“Does she ever slow down? She must have the lung capacity of a pearl diver.”
“I’d say a whale, but she’d kick my butt.” Kyle winked and then dove.
Beck laughed but shook his head. Jami Barrett was a worthy opponent. On and off the battlefield. If he didn’t watch himself, he was going to find himself at a disadvantage with her.
Beck took a deep, lung-filling breath, slipped under the water, and arrowed down toward the reef. He focused on the blue and white batik fabric barely covering Jami’s backside. It beckoned him closer and closer. Ah, yes. The material had crept up, and Beck had an enticing view of a whole lotta cheek. That was one delectable booty.
And at that instant, Beck forgot about land deals and business expansion, but he had a vague sense he might be in deep trouble.
CHAPTER SEVEN
JAMI ROSE EARLY the next morning, went for a run, and then slid into a beach yoga session right as the first pose was struck. After that, she ambled over to the Plumeria Pool, nibbled on fruit and yogurt from the buffet, and made a date with Kyle to meet at the waterfalls at the south end of the island.
Somehow she kept expecting to see Beck, but he was conspicuously absent, and perversely, she was disappointed. She almost missed sparring with him.
They had the morning free before the festivities resumed with an afternoon treasure hunt. Jami muttered a few choice words under her breath, but at the same time, it was kind of fun.
An hour later, Jami loitered near the sign for the waterfalls. The sound of the water tumbling over the edge of the cliff wasn’t quite the roar of a race car engine, but it drowned out the chirps and chitters of the birds and critters rustling around in the thick, tropical woods. She looked around for a sight of Kyle, but she was all alone.
Jami peered down toward the bottom of the falls at the sparkling, clear pool below. According to the trail sign, it had been a favorite jumping spot for hundreds of years. A knot of anxiety clutched in her belly. It was a long way down. She shook her head. It wasn’t that she was afraid of heights, but she did respect them.
Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea to do on her own. She backed up a step.
“Changing your mind?” a voice asked next to her ear.
Jami jumped with a squeak. “You scared the crap out of me.”
With his bare, tan chest and close-fitting, dark green and white striped board shorts, Beck looked divine. He flashed a toothy grin her direction and then ran his fingers through his mop of loose, dark curls. “Nervous?”
“No. I didn’t think anyone else was around.” Jami shifted back and propped a hand on her hip.
“Everybody is still poolside. Trying to decide what to do with an afternoon off.” Beck rolled his eyes.
“Anna makes the rules. She always has, and probably always will.”
“It is her show after all.” Beck shrugged, and Jami appreciated his relaxed attitude. “So are you going to jump?”
“That’s the plan.” Jami assumed a peppy tone she wasn’t quite feeling.
Beck strode to the edge and examined the flashing blue water below and then turned his attention to the cascade of water tumbling down. “I’m kind of surprised they let people jump here. I guess nobody’s broken their neck.” He continued his perusal of their grassy perch and the straight drop down to the water far below.
That was her thought exactly, but she wasn’t going to let Beck know that. “Are you chicken?” Jami blinked with an innocent flutter of eyelashes, but her voice dripped sarcasm.
“I’m judging the distance and arc of the jump.”
“How technical of you.”
“I am an engineer.”
“Do you estimate thirty feet?”
“More like forty.”
“Maybe even fifty?” Jami pursed her lips and shot him an I-dare-you look. “Is that too scary for you?”
“A teeny thing like you might get hurt. I’d hate to see you twist an ankle.”
Jami glared. Since when had anyone called her tiny? She was five feet eight in her bare feet. Without meaning to, she ran her eyes up and down his body and was impressed. Not just with his ridiculously cut muscles, but the sheer mass and height of him. Beck was a good half foot taller than she was, and he clearly outweighed her. She was practically delicate in comparison to him.
A bead of moisture dripped onto his shoulder from a lolling palm frond and trickled down his bunched bicep. Dear heavens. Beck was delicious. Jami blinked and called herself to order. Dammit. She did not have the hots for her almost in-law.
“Oh my gosh, that’s so sensitive of you.” Jami scrunched her nose. “You’re stalling. I’m beginning to think you might be afraid of heights.”
“Hardly. Daredevils die. I take calculated risks.”
A derisive bark of laughter echoed behind her. It was Austin. She glared at her brother, but he only laughed harder.
“Shut up, you two, and fucking jump already.” Austin rolled his eyes and then launched off the edge of the cliff. He turned one summersault and then pointed his toes and plunged like a spear into the sun-kissed water. Jami counted under her breath as the water rippled. She hit ten before Austin popped up with a roaring whoop, then he swam to the shore.
Jami shrugged, took two steps back, and then leaped. As the tropical air whistled across her skin, Beck jumped, one step behind her, and snatched her hand into his. What was he doing? Did he think she couldn’t do this on her own? She tried to wriggle free, but his grip was like steel.
As they soared, exhilaration rose through Jami’s core, and a joyous shout slipped between her lips. Beck grinned and pumped his fist. At the last moment, Beck released her hand, and she folded her arms by her breasts and torpedoed through the shimmering blue waters. The water whooshed past her like a swirling vortex as she arrowed deeper and deeper, down into the indigo depths of the pool.
Her momentum slowed, and she floated, hovering weightless. Beck was a dark shadow a distance below her. A stream of bubbles drifted past and then the pressure of the water pushed against her ears and her chest. She looked toward the beacon of sunlight glinting above and beat her legs in a thrusting scissor kick. Beck zoomed up to her, grinned, and grabbed her hand. Together they whipped their legs and careened through the crystal clear water.
They broke through the surface, and clean, tangy air whistled into her lungs. Her hand was still tangled with Beck’s, and a curious link seemed to tether between them. They turned to each other, and both began to laugh with the sheer joy and energy of the moment.
Beck’s gray eyes took on the blue of the sky and the cerulean of the water and glistened in the sunlight. Jami’s laughter faded to a curving grin and widened eyes. With the water streaming off Beck in rivulets, he looked like a water god bursting from the depths of another world. A pulse of need clenched between her thighs.
Beck drifted closer to her, and his laughing gaze turned smokier, naughtier. Beck licked his lips, and a wicked glee danced across his expression as he snatched an object out of the water.
“Missing something?” Beck dangled a dripping scrap of scarlet fabric inches above the water.
Jami narrowed her gaze. It was her bikini top. Shit. Yup. Her boobs were floating free and easy right at the waterline. She refused to look down to determine if the tips of her nipples were exposed, but she let herself sink a smidge lower, so only the tops of her breasts were visible.
Austin’s laughter made an echoing bark around the waterfall. “This is a family outing, little sister. Keep it PG, you two.”
Jami raised her eyebrow and shot Beck an I-dare-you look, and then turned to the shore where Austin stood with his wet hair all spiky as he turned away with a waggle of a wave and then disappeared back into the forest. Fabulous. Now she was bare breasted and all alone with Beck. In the distance, Jami heard laughter and voices approaching closer. She’d better get that top on before she had a full-on audience. “Do you have plans of trying on that bikini top? I’m not sure red goes with your skin tone
.”
“Hey, I’m just being a gentleman and making sure you knew you’d had a wardrobe malfunction.” Beck tossed the cloth the short distance to her, and Jami clamped down on her urge to snatch it close and conceal her nakedness.
As if she had all the time in the world, she let it float the last few inches into her grasp. From beneath her lowered lashes, she realized Beck was still and had flicked his tongue along his lips, like a man dying of thirst in the desert. A sensuous ripple of feminine satisfaction skated across her water-cooled skin. With a slight arch of her back, she slipped the already tied strings around her neck and then shimmied into the cups with a distracting swish and splash.
“Need help tying that?” Beck lazily kicked through the blue water with a purely innocent expression, but he circled closer.
“I’m good. Thanks.” Her hands trembled, and she prayed Beck wouldn’t notice. Was he getting nearer? She swore the temperature of the water was building to a boil. Why was he so stinking sexy when he was her sworn enemy, right?
“Are you cold?” In an instant, Beck was inches away, and he grabbed the floating string ties of her top. Fabric grazed her skin, and Beck’s hands burned into her flesh. Her breath caught, and her back stiffened.
“You don’t need to—”
Beck’s hands slithered down to her waist as Jami pressed into his chest, and the curves of her backside nestled into his hips and his hard arousal.
“I’m happy to help,” Beck hummed in her ear. He held her close, and Jami reveled in the cool wash of water and the fire flaring where their bodies met. She was almost surprised the pool wasn’t boiling with the heat of their sudden need.
The chatter of voices penetrated Jami’s foggy brain, and a pair of familiar faces broke through the dense greenery surrounding the grotto.
“Jami, did you and Beck jump?” Mae looked all the way up the embankment.
Beck released her and silently drifted a few feet away from her, and she felt small and isolated in the middle of the grotto.
“Austin said he did, but that it was too high for us.” Daphne sounded disappointed.
The sour face of Caitlynne surfaced out of the bushes, and she shot Jami a nasty, speculative glance. “We’re not interrupting anything, are we?”
“We did jump, from the very top, Miss Mae.” Beck launched into a breast stroke and aimed toward the girls. “There’s a low rock over there where you two might be able to jump. If your mother doesn’t think it’s too daring?” Beck’s face was impassive, but there was a hint of something in his tone. He almost sounded like he was defending Jami.
“I suppose that will be fine.” Caitlynne waved her hand airily as if dismissing the two girls and Beck to go play. She dropped her bag, laid out a towel on the short length of smooth sand, and promptly stretched out with her sunglasses firmly shielding her from the bright glare of the sun.
Beck swam to the edge of the splashing waterfall, next to the tall rock where the girls were clambering to its top. She wondered if his body was still as tingly and electric as hers? She smiled to herself. No, Beck didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get out of the water.
After the girls had made a few jumps, with lots of squeals and giggles, Beck challenged the girls to a race across the pool.
“I’ll be the judge,” said Jami. “Beck, you need a handicap.”
“He does. He’s loads taller and stronger than we are.”
“How about they get a five-second start on me?”
“Maybe?”
“I think you should spot the twins about half the distance.”
Beck eyed the midpoint and shrugged. “That looks fair.”
“On your marks, get set...go!”
Daphne and Mae screeched at the top of their lungs and began a full-on thrashing and splashing and general mayhem of flailing limbs as they tore through the lagoon. Beck caught Jami’s eye, and he winked at her with a huge grin as if he was having the best time in the world.
Jami’s knees wobbled. With a quick glance over at Caitlynne, she was relieved to see her stepmother had rolled onto her belly and her head was turned away from the water. The last thing she needed was for Caitlynne to have anything to harass her about. And Jami was starting to wonder if Beck might just be a problem.
The twins reached the middle of the lagoon, and Beck lunged through the water like a dolphin slipping through the waves. His strokes were neat and clean, and there was no excess splashage. She caught glimpses of his powerful shoulders and broad back, and her breathing was ragged and erratic; the sunshine was suddenly quite hot on her skin.
He closed the distance on the little girls and was brushing past their ankles. Mae glanced up and squealed and kicked harder, but Daphne put her head down and swam for all she was worth.
Jami extended her arm and squinted down its straight line to see who crossed the imaginary finish line first. Daphne’s little paw zipped past right as Beck zoomed forward.
“Daphne is our winner!”
Beck cheered as Daphne clambered onto dry land and cavorted around like a peacocky athlete with silly dabbing gestures, and Mae cheered for her sister without any ill will.
“You two are impressive swimmers.”
“Jami taught us. She’s a professional.”
Beck threw her an inquisitive look. “I thought she was a real estate agent?”
“She swims in races.”
“What kind of races?”
“A tri-something or other. She’s like Wonder Woman.” Mae looked at Jami adoringly, and Jami decided she might need to keep the kid on speed dial for motivational moments.
“Triathlon?” Beck ran his gaze over Jami’s body and an answering electricity sparked along her flesh. She inhaled sharply, but irritation elbowed in. It was like he was checking out a horse at a sale. Should she show him her teeth?
“Is that it, Jami?”
“That’s the one.” Jami nodded and contemplated wading back into the water. Now, why did she feel like hiding from Beck’s roving eyes?
“She’s very strong,” Mae said as if she were confiding a great secret.
Jami flexed a lean bicep for the twins who broke into giggles, and she almost laughed out loud at Beck’s pole-axed expression.
CHAPTER EIGHT
WITH HER ARM flexed like a bodybuilder and the goofy, tough expression she sported for her two youngest sisters, Jami looked like a cross between an Olympic athlete and a Disney princess. Beck couldn’t move. She took his breath away.
As Mae and Daphne broke into peals of laughter, the pair of imps pranced around imitating Jami. Beck caught Jami’s eye. For a moment, he saw an answering heat in her gaze, but with a loud whoop from Daphne, Jami’s expression hardened and her back stiffened. She turned away.
Beck dove back into the water to let the cool liquid damp down his lust. What the hell was with him? Since when did he get the hots for women who hated him and tried to trip him up every free chance they got?
“Okay, girls. Time’s up. I think I’m starting to get a burn.” Caitlynne stood and called out to Daphne and Mae. “Besides, you girls need your lunches before we start the treasure hunt.”
The girls cast longing glances at Jami and then Beck.
“I bet we can have some fun in the pool after dinner.” Jami winked at her young sisters. “Didn’t Kyle teach you Marco Polo yesterday?”
Daphne clapped, and Mae whooped.
“Girls, let’s go.” Caitlynne tapped her foot as she studied her phone.
The twins splashed and ran toward their mother and in a matter of minutes, the trio headed back to their room.
“Um...thanks for being so nice to the girls.”
“We’re all family.” Beck rubbed the back of his neck and averted his eyes. Where the hell had that come from? Since when had he considered family important or interesting?
“I guess you’re right, but you didn’t have to make time to play with a pair of six-year-olds.”
“I’m not a complete selfish beast.�
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“That’s not what I meant.”
“Is it so hard to imagine that I’m a decent guy?”
“Yes.”
“That hurts.”
“Shut up. It doesn’t hurt your feelings one little iota.” Jami snatched her towel and wound it around her body. “You work hard to carry off the aloof and unfeeling engineer persona.”
Beck raised his eyebrows. “Are you saying I’m arrogant?”
“If the shoe fits.”
“Then I guess we’re quite a pair.”
“I don’t think we have a thing in common.”
“We’re certainly both competitive, and I think you hate to lose about as much as I do.”
Jami’s nostrils flared, and she started to flick her fingers to shoo him away, but then she chuckled. “I have to give you that one.”
“See? We can agree on one thing.”
“I’ve only got winning on my mind right now.”
“Do you think it has to be a zero-sum game?”
“Like there is a way we can both win?” Jami finger tousled her hair and then twisted it up into a loose bunlike pile that she secured with a hair band from her wrist. “With only that one piece of property next to Dad’s truck yard? It’s not big enough for the two companies to split.”
“That’s true enough.”
“I guess that leaves it as a battle to the death.” Jami laughed, and it took the sting out of her words.
“Hail, Caesar, those who are about to die salute you.” Beck gave a mock bow.
Jami lifted her chin, but her grin betrayed her. “I’m glad you recognize my superior status.”
Beck threw back his head and laughed. A buzz of electricity sparked around Beck’s body. Jami’s lips parted, and she reached toward him. Beck stepped closer, but she let her arm fall to her side and dropped her eyes as she focused on retying the knot to secure her towel around her breasts.
Beck checked his watch and cleared his throat. “It’s already three. I’d better go clean up. Rob’s got a round of golf set up for us.”
Two Reckless Hearts (Barrett Ridge Book 1) Page 5