Ryan’s eyes dropped to her mouth and lingered, as if he was considering and rejecting a number of comments. Finally he gave her a teasing grin. “You realize that now I’m going to consider it a challenge to get you to swear.” The grin widened. “I like the idea of getting that pristine mouth a little dirty.”
Juanita’s heart pounded. She ran though possible responses, from tame to outrageous. Finally she blurted, “Well, you know, if you can’t make me swear, there are other ways.”
His grin faded, but his eyes didn’t leave hers. He nodded slowly. “There are.”
Juanita couldn’t tear her gaze away. She knew he must be picturing the same sort of thing she was. The thought should have mortified her, but it didn’t. She licked her lips, imagining all the things her mouth could do to him. Not that she considered any of them dirty. Well, maybe a little…
He closed his eyes and swallowed, then turned jerkily to place his ball and poise his club. He swung without seeming to aim, but his ball rolled straight and spiraled down the pipe.
Both of them hurried to the railing. Below, Ryan’s ball emerged from the pipe, bounced off the wall, and dropped into the cup.
“Spit!” Juanita clattered down the stairs to the sound of Ryan’s laughter. She took immense care with her putt, determined not to lose. For an awful instant she was certain her ball was going to miss the hole to the right. But then it curved to the left and plopped into the cup on top of Ryan’s. “Ha! Tied you.”
Ryan stooped to retrieve both balls. “Does that mean we both win, or we both lose?”
She considered. “Neither. Nothing changes. You don’t buy me a drink, and the sleeping arrangements stay the same.”
“That’s not fair,” he protested. “I didn’t lose and you didn’t win, so why should I get the couch and you get the bed? If we both lost, we should both have to sleep on the couch.”
Juanita swallowed. She shouldn’t say it. She really shouldn’t.
She stepped close and took her ball from his fingers. “But if we both won, we should both get to sleep on the bed.”
His breathing accelerated. His gaze locked on hers. Juanita couldn’t read his expression. Was he as tempted as she was by the idea? Or was he shocked by her audacity? What made her think he had any desire to share her bed? Maybe he was desperately trying to come up with a way to refuse without offending her.
His response made it all too clear that’s exactly what he’d been doing. He gave her a crooked smile. “Or we can sleep where we did last night, and I can buy us both drinks.”
Juanita turned away. “I guess that works.” She ignored the fact that it wasn’t actually a fair solution, because he’d be paying and she’d lose nothing. As he’d insisted, he could afford it. Let him throw his money around if he wanted to. She strode over to the rack and returned her club and ball to their places.
He joined her and put his away. “The ropes course is about to open. We’d better go get in line.”
“Yeah.” Juanita’s enthusiasm had fled, but she wasn’t going to let him see that he’d upset her. She trailed behind him to the stairs and up to the ropes course entrance.
Her eagerness returned, however, as she watched the attendants strap the kids in front of them into harnesses, which they hooked to dangling cables. The cables ran along a track in the metal framework overhead, allowing the participants to move freely around the structure. Laughing and calling to each other, the group of kids started around the course, and it was Juanita’s turn.
She stepped into the harness and lifted her arms to let the attendant fasten and tighten it. When she was securely clipped to a cable, he prompted her to swing free and feel how the straps easily supported her weight. If she should fall from one of the precarious obstacles, it would catch her.
Next to her, Ryan was getting strapped into his own harness. Juanita ventured onto the first platform and waited for him. The course consisted of a series of platforms linked by two parallel tracks. Each span offered the choice of two obstacles, one easier, one harder. At each platform a connecting track allowed you to switch your cable to whichever side you preferred to attempt. She eyed the first pair of obstacles. On the right was a simple balance beam, about two inches wide. On the left was a series of platforms, each about three inches square, in a zigzag pattern. Juanita was pretty sure she could handle either with no problem.
Ryan joined her. “They said we could go around twice.”
“I’m going to do the easier side first, then try the harder ones.” Juanita dragged her cable to the start of the balance beam and set off across it. She could hang onto her cable whenever she needed to. But it was easy to balance on the narrow beam. Knowing she was safe even if she fell took away the fear that would otherwise have made crossing nearly impossible.
Ryan stepped from square to square beside her. “Want to make it a race?”
Juanita kept her voice light. “I’ve had enough competition for the moment. I’d rather take my time. This is too fun to rush through. And the view is spectacular. It would be a shame not to enjoy it.”
“Good point.” Ryan paused to scan around them.
Juanita waited until she reached the platform, then turned in a slow circle, taking it all in. Up here they were above most of the ship’s structures, so she had a nearly unimpeded view. On one side ran the coast of Belize. The cluster of buildings surrounding the port gave way to forested mountain slopes. Inland, taller peaks receded into the hazy blue distance. On the other side, the ocean stretched unbroken to the horizon. Close by, the water was vivid aquamarine. Farther out it deepened to cobalt, sprinkled with brilliant flashing highlights like a diamond’s fire. The sky arched in a dazzling blue dome, dotted with patches of fluffy white clouds. Their enormous ship was only a tiny mote in the vast panorama of land and sea.
Juanita gazed wistfully at the people crawling like ants along the streets of the town. She would have liked the opportunity to explore another country before she was trapped within the US again, probably for the rest of her life. Then she determinedly returned her attention to the ropes course. She’d never get to take a cruise again, either. She needed to enjoy every minute of it while she was here.
She crossed the next few obstacles with little difficulty. Ryan kept pace beside her. Then she came to a rope ladder stretched between platforms, with rope handrails on either side. It sagged when she stepped onto it. As she approached the middle, it swayed alarmingly from side to side. Juanita stopped, clutching the wobbly rails and fighting to stay on her feet.
“You’ve got this,” Ryan called from the next platform. “Take it one step at a time. Hold onto your cable to steady yourself if you need to.”
His interference annoyed Juanita, but his advice was good. When she pried her fingers off the rope and grabbed her cable instead, she was immediately much more stable. After that she was able to step from rung to rung, pausing each time until the rocking stopped. The ladder dipped in the middle, so she had to climb to reach the far platform, but at last, with a lurching lunge, she made it.
She stood panting. Ryan raised his hand, and she met it in a high five. “Good work,” he told her.
She nodded and moved on to the next span. From then on she avoided the rope obstacles, even if they were marked as the easier option. Most of them had a solid alternative on the other side.
Near the end of the course, she reached the most challenging pair of obstacles yet. On one side a single metal cable stretched from platform to platform. On the other, a rope drooped in a deep swag. A half-dozen vertical ropes connected to it, but they hung just as loose.
Juanita chose the tight wire. After the first few steps it wasn’t terribly difficult. It just required a steady step and a firm grip on her cable. She worked her way across little by little.
Ryan chose the rope. When Juanita reached the platform and looked back, he was halfway across. She watched him maneuver past one of the vertical ropes. Under his weight it had stretched taut, becoming a barrier. He had
to get one foot beyond it, then swing his body around. The rope swayed and Ryan tilted. For a moment Juanita was sure he was going to fall off and dangle from his harness, but his torso twisted and the muscles in his arms and legs tensed, hauling him back up.
The heat that flushed through Juanita wasn’t caused only by the sun beating down on her head. Her trembling legs weren’t due entirely to fatigue. She leaned against a support post and let her eyes drink in the sight of Ryan’s lean, athletic body reaching and pulling, flexing and extending, conquering each obstruction with a combination of strength, agility, and determination.
He reached the last vertical rope. The rope beneath his feet angled sharply up to the platform, complicating the maneuver. Ryan got his leading foot around, but couldn’t get purchase on the steep surface. It slipped off, setting the whole construction wildly swinging. Juanita caught her breath. Ryan clung to his cable and managed to stay perched atop the rope until its motion settled.
When he was once again still, he glanced up at Juanita and grimaced. “Give me a hand?”
“Sure.” Juanita wrapped one arm around the support post and extended the other to Ryan.
He grabbed for it. His fingers clamped around hers, fiercely tight. He used the grip to haul himself forward. Juanita clung to him with all her strength. In a straining rush Ryan lunged up the last steep section. He teetered on the edge of the platform. Juanita dragged him forward, and he lurched into her. His arms wrapped around her and his body slumped against hers, heaving as he struggled to catch his breath.
She clung to him, her pulse pounding. His heartbeat thudded against her chest. His breath rasped in her ear. She didn’t want to let go. Maybe he didn’t either, because he kept holding onto her even as his breathing slowed and his racing pulse settled.
Juanita laid her head on his chest, savoring the way he pressed against her. Beneath her cheek, the thin fabric of his t-shirt stretched over skin hot and damp from exertion. He raised a hand and smoothed back the strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail. His voice was hoarse. “Juanita…”
Then he shook his head and pulled away. She saw pain in his eyes before he masked it with a wry grin. “I mean, Carmen. Thanks for the help.”
“No problem.” She stepped back, her throat aching. “I’ll know not to try that one next time around.”
“I think once is plenty for me. I’ll take the other side next time.” He reached for his cable and slid it along the track to the far side of the platform. “I’m glad this one looks easier.”
Juanita watched as he stepped out onto a zig-zagging beam, then tackled the series of wobbly platforms on her side. They finished the course in silence, and made their second round with only a few brief comments.
By the time they returned to the beginning and the attendants unharnessed them, Juanita’s muscles were limp and trembling. All she wanted was to collapse somewhere soft and comfortable with a big glass of cold water in her hand.
She stretched her arms high overhead, then put her hands on her hips and twisted as far as she could in one direction, then the other. “That was quite a workout.”
“You’re telling me.” Ryan shook out his hands, then headed for the stairs. “I saw a drink station down this way. Let’s get something cool and find some chairs in the shade.”
Drinks acquired, they located a pair of empty deck chairs with a good view of the ocean. Juanita took a deep swig of lemonade, adjusted the back of her chair to a comfortable angle, and closed her eyes. Contented lassitude washed over her. Maybe she’d take a nap before Ryan dragged her off to get lunch.
Her name was so soft she barely heard it. “Juanita…”
She rolled to her side and opened her eyes. Ryan was gazing back at her, his expression grave. “Yes?”
He hesitated, licked his lips, swallowed. Finally he spoke, his voice strained. “I was just wondering. Do you think…”
The moment hung suspended. Juanita floated somewhere between sea and sky. Ryan’s eyes shone golden in the sunlight. She wanted to gaze into them forever.
He slammed them shut and rolled away. “Never mind.”
Juanita desperately wanted to demand he finish what he’d been about to say. But what was the point? He’d probably make up something innocent and harmless. Even if he told her the truth, it wouldn’t mean anything if she had to drag it out of him.
She closed her eyes and tried to return to the tranquil peace of the moment before, but the mood was shattered. All she could think about was the ache in Ryan’s eyes and the rawness in his voice. They haunted her until warmth and weariness overcame her, and she slept.
CHAPTER 9
J uanita looked so peaceful, Ryan hated to disturb her, but eventually his rumbling stomach left him no choice. He wasn’t about to leave her alone and go get lunch by himself. He ran his fingertips down her forearm and settled his hand over hers. “Hey. Wake up.”
Her lashes fluttered, and she smiled sleepily at him. “Whatcha want?”
He wanted her, with an intensity that clawed at his chest and dragged at his gut. He wanted to stretch out on top of her sun-warmed body and lose himself in her mouth. He wanted to whisper all the words that burned in his mind and sang in his heart. He wanted to intertwine his fingers with hers and run laughing into the wind. He wanted to cradle her in his arms as she slept. He wanted to stroke his hands over every inch of her silken skin. He wanted to be with her, today and tomorrow and next week and next month and next year…
He’d almost told her so. Thank god he’d come to his senses at the last minute.
Or maybe he’d just lost his nerve.
Ryan forced all that deep below the surface, keeping his expression and tone light and cheerful. “I’ve been smelling hamburgers cooking for the last hour, and I’m about to devour my own arm if I don’t get one. I’m surprised my rumbling stomach didn’t wake you up.”
She took a deep breath. “Mmm, that does smell good.” She pulled herself upright and swung her legs off the chair. “I’m starving. Let’s go.”
They followed their noses to where the hamburgers were being served, in one corner of the deck around the big central pool. It was late enough that the line had dwindled, so they swiftly acquired chargrilled patties on toasted buns, with mounds of fries on the side. A condiment bar held a generous variety of fixings. Ryan piled his burger with sliced jalapeños and tomatoes and slathered on ketchup and mustard. Juanita smothered hers in sautéed onions and mushrooms and topped it with a slice of cheese. She squirted on spicy mayonnaise and added a generous dollop to the side. “For my fries,” she explained at his questioning look.
Ryan made a face. “Mayo on fries? Sacrilege. Ketchup or nothing.” He sampled a fry as they carried their trays to a table. The crisp outside gave way to a smooth interior that melted in his mouth. “These are good enough they don’t need anything.”
She chose a place and he seated himself across from her. “What was it you said last night at dinner? You won’t know until you try it?” She dunked a fry in the pale orange sauce and popped it in her mouth. A big smile spread across her face. She dipped another and held it out toward him. “Come on. It’s got chipotle in it. You’ll love it.”
He made a face, but he couldn’t resist the temptation of her slender fingers. “Oh, well. I guess if you can try escargot, I can try this.” He leaned forward and took the fry from her hand with his mouth. The sauce had a spicy kick, much more appealing than the bland goop he’d expected. “Hey, this is really good.”
She giggled. “I told you so.” When he reached to dip one of his own fries into the pool on her plate, she slapped his hand. “Go get your own. I didn’t get enough to share.”
He pretended to sulk. “Fine. Be selfish.” He popped the bare fry into his mouth and went to fetch more of the chipotle mayonnaise, answering her smug grin with an exaggerated roll of his eyes to let her know he was joking.
They devoured their burgers in companionable silence. After he finished his last bite, Ryan r
eversed his position on the bench, leaning back against the table as he studied the pool and the brightly colored water slides beyond. Lots of people were enjoying them, but they weren’t as packed as they often were. “Looks like a good time to get wet, if you’re still game. With so many people off on shore excursions, the crowd is as small as it’s going to get.”
“Aren’t you supposed to wait an hour after eating before going swimming?” Juanita mopped up the remnants of her mayo with her last fry.
“That’s a myth. And besides, even if it were true, it wouldn’t apply to water slides.” Ryan rose and extended his hand. “Let’s go change.”
She stood up and took it, casting a concerned look at their trays and dirty plates. “Should we put these away?”
“They bus the tables.” Ryan nodded to where one of the cruise line’s employees was doing just that a few tables away. “They don’t want us to worry about anything but having fun.”
“I could get used to that,” Juanita remarked as she followed him.
“That’s what they’re counting on. It keeps people coming back.”
“I guess so.” Juanita looked away.
Ryan kicked himself for reminding her that this was almost certainly her last cruise as well as her first. But it was too late to take back the words now. And apologizing would only make it worse. So he just said, “Come on,” and headed for their room.
Since they were only one floor up, Ryan took the stairs instead of the elevator. Juanita followed without question or protest. He thought about taking her hand, but she was hanging back a little, so he didn’t.
When they arrived, Ryan got his swim trunks from his suitcase and went into the bathroom to change. Even through the heavy door, he heard Juanita’s exclamation. “What the heck?”
He suppressed a grin. Though she sounded pretty upset, she’d kept her words G-rated, so it couldn’t be that bad. “What’s wrong?”
“My sister is an idiot, that’s what.”
Tropical Tryst: 25 All New and Exclusive Sexy Reads Page 202