Tropical Tryst: 25 All New and Exclusive Sexy Reads

by Nicole Morgan

  A knock on the door startles me. When I glance into the peephole and see that it’s Theo I unlock the door and let him in.

  “Should we phone the police first?” I suggest.

  He holds up his laptop. “Let’s give this a try and see if we come up with anything.”

  “Okay,” I agree.

  Theo sets his laptop on the small round table between the kitchenette and the living area. He takes a seat and I stand next to him looking at the laptop screen over his shoulder.

  With a few clicks he logs into a shady-looking website. “What’s her phone number?”

  As I recite the digits he types the information into the website. After a few moments an address pops up with a small map.

  Theo gives me a quick look. “That’s right in the middle of the wildlife refuge I was telling you about.”

  “Why would kidnappers take Addie to a wildlife refuge?”

  “Maybe they dumped her phone there…or…” His voice trails off. He doesn’t have to finish the sentence. I know what he was going to say. Or that’s where they dumped her body.

  A shiver runs through my entire body as I think about the seriousness of the situation. What if something really bad has happened to Addie?

  “I don’t like this.” I rub my forehead. The painkiller doesn’t seem to be working. My head is still pounding. “I think we should phone the police.”

  Just as I’m about to pick up the resort phone in the room, it rings.

  Theo and I exchange a glance.

  “I guess I’d better answer it.” For some reason I’m immobilized.

  “I’ll get it,” Theo offers.

  He presses a button on the bottom of the cradle and it turns on a speaker phone.

  “Hello,” he says a bit too loudly.

  There’s a sob on the other end of the line. Then a female voice says, “We think Addie has been kidnapped.”

  “Mrs. Vance?” I say.

  She sniffles. “Oh, Brooklyn. It’s so good to hear your voice. Is Addie really gone?”

  “I haven’t seen her since last night.”

  “We got an email, a ransom note. They said they have Addie and want a million dollars. You didn’t phone the police, did you?”

  “No,” I reply. “Not yet.”

  “Don’t,” she practically screams. “They said they would kill her if we got the police involved.”

  My head is spinning with so many questions I’m not sure where to start. “Isn’t that what kidnappers always say?” That’s what they say in the movies anyway.

  “I’m not willing to take any chances with my baby’s life,” Mrs. Vance snaps.

  “We’re taking the first flight down to Florida that we can get,” Mr. Vance chimes in. “We should be down there sometime this afternoon.”

  “Call me as soon as you get here,” I tell them. “Do you have my cellphone number?”

  “Give it to me again just in case,” Mr. Vance says.

  I recite the number.

  “We’ll see you soon,” Mrs. Vance says before she hangs up.

  “Kidnapped?” The word sounds foreign coming out of my mouth. It’s so hard to believe that it’s true.

  Theo shakes his head in disbelief. “This is bizarre. I feel like I woke up in a bad suspense thriller.”

  “One of those cheesy movie-of-the-week deals?”

  He nods. “Exactly.”

  “Do you really think they’ll kill Addie if we phone the police?”

  “If she’s not dead already.”

  I’m overcome with a feeling of dread. What if he’s right? What if they’ve already killed her?

  And what am I still doing alive? Why did they take Addie and leave me at the pool bar passed out?

  “Maybe I should call my dad,” I mutter mostly to myself.

  “Your dad?” Theo’s voice rises.

  I heave a long, slow sigh. “He’ll just say I told you so. He never wanted me to go on this trip in the first place. I assured him that nothing bad was going to happen and that I could take care of myself. I’m doing a great job so far.” I can’t help the sarcasm in my voice.

  Theo rises from the table and places a hand on my shoulder. “This isn’t your fault.”

  When our eyes meet there’s a spark between us that takes me by surprise. I quickly turn my attention to the picture window where the darkness seems to be giving way to the dawn.

  “Things will be better in the daylight, won’t they?” I ask.

  “I don’t know.” Theo rubs at worry lines on his forehead.

  “I want to try to find Addie’s cellphone. Do you think you can get me there?” I turn and point to the target on the map on his laptop.

  “The wildlife refuge doesn’t open until seven.”

  “Just enough time for us to get showered and dressed.”

  “Do you drink coffee?” Theo raises an eyebrow.

  “Sometimes. It might take the edge off my headache.”

  “Muffins?”

  I give him sly smile. “Are you trying to get to my heart through my stomach?”

  “Am I that transparent?”

  “I’m a blueberry muffin gal.”

  “My favorite too. I’ll see you in an hour.”

  CHAPTER 6

  “Hot coffee and warm buttered muffins. What more could a girl ask for?”

  Theo sets the coffee holder and tray of muffins on the small table. Then he turns to me. “You look nice.”

  I slipped on the closest thing I could find to a bird watching outfit: Bermuda shorts, a matching polo shirt and a visor.

  “You don’t look so shabby yourself.” Theo doesn’t look quit as nerdy as he did yesterday. At least his shorts and shirt look like they were made in the 21st century. And he’s wearing athletic socks with his sneakers instead of black dress socks.

  When he gives me a broad smile I actually wonder what it might be like to kiss him. Then I wonder where that ridiculous thought came from. I promised myself I wouldn’t get involved with any guys who could be classified as geeks. And now is the absolute worst time to be thinking about anything other than making sure Addie is safe.

  “Eat your muffin before it gets cold,” Theo says.

  I grab one of the treats from the tray and take a bite. The blueberries melt in my mouth. “Delicious.”

  “The woman at the coffee shop insisted they were homemade. Right out of the oven.”

  “Eat one,” I urge.

  He shakes his head. “I got them for you.”

  “I’m not going to be able to eat four huge muffins myself. Three is my limit.”

  He laughs as he looks me up and down. “I’ll be shocked if you finish the one in your hand.”

  “I may look small, but I have a hearty appetite. My dad likes to tease me and say that I have a hollow leg.”

  “You talk about your dad a lot. You must have a close relationship.”

  I roll my eyes. “We have a complicated relationship.”

  He raises an eyebrow. “How so?”

  I glance over at the clock on the television stand. “How much time do you have?”

  “It’ll only take us a few minutes to get over to the wildlife refuge.”

  “If you eat a muffin, I’ll tell you about life with my dad.”

  He grabs a muffin from the tray and takes a bite. “Mmm. These are good.”

  “My mom and dad met when they were in college. My mom was originally from New York. That’s how I got my first name. When my mom got pregnant they both dropped out of school so they could take care of me. My dad joined his father in the personal security business and my mom did substitute teaching. Their relationship didn’t work out. I think they both blamed each other for not being able to finish college and have the careers they wanted. My mom married a high-end real estate developer a few years after I was born. He’s twenty years older than my mom, so they never had any children together. My dad never got married. He devoted his whole life to two things: building the personal security busine
ss and raising me. To say he’s been overprotective would be an understatement. Honestly it was a miracle he let me go on this trip. And now everything is a complete disaster.”

  “It sounds like your dad cares a lot about you. Consider yourself very lucky.” There’s a hint of sadness in his voice.

  “What about your family?” I ask. “I told you my tale of woe.”

  He glances at his watch. “That’s a story for another time. We’d better get going if we want to make it to the wildlife preserve when it opens.”

  I grab my coffee from the holder. “Do you mind if I drink this in the car?”

  He laughs. “Fine by me. It’s a rental.”

  CHAPTER 7

  The wildlife refuge is exactly what I imagined it would look like. Lots of tropical birds. Natural habitat. The only thing I wasn’t anticipating was the alligators. It’s Florida. They literally have sports teams named after the creatures. I’m not sure why it didn’t dawn on me that they’d be lurking in the wild.

  I’m holding Theo’s cellphone in my lap as we drive though the sanctuary. We’re using the tracking device to find Addie’s phone. “A few hundred yards on the left,” I tell him.

  Theo parks on the shoulder of the road behind several other cars. The birdwatchers are out early this morning. We’ve already passed dozens of their parked cars lining the roadway.

  As we exit Theo’s cheap rental I’m taken aback by how eerily quiet it is. Maybe I’m used to the rowdiness of a college campus, but the only noise I hear is the squawk of a bird as it flies overhead.

  “Over there.” I point to a small body of water. A mangrove swamp. “That’s where it says the phone is.”

  We both move closer to the water’s edge.

  “Dial her number,” Theo says.

  I turn off the tracker and call Addie’s cell. We wait for several seconds until there’s a faint sound in the distance. Her ringtone is twangy country music song.

  “That’s it.” I point in the direction the sound is coming from. Deep in the mangroves.

  “If we’re going to retrieve it,” Theo says. “One of us is going to have to get wet.”

  My first thought is alligators. My second thought is snakes. “You’d better do it.”

  He takes in a deep breath and exhales before he makes his way into the water.

  As I glance around the immediate area for something he might be able to use as a tool to retrieve the phone, I realize we didn’t come very well prepared. Even bringing a kid’s sand pail and shovel would have been an improvement over what we’ve got, which is nothing.

  My eyes land on a decent size stick in the distance. But as I move closer I realize there are two small alligators right next to it. If there are small ones this close to use, there are probably larger ones nearby as well.

  “Be careful,” I yell over to Theo.

  I don’t think either of us anticipated how deep the water in the mangrove swamp would be. By his third step Theo is chest deep in the brackish water.

  My stomach knots thinking about the creatures that could be lurking around him. When I see Theo’s head go under the water I feel like I’m going to throw up.

  I’m just about ready to dive into the water after him when I see his head pop back up. “Dial her number again,” he gasps.

  I call her cell and a few moments later there’s the faint sound of her ringtone in the mangroves.

  “It’s lodged in the branches.” Theo says as he swims towards a cluster of trees.

  My stomach is twisted in such a tight knot I nearly double over. I don’t want anything bad to happen to Theo. I realize I’m starting to care about him.

  “Got it!” When he holds up Addie’s purple cellphone I breathe a small sigh of relief. But he still has to make it back to the shore without encountering a deadly reptile.

  I hold my breath as he swims back, holding the cellphone in the air so it doesn’t get wet.

  When he finally emerges from the swamp his clothes are drenched and every inch of his body is caked with mud.

  “We should have brought some towels with us,” I say.

  “You think?” He glances down at his filthy clothes and shoes.

  “Maybe I should drive us back to the resort.”

  “WHAT ARE the odds that someone would try to get rid of her cellphone in a swamp and it would get lodged in the mangrove branches and not get wet?” I ask as we enter Theo’s suite.

  “If I was a gambler I wouldn’t take that bet.”

  “She has it passcode protected,” I say as I click the phone on.

  “I need to get a shower,” Theo says. “I have a cellphone charger on the desk it you want to charge it. Don’t try to guess her passcode until I get back. We’ll only get a few shots at it before we get locked out.”

  As he heads into the bathroom I plug Addie’s phone into the charger.

  I know I shouldn’t be nosey, but I can’t help myself. I poke around his room looking for clues about what makes Theo tick. I don’t find much. A copy of the latest Michael Connelly novel and some Tic Tacs.

  I guess I’ll have to get to know him better the old-fashioned way—by having a conversation with him.

  When he emerges from the bathroom he’s wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. I choke. He’s more muscular than I thought he would be. A computer geek who works out. That’s a first for me. The computer geeks I’ve known have only exercised their thumbs playing video games.

  “My suitcase with all of my clothes is in that closet.” He points to the other side of the room.

  I quickly cover my eyes with my hand, but then peek through a small slit between my middle finger and ring finger so I can continue to check out his fine body.

  A ripple of excitement moves through me as I think about what it would feel like to be wrapped in his strong arms.

  “Maybe I should go back to my room,” I stutter. I think I need to cool off.

  “Just give me a few minutes.”

  I nod. What can I do that will take my mind off Theo’s body?

  I pull out my own cellphone to check my messages. There are three irate texts from my dad scolding me for not contacting him.

  I’m not okay. Things here in Florida are not okay. But I don’t want my dad to know that. He’ll be on the next flight down here if he even senses anything is wrong.

  I send him a quick text: Everything is fine. Having fun. Love you.

  I get an immediate reply: Love you 2.

  This time when Theo emerges from the bathroom he’s fully clothed, but his hair is still a bit damp. It actually looks better when it’s a bit more relaxed and not so wavy.

  “Have you ever thought of using hair gel?” I ask.

  He laughs. “I’m a shampoo-and-go kind of guy.”

  “Let me style it for you,” I suggest.

  He frowns. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.” I grab his hand. “Come to my room.”

  He glances down at our joined hands and gulps. “Okay…” he mutters.

  I pull him out of his room and over to my suite. I unlock the door and drag him inside. Then I lead him into the bathroom.

  “Sit down.” I point to the toilet seat.

  He does as instructed and sits on the closed lid. I grab my hair gel from the counter and squirt a dab on my palm. I rub it into his damp hair. Then I pull the blow dryer from the mount on the wall and dry his hair.

  As I run my fingers through his thick dark hair I feel tingly all over. I wonder what it would feel like to touch other parts of his body.

  Why does my mind keep doing that? Why do I keep thinking about getting intimate with Theo?

  I quickly push those thoughts aside. What kind of person would I be having a fling with Theo while my roommate is in danger?

  “Your hair looks great,” I tell him as I turn off the dryer.

  He rises from the toilet and turns to glance in the mirror. “Wow, you’re right. That does make a difference.”

  “I don’t know much
about a lot of things, but I do know about styling wavy hair.” I point to my own mass of thick locks.

  “Yours doesn’t look wavy at all.”

  I point to the gel. “I told you the stuff works.”

  “Let’s see if we can crack into Addie’s phone.”

  I snap my fingers. “I left it charging in your room.”

  CHAPTER 8

  “Have you thought about what her passcode might be?” Theo asks as he picks up Addie’s phone from the table where I left it.

  “I wouldn’t call her the most creative person in the world. And she freaks out easily. I doubt she set it to something very difficult for her to remember. Don’t you have some ninja passcode breaking skills?”

  “There is a hacking program we could use, but it takes quite a bit of time. If you think you could guess what it is, that would be a lot easier.”

  “If I had to guess, I’d say her cat’s birthday.”

  He bites back a grin. “And do you happen to know when her cat’s birthday is?”

  I roll my eyes. “Her parents had a birthday party for Tiger. I had to buy a present. It’s 1016.”

  He types the number onto the keypad and it unlocks the phone. “Good guess.”

  “Just showing off my ninja detective skills.”

  Now I’m the one who earns an eye roll from Theo. “Let’s look at her texts first.”

  I glance over Theo’s shoulder as he scrolls through the texts. There are quite a few, but they’re all from her parents. Nothing out of the ordinary. Addie asking about the resort. What the weather is like in Florida. What airline they were getting the tickets from. There is one text that catches my eye though. It must catch Theo’s attention too because he stops scrolling.

  It’s a photo of Matteo, Riker and Isa.

  “The text was sent yesterday morning,” Theo says.

  “That was long before we met them.”

  “Long before you met them,” Theo corrects.

  I take a closer look at the phone number of the person who sent to text. I don’t recognize it. I don’t even recognize the area code.