside him, beginning to enjoy the feel of the cool water against her heated skin. So much more freedom than a pool. And there was something magical about swimming in the nude. If she could only keep her mind off crushing waves and inky water.
Aaron retrieved snorkels and masks from the diving platform and proceeded to teach her to breathe as she swam. Charlotte had snorkeled once or twice, but it had been years.
None of the flashy brochures at the resort did justice to the beauty of the underwater world of the coral reef. Charlotte pointed to a bunch of long skinny coral. “What’s that?”
“Sea finger coral,” Aaron replied. “Next to that is a clump of brain coral.”
She stuck her face back in the water, before lifting it to comment. “Did you see those pink fish?”
“Creole Wrasse. Sometimes you can see angel fish, too.”
The bright fish flitted in and out through a vibrant, living playground of coral. “You’re a regular coral reef encyclopedia.”
Once she got over the initial shock, the warm, tropical water seemed as comfortable as a huge bathtub. She even saw a giant manatee. And Aaron was never far from her side.
The afternoon was the nearest thing to freedom Charlotte could remember. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined frolicking nude in the Atlantic Ocean. That was a stunt her parents would’ve pulled.
Her inhibitions faded as they floated and played like kids in their private cove. When she wrapped her legs around her Adonis’s waist and lowered herself onto him, the surprised grin on his face was worth her effort.
Reacting to her impulses, she made love to Aaron with sunshine beating down on her already heated skin and nothing between them but gorgeous azure water.
AARON TIMED DINNER TO COINCIDE with the sunset. He wanted Charlie to remember the afternoon long after he was out of her life. For some reason, how she remembered him had become very important.
They sat on the dive deck at the back of the boat, dangling their feet in the water and nibbling on the party leftovers. Her thick ponytail poked out the back of a royal-blue Brody’s Charters cap. She looked happy, healthy and relaxed for the first time in the three years he’d known her.
The new deck provided the perfect observation point. There were enough clouds to give the sunset character, brushstrokes of pink and purple transforming the sky into a contemporary mural. Probably rain by morning.
Shaking his head, he allowed the salty breeze to blow his hair back, dipped a strawberry in his plastic glass of wine, and popped the fruit into her mouth. “Nothing compares to sunsets in the Keys.”
“Nothing?” She bit into the strawberry and pink juice squirted down her chin.
He watched mesmerized as she wiped it away with the back of her hand. “Well, almost nothing.” He got hard just thinking about the feel of her beneath him, the taste of salt on her skin, that little moan.
“Look.” She pointed toward the horizon and grinned. “Dolphins. Two of them.”
“Yeah, sometimes they’ll come right up to the boat.”
He took a deep, cleansing breath of sea air as the giant orange ball kissed the horizon and melted into the water. He ran his hands through his hair and watched the gulls light for the night. God, it was heaven out here with Charlie.
When he suggested they spend the night on the boat, she didn’t put up a fight. He agreed to wake up at sunrise to take her back, but they had tonight. The cabin was stuffy, but she didn’t seem to mind the sticky heat as she snuggled against his chest and drifted off to sleep.
Maybe they wouldn’t go back. Let Edward keep his resort. Yeah, like Charlie would ever choose him over running Harrington’s.
He tightened his arms around his wife as she tucked her head into the crook of his shoulder. What are you thinking, Brody? It’s not like he wanted anything permanent. Did he?
A BOOMING CLAP OF THUNDER shook the cabin and jolted Charlotte from her peaceful dream. She stared at the skylight above the small berth and clutched the mattress. A bright flash of lightning streaked through the sky. It was storming and she was in the middle of the ocean!
The boat rocked and another clap of thunder reverberated through the cabin. The rain pelted against the skylight and the berth tilted as the front rose, and then slammed back level. Grabbing Aaron’s arm, she shook him. “Wake up. It’s storming.”
“Sounds that way,” he yawned.
How could he be so calm? The air cracked with electrical current and the cabin exploded with light, then returned to gray.
They had to get off this boat—now! But how? There was no protection on shore. Heading across the turbulent ocean
in the middle of a storm terrified her nearly as much as riding it out. She shivered. The damp confines of the tiny cabin closed in around her.
She bolted out of bed. The boat lurched and she lost her balance.
Aaron reached out and tried to urge her back down on the bed. “Let’s try this again and wake up slow this time. There’s no rush. It’s hardly past five. What’s another half hour?”
“I can’t stay here!” She grabbed the bathroom door and held on. The waves were bigger than yesterday. She could feel the boat bobbing.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
“Where’re the life jackets? How’re we going to get back?”
Crawling out of bed, he slipped his arms around her. “We have plenty of life jackets and we’ll go back the same way we got here. But the sun’s barely up. We’ve got time.” He nibbled at her shoulder. “You’re trembling.”
“I hate storms. I hate storms on the ocean.”
He handed her a pair of panties. “It’s a thunderstorm. No big deal.” He slipped a white Brody’s Charters T-shirt over her head.
She sat on the berth and tugged on her underwear. “Look, Aaron, find me a life jacket and get us back to the mainland. Okay? Can you do that?” She hated the crack in her voice.
Retrieving a life jacket from beneath the bench that served as one side of the kitchen booth, he squatted down in front of her, and buckled her into it. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. We’re safe.”
She clenched her fists to still her hands. “When I was six, my parents took me sailing. A storm blew up and waves were crashing over the deck and sucking at my legs. I kept clinging to this pole, but I couldn’t hold on. The pole was wet and slipped out of my hands. I grabbed for anything to hold on to, but I went over. The salt water burned my eyes and I couldn’t see the boat. I just kept screaming and screaming, but I didn’t think anyone heard me. My dad jumped in and his buddy pulled us out.”
He reached out and rested his hand along one side of her face. “It’s okay. You’re not going overboard today.”
She leaned into his hand, but her throat closed up and she couldn’t say any more.
There was no trace of fear as he continued. “This storm isn’t that bad. It’ll pass.”
She clutched the mattress. “You don’t get it. I’ve spent thousands of dollars in therapy and I can’t kick this. Get me off this water.”
Taking her by the shoulders, he stared deep into her eyes. “I’ve been on the water practically every day since I was fifteen and I’ve weathered lots of storms worse than this, on this very boat.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Would you rather lie down and let me hold you until this passes? The water’s calmer in the cove.”
“I want to go back,” she begged. “Can we do that?”
“Sure. Just relax.” He stood up and slipped on his shorts and T-shirt. “I’ve done this a thousand times.”
Nodding, she curled up on the berth and tried to keep from shaking. Relaxing was out of the question. She’d settle for not throwing up.
Chapter Ten
Aaron climbed on deck, lifted anchor, and started the engine. Would Charlie be okay? Lots of people were afraid of storms, but she was on the verge of hysterics. He felt like the world’s biggest brute for tossing her overboard yesterday. But he’d had no idea. He tuned in the radio for a weather report. Sounded like the storms were here for the day. The rational answer would be to ride it out in the cove, but Charlie would have a heart attack if she had to spend an entire day in the state she was in.
The waves were going to be rough once they hit open water. Nothing he couldn’t navigate, but more than enough to toss the boat around. It had been a great escape until this.
Keeping one eye on the gauges and the other on the waves, he tried to listen for Charlie in case she needed him. Pulling out of the cove wasn’t bad until they rounded the point and caught the full brunt of the wind. Still, if it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t be concerned. It’d be slow going, but they’d get there.
They were halfway to shore when she came and stood beside him. She grabbed the console and slipped her other arm around his waist. She focused straight-ahead. “This is bad, isn’t it?”
“Just tropical wind and rain. We’re under control.” He offered her a reassuring smile, hooked a deck chair with his foot, and motioned her to sit. Up here she was protected from the sea spray and if she stayed seated, maybe she wouldn’t see the waves. “Sure you don’t want to stay below?”
“No, I’d rather be close to you.” She reached down and took the life jacket off the hook. “You need to put this on.”
He started to decline, but after one look at her pale, drawn face, he slipped his arms through the straps. He reached over and massaged the back of her neck, keeping his voice calm. “Talk to me. Keep me company.”
She stretched her neck to check the waves, then focused on him. Her knuckles were white from the death grip she had on the arms of the chair. “My parents were thrill seekers. They wanted us kids to experience everything. I did fine with snow skiing and snowmobiles. Even parachuted out of an airplane.” She grinned. “We saw every kind of race, cars, horses, dogs, anything they could bet on. I was fine until they insisted we go white-water rafting. They didn’t understand my fear.”
“Sounds like you had a hell of a childhood. I never got out of South Florida.” He focused on the choppy waves.
“Yeah, but the only stability we had were my grandparents. My parents didn’t want kids. I’m sure Edward pressured them, like he’s pressuring me. Since they already had a son to carry on the Harrington lineage, you’ve got to know I was an accident.”
“I doubt you were unwanted.”
“They didn’t have time for Don and me. They were too busy partying.”
The boat pitched, but he ignored the jolt and pretended they were on smooth water. “So how serious is Edward’s heart condition?”
Charlotte cocked her head. “He doesn’t have a heart condition.”
“I heard Perry talking on his cell telling someone that with Edward’s heart and the stress he was under, he wouldn’t last long.” Aaron held tight as they rolled over a large swell. “I also saw him taking medication at the wedding, but I figured you knew.”
She closed her mouth. “I’m his own granddaughter and I had no idea. Why wouldn’t he tell me something like that?”
The concern on her face was admirable given the way Edward treated her. “Thurman also said he’d be married to you and running Harrington’s within a year.”
Her brow furrowed. “Now Perry’s resurgence of interest in marrying me fits. But how did he find out about Edward?”
“Beats me. Think that’s why Edward’s so hung up on you having a baby, male no less?”
“Out of four children, Edward was the only son. He and Grandmother were only able to conceive one child, my dad, and he’s dead. Who’s going to carry on the Harrington legacy?”
“If carrying on the Harrington legacy is so important, I’d think he’d pressure your brother.”
“After Don moved in with his latest companion, Gerald, Edward finally gave up.” Her eyes focused on his steering. “You’ve been working on a boat since you were fifteen?”
He shrugged. “Whistler, the old man who owned the Free Wind, put me to work. I hauled scuba tanks, sold drinks, held customers’ heads while they barfed. Basic gofer stuff.”
Her cute little nose turned up. “What about school?”
“What about it?” Aaron avoided the subject of education and still tried to keep her mind off the storm. She was beginning to relax, at least the color had returned to her knuckles. “Whistler died of emphysema three years ago. Left the boat to me. Seemed like a good time for a change of scenery.”
She offered a shaky smile. “So Whistler was a father figure after your mom died?”
“Uh, not exactly.” He scratched his neck and smiled at the memory. “That old man could cuss with the sailors,
drink any man under the table, and fight anyone left standing. Always had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a role model for a young boy.”
“Young boy?” He wondered if he’d ever fit that description. “I needed a job and a roof over my head.”
“Did he teach you to dive?”
“About the time I hired on, he was beginning to have trouble breathing. Hell, he had trouble waking up before noon, if he made it home at all. Later it was the emphysema that kept him above water.”
“Aaron, you’re a caretaker.” She sounded pleased with her summation.
“You make me sound like someone’s grandmother.”
“First you took care of your mom, then Whistler.”
The bow bucked and tossed, popped over the crest of a large swell, and slammed hard on the other side. Aaron was careful not to show any sign of nervousness as he maneuvered the boat back on course. Charlie’s face went chalk-white. Just five more minutes and they’d be to shore.
Keep talking, Brody. Keep her mind off the storm. “Everyone knew where to find me when Whistler needed help. I bailed him out of jail, hauled him home drunk two out of three nights. Once I talked a seven-foot sailor out of mopping up the floor with him when Whistler made some wisecrack about the guy’s mother.” He laughed. “Whistler was five-foot-eight, tops. A hundred pounds, soaking wet. He was a character.”
“See, you are a caretaker.”
“Maybe. That’s probably why he shelled out the money for me to get my certification. Well, that and his health had gotten so bad he couldn’t dive anymore. I ended up in the water while he handled the money. No complaints from me there.”
“Did you ever dream of doing anything else?”
Aaron swallowed. She was getting too damn curious!
He pulled the Free Wind into his slip and killed the engine. Someone with Charlie’s education would never understand that even the simplest dreams were so far out of his grasp it wasn’t worth trying. Thanks to his dyslexia, simply getting through the written test to become a certified diver had been grueling. The last thing he wanted was Charlie’s pity. “I don’t know. Maybe.”