The Espionage Effect(2)
Two quick steps up led us into a limestone-tiled entry hall. Farther ahead, at the end of a forty-foot breezeway, a larger archway framed the brilliant turquoise of the Caribbean Sea.
We skirted an enormous round wooden table that stood in the center of the entryway of a spacious building that exuded a stately Spanish-mansion ambiance. As we reached the table’s widest point, Anna nudged my shoulder, whispering. “Leave all that ‘choose a major’ shit behind.” She referenced the most recent reason I’d voiced that I needed a break. “Live a little.” She stared hard at me, a single eyebrow arched high. “Or a lot.” She gave a pointed nod, gaze flicking forward toward the right.
A gorgeous man walked from an indoor bar into the breezeway, the target of her thinly veiled hint.
“Do you ever not see men as playthings?” I murmured on a headshake.
“When one doesn’t want commitment, that’s what men are. Need I remind you of your recent pledge to honor that philosophy?”
Right. On the flight over, I’d agreed to have wild sex with unknown men just to placate her. With a heavy sigh, already regretting my promise as my gaze rolled up toward the ceiling, I caught sight of two male staff members in white uniforms, both perched precariously on a ladder positioned ahead of us a quarter turn around the table. The man on the highest wooden rung held a delicate bell-shaped glass globe between his fingertips and leaned with a soft grunt while he struggled to reach a naked unlit bulb hanging toward the center.
Unable to stop the chain reaction, I paused midstride, predicting in a fraction of a heartbeat the disaster about to unfold. The distance between his reach and his target were disproportionate. Already his short arm trembled from exertion as his muscles expended every ounce of energy they had toward their unachievable goal.
Focus sharpening, zooming in on every minuscule detail in an instant, my mind’s eye saw the result before it happened. Without thought, I lunged forward, extending my arm. His fingertips flattened, causing the weight of the globe to part from his hold.
Its cool glass hit my splayed hand a split second later.
Then in continued fluid motion, I spun around, bracing the ladder with my other hand as the wild-eyed maintenance worker flailed his arms, nearly causing both men to topple to the ground.
“?Se?orita! ?Perdón!” Additional incomprehensible Spanish words gushed from their lips.
When they’d stopped verbally castrating themselves and put their feet on solid ground again, I unaffectedly handed them back their globe with a nod and a gentle smile.
“Damn.” Anna grabbed my hand and yanked me forward. “I never get used to you doing that.”
The odd superhero-like gift had become second nature. With a tested IQ of 162 and an eidetic memory, my brain worked like a supercomputer when triggered. Combined with a body honed by varsity volleyball and many other physical pursuits, I often thwarted accidents before they had a chance to happen.
“Oooph!” My shoulder collided into a rock-solid wall before I’d fully spun forward again. “Oh! I’m so…sorry.” Bumbling out words, I shot my hands up, nearly knocking a coffee mug out of a man’s hand.
My breath caught when I registered my palms had landed on a hard chest underneath a blue silk shirt. Heat shot through my fingertips, seared along the skin where my forearm rested along his.
I exhaled a measured breath through pursed lips as my face tilted upward.
Black hair. Dark eyes. Tall. Muscular.
The breathtaking man—the gorgeous man who’d earlier entered from the bar—gave me a penetrating look for a beat longer before his free hand wrapped around my upper arm. He said nothing as his jaw clenched, thick-lashed eyes narrowing. Then he eased his grip, took a step back after he appeared satisfied that I wouldn’t topple over without his support, and turned away, heading in the direction from where Anna and I had just come from.
Thoroughly disoriented, I stared after him while my pulse raced, my breaths shortened, and my skin tingled, like every cell in my body had suddenly become attuned to his presence. The breadth of his shoulders and his laid-back but confident gait held my full attention until he disappeared around the corner.
Blinking at the unexpected effect one man instantly had on me, I glanced toward Anna. Then my awareness broadened to the handful of hotel staff who’d gathered at a ten-foot perimeter and the sprinkling of guests who hovered in the corners beyond. Evidently my instinctual rescue, and the maintenance workers’ subsequent reactions, had ignited an excited commotion enough to cause bystanders to linger out of idle curiosity.
“Mmm-hmm…” Anna continued, as if an entire hazardous detour hadn’t interrupted her. “Maroma Beach is the ultimate. Plenty of…playthings.” She smirked as naughtiness twinkled in her eyes.
Exasperated by her incessant prodding toward all things sexual, I roped an arm around her shoulder and we resumed our course, heading toward a young woman dressed in a rainbow-colored flowing skirt and four-inch wedge espadrilles. She stood at the podium beneath the archway with a wide smile on her face.
“Buenos días,” she greeted with a nod of her head.
Due to my limited Spanish—languages not being a desired skill until our flight over with brief audio lessons complements of Rosetta Stone—and to convey my communication preference, I held up my index and middle fingers, speaking in clear English, “Two.”