Player: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (61 page)

“
W
here exactly are we going
?”

Dios fucking mio, this girl asks a lot of fucking questions.

“Away from the men trying to kill you.”

“Us.”

“What?”

“Us,” She gives me a hard look; “They're trying to kill
us
.”

I laugh; “Princess, they're trying to kill
you
; they're only after me because I was a fucking idiot and stuck my nose where it didn’t belong.”

She says nothing and turns to look out the side window of the cabin.

“Yeah,
you're welcome
, by the way;
again
.”

“Thanks,” she mutters as her hand tightens on the gun. It's kind of hilarious to me that she's still hanging on to it like that, considering we
both
know it’s not loaded now. But whatever; it seems to make her feel like she’s in charge, so fine.

My eyes travel up from her clenched hand to her smooth arm, then up to her bare shoulders and across that exposed collarbone to the swell of her breasts. I mean this chick is a fucking
knockout
. Killer smile, bright blue eyes, tanned skin, and that white bikini and sarong which is doing
everything
right to show off that perfect body with curves in all the right places. I mean,
damn,
if i'd known the C.I.A. made spooks like her, I'd have gone looking for trouble a long time ago.

Get your head in the game, Javier
, I mutter to myself, shaking my head and dragging my eyes away from the temptation sitting at the helm next to me.
Not
the girl I should be thinking about like that, or looking at like that. She may be sexy as sin, but
fuck
, she's the enemy here. This is the
C.I.A.
, for fuck’s sake; not to mention her fucking family and all their little
helpers
are the ones that got me stuck in that hellhole of a prison in the first place. She might be tempting as all hell, but I'd be a Goddamn idiot to let my guard down around her.

“So what did those
banditos
want with you back there.”

“What? I have no idea.” she spits out, frowning at me.

Nice fuckin attitude.

“
No
idea?” I laugh; “The 'I'
does
stand for '
intelligence'
, doesn't it?”

“Cute,” She sneers at me; “Seriously though, where are we going.”

“I know a place.”

“
A place
?”

“Maybe you just gotta trust me, honey.” I say with a grin.

She barks out a sharp laugh this time, though she doesn't say anything afterwords, which pisses me off.

“I used to smuggle through here, way back. Aruba's got all sorts of hidden little spots on the coast where we can dodge the heat.”

“Fine, and once we're there, we're getting a phone and I'm calling this in.”

Yeah, whatever you say, baby.

Because I know the patch insignia on the flak jackets of the guys at the marina. I know that logo, because I used to wear it myself.

And what the fuck
Blackriver Mercenary Group
wants with Chelsea Archer, I haven't the slightest fucking idea.

* * *

“
W
e're going
to need to lie low for at least the night.”

I've gotten the boat to a stop near the mouth of the all but hidden cove I remember from my smuggling days. Really, “smuggling days” sounds way more badass than it actually was; cigarettes and American copies of Playboy Magazine for off-duty U.S. Navy guys isn't exactly narco-trafficking; not like my father.

Chelsea looks up at me sharply. She's still holding that stupid unloaded gun, which is becoming more and more comical by the moment; “We're not
staying the night
anywhere, Toro. We're getting to the airport, I'm calling Langley, and we're taking you in.” She narrows her eyes at me; “But nice try.”

“Yeah, that’s a no-can-do.” When she flashes those eyes at me again and starts to open her mouth, it suddenly occurs to me that she doesn't have
any idea
who was just after her; “You know I’m not the bad guy here,
babe
.”

She laughs; “You don't seriously believe that, do you?”

There's something about the way she thinks this is all a joke that gets right under my skin; “I'm not the-”

“You kidnapped my sister and you-”

“She stabbed me in the neck.”

“
You kidnapped. My. Sister
.” Her voice is level at me, her jaw tight and that wild, dangerously
sexy look writ large across her face. I
hate
to admit that she brings up a fair point, but my scar still throbs under the ink on my neck. That was another lifetime ago, another cycle in the ever evolving, swirling, constantly chaotic bullshit life of Javier Toro.

I don't say a word though, outside of grumbling, as I turn back to the drive console.

Chelsea sighs behind me; “Look, thank you, ok?”

“For?”

“For intervening back there at the pool.  I- I wasn't paying attention at all.”

I turn back to her, a big shit-eating grin on my face; “
See?
Now was that so hard, princess?”

She rolls her eyes and looks away; “Just take the fucking gratitude, Toro.”

“Look can you not call me that?”

“What, your name?” Chelsea frowns at me again; “Oh, what, are we on a first-name basis now?”

Keep up that attitude, honey.

“People who call me that are usually people like jail guards or police or whatever. It rubs me the wrong way.”

“Well, I
am
the police.”

I shrug; “I mean,
sort of
. Look, just stick with Javier and we’ll be fine.”

Her eyes roll; “Fine,
Javier
,” She says dramatically.

Satisfied, I turn back to the steering column and start reaching underneath for the wiring; “So what were you reading?”

“Huh?” I can hear her pacing the cabin behind me. She's fidgety, usually the mark of impatience. I can tell she's someone used to having a
plan
; someone used to sticking to a schedule. That she has no idea what’s coming next, or that I'm making this up as I go probably has her panties in
such
a twist.

I grin to myself; I probably shouldn't be thinking about this chick’s panties in any capacity, but damn is it fun.

“Back at the pool, you were reading something.”

She stops pacing behind me; “You saw that?”

I smirk up at her over my shoulder; “Yeah I was checking you out from my balcony for like half an hour before those assholes showed up.”

She blushes, and looks away, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. She might be the law, and she might still be holding a gun - however unloaded it may be - but
damn
is she sexy as
fuck
standing there in her white bikini hugging every curve of that hot little body. Her sarong is even half-transparent, especially with the light from cabin door coming in behind her. It takes me a second longer than it should to realize I'm letting my eyes wander freely over her body in a pretty obvious way. I glance up, just in time for her eyes to lock with mine, and that blush creeps back into her face.

“Um, do you have a
shirt
or something?” She crosses her arms over the swell of her tits, biting her lip.

I smirk and look down at my own bare chest; “Nope.”

Get your fucking head in the game, amigo.

I turn my head quickly, shaking the thoughts of Chelsea Archer's perfect bikini out of my head as I start to rip out the panel under the steering column.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

I shrug as I start to yank wiring out; “They're going to track the boat, you know. We need to ditch it.” I turn back to her, unable to resist a little probing dig; “I mean, you
did
know that, right super-spy?” She frowns at me again, and in spite of how childish it is to needle her like this, it's pretty fucking fun too.

“I'm deactivating the cruise-control lock. We’re going to send this baby off on it’s own as bait.”

“How do you even know how to do that?”

I turn back to her, flashing my most charming smile as I look up into her face; “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

* * *

A
nd really
, there’s a lot about me that agent blondie probably doesn't want to know, even if she thinks she does. I rev the outboard engine of the dingy, motoring us to through the rocks to the hidden cove as the yacht plows off behind us under autopilot into the horizon.

She may
think
she's curious about me - a lot of people are at first. But the reality isn't a movie. I’m not a fucking character in some script, and my life does not have a pleasant little story arc with a happy fucking ending. It's just broken, shattered, and littered with the bones of those who've tried to “know me” before.

Yeah princess, there’s
nothing
you want to know about me; trust me.

I
hate this
.

I do
plans
. I do thinking ahead, sticking to the rules, and coloring inside the lines, and right now, we are everything
but
any of those things. OK, sure, we have a “plan” in that Javier thinks our best bet is to lie low here on the beach tonight to let the heat of the men looking for us cool off a little. But see,
that’s
the problem; it’s
Javier’s
plan, and I’m not sure I want anything to do with anything that comes out of that man’s head.

I’m pretty sure I don’t want anything to do with
any
part of that man, actually.

But here I am camping on the beach with him, and trying to keep my cool and my head focused, which is getting harder by the moment. Javier’s playing a game here; I know it, and I can’t let my guard down. Part of me is shocked he’s even still here to be honest. I’d spent most of the dingy ride to the beach wondering what on Earth I was going to do to stop him when he inevitably bolted the second we hit the shore.

But here we are a few hours later, and he’s still here; bewildering as it may be.

“Dinner is served.” I look up and jerk my hands up suddenly to catch the piece of fruit Javier tosses my way; “Mangos,” He grins at me; “Sorry, looks like I forgot the china plates and serving wenches you’re probably used to, princess.”

“Will you quit calling me that?” I frown at him, peeling at the skin of the mango with my fingernails.

“Hey, if the shoe fits, right?” He smirks at me, flashing that cocky, toothy smile my way. I can’t tell if that grin annoys me because it gets right under my skin, or if it’s because part of me is
OK
with it being there.

“You don’t know a thing about me, actually.”

He snorts; “Please, I can see the silver spoon stuck up that cute little ass of yours from over here.” I frown as I take an angry bite of my mango, not even sure how to respond to that.

We sit without talking for a few minutes, just staring out over what is honestly a
gorgeous
sunset over the ocean. It’s beautiful, even if I can’t quite enjoy it as much as I’d like to considering our current situation and who I’m watching it with. I still can’t believe I’m here; here literally on this beach with Javier and my original plan in tatters around me, as well as “here” generally speaking as in the mission itself. Clearly, I’m not qualified for this, and I’m positive now that Koufax’s only motivation for volunteering me for  it was to humiliate me and wreck my career before I could even get anywhere.

Asshole.

I throw the last of my mango peel away and wrap my arms around my knees as I hug them to my chest. The sun dips a little lower over the horizon and I shiver at the hint of night-time chill that teases up my bare back.

“I’d build us a fire, but I think it’s best to stay on the low tonight.” Javier’s looking at me, clearly having seen the shiver.

“I’m fine.”

“You can come over here and sit by me you know,” He grins that arrogant smile at me and pats his lap; “I won’t bite.”

I frown at him and hug my knees tighter; “Yeah, uh,
no
thank you.”

He rolls his eyes; “I’m just messing with you. Seriously, come sit over here and you’ll be a lot warmer.”

“I’m fine.”

Javier shrugs; “Your call, spy-girl; you’re the boss.”

Right.

“So we’re really here all night?” The idea of camping out sans-campfire, shelter, food, or really anything to even sleep on is starting to become less and less appealing the darker it gets.

Javier nods; “Yup. We should stay out of sight.”

Great; super
. As postcard-perfect of a scene this would look like to an outsider, I know that this is
hardly
the “hot Latin guy on a beach fantasy” it might look like. I’m pretty sure that fantasy doesn’t involve being on the lam from guys with guns, nor does it involve the hot Latin guy being the last man on Earth you want anything to do with.

Javier stretches out, his muscled, tattooed torso rippling in the low light of the last glimmers of sunset. I blush and quickly look away as I catch myself following the grooves of those chiseled abs down further than I should.

Keep your head focused, girl
. His being criminally good looking with that sinfully delicious body is all just part of his wickedness; I’m sure of it. He’s the snake
and
the fruit in the garden. He’s temptation and ruin wrapped up in this impossibly and wholly inappropriately attractive package, and I need to remember who he
really
is.

Javier gets up from the sand and walks to the tree-line a few feet away. I’m about to ask what the heck he’s doing when I suddenly hear a
very
distinctive sound of water hitting sand.

Is he fucking PEEING right in front of me?

“Are you
serious
right now?”

Javier starts laughing with his back to me; “What?”

“Do you
mind?
” I huff, wrinkling my nose at him; “Can’t you go further into the trees or something?”

He shrugs, still chuckling; “Thought you wanted to keep an eye on me.” He turns his head slightly and flashes a grin at me in the moonlight.

“I-” I stumble; “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

His shorts are slung low, and the soft glow of the moon traces shadows and valleys over the fine grooved muscles of his back, and the curve of his
extremely
sculpted ass.

God, what is wrong with you, girl?

“You want me to come closer so you can get a better look?”

I jerk my eyes up to see Javier looking right at me over his shoulder, a smug look on his face.

“No, that’s
quite
alright.”

Is he STILL peeing?

He raises his hands up in the air, though I can still hear his stream on the sand; “I’m hands-off, princess. You can come shake it off it for me; you’re the boss after all.”

“Oh fuck off.”

He chuckles as he finishes and tucks himself back into his shorts before he turns and saunters back over towards me. I shiver again as I catch myself staring up into his dark eyes; this time, it’s not from the temperature.

“Offer still stands if you want to keep warm, babe.” He winks, those smoky eyes of his glinting temptation and all sorts of wrong.

“No, thank you.” I say quietly but firmly. I just need to focus through tomorrow, and getting him into custody; that’s it. And after that, I can go back to my normal life and go have all the hot Latin guy fantasies I want
alone
and away from this man.

I just need to get through tomorrow.

Javier lies back on the sand, his hands behind his head as he closes his eyes and shifts into a comfortable position. He’s quiet for a minute and I curl up on my side in the sand, watching him, before a grin spreads across his lips; “You can close your eyes and get some sleep, Agent.” His grin widens as I blush, somehow feeling caught even though his eyes are closed; “I’m not going anywhere, and I’ll be sure to wake you if I need a hand taking a piss again.”

He snorts a laugh before he settles back into the sand. I watch for another few minutes, still blushing in the darkness until I see his chest start to rise and fall with his steady breathing.

I just need to get through tomorrow.