Jami blinked and grabbed her sunglasses. “I’d better fly. I’ve got a three-fifteen spa treatment with Mandy and Jo.” With a floaty wave, Jami dashed away and left Beck standing by the edge of the lagoon, the sounds of the waterfall splashing cheerfully in the background.
Beck cocked his head and squinted at her retreating form. What the hell had just happened?
****
Beck ducked back to his beachside bungalow without encountering any stray family members. The ceiling fan whirred faintly, and sweet hibiscus filled his suite with a welcoming scent. Beck kicked off his sandals, and the cool tile floor cut the sense of humidity in half.
With one eye on his laptop and the other on the clock, Beck hustled to check his emails. He scrolled through his emails until the exact one drew his attention, and without an extra breath, Beck clicked it open. He skimmed the blah-blah-blah at the top and jumped to the meat. Oh yeah. BK Industries had scooped up the grant. He jumped up and pumped his fist in the air, but stifled the shout that threatened to erupt. No need in shocking the resort goers.
Hot damn. His company was set. This was exactly the kind of thing that country commissioners ate up. It was good for the local community, and it was fabulous for his company. Beck reread the message slowly this time and savored all the details.
This would allow him to double his workforce and likely increase production fourfold. He was going from small time to the big show, and it would likely open up the doors to new applications that the military was developing. Stealthy, silent motorcycles. Beck released a breath he hadn’t known he was holding, and he flung himself down on his bed in one fluid motion. He landed with his hands clasped behind his head and his ankles crossed.
Hard work and determination did pay off. And an innovative idea was no small help. His imagination started forging the new plant designs, and he could see the press lined up to talk to him at the next Detroit auto show or Daytona Bike Week.
Barrett Ridge was the perfect place to expand BK Industries. Oregon was environmentally progressive, and it had a nice little reputation as being different and off the beaten path. It was the exact image he was cultivating. His bikes were green and mean.
Beck frowned. What about the Barretts? He could handle Teddy he supposed. Teddy was old school and had a temper, and might try to make things challenging for BKI in the small town. It could develop into a rift. He’d have to consider a strategy for that and find a way to bring Teddy over to his way of seeing things. Maybe a fundraiser, or perhaps there was some kind of synergy between their two businesses.
A vision of Jami’s lovely, cushy derriere flitted past his eyes. This one was going to be trickier. She was all fire and competition, and he had the sneaking suspicion there was more on the line for her than simply the closing of a property deal.
He could cope with never getting an invite to family dinners. He wasn’t in the habit of hanging out with relatives, so it was no skin off his nose to miss out on any other Barrett festivities.
Beck cursed under his breath. He didn’t want Jami as his enemy. Suddenly, there was no doubt in his mind. He wanted her in his arms, twisted in the sheets and under his body. A taste of jasmine tickled his senses. It was her scent, and it was lingering in his brain and on his skin.
Jami was irritating and sarcastic, but he couldn’t seem to get enough of that fiery spark in her eye when she’d attack.
Beck wondered what his end game was. He always had a plan and a contingency plan. He shrugged and shut his eyes for a moment. Maybe he didn’t have to have a grand strategy for everything. Wasn’t that what his last girlfriend had suggested?
Beck bristled. A man with a plan could accomplish anything. Yet, it was his gut, or maybe something a little lower, that was urging him to just go with the flow and his attraction to Jami.
She was nothing like the string of part-time girlfriends he’d been mostly ignoring for the last two years. No. Jami was not artsy or homey. She was action and energy, and a lot like him, but different. Beck smiled. He always had his next five steps mapped out, and Jami, well, she was impulsive, reckless.
They were much alike, except for that. He closed his eyes and let the tiny thrum of the ceiling fan drown out his idle thoughts.
Beck leaped up. Time was a-wasting. He fired off a message to his legal counsel so she could inform the county of the new grant. The commissioners would be making up their minds anytime now, and he’d better get busy winning the Barretts over to his side, or it was going to get even hotter here on Santa Tarita.
But what about Jami? A ripple of guilt rolled over him. She wasn’t just another competitor. Beck slipped on a pair of running shorts and headed for the beach. It was time to wear out his sorry ass and clear his brain.
He needed to shake off the memory of those enchanting freckles on the end of her nose and the curvy goodness of that red bikini top.
CHAPTER NINE
JAMI REACHED INTO the basket and plucked out a folded piece of white paper. She had a sinking feeling she wasn’t going to be happy with what was written inside it. How under the stars had she gotten roped into a treasure hunt?
“Has everyone picked now?” Anna called out to the group. “I think it should work out that we’re all in groups of three or four. That will make the hunt all the more fun.”
Jami wasn’t sure why trios would be beneficial, but since she’d rather be drinking a mai tai and floating in the pool, well, she probably better keep her mouth shut.
Jami peeked inside her note. She’d gotten a blue dot. She glanced over at Sam and Jo who sported a red dot and a green dot respectively. She spotted twelve-year-old Carl waving a blue dot, and she motioned him toward her. As he approached, Beck put his arm around the boy and showed off his matching paper.
Fabulous. There was no escaping Beck. She folded and refolded the paper into a tiny square and glanced at Anna, who was happily handing out the treasure hunt lists. Her sister was on top of the world. Who was she to rain on her parade? She could suck it up for an hour and cooperate with Beck on this family bonding experience. At least Carl was a good little guy.
“Hey, Jami. Looks like you’re on my team.” Carl grinned, but then grabbed his stomach.
“You okay, buddy?” Beck leaned closer to the boy.
“I dunno. I feel funny.”
“Why don’t you sit down.” Jami dragged a chair closer to him, but he stopped and paled.
Jami knew that look. “Uh-oh. Can you grab that garbage can by the—”
It was too late. Carl hurled his breakfast all over the ground. He whimpered and retched a second time. Anna and Rob rushed over as Carl crumpled onto the chair.
“How many pancakes did you eat this morning?”
“I lost count after twenty.”
Anna choked, and Beck laughed outright. Jami snagged a few napkins and spread them over the mess and waved to an attendant hovering on the far side of the pool.
“I’ll take him back to your room,” Jami said.
“No, I’ll do it. I want you to have fun.” Anna rubbed Carl’s back as the boy leaned back and closed his eyes.
“Anna, this is your wedding and your party. You stay. Besides, you’re the master of ceremonies. No one else knows the treasure hunt rules,” Jami said.
“Dad? I think I’m going to get sick again.”
“Come on.” Rob helped Carl to his feet. “I’ll take him back to the suite and catch up when I can.”
As Rob and Carl eased down the stairs to the main level and then off to their rooms, the staff tidied up the breakfast disaster.
“Since there are only two of you on the blue team, would you prefer to join other teams?” Anna shrugged her shoulders.
Beck studied Jami for a quick moment. “Jami and I are team blue all the way. Besides, we’re the power team to beat. No one’s got a chance against us. With just two of us, we’ll run circles around you slow-moving packs.”
Had Beck lost his marbles? They were going to be stuck with only each ot
her for an hour or more. Kyle and Austin laughed while Clara and Emma rolled their eyes, and Jami looked everywhere but at Beck, but her body knew that he was watching her. A spark of flame danced along her skin as if he was touching her. Her nipples hardened, and she darted a glance at Beck.
She held his dark gray gaze for a long moment, and she let out a tiny gasp. She turned away and straightened her loose cover-up. Please, let no one have seen that.
“So be it.” Anna looked up from her clipboard. “Don’t come complaining to me when you two come in last place. This is one tough hunt I’ve concocted. It isn’t for sissies.”
“Challenge accepted.” Beck thumped his chest and took the treasure map and list with a flourish.
Jami shook her head. What was she getting into now? Beck’s expression was now mild-mannered, if not meek. She tapped her foot. Whatever his intentions, she was game. She wouldn’t give him an inch.
“You ready to whip the competition?”
“I knew you were the right partner.” Beck flipped the map right-side up and scanned it.
“How so?”
“You hate to lose, and you hate me. So you’ll figure out the down low on this treasure hunt, and we’ll be the first ones done. And then I can get back to drinking on the beach.”
Jami narrowed her eyes. Was it really that simple? She shrugged. Probably not, but he had a point. “At least we’re in agreement about getting this over with as quickly as possible.”
As Anna shared the rules of the game, Beck handed everything over to Jami and let her be in charge. Jami focused on Anna’s instructions, but Beck distracted her with the steady stream of faces he was making for little Daphne as she kicked her feet in the pool and twirled her pigtail.
Fifteen minutes later, Jami stood at a crossroads of two gravel pathways on the far side of the island. She propped her hand on her hip and wiggled her shoulders as a drip of sweat trickled down the center of her back.
“I had no idea it was so muggy here.”
“We’re only a little ways from the equator. Fourteen degrees north. It is the tropics.” Beck sounded like he was reading from a Wikipedia entry.
“I’m melting. We need a breeze or one good gust of wind.”
Beck handed her a metal flask, and Jami opened it and sniffed gingerly. It was water.
“What? Did you think I was packing whiskey?”
“It would make this adventure more bearable.”
Beck laughed. “I’m all for family bonding, as far as that goes, but isn’t this taking it too far?”
“Anna is the terminally perky type, but somehow you can’t help but love her.”
“Is this an affliction that all the Barretts suffer from? Competitiveness and perkiness?”
“Hardly. I think she and Sam have the only perky genes. Anna volunteers for everything, and Sam’s a teacher. Although I think those high school students will beat the sunshine right out of her.”
Beck laughed like she’d intended. If she was going to be stuck with him all afternoon, she’d just as soon not be at constant daggers with him, and she might be able to wiggle some information out of him that could be to her advantage. Didn’t her momma always say you caught more flies with honey than vinegar?
Within a few minutes, they discovered their first treasure. It was a plastic wedding cake topper of a bridal couple on the back of a motorcycle.
“Does Rob ride?”
“He does. I heard him tell your dad that their first date was a ride on his bike.”
“Holy moly. Anna is finally letting loose.” Jami double clutched the cake topper and popped it into her cloth backpack. “She was always so prim and proper when I was growing up. I guess she’s finally relaxed. Kudos to your brother.”
“He’s not exactly a badass biker. No tattoos or criminal record.”
“Ha! That you know of. For all we know, they may have matching tattoos now.”
“Ew. The last thing I want to imagine is my brother’s love life.”
“Wuss.”
“What’s next on the list?”
“If I read this map right, we should be close to treasure number seven. This green and yellow froglike thing.”
“Let me see.”
“What? Do you think I’m incapable of reading a map?”
“I have no idea if you are geographically challenged or not. You were rather vague about our tropical location so you can understand my fears.”
“Nice. Thanks.”
“My pleasure. Now get off your high horse and let me see the map, too.”
“Fine.” Jami handed it to him, and his fingers brushed hers as he took it. A flash of fire shot through her arm and quivered between her breasts. Dammit. She could not be attracted to him. She licked her lips and imagined his mouth pressed against hers. It would be warm, teasing. Jami coughed and jumped back.
Beck looked up and cocked his head in curiosity.
“A bug crawled over my foot.”
Beck hesitated for a moment, but then he bent his head to study the map and the list, trying to compare the cryptic descriptions of the hidden items with the cartoonish drawings on the map.
Jami wondered if he’d felt the zing of electric attraction, too? Beck leaned away.
“There’s a lot of you,” Beck said without taking his eyes from the paperwork.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Barretts. There are a boatload of you Barretts. There’s thirteen of you compared to only seven of us.”
“My parents were fertile. So sue us.”
“You’re a pretty tight-knit crew.”
“Family is everything.”
“That’s one-eighty different than how I grew up.”
“You’ll have to get used to our overwhelming numbers. That’s a risk you take by trying to move into Barrett Ridge. We’ve got cousins and blood everywhere.” Jami shot him a defiant look. “We’re a challenge if you don’t stay on our good side.”
“I’m up for a good challenge. Keeps things interesting.”
Jami sighed. Suddenly she was tired of throwing barbs at Beck. “Come on. Let’s be friends.” She frowned. That was not what she’d meant at all. “At least, let’s be professionals and get this done.”
“Shall we plot a strategy? Divide and conquer?”
Jami surveyed the list, and Beck peered over her shoulder. Her breath caught in her throat and a dart of tension shot between her thighs. He smelled of cedar and something tropical. It was divine. No, she was not going to let her knees buckle under her.
“What is a red ginger lily? And how are we supposed to know if we find one?” Beck’s bicep brushed hers as he leaned over and pointed at the second item on the list.
She was not going to break into a sweat. She steeled herself. She needed to remember she hated Beck Kavanagh. He was her competition, and she never lost her focus during a fight. Calm. She needed to find her Zen spot. Hell. Why did that make her think of a G-spot?
Jami pivoted and stepped away from Beck as she handed the hunt instructions to him, but Beck grabbed her wrist.
“Let go.”
“Hang on. Hold still.”
“No.”
“There’s something small, brown and very crawly, right in the middle of your back.”
Jami stiffened like a flag pole. “Get it off me.”
Beck rolled up the map and brushed at her back. “It’s stuck.”
Panic welled in Jami’s belly, but she dragged in a deep breath and exhaled in a low whistle. “You’ve got one job, mister. Now remove.”
“Maybe you should drop, roll, and squish it?”
“Is that a joke?”
“Yes, but you don’t seem amused.” Beck studied a spot right between her shoulder blades. “Hmm. It seems to have quite a few sticky-looking legs. Very wriggly.”
“If you don’t get it off in the next five seconds, I’m going to rip this shirt right off my body and set it on fire.”
Beck grinned. “Do you want me to f
lick it off or not? I like your idea better.”
“Do it. Now.” Jami ground her teeth together as a whisper of wind tickled a wisp of hair against her neck. Her knees wobbled.
Beck wound up as if ready to smack the crap out of the bug, but at the last second, he slid the map under the crawler and flicked it away, deep into the ferny undergrowth next to the pathway. “You’re good to go.”
Jami jumped three feet to the side and shivered. “What the hell was it?”
“It was a BDB.”
“What?”
“A big damn bug.”
“Aren’t you the comedian?”
“I’m an engineer, not an entomologist.”
Jami scowled, but Beck grinned. She scrunched her eyebrows as if to convince him she was not amused, but he pointed at her and laughed. A burble of laughter escaped from between her lips.
“Fine. You win. I won’t take this so seriously.”
Beck threw back his head and laughed with ease. “I find that hard to believe.”
As one, they bent over the map and the list and plotted their next move together. Beck’s shoulder brushed hers, and Jami’s pulse jumped. She threw him a side-eye. His nose was straight, and that chin of his was square, determined, and utterly sexy. His thick black eyelashes swept low, and her heart lurched.
Jami leaned in, and her breasts brushed his arm as she delivered a fleeting kiss on the hard angle of his cheekbone. She sprang back before he could react.
“Thanks for rescuing me.”
Beck idly touched his face where her lips had left a tiny smudge of peachy lip gloss.
“Anytime.”
They walked side by side, looking for clues in the shrubbery and in the mango, bamboo, and the oval-leafed lansan trees.
Jami kept her eyes glued for treasures, but all her senses were laser focused on Beck. The sweat glistening on his skin. The ripple of his triceps and the flex of his pecs were as lickable as a lollipop.
Jami was ready to do a little fraternization with the enemy. Even if it was stupid and off-limits.
CHAPTER TEN
“WHAT IS THAT?” Jami pointed at Anna’s cryptic map as she angled closer for a better view.
Two Reckless Hearts (Barrett Ridge Book 1) Page 6