Superb and Sexy.3 (17 page)

The storm had vanished as quickly as it’d come, leaving a yawning blue sky and warm, salty air blowing in from the ocean over the town of Nassau. Time to track down Leena. She took a quick shower and dressed, then knocked on the connecting door for Brody.

He answered, looking a little grumpy and still, a whole lot sexy.

Damn it.

He checked them out of the inn, drove them back to the docks, and then carrying both of their small overnight bags, walked in brooding silence with her to check on charter boat availability.

There were three companies. One was closed, the other two open, with none of them having a reservation in Leena’s name. Or any reservations, for that matter.

So Leena hadn’t called ahead, which meant all they could do now was wait.

At least the salty air was warm and calm and filled with the cries of seagulls nabbing their breakfast from the dock railings.

“You okay?” Brody asked after an hour.

“Yes.”

An hour later, he asked again.

“Where is she?”
It was after eight now. It’d take thirty minutes or more to get to Stone Cay. If she didn’t show soon, Leena would be late for Rick, something that just wasn’t done.

“Have you called her?” Brody asked.

“Once or a million times.”

In the time they’d been waiting, both of the available charter boats had gone out with paying customers, none of whom were Leena.

The third still wasn’t open.

Brody stared out at the ocean.

Maddie sighed. “I guess she didn’t come here after all—”

“Where is that boat from?”

Maddie focused in on where he was pointing, where she could see another charter coming in. “Hey!” she called to the captain on board. “Did you come from Stone Cay?”

“Je ne parle pas anglais.”

No English. And she had no French. “Stone Cay?” she asked, pointing out at sea.

He nodded and gestured them on board.

“The question is,” Brody murmured, holding her back from jumping onboard. “Is he saying he’ll take us there, or that he just came from there?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she decided. “She’s not here. And if he took her there…” Pulling free, she hopped to the boat.

He followed. “Maddie, listen to me. For all you know, he was stuck there overnight because of the storm, and he’s just now coming in.”

“Which means Leena’s been there too long.”

“Maddie—”

“You don’t have to come.”

“Fuck.”
He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Do you have a plan?”

“I always have a plan.” But she chewed on her lip, her mind racing. “Okay, I’m working on it.” They paid for the ride, and Maddie watched the winding canals vanish behind them, the miles and miles of fine white sand beach fading away, as well as the towering palms.

It was beautiful, she thought. Far too beautiful to have such grim memories attached to it all. “I can’t believe I’m going back.”

She didn’t realize she’d spoken out loud until she felt Brody at her side, arm to arm with her at the railing.

“That fun a place, huh?”

“You really shouldn’t have come, Brody. I’m not all that nice when I’m around family.”

“As opposed to the rest of the time?”

He was teasing her, but she shook her head. “I mean it. Leena got all the warmth and sweetness.”

“You’re not serious.”

When she remained silent, he tipped his head up skyward, then with a softly uttered “hell,” pulled her around to face him, then lifted her up against his chest so that her toes were dangling. Nose to nose with him, mouth to mouth, she opened hers to say something, except he stopped her with his lips. He kissed her hard and deep and wet, and she was shocked to find her arms entwining around his neck to hold on for more because oh God, did she want more.

She wanted it all.

She wanted everything they’d had last night and then again.

She wanted it because a small part of her wasn’t at all sure if she was going to be able to pull this off, and if she didn’t, she wanted something to remember. Wanted this to remember. So right there, with the sea breeze in her face and the salty, flowery scent of the islands all around, she slid her fingers into Brody’s hair, holding on for dear life to the only steady thing in her entire world.

With a low murmur, he backed her to the hull and pressed up more fully against her, freeing his hands to cup her face, his thumbs sweeping over her jaw on either side as his mouth plundered, using his tongue, his teeth, his entire body to kiss her.

Unbelievably, everything faded away—the swells slapping against the sides of the boat, the cries of the seagulls, the murmur of the two fishermen also on board, the heat of the sun beating down on their heads…the fact that she was going back to a place she’d promised herself she’d never, ever go again—all of it simply faded away in the face of this, in the face of what she felt for Brody, of what she was afraid she could still yet feel.

His hands slid down her body and then up again with the familiarity of a man who now knew her every curve and nuance. That was new and thrilling, but then he was slowly changing the pace of the kiss from deep and hungry to something lighter, sweeter, settling his hands on her hips instead of letting them roam over her, stoking fires. Then, only mouths lightly touching, they just breathed each other’s air…until finally, he lifted his head.

Ridiculously breathless, she stared at him. “What was that?”

“Me proving how warm and sweet you can be.”

“That wasn’t sweet.”

“Felt like it to me.”

“Your sweet meter is off.”

“Maybe it’s been off since you had me strip you out of your clothes at the cabin.”

“Stop it.”

He shrugged. “Or it might have been last night when I had you all wet and naked in bed.”

“That was a fluke.” She pointed at him. “I’m serious. No more thinking about wet and naked.”

“Fine.”

“Great.”

“Yeah, great.” But he let out a breath and shook his head. “Shit. That’s not great at all. Not anywhere close.”

Why that caused a little shiver of anticipation to race down her spine, she had no idea at all because she meant it. No more thinking it, no more doing it.

“Is that it? Stone Cay?” He was staring out at the faint outline of an island.

At the thought, her heart sank to her gut.

Stone Cay. “There it is.” She concentrated on the choppy ride, waiting as the island got bigger and bigger—her first view of her childhood home in ten years.

The island was low lying, composed of coral and limestone. Its highest point wasn’t even five hundred feet above sea level, and the island was covered in woodlands and surrounded by gorgeous, bright white beaches. The sea around it was shallow and clear for as far as the eye could see. As they moved closer, the subtropical exotic growth and flora became more visible. Lush, vibrant colors bloomed on the bushes and scented the air.

As there had been ten years ago, there was a dock with a wide, white beach sprawling out for several hundred yards before vanishing beneath heavy jungle growth. Straight back from the dock lay a road, obviously tended to but empty.

No sign of another soul, and certainly, no Leena.

Not good. Maddie hesitated, then got off the boat to look around.

“Maddie—”

“Hang on. I’m looking for—” Fresh tire tracks. But before she could say so, she heard an engine.

“Maddie.” Clearly hearing it too, Brody jumped off the boat as well, just as a Jeep came down the road toward them.

Recognizing trouble when she saw it, Maddie grabbed Brody’s hand and whirled back to the boat but skidded to a halt at a very unwelcome sight—the charter speeding off back toward open sea.

Maddie could only stand there and stare at it, feeling the bottom drop out of her stomach. “He wasn’t supposed to do that.”

“No,” Brody said, calm. “He wasn’t.”

Calm was good. She felt his hand at the small of her back. “Breathe,” he murmured in her ear. “You’re not breathing.”

No, she wasn’t.

The Jeep parked, and the driver got out.

Standing at her side, gaze on the Jeep’s driver, Brody kept his hand on Maddie’s back. “Let’s get this over with and get back to the fun stuff,” he murmured for her ears alone.

“What’s that?”

“Anything to do with getting wet and naked.”

“Leena,” Man In Black said.

Maddie blinked and glanced at Brody. Leena?

“You’re late. You know Rick hates late.” He looked at Brody. “Who’s this, the husband?”

Maddie swallowed. “Uh—”

Man In Black raised a brow, waiting.

“Could—” Maddie licked her suddenly dry lips. “Could we have a moment?” She waggled a finger between her and Brody.

Man In Black nodded curtly and leaned back on the Jeep, arms over his massive chest, face impassive.

Maddie pulled Brody a few feet away for some dubious privacy. “He thinks I’m Leena,” she hissed.

“Actually…” Brody glanced at the guy. “I’m not sure he thinks at all. You see the size of his neck? It’s got to be ten times the size of his brain.”

“Leena didn’t come,” she whispered, both relieved and terrified.

“Yeah.” Brody cut his gaze to the empty dock. “But we did.”

“Yeah.”

“And the charter’s gone.”

Which really sucked. “Which leaves us at their mercy.”

“Okay, I really hate the sound of that.”

She did, too. “I have to be Leena.” She looked at him. “It’s the only way.”

“What?
No.”

“Well, I can’t be me!” she whispered harshly. “Don’t you see? If I’m Leena, all Rick wants from me is some work, and then I’m free to leave again, assuming I convince him I’m not running away.”

“Jesus. This is suicidal. You know that.”

“What choice do we have? The boat’s gone. If I’m Maddie, well…I think that might be a bit of a health hazard for me.”

He swore beneath his breath. “Your life is too complicated.”

“I told you!”

Brody looked over at MIB again. “Christ, I’m crazy for agreeing to let you do this.”

They had no choice. None at all. Brody wore tan khakis and a white shirt. His eyes were a cool, give-away-nothing gray, and his wind-tousled hair fell carelessly across his forehead. Did he look like a husband? Her husband? She hoped so, because holy mother of God, he was who he was and didn’t do pretense for anyone.

“I’m not going to screw anything up,” he said, obviously reading her mind. “I know what we have to do.”

Well, she was glad someone did, because she didn’t. She was putting him directly in danger, and the thought wasn’t an easy one. If anything happened to him, if anything at all went wrong, she’d never forgive herself.

Never. “Remember,” she hissed. “I’m—”

“Yeah, yeah. You Leena. Me ball and chain. Got it.”

“No.” She was doggedly determined to make sure he had everything straight. “She’s different than me. I’ll be different. I’ll be quiet. Demure.”

“Your virtual opposite, you mean?” He put his hands on her arms and looked into her eyes. “I get it.”

“Do you? Because Leena wouldn’t marry a scowling badass. You need to act…beta.”

“Beta?”

“Yeah. Easygoing. Laid-back…”

“That’ll be new,” he admitted.

“Can you try for…refined?”

He let out a low laugh. “I’ve never been refined, not from the day I was born in the gutter or the day I crawled out of it.”

She stared at him as he put his sunglasses on his nose and said nothing else. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you weren’t—”

“Hey, no use fighting the truth, right? We both know what I am and what I’m not. Let’s just do this.”

Yes, they needed to do this. But she was realizing something about the tall, tough, enigmatic man in front of her. He wasn’t one-hundred-percent badass at all, and that brief flash of vulnerability had just proven it. “Brody, about that refined thing—”

“Let it go.”

“I’m really sorry—”

“Jesus.” He took her hand. “What does let it go mean?”

Odd how she suddenly wanted to hug him, which would have to wait. For now, she squeezed his fingers, hoping she was imparting some comfort.

His big, warm hand closed on hers, but he said nothing, whatever he was thinking lost behind his reflective sunglasses. His hair was blowing back, his shirt billowing out, and she took a good long look, struck by what he was doing for her. Without question, he’d put himself on the line. He had doubts, lots of them, but that hadn’t stopped him from being here for her.

And she had to admit, it was a bit staggering. Suddenly, she wished she’d spent all of last night in his arms, that at the very least, she’d kissed him for longer when she’d had the chance on the charter boat.

That she hadn’t yelled at him.

Eyes on the man at the Jeep waiting for them, Brody lifted their joined hands to his mouth.

Had he read her mind and was offering genuine comfort? Or had he just begun the acting portion of the program and was simply playing her husband?

Then he turned his head, lifted his glasses, and met her gaze, his own steady and sure. “You okay?”

She swallowed the unexpected and slightly horrifying lump in her throat. “Always.”

He smiled, the one she’d seen a thousand times over the past year. The one that said he was on top of his world and knew it, the one that said that on his watch, nothing would go wrong.

He was truly there for her, and for that moment, Maddie couldn’t seem to muster up Leena’s persona, not to save her life. For that one beat, she was Maddie, just Maddie, and she could only stare at him, wanting him, caring about him, completely overcome with emotion and desperately trying to beat it back.

God, she needed a grip, a big one. “Brody?” she whispered.

“Yes?” His mouth quirked again.
“Wife?”

Was it wrong that from deep, deep down came a longing and a yearning she couldn’t explain, except that for the first time in her life, she liked the sound of that W word?

Wife
.

Clearly, she was losing her mind. She looked out at the water. “This island, this compound…it was my childhood home.”

“You’ve said.”

“It wasn’t a happy place.”