Lag (The boys of RDA #2)(3)
Flustered by my reaction to him, I almost forget I elbowed the poor guy in the junk. I bet his memories from today will be much different than mine. The grim thought forces my smile to fall and our faces match when I look up again. I need to get out of here.
“I’m so sorry, again. I wasn’t paying attention.”
Although he’s no longer using me to keep himself standing, his hand still rests on my knee almost hovering above. His body still blocks my escape.
“No, it’s okay.” He smirks and his head moves to look at where his hand is still on my knee. “There’s more than one person out there who would tell you I deserve it. They’d probably applaud you.”
It’s noon, in August, in the Bahamas, but my body temperature spikes from the sound of his deep voice. My face heats and I hope he thinks it’s from embarrassment not the hormones he’s produced in me.
“Can I buy you new drinks? You’re wearing half of yours.”
I follow his eyes to the three cups on the bar and notice they’re lower in liquid by about a third each. Alcohol isn’t included in our all-inclusive package and gets pricey, but I don’t feel right about the guy replacing them when I almost neutered him.
“Oh no.” I grab all three glasses in the same hold as before and try to stand from my stool, but again he doesn’t take the hint and step back. “Excuse me.”
My words are soft, but his chest tightens as I speak them. “Right. Well, enjoy the rest of your vacation.” He crosses his arms, disrupting my view of his muscled torso, and steps away from my stool no longer hampering my cowardly retreat.
CHAPTER TWO
Elena slips down the hallway from the suite we share with our parents. Her short green dress shifts with each step and I worry for a moment about letting her out like this. How often do cute, blonde, American girls get kidnapped on vacation? I can’t let anything happen to my baby sister.
“Elena! Hold up. I’ll come with you,” I call to her as loudly as I’m comfortable with, which isn’t much since I don’t want to risk one of our parents hearing.
Elena turns back to me and cocks her head to the side as she sizes me up. “You aren’t dressed for the club and Dad will figure it out if you go back in now,” she loudly whispers back.
I steal a quick peek at my outfit as if I’ve forgotten what I have on. Am I in pajamas? My dark colored skinny jeans with sandals and a pink tank top isn’t horrible, but maybe not dance club material either. Not that I have any desire to go to a dance club. God, am I that old? I sound like a twenty-six-year-old grandmother.
“I’ll sit at the regular bar, it’ll be fine.” I try to reassure us both and walk in her direction.
The elevator takes us down four floors before depositing us in the massive lobby. The grandiose circular room with white stone pillars sculpted into a combination of fish and seashells looks the same at this later hour as it did this afternoon, but less people mill about the area. Our sandaled feet create a steady click against the marble floor. It’s almost peaceful rather than rushed like other times I’ve been here. I follow my sister to the left passing between two of the large columns set in a circle in the middle of the room.
Once we’re out in the open night air, the steady thump of the nearby club pulses through my body and my heart jumps with the beat. I won’t set one foot in there. Yup, it’s official, I’m old. Elena continues toward the club doors. Her hips swing more than they did in the hallway upstairs.
“I’ll be over here.” I point in the direction of the quieter area to my left, but she doesn’t look back, signaling her understanding with a wave above her head before passing through the two tall light brown club doors.
“Children these days. No respect,” a deep voice speaks behind me and the sound crawls up my skin, heating it in a familiar way.
I turn but can’t make out the person. The speaker’s face is hidden in the shadows. He’s stretched out on one of several white leather couches spaced around an outside fire pit. His feet, one crossed over the other, lazily perch on the edge of the stone circular pit as if it was there solely for his amusement.
Pure curiosity causes me to step closer. The small fire in front of him aligns with my new angle and grants a better view. I gasp when I recognize him, which causes a small laugh to escape his lips. Lips I’d planned to fantasize about back in the safety of my New York apartment.
The stranger I almost de-balled this afternoon grins at me from his place on the couch. The fire casts moving shadows on his face that could paint him with sinister traits if this were a horror movie, but I cross my fingers and bank on something more along the lines of the Hallmark channel as I go and sit on the couch. I’m beside him, but as far to the other end as physically possible.
I don’t realize he didn’t ask me to sit with him until I already am, and I panic for a moment, my eyes searching out an approaching girlfriend. Being this close to his chiseled jaw gives me mini eye orgasms. There’s no way this man isn’t already taken.
Almost as if he senses my discomfort, he sinks deeper into his corner of the couch and throws an arm across the back. The top half of his body is covered by a thin button down blue striped shirt, the sleeves up to his elbows. The wind creates a slight dip in the temperature at night here and while he’d be too hot during the day, it’s perfect for these cooler evenings.