Girl Gear 3: Bound to Happen (15 page)

All
Sydney
could do was blink. Here she'd been prepared to discuss Poe's impending promotion within gIRL-gEAR, and the woman had to blow a cover
Sydney
thought was so convincing. Not to mention remind her of a more immediate concern.

So immediate, in fact, that when she turned from Poe to glance out toward Ray, where he floated on the quiet surface of the water,
Sydney
's breath caught hard and fast. He wasn't floating any longer. He was, in fact, walking up the beach toward her, dripping wet, water glistening in diamond drops all over his incredible body.

He was tall and he was broad, and he filled her vision as he moved lithely over the sand. He stopped when he was but two feet away. For a minute he did nothing but look down. His eyes were hidden behind sunshades, so
Sydney
couldn't see the sparkle in his eyes. But she knew it was there. The teasing quirk at the corner of his solemn mouth gave him away.

"Ladies," he said, and held out a hand to
Sydney
. She accepted and got to her feet, dusting sand from the seat of her yellow bikini.

"Hello, Ray." Poe returned to reclining on her elbows. "It's nice to see you."

Sydney
wanted to roll her eyes. But then Ray said, "It's nice to be seen," and togged his glasses down enough to give Poe a wink.
Sydney
managed to resist smacking him on the shoulder. And then all she could do was let out a loud, "Whoop!" as Ray hoisted her into his arms and headed back for the lagoon to the tune of Poe's call of, "You two have fun!"

Ray glanced down at
Sydney
and raised a brow above the rims of his shades. "Your suit is waterproof, right?"

"It's a swimsuit, Ray. It's made to get wet." Oh, but he felt good. One arm around her back, the other beneath her legs, his chest warm and hard and solid at her shoulder. She laced her hands behind his neck and held on tightly, refusing to be alarmed by his grin, which was borderline dastardly.

The grin widened. "Just making sure it's not one of those fancy look-but-don't-touch numbers."

Please touch, she wanted to say, but instead, she waited for the dunking she was sure he'd give her. Surprisingly enough, he didn't. But what he did certainly grabbed her attention in ways a dunking would've failed to do.

He settled his body back into the center of the circular float and settled her body on top. The float was sturdy and easily held them both. Ray had once again draped his arms overhead, giving
Sydney
the broad expanse of his chest to lie back on.

She kept one hand on her stomach. The other she trailed over the side, dangling her fingers in the water. Her legs tangled in and out of Ray's, but it was her backside in the dip of his lap causing her the most grief. She wanted to wiggle. She wanted to be still. She wasn't sure which want she wanted the most.

"I've been thinking,
Sydney
."

Ray's voice rambled through her rib cage. She waited for the shudders to fade, savoring the deep echo before she replied, "That can be dangerous, you know."

"Watch it, woman. I can still change my mind about sharing this float."

"I don't remember asking to share your float."

They drifted silently for another moment or two, until
Sydney
started to wonder if she could maneuver with enough dexterity to dunk Ray while staying high and marginally dry. But she was enjoying his lap way too much to act on the renegade thought.

"Ray?"

"Hmm?"

"You've been thinking?"

"I've been thinking that you've been making promises you can't keep."

"Is that so?"

"Yep. It's so."

"I suppose you're talking about finding time for us to spend together?"

"That would be the one."

"Well, we're together now."

"We're together with Poe."

"Hmm,"
Sydney
mumbled, pulling her hand through the water enough to turn the float
beachward
. "Poe's gone."

"Yeah. Some friend you are, abandoning her like that."

"I got … an offer I couldn't refuse." She'd started to say, "a better offer," but had stopped the words before they'd rushed out. She wasn't sure why.

"Damn straight. And a better offer, at that."

"Oh, yeah? Says who?" She kicked her feet, splashing water over their legs.

"Says the man who wants to get you naked in the worst possible way."

"Oh. That man," Sydney said, barely able to get the words past the rush of desire working to close off her throat. Especially when she felt Ray begin to stir and harden further. Neither one of their suits was made of anything but the thinnest fabric, and he had to know she could feel him.

She wasn't sure what move to make next. And was glad when he let her off the hook. "We're three days into this trip,
Sydney
."

She sighed. "I know."

"And I'm usually a very patient man. But not this time. I've been waiting for you for eight years." He lowered one arm and splayed his hand flat across her belly. "Eight years is a helluva long time."

And didn't she know it. Waiting to touch him, to learn him, to know him. Waiting to have his hands on her body the way she had them now. "You're right. It has been. And you'd better be worth all this waiting."

Ray stilled beneath her. His second hand joined the first, both measuring the span of her stomach. And then he chuckled, and
Sydney
felt the tickle scuttle the length of her back.

"I could say the same thing to you."

"You could." She smiled to herself. "But you won't."

This time he laughed and the sound rolled up from deep in his belly. His hands squeezed her waist. "You know, Sydney Ford, there's one other thing I want to do in the worst possible way."

"You wouldn't dare," she said sensing that the time for that dunking had arrived.

"Oh, yeah?" he answered, and hoisted her, squealing, into the lagoon.

6

«
^
»

T
HE NEXT MORNING
found
Sydney
in high spirits. Between their impromptu water fights, she and Ray had floated away most of the previous afternoon at the south beach lagoon—at least until others had discovered their paradise and crashed their private party. Today she'd made an early escape, needing a breather from the constant company, time with her own thoughts, and hopefully time alone with Ray.

Listening to the summer thunderstorm rolling in from offshore,
Sydney
slowed her steps, enjoying the feel of the loose sand shifting beneath her feet and the sharp metallic bite to the air. Low-hanging clouds, bellies pregnant with rain, scudded in to obliterate the afternoon sun. But the breeze was still warm and soothing, and
Sydney
knew when the rain washed over the island, it would be warm, as well.

She so loved the heightened sense of calm before the storm. She rubbed her hands up and down her bare arms … not for warmth but because the electrical charge in the air tickled her skin. She wasn't sure she'd make it back to the villa before the storm broke, but halfway between here and there, on one of the island's two landscaped beaches, was an open-air pagoda sitting in a cluster of coconut palms.

She wasn't sure where the rest of the group would find shelter from the approaching
midday
cloudburst. Lauren and Anton had gone to the mainland with Menga Duarte this morning on the caretaker's trip for additional supplies. The couple had plans to tour several Mayan ruins and wouldn't have any trouble finding cover from the rain.

Sydney
wasn't sure if they were working to reconcile or if they'd only called a temporary truce. She supposed the reason for their togetherness wasn't half as important as the fact that they were together and, at least on some level, facing rather than avoiding the conflict keeping them apart. More than any couple she knew, those two belonged together, and she had her fingers crossed that her "butting in" would not go awry.

Doug, Jess, Kinsey and Poe had all gone snorkeling at the north end of the island. Apparently Doug was no longer waterlogged, because he couldn't wait to get wet. And scorched. He was definitely working on a major tan and the deep bronze of his skin was doing a fine job setting off the sheen of his sun-bleached hair. He wore the surfer look well. And Kinsey had not failed to take notice.

Jess and Poe were noticing each other, too. But after talking with Poe yesterday,
Sydney
wasn't sure all the noticing in the world would get either of them anywhere. Poe had seemed to quietly retreat, leaving Jess hanging in his own confusion with not much to say. What he did say was that he was having the time of his life, a time made even better without the added complication of having a woman along.
Sydney
doubted anyone believed him.

Sydney
didn't think Ray had accompanied the fun-loving group, though he had left the villa this morning around the same time. He hadn't had much of anything to say over breakfast. He hadn't really stayed for breakfast, as a matter of fact. For some reason yesterday's playful romp in the lagoon seemed to have changed things between them. But she couldn't put a finger on what. Or why.

He'd poured himself a cup of Auralie's coffee, grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl and then he'd walked down the length of the private pier, wearing a pair of bright orange board shorts and a sleeveless black T-shirt.
Sydney
had stood in the villa's front doorway and sipped her own coffee, wondering what he had on his mind.

She hadn't been able to gauge his mood, and that bothered her, distracted her, reminded her again how important it was that she keep their relationship confined to this island and, quite frankly, to sex. Nolan had taught her to put business before anything, if she expected to succeed, and never to make choices based on her heart, instead of her head.

She'd spent her life following her father's advice. Or at least she'd tried. For the most part, she'd succeeded. gIRL-gEAR spoke to her dedication and commitment and sound business plan. It was only last year that she'd stepped foot outside of her strictly drawn boundaries and gone to Nolan for personal reasons, emotional reasons. A mistake she should've known better than to make. One that had left her reeling, left her raw at his betrayal, left her sick at having let down a friend.

A fat drop of rain fell with a splat on her bare shoulder. A second followed, then a third, and the pagoda was still a hundred yards away. She wouldn't mind a thorough soaking, but she broke into a run, anyway, because running for shelter from the island's summer storms had always been a game she and her mother had played.

She hadn't thought of those happier times in far too long and was laughing when she reached the covered shelter and set about lowering the protective screens. She was on the back side of the three-walled enclosure when her laughter stilled, when her memories moved several years forward, when the rain and the isolation took on an ambiance of intimacy. Because jogging toward the pagoda from the other direction was Ray.

He ducked inside just as she let go of the last cord and the third screen rolled to the ground. They were both dripping wet and slightly out of breath.
Sydney
wasn't going to question serendipity. She was too glad to see him to analyze the way the Fates had come together. And she sure wasn't going to analyze why she was so glad.

"Hi," she said, shaking the water from her bare arms, wishing for a towel or even the dry hem of a shirt. But neither her bright yellow bikini top or her green-and-yellow drawstring shorts offered a solution. She settled for wiping the water away with her palms. "I thought maybe you'd ended up going snorkeling with the others."