Girl Gear 3: Bound to Happen (14 page)

One eye narrowed beneath one raised brow, Jess added cream and sugar to his mug and asked, "You're not playing matchmaker, are you,
Sydney
?"

She looked from Jess to Poe to Doug to Kinsey and finally up to Anton. Keeping a grin from her face was next to impossible, so she didn't even try. "Why would I need to play matchmaker when all of you are doing fine on your own?"

"Very funny," Kinsey said to
Sydney
while patting Doug on the head and tucking him back into his chair at the table. "You sit right here and recover, honey. I'll get you that coffee you needed."

Doug opened his mouth, but nothing came out, so he shut it again. Anton and Jess looked on with a combination of envy and offense taken on behalf of all mankind.
Sydney
looked at Poe, shrugged and decided then and there that the entire world was ruled by sex.

Not such a bad thing really. Except in this case where it seemed she was the only one who wasn't finding the opportunities everyone else seemed to be finding. Or at least the opportunity
one
couple had found, making her admittedly as envious as she was curious. And where was Ray, anyway?

"Kinsey, is Lauren still sleeping?"

"Yeah. She's being a lazybones this morning." Kinsey filled the mug she'd found and carried it back to Doug. "But then, I didn't finish the movie last night, so I was out like a light when she finally came to bed."

Sydney herself hadn't stayed up long at all after leaving Jess and Ray on the deck. She thought she remembered hearing Poe come to bed and had tried to wake up, wanting to talk to the other woman. After all, getting to know her had been the reason she'd invited Poe along in the first place.

If it wasn't one plan going awry, it was another. She turned her attention to Jess. "What about Ray?"

"What about Ray?" Jess echoed, his elbow propped on Poe's convenient shoulder. "You taking morning roll call or something?"

"No, but Doug was interested in land-based activities, and I thought I'd fill everyone in at the same time."
Sydney
moved to the sink and ran enough water to wash what breakfast dishes remained, since Auralie had moved to cleaning bathrooms and linens.

Jess shook his head. "Ray's been gone awhile. But I doubt he's gone far because, hey, there's not too far anyone can go here."

Sydney
waited until he'd drained his cup, then grabbed it and dunked it in the sink of soapy water. "Are you complaining?"

"Hell, no. I like working within prescribed limits." He stretched, then lowered both arms, draping one casually across Poe's back and tucking his fingers into her ribs. "Takes off the pressure of seeing what I can get away with."

Poe slipped out from beneath, twisting around and pulling Jess's arm up into the center of his back until he grimaced and cried uncle. "Gives a new meaning to pressure, eh, big boy?"

Sydney
was vacationing in a zoo, that was all there was to it. "If any of you are interested, I am heading down to the south beach, where there's a lagoon. Menga has already set up the umbrellas and there are floats stored in the cabana. I'm taking a book and a beach blanket.

"If that's still too much water, Doug,"
Sydney
added, taking in Doug's waterlogged expression, "the trail to the pelican nesting ground runs right past the beach and it's only a ten-minute walk."

Doug nodded. "Birds I can probably handle."

"Actually you can't handle them at all. It's against the rules."

"Ha, ha, ha," Doug said just as a sleepy-eyed Lauren made her way into the room.

"What's against the rules?" she asked, accepting the coffee Anton poured for her and rising on her toes to share a quick kiss. "
Mmm
. Sweet."

It was definitely time to get out of the kitchen,
Sydney
grumped to herself, finishing up the last mug and drying her hands. All this touchy-feely business going on and Ray nowhere to be found. Her plans for a hedonistic vacation fling seemed to have been flung far and wide.

"Cavorting with the wildlife," Jess replied to Lauren, then pushed off the counter and headed for the stairs to the second-floor bedroom suites. "I'm going for shoes. It's time to work off this vacation."

STRANGELY ENOUGH
, when
Sydney
got to the south beach, she finally found Ray. He'd managed to discover the lagoon and the cove all on his own. He'd obviously discovered the cabana, as well, because he was making full use of one of the stored floats.

Poe, who'd decided to forgo the pelicans and settle for the book-and-umbrella routine, had accompanied
Sydney
to the beach. Both women spread their blankets over the clean, white sand.

Sydney
couldn't even dredge up the energy to be annoyed at sharing the secluded beach with Poe, instead of being alone with Ray. Yes, she intended to seduce her prey. But she also had gIRL-gEAR business to take care of with Poe.

Once settled on the blankets, totes with sunscreen and bottled water and paperback bestsellers nearby, neither woman did anything but sit and relax. Poe leaned back on her elbows.
Sydney
leaned back on her palms. The water in the small lagoon was still and clear.

Ray floated on his back in a circular tube, his arms stretched overhead, his legs dangling in the water, his sculpted belly flat and the material of his swim trunks bulging below. Dark sunglasses were wrapped around his head, hiding his eyes and his expression. He hadn't waved; she wondered if he'd seen them arrive, and so she lifted a hand.

He raised his in return, answering that one question, leaving unanswered myriad others. Was he watching her now? Was he remembering the kiss they'd shared last night? What was he thinking? Did he have any idea how finding him here, seeing him relaxed and rested and touched by the light of the sun, sent her pulse skittering?

Sydney
wondered if Poe was as caught up by the visual as she was. Because, of all the men sharing their island vacation, there was just something about Ray Coffey that set him apart from the others. At least to
Sydney
's way of thinking. She cast what she hoped was a surreptitious glance at Poe, only to find her with her head back and her raised face seeking the warmth of the sun.

"Don't worry. I know he's off-limits."

Poe's cryptic comment caused
Sydney
to raise a brow. "Are you talking about Ray?"

"Isn't that who you're sitting there fantasizing about? Not that I blame you," Poe added, tilting her head in Sydney's direction, but still not making eye contact, which would've been difficult, anyway, with the two of them wearing their sleek
Oakleys
.

Sydney
pressed her lips together. Were her thoughts really that obvious? Or was Poe only hazarding a heat-seeking guess? Well, two could play
that
game,
Sydney
mused with a private smirk. "I'm surprised you've had time to take notice of Ray, what with Jess monopolizing so much of your time."

"He is a doll, isn't he?" Poe's grin spoke volumes about the road her own thoughts had taken. "Trust me. After that truth-or-dare kiss? I did a quick evaluation of his fling potential."

"And?"

Poe gave a small, noncommittal shrug. "And I'm still evaluating. Vacation flings are so much easier and definitely less messy when both parties go their own way at the end of the trip. I loathe complications."

Sydney
hadn't thought about that, about the tricky situation she'd find herself in seeing Ray on any kind of regular basis once they were back in the States.

Since his return to
Houston
last year, their occasional interaction had only served to heighten the tension between them. She'd continued to wonder, to fantasize, to evoke the tiniest details of that night they'd spent together. Details like his texture and his taste.

She'd had no idea, at eighteen, that a man's bare skin could be so soft, his body hair so baby fine, his scent so intoxicating, his taste equally so. There in that cheap hotel bed, she'd buried her nose against him, breathed fully and breathed deep. And she'd remembered. That night on the veranda, she'd remembered.

She'd never stopped to realize what it would mean to replace those memories with others. Adult memories. Recent memories. Memories that she wouldn't revisit with a virgin's naiveté but with a woman's understanding and appreciation of what she could share with a man.

So what exactly did she want to share with this man? Was it really the simple fling she'd been working for weeks to convince herself she wanted? Or now, after feeling his hands on her body that night on the veranda, after experiencing his kiss last night on the deck, was she thinking of wanting more than their time on this island allowed?

One touch, one kiss. A slow crescendo building toward the fulfillment of her fantasy. She was growing anxious, that was all. Once they made love, once she proved to herself that he was only a man and no different from any other, her mind would be clear of Ray Coffey, and life would get back to normal, back to business.

So why was she thinking about more? How could she possibly be wondering if she'd ever get enough?

"Besides," Poe went on, waving one hand in a welcome interruption to
Sydney
's musings. "As hot as Jess is, he's still so … young."

Funny, but Poe's remarks tied into what Lauren had said only yesterday about Poe's being the type of woman Sydney's father needed in his life.
Sydney
couldn't necessarily argue about the type; she just wasn't sure Poe was the one.

"Jess is what? Four years younger than you?" As opposed to Nolan, who was a decade older than Poe.

"Something like that, I imagine. But it's not so much the actual years as it is the attitude. I'm almost thirty-two. I don't look at the world now the same way I did at, say, twenty-eight."

"You make it sound like the two of you are worlds apart."
Sydney
paused to let that sink in before adding, "Jess is probably not quite the boy toy you seem to think."

"Hmm," was all Poe gave in response before pushing up off her elbows and digging in her tote for her bottle of water. After taking a drink, she cast a glance at
Sydney
. "I thought Jess had a thing going on with Melanie, anyway."

"I know they've dated, but I think they're just good friends,"
Sydney
replied, glad to see that Poe had taken Mel's feelings into consideration. The gIRL-gEAR partners shared an unparalleled closeness, and making Poe a part of that team would be a much easier transition for all involved if they knew she saw things with the same eyes.

"Hmm," Poe hummed again. "I suppose all I can do is see what happens, then, right? Though I still think it would be easier to find myself a nice buff local lad to play with."

Chuckling,
Sydney
shook her head. "You are so bad."

Poe heaved a theatrical sigh. "I do try. It makes life so much more exciting. However—" she held up one finger "—I am fully aware that being good has its perks, as well. Catching flies with honey and all that."

"You know,"
Sydney
said, "Chloe insists you are not the bitch you pretend to be."

"Well, damn. And here I was working so hard at my image."

"Why would you want us to think you're something that you're not?"

"Why does anyone lie?" Poe shrugged. "To hide the ugly truth, right?"

Sydney
should have been used to Poe's dramatic nature by now, but she still caught herself doing a mental double take. "It might be. If one had an ugly truth to hide. Which I don't believe you do."

"Everyone has a secret, Sydney Ford." Poe slipped her sunglasses down her nose and met
Sydney
's gaze head on. "Yours just happens to be a lot hunkier than any I might have."