by Anna del Mar
Immersed in this new world, the hours flew by. The contrast between the sky and the sea offered a great canvas. The ocean’s extraordinary colors, lapis, azures and emeralds, mixed together into a stunning background. The light at this time of the year was amazing, framing the world with precise, blunt auras that flirted with the camera.
Somewhere around three o’clock, I wandered back to the hotel pool, dropped off my stuff in a cabana, and jumped in. I had just finished swimming a lap and was floating contentedly in the corner I’d claimed for myself, when I spotted Matthias and another guy strolling into the courtyard. They were deeply engaged in conversation as they took a seat, ordered a beer, and continued their discussion.
I lowered myself in the water, and ducking beneath the pool’s raised edges, took the opportunity to observe. I’d come to learn more about Matthias’s life and I wasn’t about to miss the chance. Dressed in blue jeans and a button down shirt, Matthias was making his points forcefully and so was his companion, a fair-skinned westerner sporting a line of scruff across his jaw and a mass of black curly hair bundled into a messy man bun. He wore Tevas, shorts, and a T-shirt. Who was he and what were they talking about?
Reading Matthias’s body language—his hands slicing the air and his jaw tightly clenched between exchanges—I decided that whatever he was discussing, it was important to him. This could be my best chance yet to find out what he was really doing here.
I dove under the water, swam across, and after slicking my hair away from my face, climbed the stairs out of the pool. I strolled across the courtyard and approached the table, leaving a trail of water as I went. The other man faced my way and saw me first. His stare fell on me. I wasn’t wearing much, that was true, but his gaze could’ve melted the bikini off my body. Just about then, Matthias turned in his chair. His eyes widened and his jaw went slack.
I looked from one man to the other. “Is everything all right?”
The other man recovered first. “You’ve got to be shitting me,” he sneered at Matthias, blue eyes fast on me. “Don’t tell me, man. This piping hot number is the infamous Jade Romo?”
Piping hot number? Me? Infamous? I liked this guy.
I don’t know what got into Matthias, but ears beet red, he jumped out of his chair, stalked to the nearby basket, and grabbed a towel from the pile.
“Don’t you have a cover-up or something?” he muttered as he unfurled the towel and wrapped it around my shoulders.
“I travel light.” I looked down on myself, wondering if I’d left something behind in the pool. “And what’s wrong with my bathing suit?”
“There’s very little of it,” he muttered, tightening the towel around me. “How about you wait for me up in the room? See you in ten?”
“Oh, no, no, no.” The other man leaped from his chair. “You will not send Miss Romo away. I can see now why you’ve been keeping her all to yourself. Please.” He held a chair out for me. “I beg for an audience, my lady. Do not disappoint your most ardent admirer.”
I dabbed my face with the edge of the towel and looked to Matthias. “Is your friend for real or is he channeling Monty Python?”
Matthias’s mouth twitched, but the other man cackled out loud and stretched out a hand. “Remington Russo, at your service, ma’am.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you aware that somebody named you after American’s oldest gun manufacturer?”
“It’s no coincidence, ma’am.” The man’s face split into a tantalizing smile. “My father was a fan of anything Remington. But my friends call me Rem. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
I hung the towel over my shoulder and shook his hand. Matthias’s eyes were telling me to go, which was exactly why I chose to stay. This was just too interesting to miss.
I plopped down on the chair Rem offered and crossed my legs. Matthias let out a suffering sigh, dragged his chair closer to mine, and sat down. His straight back broadcasted displeasure. His annoyance confirmed what my instincts were screaming: I was on to something big.
20
Matthias
I made a huge effort to rip my eyes off Jade. That red bikini… Holy hell… It should be outlawed in all seven continents. The easy way in which the furrowed fabric clung to her breasts and showed off the hard peaks of her dark nipples captivated my attention. The tiny string that spanned the lowest point on her hips seemed like a precarious perch for the thin strip that barely covered the mound between her legs. I’d seen Jade nude last night when I undressed her. Hell, I’d seen her naked in my dreams at least a thousand times. But this? This was a gigantic tease and pure, hellish torture. How the hell was I supposed to think straight?
It would help if Rem closed his goddamn mouth. He stared at Jade as if she was his favorite dessert. In fairness, I’d kept Rem updated on the Jade situation, but I hadn’t told him how I felt about her. No problem. He was a smart dude. The mischievous gleam in his gaze revealed that he was catching up at lightning speed. I could almost hear the gears in his brain as he barreled to establish his own conclusions. We were used to communicating without words, so there was no mistaking the message in his accusatory stare: Son of a bitch, you’ve been holding out on me.
Jade’s gaze made a similarly silent charge when it shifted between Rem and I. Oh, shit. In my carefully designed mission flow chart, these two had never been meant to meet. And now I needed to avert a total disaster.
I regulated my breathing, allowed my body to sink into my chair, and worked to control my reactions and appear as relaxed and unconcerned as Rem. It wasn’t easy, because Rem was better at that stuff than I was and Jade had caught a scent. She wasn’t likely to back off. My gut went cold as she narrowed her eyes on Rem like a lioness on a hunt.
“You two old friends?” she asked, flashing the sexy, cocky, seductive smirk that melted men into mere testosterone puddles.
“We’ve known each other for a long time,” Rem admitted, knuckling his scruff.
“You served together.”
Rem grinned. “How did you know?”
“Call it a sixth sense,” she said. “Or maybe I’ve just been around too many of you. What brings you to Zanzibar?”
“The lousy weather in Indiana.”
She didn’t buy it. “Do you work here?”
“I do.” Rem grinned in my direction. “You’re right. She asks a lot of questions.”
Jade launched a rankled look at me. “And you two have been discussing me…why?”
“By day, Rem publishes the local expat newspaper,” I offered, ignoring her most recent question. “By night, he runs a popular night club. That is, when he’s not boating, fishing, diving, surfing or otherwise engaged in extraordinary pursuits.”
“So,” Jade said wryly. “You’re another water pup.”
Rem’s eyebrows came up. “Did you tell her?”
I shook my head. “She figured it out on her own.”
“She’s sharp.”
“I told you.”
Jade let out a long sigh. “I love it when people talk about me in the third person.”
Rem laughed. “She calls it like she sees it.”
“That she does.” I pushed my glass in Jade’s direction. “Something to drink?”
“Thanks.” She grabbed my mug and tasted my beer. “Hmm.” The sound tightened my groin and made me suck in air. “Hoppy and citrus-like. Hits the spot.” She took another, deeper draft then set the mug down. After running the tip of her tongue over her lips, she squared off with Rem. “So, where were we?”
So much for trying to throw her off our trail.
Rem braced his hands on his chair’s arms and fell back on his standard issue smile, displaying an impressive but strained resistance to Jade’s potent charm. “I’ve never met a conservation celebrity before.”
Jade cocked a brow. “Is that what I am?”
“Africa is all agog about you.” Rem took a sip of his draft. “You come out here and suddenly the world back home realizes we’ve got a poaching
problem.”
“Not true,” she said. “Nat Geo ran a huge spread on the illegal ivory trade last month.”
“Sure, that’s cool, but when you get in front of the camera people take notice. You’ve managed to reach a whole new audience with your stuff. How about an interview for the paper?”
“No.” The word shot out of my mouth, startling both Jade and Rem. “She doesn’t do interviews. Period.”
“I wasn’t asking you.” Rem’s blue eyes sparkled with irritation. “Surely, Jade can make up her own mind about her business?”
Rem was like a brother to me, but he was beginning to piss me off.
“Matthias is right,” Jade said, shocking the hell out of me. “I’m not the story. I conduct interviews. I don’t give them.”
Good answer. I exhaled in relief. I needed Jade calling even more attention to herself like I needed a bullet to the brain.
Rem flashed his best player’s seductive grin. “Maybe, if we spend a little time together, I can persuade you.”
My ears burned with a surge of heat.
“You can try to convince me all you want,” Jade said, “but honestly? I doubt it.”
Rem smirked in my direction. “Definitely too stubborn.”
Jade glared at me. “You told him I’m stubborn?”
I lifted a shoulder. “It’s the goddamn truth.”
“Jade,” Rem said, “if you won’t give me an interview, then at the very least, will you come to my party tonight?”
Jesus Christ. What was wrong with Rem today? I rumbled a warning. “Rem…”
“What kind of party?” Jade interjected.
“I’m reopening the club tonight,” Rem said.
“Reopening?”
“We had a little trouble with some zealous types earlier in the summer,” Rem explained, a gross understatement. “As it turned out, a renovation was in order. Firebombs can be harsh on the decor.”
“Firebombs?” Jade’s mouth twisted into a grimace. “That doesn’t sound like a little trouble.”
“The risk comes with the territory,” Rem said. “But we’re ready to go and tonight’s the night. It’ll be fun. Lots of interesting folks. People watching at its best. Will you come?”
If looks could vaporize flesh, Rem would be a goner. I peeled my eyes at him and shot him a heated glare. What the hell did he think he was doing? And why was he suddenly ignoring all my cues?
“I love people watching,” Jade said, probing me with her gaze. “Are you going?”
Shit. “I am,” I admitted reluctantly and without an ounce of enthusiasm.
“Then I’m coming too,” Jade said with a finality that kicked me in the nuts.
“I don’t think that’s such a hot idea,” I said as evenly as I could manage.
“Rem invited me,” she said haughtily. “And I said yes.”
When she used that tone with me, I wanted to put her over my knee, spank her like she deserved, and then fuck all that naughtiness and recklessness out of her brain.
“Well, my work here is done.” Rem got up and slapped my shoulder. “My place. Nine o’clock. See you tonight, kids.”
The jerk sauntered out of the courtyard with a cocky, confident gait, greeting some of the patrons that lounged by the pool as he went, a natural politician. I was gonna have to have a heart to heart with my best friend.
Jade’s glare hammered me hard. “Care to tell me what that’s all about?”
“Not really,” I said. “How are you feeling?”
“Good,” she said, “but that was a lame attempt to distract me. Who’s Rem, why are you hanging out with him and why don’t you want me to go to this party?”
Jesus Christ. I chose to answer only the last question. “I’ve got my reasons.”
Jade’s cheeks burned with the same heat that gleamed in her eyes and straightened the rod of her spine. “Sure, Matthias always has reasons and don’t think I didn’t notice you answered one out of three questions.”
“Babe…” I leaned over and reached for her hand, then looked around and thought better of it. I returned my hands to my lap and let out a frustrated huff. “Don’t get upset with me.”
“How could I not?” Jade threw her hands up in the air. “It’s like you leave me no option!”
“Can we please not fight?” I said. “Why can’t you and I just have a nice time together here in Zanzibar?”
“Because you like to keep secrets,” Jade bit out, rising from of her chair.
I squeezed the bridge of my nose and begged whoever the hell was manning the emergency hotline up above for some patience. Why did she have to ask so many questions? Did she have to know everything about everything? Why couldn’t she just trust me?
When I didn’t say anything, she whirled on her heel and took off, giving me the best view yet of her magnificent back, shoulders squared, spine straight, and that tiny strip of fabric wedged between a pair of round, bouncy ass cheeks I craved between my hands.
Oh, fuck. For a smooth operator I was fumbling this majorly. None of this was what I had in mind when I decided to bring Jade to Zanzibar. This was going south and fast.
“Wait.” I pushed off my chair and in three steps, caught a hold of her elbow. “Where are you going?”
“Let go.” She shot me a furious glance and wrestled her arm from my grip. “If I’m going to a party tonight, I need something to wear. So I’m going to the resort’s boutique to see what they can do for me. I’m not leaving the hotel. I’m following your stupid rules. Surely, a guy with as many secrets as you has something better to do other than to hang out with a woman you don’t trust.”
Holy shit. Her rage set my gut on fire. Chin in the air, she marched across the deck, furious and resolute, building the distance between us with every step. I sank my nails into my palms. Why did I have to fall for the most curious, obtuse, hard-skulled woman who’d ever landed in Africa?
Jade wanted nothing to do with me. If that wasn’t bad enough, she was planning on going to that goddamn party. What the hell was I gonna do now?
Jade
I stalked over to my pool cabana, grabbed my stuff, and marched over to the boutique, pretending I was cool as ice. In reality, I was smoldering inside. Something was up. I could smell it miles away. But Matthias didn’t trust me enough to let me in and that really pissed me off.
The attendant at the boutique was very nice and his selections, though pricy, were excellent. I found a silk halter-top jumpsuit, a sophisticated sleeveless number that fit me well and could’ve come straight from Fifth Avenue.
I stood before the long mirror in the dressing room and turned one way and then the other. The black and white geometrical designs gave the jumpsuit an edgy, modern look. The straight lines elongated my figure. The daring keyholes in the front and back capitalized on the tan I’d inadvertently gotten today and lent the outfit a beachy, sexy look. This was the one. In deference to the local sensitivities, I bought a shawl to hide my skin while on the streets. No need to be sultry on the way to and from the club.
Miraculously, I also found a pair of heeled sandals to match. They were taller than I usually wore, but height wasn’t a problem if I was going to hang out with Rem and Matthias. The attendant even sold me a small evening purse to go with the ensemble. Not bad for a one-stop shopping trip.
By the time I went back to the room, I could tell Matthias had been there, showered, and changed, but he wasn’t around. There was yet another note on my pillow. Pick you up at eight forty-five. I dug my teeth in my lip. I was getting used to this new method of non-communication.
I put some work into my hair and makeup. It always riled me that people assumed women in the military didn’t enjoy fashion. True, the Corps had taught me the advantages of working uniforms. But my true mom, a firm believer in the concept of the well-rounded person, had taught me the intricacies of high fashion, the fun in dressing up, and the pride that came from taking care of oneself. Every so often, I enjoyed being a girly girl, especi
ally when I had time and an entire spa bathroom for myself.
I’d just finished putting on my new shoes and was considering my outfit in the mirror, when the door opened. In came Matthias, with his reddish stubble scrupulously edged along his jaw, sporting GQ style. He wore black loafers, tan trousers and a black button down shirt that highlighted his athletic build and the bronze in his complexion. My heart revved up. He looked…scrumptious. Drop dead fabulous and he wasn’t even trying.
He made a muffled sound in the back of his throat when he saw me.
“What?” I looked down at myself, suddenly wondering if the plunging neckline and the bare back were too much. “Do you disapprove?”
“Disapprove?” His gaze roamed over me like the wild herds that own the Serengeti. “No way. It’s just that…”
“What?”
He cleared his throat. “I don’t want to share you with the world.”
God all mighty. My body temperature shot through the roof. The way he was looking at me made me consider jumping him right there and then. The chemistry between us sizzled. Really, how long could this go on?
I swallowed a groan of frustration and pretended to fiddle with my jade earrings. I swear, some days, I couldn’t make sense of anything, how I felt, how he felt. His stare was glued to my body as I finished getting ready. His attention was a compliment in itself.
We rode in the hired car, which turned and squeezed through Stone Town’s narrow streets for a few blocks, until we came to a stop in front of a massive pair of medieval doors studded with antique brass spikes and metal bosses that were quite beautiful and elaborate. Considering the long line at the door, the club was a happening place tonight.
Matthias skipped the line and led me into the beautifully restored house, constructed around an Arabic style courtyard with a fountain flowing in the middle. The main club occupied the bottom floor. Music filled the space. The throbbing pulse of techno blared from the doors and spilled out into the courtyard, along with flashes of color beams that strobed the crowds dancing inside.
We went past the bouncer and the private party sign, up the stairs all the way to a rooftop terrace. Stunning views of the town’s twinkling lights edged by the dark sea welcomed us. The music echoed up here and the terrace was aglow with a fashionable, high-end crowd.