by Jane Graves
Liz was a nosy person who was always looking for dirt. Kelsey's cop brain could pinpoint guilt from a mile away. That meant keeping Nick's motives under wraps was probably going to be impossible. Sarah felt a rush of foreboding. Why did her friends have to be so damned perceptive?
"Who are they?" Nick said.
“My bridesmaids." She pasted on a smile and moving to the edge of the pool. "Hey, you guys!"
Nick followed, cruising through the water behind her. Liz waved to Nick. "Hi, Randall!" Then her brow furrowed. "Wait a minute. You're not Randall."
Sarah forced a laugh. "No, but you're close. This is Nick, Randall's brother."
"Wow. You look a lot alike."
"That's what people say, but I've never seen it," Nick said.
Sarah boosted herself onto the edge of the pool, then stood. "I'm so glad you're here!"
"So are we," Kelsey said. "This place is incredible."
"We changed into our swimsuits first thing," Liz said. "We figured you'd either be at the pool or the beach."
”You told me you'd call me when you got to the resort."
"I did," Liz said. "You didn't answer your phone."
No wonder. It was in her bag by her lounge. Randall might have super hearing when it came to his phone, but she had no such power.
"So you're Randall's brother," Liz said, eyeing Nick with all kinds of interest. "Where's he been hiding you?"
"Nick, this is my crazy cousin Liz,” Sarah said. "Look out for her. She's trouble."
"That's okay," Nick said. "So am I."
“And this is Kelsey,” Sarah said. “She’s a New York cop. Look out for her, too. She has a black belt in karate and never met a firearm she didn’t like.”
Nick shook her hand. “How did you and Sarah meet?”
“Sarah worked in Manhattan for a couple of years,” Kelsey said. “She lived next door to me, but we didn’t really know each other. Then a fire sprinkler went off by mistake flooded both of our apartments.”
“You should have seen the mess,” Sarah said. “I stood there panicking with no clue what to do. Kelsey knew how to turn off the water to the whole building. That was when I decided I should have at least one friend who’s good in a crisis.”
"So where's Randall?" Liz asked.
"Taking care of some business," Sarah said.
"Really? If I were in a place like this, I'd say to hell with business and live it up." She tilted her head. "Hmm. Maybe that's why I'm broke and Randall is a gazillionaire.”
"We're going parasailing," Nick said. "Want to come along?"
Sarah whipped around. "Nick—"
"I'd love to!" Liz said, then turned to Kelsey. "How about you?”
Kelsey shook her head. “Nope. People die doing that.”
“People die being cops,” Liz said.
“At least I’m getting paid to take the risk. But I’ll come along and watch the rest of you roll the dice.”
"We are not going parasailing," Sarah said.
Liz frowned. “Nick said you were."
"I can't. Randall's coming back soon."
"He said he'd call you when he was finished," Nick said. "And that could be a while. A long while."
As much as Sarah hated to admit it, Nick was right. She'd been around Randall long enough to know a five-minute call could turn into two hours.
Nick grinned. "So parasailing it is."
"Did somebody say parasailing? I love parasailing."
Sarah turned to see a strange woman standing behind her. Bright red hair, freakishly dark tan, barely-there bikini top…
Then she remembered. It was the woman from the restaurant last night that Dickey hadn't been able to take his eyes off of.
"Excuse me?" Sarah said.
"I love parasailing," the woman said. "I think I'll go with you."
Sarah blinked. Who was this woman? "We're not going parasailing."
"Oh. Well, if you change your mind, let me know and I'll come along."
Sarah glanced at the others, who gave her nothing but blank stares. "Uh…have we met?"
"No. I'm Brandy. You're the bride, right? You're getting married here on Saturday?"
"Yeah," Sarah said warily.
"I saw your fiance when he was out here earlier. He's a hot guy. Bet he's rich, too. Shoes. Always look at the shoes. That's how you can tell. Broke guys wear crappy shoes."
"He was wearing flip-flops," Sarah said.
"They were OluKais. At least a hundred bucks. I know these things." She turned her attention to Nick. "You're hot, too. Got a girlfriend?
"No," Nick said. "I'm afraid my boss would frown on that."
"Why?"
"I'm a priest."
Brandy shrugged. "Hey, what happens in Jamaica stays in Jamaica."
"A gay priest."
"Nah. I bet you're bisexual."
"Nope."
"Conflicted?"
"Not since I was twelve years old."
"You're probably just going through a phase.” She turned to the others. "Too bad about the parasailing, but if you go to the club tonight, maybe we can all hang out. Girl talk. You know."
Sarah felt a glimmer of panic. There was only so much evening entertainment around there, so they might very well want to hang out at the club. But with this woman? Sarah had known her only thirty seconds, and that was already too long. But Sarah was terrible at letting people down easily. She never knew what to say. Fibbing didn't work. She was a terrible liar, unlike Nick, who went from practicing heterosexual male to celibate priest in two seconds flat. But if she tried to tell the truth, it always sounded mean. So what in the world was she supposed to—
"No," Kelsey said.
Okay, so that was another approach. God bless Kelsey. She was the one woman in the world who would actually say what the rest of them were thinking.
"That's not very nice," Brandy said, giving Kelsey the evil eye. "I was just being friendly. That's what people do at these resorts. They party together. I saw the pictures online before I booked." She slurped the last of her pina colada. "So I'll be at the club tonight. That's where you should go. Where all the fun people are."
As she sashayed off, Liz crinkled her nose, her eyes wide with disbelief. "What the hell was that?"
Sarah sighed. "Well, there go any plans we might have had of going to the club tonight."
"Don't worry," Kelsey said. "If she gets to be a problem, I'll take care of her."
"How?" Liz said. "You can't possibly be armed. You never would have cleared immigration.”
"You have no idea what I can do with my bare hands if I'm motived enough."
Suddenly Sarah heard a ring. She trotted to her lounge, dug through her bag, and grabbed her phone. She flashed Nick a look of triumph and answered the call. "Randall! You're finished. That's great. The girls are here, and—"
"Sorry, Sarah. This is a bigger problem than I thought. I'm going to be a while longer."
Sarah ducked her head and walked several more steps away from the group. "Randall, please!" she said in a loud whisper. "No more business. This is our wedding!"
"It's not as if I have a choice. Don't you think I'd rather be playing than working?"
"Sometimes I wonder."
"Don't do this."
"Don't do what? Expect you to remember why you're here?"
"This reorganization is critical. I can't drop the ball."
"What about your father? I thought he was handling things. That was why he couldn't come early to Jamaica."
"I have certain responsibilities. Things only I can do. But it'll be worth it. You'll see that very soon."
She had no idea what he was talking about. She only knew that in the past few days, Randall had practically opened a remote office of Baxter Industries right there in Montego Bay. She glanced back at Nick, who looked as if he was concentrating strictly on his conversation with the girls. But Sarah knew what he was thinking. See? I was right. My brother is an annoying workaholic who doesn't know what's i
mportant in life. Is that the man you really want?
"Just wait there," Randall said. "I'll be finished soon. Then we can sun or swim or do whatever you want."
"Not for long," she said. "You're golfing this afternoon with your groomsmen, remember?"
He apologized, as he always did, and told her how wonderful their honeymoon was going to be, as he always did. She said she understood, as she always did, and that she'd see him later. But by the time she hung up, her frustration level had shot off the charts. Maybe he did have a lot of responsibility, but that didn't mean she had to sit around waiting on him. In that moment, she didn't care if Nick won this round. She just wanted to have a good time.
She walked back to the group. "Randall's going to be a while. Let's go parasailing."
10
Thirty minutes later they were on the parasailing boat, making their way to the furthest point of the bay. Nick congratulated himself on getting Sarah to come. Of course, Randall had helped out by being a workaholic pain in the ass, making that job a whole lot easier.
Once they were at the starting point, Liz angled to go up with Nick, but he sidestepped her efforts by telling her Randall thought parasailing was dangerous, so it was up to him to look out for Sarah. Sarah gave him a look that said nobody on earth was buying that, but soon the driver had cut the engine and the operator was putting on their harnesses and strapping them onto the parasail. Sarah looked slightly panicked.
"I read a story once about how the tether came loose from a boat and the people ended up crashing into a building."
Nick shrugged. "Yeah, it could happen."
"Okay, then. I've changed my mind."
"Nope. You're not going anywhere. Do you know why?" Nick leaned toward her, his eyes alight. "Because every minute you're up there and that doesn't happen, you'll feel like you're cheating death." He grinned. "There's no bigger rush than that."
"Cheating death?"
The operator started the engine.
"Let me off this thing!"
"Nope. Too late."
Sarah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The boat accelerated, and the operator started letting out the rope. The moment they were free of the boat and their feet were dangling, Sarah sucked in a quick breath and snapped her eyes shut. "Oh, God. I can't believe I let you talk me into this!"
"Sure you can. I talked you into snowboarding, didn't I?"
The boat sped up, and they slowly ascended. Sarah clutched her harness so tightly her fingers whitened. They rose ten feet. Twenty. Thirty. Soon they were soaring high over the bay.
"Doing okay?" Nick asked.
"I haven't barfed yet."
"You might try opening your eyes."
"I'm working on it."
Several seconds later, Sarah's eyelids creaked open. She turned her gaze left and right, swallowing hard, her face still pinched and worried.
"Relax," Nick said, raising his voice to be heard over the wind. "Enjoy the view."
As they ascended even more, her tension seemed to fade. She glanced around, taking in the sights. "Look at our resort! It seems tiny from here!"
"How about the mountains?" Nick said, nodding to the east.
Sarah's eyes grew wide with wonder. "They're gorgeous! And check out the boat. The girls look like Barbie dolls!" The wind whipped Sarah's hair in a vortex around her head, but she didn't seem to mind. "This must be what parachuting feels like."
"Pretty much."
"You've jumped out of an airplane?"
"Are you surprised?"
She laughed. "No. Actually, I'm not."
"So what do you think of parasailing?"
She gave him a shrug, but her smile was broad and bright. "It's okay."
"Better than okay?"
She laughed a little. "Okay. It's better than okay."
For just a moment, he saw the real Sarah, not the repressed, uptight woman she was around his brother. This was the way he remembered her, as a woman who thrived on fun and adventure and laughed as easily as she breathed. Then, as if she realized what she was doing, she looked away quickly, her smile fading.
"Don't," he said.
"What?"
"Hide from me. I know what you're thinking. You feel free up here, and you love every minute of it."
She turned back, and after a moment, her smile returned, and he saw a light in her eyes that told him just how right he was.
They sailed along for several more heavenly minutes. Then they slowed, and their parasail lost altitude.
"Is it over already?" Sarah said, a note of disappointment in her voice.
"Do you want it to be?"
"I just thought…you know. It's kind of expensive for such a short ride." A look of mild panic crossed her face. "Nick? We're getting awfully close to the water."
"Yeah, we are."
"Aren't they supposed to pull us onto the deck on the back of the boat?"
"Eventually."
Her panic grew. "This isn't right."
"Don't worry."
"No, there's a problem. We're not supposed to be—"
"Sarah, it's okay. I told the guy to dip us."
"What?"
Their feet dragged the water, and Sarah screamed. Just as quickly they ascended again, and her scream became laughter.
"Fun, wasn't it?" Nick said.
"No!"
"Too bad. They're going to do it again."
"No!"
But this time she smiled as they descended, letting out another scream when her feet hit the water. As they floated up again, she said, "God, Nick! Can't you do anything like a normal person?"
"Normal? What's that?"
"You're impossible."
"I think you like parasailing."
"That dipping thing is—"
"Fun?"
"I was going to say dangerous."
"Then it's a good thing I interrupted you."
She gave him a look of admonishment for about two seconds, only to have a smile overtake her face again. He missed that smile. He loved that smile. He dreamed about that smile. He let it pour over him like sunshine, basking in the feeling, imagining what it would feel like to wake to it every day for the rest of his life.
After they sailed over the bay for another few minutes, the man shortened the rope and they drew closer to the deck. When he freed them from the harness, they climbed back into the boat. Sarah immediately went to the bench along the port side and sat. Nick sat beside her. She gave him a warning look, but she didn't move to the other bench or slide away.
"How did you like it?" Liz asked.
”Be sure to do the dip thing," Sarah said with a smile. "It's fun."
“So which one of you is going up again with me?” Liz said.
“Neither of us,” Nick said. “It’s Kelsey’s turn.”
“Oh, no,” Kelsey said, shaking her head. “No way. Not me.”
“Did you know Kelsey once took out an armed robber singlehandedly?” Sarah said.
“Seriously?” Nick said.
“Yeah. He was holding three hostages at the time. She got a commendation for it. That’s why it’s so sad to see her lose her nerve.”
Kelsey glared at Sarah. “What about those people who were parasailing and their tether came loose?”
“You mean the ones who crashed into a building?” Sarah shrugged. “It probably won’t happen again.”
“Probably?”
Kelsey twisted her mouth with annoyance. Then finally she rolled her eyes and gave in, heading for the back of the boat. As the operator strapped them into their harnesses, Nick glanced at Sarah’s left hand, at the ostentatious diamond he had no doubt his mother had helped Randall pick out. Damn it. How had that happened? How in the holy hell had his brother laid claim to the woman Nick wanted more than anything?
Then his gaze drifted to Sarah's long, beautiful legs. If she were wearing his ring, he’d be running his hand along her thigh right now, relishing the feel of her warm, silky skin beneath his hand. Instead al
l he could do was let his mind drift to the past, to the hot, steamy nights they’d spent together. By the time the guy pulled Liz and Kelsey back onto the boat, he’d made love to Sarah approximately a dozen times inside his head.
"That was a blast!' Liz said.
Sarah looked at Kelsey. “What did you think?”
“I’m still alive.”
“Don’t get too excited.”
“How long have you known me?” Kelsey said, and pointed to her face. “This is excited.”
“Sarah,” Nick said. “Want to do it again?"
She looked at the operator. "I'm sure there are other people waiting on shore."
"No, milady. Nobody." He grinned. "Yuh wanna go?"
To Nick's delight, Sarah instantly rose and hopped onto the deck. In no time they were strapped in again, the driver hit the gas, and Nick was in heaven. Flying above the bay with the ocean air in his face and Sarah laughing beside him was almost as good as teaching her to snowboard.
When the operator pulled them back into the boat, Liz and Kelsey decided to take another turn, too. Sarah could have sat across from Nick on the other side of the boat, but she didn't. Instead she sat next to him, commenting on everything from the warm breeze to the cloudless sky to the white sand beaches dotted with colorful cabanas, her blue eyes alive with enthusiasm.
This was the Sarah he remembered, the one who’d mesmerized him for three days straight, and he was determined to get her back.
Half an hour later, the tour operator dropped them back on shore. Sarah couldn't believe just how much fun parasailing was.
How much fun being with Nick was.
Then guilt set in. She hadn't thought about Randall. Not once. She grabbed her phone from her bag, checked the time, and realized his groomsmen would be there by now and he'd be on his way to play golf. Or maybe he was still on the phone talking business, and golf would have to wait.
Wait a minute. What was she thinking? Of course his golf game wouldn't be delayed. Nothing got in the way of it. Even business.
Then she felt guilty for thinking that.
As they walked along the beach toward the resort, Liz said, "It's past lunch time. I'm starving."
"We can eat at Surfside," Sarah said. "It's right out on the water, and we can go there in swimsuits and coverups."