Girl Gear 3: Bound to Happen (13 page)

How was a man supposed to rein in a desire that burned from the inside out, that made a joke out of the control he maintained over his emotions, that reminded him how human he was when he worked his ass off to be above and beyond? Ray was in trouble, big trouble, deep-down-to-the-bone trouble, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Sydney
's fingers on his face were cool, her lips on his warm. But her tongue mating with his was fire-hot and liquid in the way it flowed over and under, caressing and stroking and rubbing along his. He held her head fast and increased the pressure and intensity of the kiss, taking the embrace to another level when he moved his hand up her thigh to her belly before covering her breast.

The sound she made wasn't the least bit soft or sweet, but rather brutally hungry, and Ray couldn't help but lift his hips and grind against her. What he wanted was to grind against her while buried deep in her honeyed warmth, to have her grind back, finding the pressure, the angle, the rhythm of the stroke she needed to get off.

Her mouth was taking him to the edge, and she wasn't doing anything more than kissing his. Ray wasn't sure he'd ever known a kiss so incredibly, so amazingly arousing. And when
Sydney
moved her hand from his face to press against his where it covered her breast, he thought he was going to come right then and there.

"
Sydney
." He half muttered, half whispered her name into her mouth. She moved a breath away and he said, "This isn't working."

"Everything feels in working order to me." She wiggled her seat in his lap.

"That's what I'm talking about." He pressed his lips to hers firmly, kissed her with a hard and solidly aimed intent. He might be breaking off this contact, but the separation was to be only temporary.

He wondered if they could make it to his bedroom unseen. "I need to get out of this chair and stretch my, uh, legs."

She was slow to move, but she was gentle, which he greatly appreciated. Once she was back on her feet, he pushed up to his. He shook off what he could of his binding discomfort and then backed
Sydney
into the corner of the deck. She retreated until she ran into the railing. Then, bracing herself against it with her hands, she invitingly lifted her chin.

"About that time you're supposed to be finding us to spend together…" Ray let the thought trail as he moved in closer. He covered both of her hands with his—hers, so delicate and feminine, yet strong—and lowered his head. Time to take up where they'd left off.

"Sydney, Ray? You two up there?"

At Jess's shouted question,
Sydney
chuckled, then ducked out from under one of Ray's arms. He hung his head, staring at the deck between his feet and the empty space she'd left behind. He wasn't sure his luck could get any worse. But then he felt
Sydney
's hand in the center of his back.

"Up here, Jess," she called before she leaned in close to Ray and whispered, "Good things come to those who wait?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?" he growled back as
Sydney
headed for the staircase.

"Neither one," she said, waiting for Jess to finish climbing up so she could climb down. She patted his shoulder as he walked past, then called back to Ray, "I'm making you a promise."

Ray watched her bobbing blond ponytail disappear, then he sank back into the cedar deck chair and, loud enough for an obviously curious Jess to hear, grumbled, "Women."

5

«
^
»

"
S
o,
SYDNEY. WHAT ELSE
is there to do around here?"

Standing at the kitchen counter and sipping her first cup of coffee,
Sydney
glanced over at Doug who was shoveling the last of Auralie's cheese-and-bean
omelette
into his mouth. "Are you saying you're bored already?"

"Hell, no. But I'm still waterlogged from yesterday. I was thinking of doing some sightseeing. Something that's dry. At least until my ears finish draining." He wiggled the finger he'd stock in his ear.

"Just like a kid." Sitting at Doug's side, Kinsey shook her head, her feet on her chair and her knees drawn to her chest, while she cradled and sipped from her own stoneware mug. Dozens of tiny blond braids hung down her back, the result of Poe's handiwork from the evening before. "You think you're going to miss out and you ended up overdoing."

"I am a kid. Or at least I'm a kid when I'm on vacation." Pushing away from his plate, Doug sat back and stretched.

"You're a kid all the time. Just ask any of our contractors." Anton came into the room in time to catch Doug's declaration. "Why do you think the firm is called Neville & Storey, rather than Storey & Neville?"

Arms high overhead, Doug glanced behind him at his partner's approach. "I thought we decided to put the brains second, so the brawn would get some of the glory, too."

"Yeah, that's it," Anton said, reaching out and jerking back Doug's chair, nearly sending him tumbling to the floor.

Doug caught his balance in the nick of time … and with a little help from Kinsey, who flew forward and grabbed him by one wrist just as he reached out flailing wildly. He gave Anton a one-eyed glare, then leaned forward and kissed Kinsey full on the mouth.

Pulling away and leaving her momentarily stunned, Doug smacked his lips and headed for the kitchen. "
Mmm
. Coffee. I think I'll have a cup."

"Coffee?" Kinsey fairly screeched, looking from her cup to Doug's departure as if weighing her need for caffeine against the pleasure of seeing the liquid splattered across his back. "I've been trying to get you to kiss me for months and, when you finally do, all you can say is 'Coffee'?"

Doug had been halfway to the kitchen and now
Sydney
watched as he jolted to a stop. The choice between coffee and Kinsey wasn't one that took him more than half a shake. He quickly put himself in reverse and returned to the table, grabbing Kinsey's coffee mug in one hand—prying it free from her death grip—and taking hold of her upper arm in his other.

Then he propelled her from her chair and toward the villa's front door, disappearing while
Sydney
looked on with a sigh and remembered last night's kiss she'd shared with Ray. A kiss that had been a long time in coming and had been cut too short too soon. She'd barely had time to savor his texture or rediscover his taste; she'd been too busy offering him what he seemed to need, what had been her pleasure to give.

Now, of course, here she was again surrounded by friends whom she wryly wished would find an island of their own. She couldn't even find private time to
think
about Ray, much less time to spend with him alone. Her plans to work him out of her system didn't stand a chance of coming to pass if she never found time to spend with him alone.

And if she didn't accomplish her goal while on their shared vacation, she wasn't sure when she'd have another opportunity.

Work was going to be a bear when she got back to the States. Soon it would be holiday season, and the gIRL-gEAR partners had to prepare for yet another restructuring and the launch of Chloe's mentoring program. Business had to be
Sydney
's number-one priority at all times, well above her personal life.

The success of gIRL-gEAR meant more to her than her partners would ever know. More than was probably smart for her to let it mean. The company offered her the acceptance she'd never found as the Ice Queen, the respect she'd never earned from her free-spirited mother Vegas Ford—a mother who'd called her only daughter a gloomy
Eeyore
.

But most of all, gIRL-gEAR was
Sydney
's baby. A baby that fed off the creative types with which she'd surrounded herself, but a baby nurtured from day one by her business acumen. The success of the company rested solely on her shoulders. And had nothing to do with her world-famous artist mother or her venture-capitalist father.

Sydney
shook off the thoughts as Anton, having poured himself a cup of coffee, took up his place beside her and stared after the exiting duo of Kinsey and Doug. Giving Anton a small shrug,
Sydney
lifted her mug. Interesting, finding out that Doug and Kinsey hadn't yet kissed.

That left only Jess and Poe as the possible first-floor veranda culprits from the other night.

Unless it had been Doug and Poe.

Or Kinsey and Jess.

Damn.
Sydney
was no closer to solving the mystery than she'd been yesterday. She slid a glance toward Anton. "Where's Lauren?"

Blowing across the surface of the steaming brew, Anton shrugged. "Still sleeping, I guess. I'm bunking with Doug, remember? You should've asked Kinsey before she went chasing after him."

"Chasing after Doug? If you think Kinsey was the one doing the chasing, no wonder you and Lauren can't get it together," Sydney said, treading where she had no business treading but doing so, anyway, wanting to see how Anton would react, wanting to see if he shared any of Lauren's confusion or if he had his mind made up.

"What're you talking about?" He frowned down into his coffee mug, then down at
Sydney
. "Doug might've been the one on his feet, but that doesn't mean he wasn't the one being pursued. You heard what Kinsey said. About wanting him to kiss her. That's chasing in my book."

No wonder relationships were in so much trouble,
Sydney
mused, what with the way men and women saw things through such hormonally tinted lenses. She sipped at her coffee, swallowed, then opened her mouth to answer.

Anton cut her off. "Besides, I'd like to think that whatever is going on between me and Lauren is between me and Lauren. Though I have to admit I wasn't sure at first how it was going to work out having both her and Poe on this trip." Anton hesitated. "They seem to be getting along."

Sydney
nodded. Men were so cute when they were dealing with women. "I think they are. I know they've talked."

"About me?"

She glanced up and over and smiled. Anton's expression was the epitome of a nervous little boy waiting to find out if he'd been picked for the team. She couldn't help feel a touch of pity, though her first loyalties had to lie with Lauren.

"You probably need to take that up with Lauren. Or with Poe."

"Take what up with Poe?" Poe asked, walking into the room, scrunching her head of black hair with her fingers as if she'd abandoned conventional grooming while on vacation.

The swimsuit she wore was one
Sydney
recognized from Kinsey's
gO
glRL
sportswear collection, a two-piece set of low-cut shorts and a matching halter top. The color was a rich jade-green, a perfect complement to Poe's complexion.

"Wow." Eyes wide,
Sydney
shook her head. "Has Kinsey seen you in that suit?"

"What suit? Where? Oh, Poe! You look fantastic," Kinsey said, returning through the same door from which she'd exited earlier. Doug followed, looking glassy-eyed and more than a little bit frustrated.

Poe turned to model the suit, stopping and raising both brows as she caught sight of the duo. Her hands went to her hips. "Okay. What have you two been up to? What am I missing? And why do I feel so left out?"

"I seem to recall you getting yours a couple of nights ago," Jess said from where he stood in the door to the hallway. He crossed the main room and slapped Poe on the butt as he walked by. She yelped and rubbed her fanny, then frowned at Jess as he leaned across the kitchen's wide counter.

Grabbing the coffeepot and two mugs, he slid both back with him, pouring first for Poe and then for himself. He grinned shamelessly, and Poe, taking her cup, first rolled her eyes, then glared. "Thanks, Jess. The way you put that … now everyone's going to think more went on between us than that truth-or-dare kiss."

"And here I had my hopes up,"
Sydney
said, halfway teasing and halfway disappointed. For a minute there she'd been so sure she'd finally fingered the mystery lovers.