Two Reckless Hearts (Barrett Ridge Book 1)

by Holly Cortelyou

They both shook their heads in unison, and Jami could imagine her father’s head exploding like a volcano and causing a major scene in front of Anna and everyone.

  “We’d better get going. The first round of The Wedding Survivor game Anna-style gets started in a half hour.”

  “Let me send an email to the attorney and see if he wants to pursue this. It might give us an edge.” Jami pursed her lips. They probably needed a little something extra based on Beck’s bragging to Rob.

  “I’ll change into my one-piece bathing suit and put shorts over it. I have a feeling we’ll be running races in the sand or playing beach volleyball or something.”

  Jami nodded, but her brain was immersed in her message to the stateside lawyer. What did Beck have up his sleeve? It had better not be too late to find a fresh advantage over him.

  She pushed the send button on her email but frowned. A quaver of guilt hit her belly. She was reacting to a piece of hearsay. That was no way to run her business. Jami chewed on her lip. In reality, she was passing on a lead to the attorney. He would then do the research and pass it along to the county board if there was evidence to back it up.

  Besides, if she didn’t do something with the information, and her father found out, he would have her ass on a grill. Hell, he’d fire her in a heartbeat. He was all about results, and he had no use for anyone who failed him.

  Jami pushed out of the chair and stood at the sliding glass door. The deep blue waters seemed to dance in the sunlight as a pair of alabaster sailboats skimmed the waters and frolicked in the wind.

  She sighed. What had happened to a simple family wedding? Now it was family business versus the newcomer.

  At the thought of Beck, a tingle danced up her spine. That had been a fun battle on the tennis court this morning. She’d gotten a charge out of knowing he’d almost fallen over when she’d flashed her little pink shorties at him. That had been all she’d needed to know. She loved detecting an opponent’s weakness.

  She might despise him as the enemy, but she wasn’t above playing up a few of her feminine advantages. He’d checked out about every inch of her body. She fidgeted with the curtain as she waited for Jo to finish changing in the bathroom as an answering heat flowered between her thighs.

  Jami snapped her fingers twice and dispelled the crazy sensations. There was no way this side of the Equator that she was attracted to the dastardly Beckham Kavanagh. It was a fact. He was too good looking for his own good, and according to Jo’s friend’s sister, Beck was an abusive employer.

  She shoved aside the vision of Beck’s gray eyes flashing at her when she’d scored the last crosscourt winner off him.

  Yet, her heart muttered that his heat might be dangerous.

  ****

  With a last glance down the beach, Jami spread out her white and tan striped hotel beach towel, arranged her bag and drink, slipped out of her sandals, and settled down into the warmth of the sand. The thick, cottony goodness of the hotel towel caressed her skin. She was in heaven.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t love her family, but it was already feeling like an interminable episode of Survivor: Family Wedding edition. Perhaps if she got lucky, Beck would get voted off the island. Jami wrinkled her nose. Why couldn’t Anna have settled on a round of bunko and called it good?

  No, that had never been Anna’s method. If one family bonding game was good, why then of course, a never-ending game of meet your new family members and hey, by the way, you get to team up with your business enemy and jerky new brother-in-law.

  The first game had been a coconut tossing relay that had pitted her directly against Beck, and he’d beaten her. Jami frowned. And it had gone downhill from there. How had Anna dreamed up the idea of a hula hoop relay? And she’d been right next to Beck and had to pass the hula hoop to him with only her hips. Jami fidgeted with the edge of her towel and couldn’t seem to find a comfortable position in the sand.

  Thank goodness, she’d probably rarely see Beck after the wedding. Once she won the Anderton property deal, Beck would hightail it out of Barrett Ridge. Nope, he’d likely pick something around Portland, or maybe Nevada. Wasn’t that where all sorts of businesses were congregating these days?

  It wasn’t like Beck was going to be a regular at Christmas or Thanksgiving dinners. She’d only been out to Anna’s once for the holidays. A niggling thought teased at Jami as she sipped on her cold drink. What if Beck did win?

  An ice cube broke free in her cup and clinked on her front tooth. She sputtered and sat up. Would they have to start inviting him to Sunday dinners? Delightful.

  The sun dimmed, and a shadow loomed over her.

  “Jaymz.” Kyle winked. “Can I hide out with you?”

  “Who’s hiding? I’m working on my tan.” Jami pointed to her bottle of sunscreen as evidence.

  “At the far end of the beach, not a Barrett or Edwards in sight?”

  “I may need a wig to go full incognito.”

  “Do you have a spare in your bag?” Kyle groaned. “I’m so over Anna and her hyper-enthusiasm.”

  “It’s only the first full day. Isn’t she with the kids playing Marco Polo in the pool?”

  “There’s a can’t miss event.”

  “I have to give her credit. She is a lot more fun than we are.”

  “For the ten-year-old set.”

  “When did you get so old?”

  “I don’t see you volunteering to entertain the troops.”

  “Point taken.” Jami tossed the sunscreen at Kyle. “Spray some on my back, please.”

  Kyle grabbed the bottle without a word and did his duty.

  “We’ve been spotted.”

  “What?” Jami twisted around. There was Beck where the palm trees met the white sands. Dark blue board shorts, no shirt, glistening, cut abdominal muscles. Damn. That wasn’t a six pack, but an eight pack of hard, rippling studliness.

  Kyle stuck his hand up to catch Beck’s attention, but Beck’s gaze was already raking her body over. Brilliant.

  “I thought we were ditching family?” Jami hissed under her breath.

  “Beck’s cool.”

  Jami grunted, slapped her sunglasses on, and burrowed back down into the soft, warm sand.

  “Mind if I join you?” Beck nodded to Jami, but that was it. It was like she didn’t exist. Fine. It was better if they simply ignored each other.

  “It’s a safe space.” Kyle grinned, and Beck snorted.

  “Too much family time?” Beck kneeled in the sand, and Jami was mesmerized by his bulging thigh muscles and dark tan. His skin was almost olive like he was of Mediterranean descent. A Latin lover. Jami quivered and shut her eyes. She was thankful for her dark glasses.

  “Worse than Thanksgiving weekend.”

  “At least there’s football and turkey leftovers.”

  “Word up.”

  “When’s the next official gathering?” Beck sounded neutral, but his expression was pained.

  “I think we need another round of drinks.” Kyle looked around, but the nearest server was out of calling distance.

  “I think the piano bar is the place to hang out. Your dad made sure the drinks were flowing.”

  “That’s his way of making friends.” Kyle shook his head but abruptly smiled widely. “What are we doing lazing on the beach?” Kyle poked Jami, and she slapped his hand away. “It’s almost glassy out there, but there’s no surf. Let’s go snorkeling.”

  “I’m in.” Beck popped to his feet in one fluid motion as Kyle rose and scooped up his towel.

  “What about you, Jaymz? Lady of leisure.”

  Jami raised up on her elbows with her lips pursed. What was the point in sunbathing when she could be exploring the ocean, but, then there was Beck. He was damn irritating, even if those glistening pecs of his were distracting her. Sleep or go play? She wrinkled her nose. “I’m a gamer. You know that.”

  “This is the lazy one of the family.” Kyle jabbed his thumb in Jami’s direction. “She only runs marathons and t
riathlons.”

  Jami flushed and wished Kyle would shut up. It was none of Beck’s business what she did with her free time. As she tossed her belongings into her oversized straw bag, her skin prickled with awareness. Beck’s gaze was glued to her.

  Crap. She was pointing her butt straight at him. She turned to the side and prayed her bikini top was secure and she wasn’t showing too much underboob. She straightened up. Whatever. It was a free country, and Beck could look all he liked. He wasn’t getting any. And that was her final answer.

  Jami pushed her glasses up into her hair, and then flexed her bicep and hummed a few notes to a song. “I work out.” She winked.

  “I can still out-sprint you,” Kyle bragged.

  “Your legs are almost twice as long as mine. You’re a freaking giraffe.” Jami matched her stride to her brother’s and made sure Kyle was between her and Beck.

  “See? She’s a sore loser, too.”

  “Is everything a competition for you Barretts?” Beck shook his head as they made their way toward the surf shack at the opposite end of the beach. He caught Jami’s eye with an easy smile, but she ignored him.

  “It’s all in good fun, right, Jami?”

  “Tackling you in a game of flag football is just how I say ‘I love you,’ little brother.” Jami laid on the sugar in her voice.

  “You took me out at the knees,” Kyle protested.

  “Those moose pegs are your soft underbelly.” Jami laughed. That had been an epic scrimmage.

  “She’s got the killer eye, Beck. You’d better watch out. She’ll pull a fast one on you, and you’ll never know what hit you.”

  “Forewarned is forearmed.”

  “She and Austin are the pair that got the nice-guy-assassin gene from dad.”

  Seriously. Would Kyle ever learn to keep that mouth zipped? Beck was the last person who needed to hear details of their family life or any of their secrets. Jami stared stonily ahead.

  “She doesn’t look like an assassin.”

  “Judging a book by its cover?” Jami fluttered her eyelashes and affected a twangy drawl.

  Kyle wore a puzzled expression as he stared at Jami and Beck in turn. Jami lifted her chin. Kyle could think whatever he wanted. She didn’t care. She wasn’t going to let Beck Kavanagh have the last word. Or get under her skin.

  CHAPTER SIX

  THEY LOADED UP into the boat with about a dozen other vacationers, and Beck listened to the safety instructions with half an ear. He’d been snorkeling and diving countless times, but it never hurt to pay attention, and no doubt there were some unique features to the reef they were about to visit.

  As the guide chattered and joked, Jami kept her attention squarely on the guide and poked Kyle in the ribs when he seemed to nod off. Beck tried not to laugh at the siblings’ antics. Beck studied her profile and her high forehead, straight if slightly button nose, and her full lips that seemed to smile easily for everyone except him.

  Her thin, white polka dot cover-up flapped in the wind and gave him an ever-shifting glimpse of her lean waist with the hint of her strong abdominal muscles and generous swell of her breasts. He imagined them fitting nicely into the palms of his hands. He glanced away, but couldn’t help but sneak a few more peeks at Jami. She was fit, strong, and curvy in all the right places. As she smiled at Kyle, a dimple appeared in her cheek. For a lean, mean, fighting machine, she was absolutely adorable.

  Beck pressed his lips together into a tight line and shifted the snorkel gear in his hands. Jami was the last person he should be thinking about sexually. She was a barracuda with a vicious bite, and she most distinctly thought of him as public enemy number one. Besides, who chased after a sister-in-law? Not that she was really related to him. She’d actually be Rob’s in-law, and he was only Rob’s half sibling at that.

  The boat jounced along the rolling waves, and Beck took bets with himself on the sturdiness of Jami’s bikini top. Would it actually hold her girls in place or would there be a strategic failure if they hit a rogue wave?

  The chugging engine slowed to a rumbly putt-putt-putt, and the guide launched into his safety spiel. Within a few minutes, everyone was splashing around in the sea and fiddling with their masks and fins.

  “Don’t wander off, little brother,” Jami began. “Anna will kill me if you don’t show up to her wedding.” She laughed, but Beck detected a soft note of concern in her voice.

  “No worries, Jim-Jam. I know you’ve got that big sister vibe pounding in your brain. I’m not five anymore.” Kyle waggled a hang-ten hand sign at her and then swam off.

  “Once a bossy sister, always a bossy sister?” Beck smirked at Jami.

  “Whatever. I fished him out of the pool when he was a kindergartner, and I kind of can’t shake the image of him blue and not breathing. So sue me for being overly protective.”

  “Peace.” Beck waved a hand in front of Jami. Well, he’d certainly stepped in the mouth of the shark on that one. Smooth moment number three thousand and seven. “I’ll shut up now.”

  “Fine.” Jami adjusted her snorkel and turned away from him.

  As she dove through the water, Beck smiled wryly at his awkwardness, and he was pretty sure Jami had wanted to flip him off but had restrained herself. The good part was he was absolutely not interested in the prickly, sharp-tongued Barrett sister, so his little episode of foot-in-mouth was actually for the best. His secret strategy was clearly to keep her in a constant state of irritation and disgust with him.

  Ha. Mission successful. Yes, he was a smooth operator.

  With a last check for leaks around the edges of his mask, Beck swam off with the snorkel in his mouth and his fins gently propelling him through the smooth waters. The underwater world exploded in front of him.

  The coral reef was at least fifty feet away, but silvery schools of tiny fish darted and dove in front of him. Ahead, Jami and Kyle kicked down to the reef for a closer inspection of the anemones swaying in the gentle current.

  Beck floated and idly waved his arms to maintain his viewpoint. Jami was a work of art in that blue and white batik bikini. As she stretched an arm out at a passing fish, Beck glimpsed the paler white skin under her breast, and an answering tightness in his board shorts told him he was far from immune to her.

  The pair held their breath until at last, a slow trickle of bubbles emerged from their snorkels. First Kyle, pushed toward the surface and then after another twenty seconds, Jami gave a tiny thrust of her legs and rose through the water.

  She spun a five-eighty spiral and burst into the fresh air above. Beck swam a few strokes and then plunged under the water and dove deeper to the sprawling white and yellow reef. An aqua and neon pink-trimmed fish swished by, and a swarm of pinky-peach round fish surrounded him and then streaked away. A long, skinny barracuda idled past him and countless tiny silvery needlefish skimmed by. A shadow loomed in the corner of his vision, and Kyle waved, and then Jami drifted past, but she refused to make eye contact with him.

  Golden and blue-barred fish zipped by, and Jami floated with a mesmerized expression that was clear, even through her mask. As one, all three of them pushed back to the surface.

  As a trio, they repeated their dives until they were almost dizzy, and they treaded water until they caught their breath. As Kyle and Jami debated whether they had seen a spotted eagle ray or just a blotchy stingray, Beck studied Jami. She was muscled and lean and had no problem keeping up with two guys who easily outweighed her by fifty pounds or more and were more than five inches taller.

  She wasn’t even breathing hard after so many multiple dives. In fact, she was in better aerobic shape than him as far as Beck could tell. She bobbed in the water with the swell with ease until she froze, her eyes fixed at a distant point.

  “You guys, look!” Jami must have kicked hard because she popped up high out of the water and pointed. “Dolphins.”

  Beck turned and spotted an array of perky fins cutting through the waves. Beck double-checked to be sure that the
y were the curvier trailing edge fins of the friendly mammals and not the straighter edge of a shark. He glanced back at the snorkel boat, and the skipper waved and pointed to the approaching pod.

  “There must be at least ten of them.” Kyle stretched high to get a better view.

  “They are coming in our direction. I think we’re in luck.”

  “I wonder if they’re spinners or bottlenose.” Jami pushed up higher for a better view.

  “Didn’t the guide mention Spotted and Fraser, too.”

  “I have no idea how to tell the difference.” Jami laughed. “Now the big decision is whether to dive down and join them or hang out on the surface.”

  More fins emerged, and Beck guessed there were over thirty dolphins cruising past them. More of the other snorkelers popped up to watch the show. One sleek, gray creature sprang high into the air and then executed a rapid spin before it dove back into the shining waters. Another cavorted into the air, and then another, with splashes, huffs, clicks, and whistles.

  There were cheers and shouts, but Beck let the energy of the moment spill over him and through him. He half shut his eyes, and the sun glinted starry streaks off their glossy backs and long snouts. The edge of the pod was no more than twenty feet away, and a riot of splashes churned the waters.

  Something bumped into him. It was Jami, and she had a serene smile on her face as if she was in a zone of pure bliss. Their shoulders brushed in the choppy waves, but Jami simply smiled at Beck.

  A strand of longing sliced through him. For an instant, he was part of Jami’s joy and her love. It was simple. It was pure. It was perfect.

  With a few last flips and spins, the dolphins sped away until only the tips of their fins were visible above the ocean waves.

  Jami broke into laughter, and Kyle joined and then finally, Beck gave into the zest of the moment.

  “Ten more minutes!” It was the voice of the boat guide booming through his microphone.

  “Come on, let’s have another go.” Jami secured her mask and snorkel and disappeared under the waves.

  Kyle shrugged. “Gotta go where the sister leads us.”