Any Way You Want It (Brand Clan #2)(2)

Of course he had. He’d always been sharply observant, a trait that had served him well as a SEAL commando. So well, in fact, that his teammates had often teased him about having eyes in the back of his head. Nothing escaped his detection.

Unnerved by the thought—and annoyed with herself for not owning a damn eReader—Zandra shifted uncomfortably on her chair. “The book’s great. I’m just reading slow, savoring every word.”

“Uh-huh.” Remy wore a small, lazy smile that made her wonder whether he’d caught her watching him while he swam.

“I’ve also been enjoying the scenery,” she hastened to add.

His smile deepened, but all he said was, “It is beautiful.”

For a moment they gazed across the shimmering expanse of the Caribbean Sea, which was rimmed by lush, palm-fringed bays and towering emerald mountains. A distant sailboat drifted lazily across the horizon, and bright sunlight glinted off the frothy waves lapping the shore. To their right, perched on a cliff overlooking the water, was the luxury resort where Zandra and Remy were staying, along with several members of his family.

“Man, it feels like paradise out here,” Remy murmured.

“Mmm,” Zandra agreed, thinking of how she’d had to be coerced into coming on the trip.

Three weeks ago she’d been a bridesmaid for her friend, Lena, who’d married Remy’s twin brother, Roderick. The couple had surprised everyone by inviting their families to join them in St. Lucia at the end of their Caribbean honeymoon. The invitation had included Zandra, who’d been excited at the prospect of spending five relaxing days on a gorgeous tropical island. That is, until she realized that she would be in close quarters with Remy—the very thing she’d been trying to avoid.

She’d regretfully told Lena and Roderick that she couldn’t make it, blaming her busy workload. But Roderick, like his twin, had never learned to take no for an answer. He’d badgered Zandra for days, reminding her that she’d always accompanied his family on vacations when they were growing up. Though she’d tried to resist, he’d made her nostalgic for those boisterously chaotic road trips aboard the Brands’ Winnebago. When he sensed her resolve weakening, Roderick had gone for the kill by enlisting his grandmother’s help, because he knew that Zandra could never refuse the beloved family matriarch.

So there she was lounging on a sun-drenched beach beside a man who’d gone from being her childhood playmate to the star of her most illicitly erotic fantasies.

Frowning, she pushed her sunglasses off her face and set aside her book. As long as Remy was around, trying to read was absolutely pointless.

“I thought you were going sightseeing with the others,” she grumbled.

He chuckled softly at her disgruntled tone. “Nah, I changed my mind.”

“Why?”

One broad shoulder lifted in a shrug. “Didn’t seem right to leave you here alone.”

“I wouldn’t have complained,” Zandra muttered.

“Maybe not verbally, but you might have cried yourself to sleep at night, thinking of how I’d callously abandoned you.”

Zandra couldn’t help laughing. “In your dreams!”

He grinned, flashing a set of straight white teeth. He was so devastatingly handsome he took her breath away.

“Excuse me, Mr. Brand?”

A young woman had appeared, balancing a drink on a small tray. Her tropical shirt and khaki shorts easily identified her as a resort employee.

She smiled shyly as she handed the cocktail to Remy. “For you, sir. From the woman in yellow at the bar.”

Zandra followed Remy’s gaze across the beach to the cabana where an attractive, leggy woman sat alone at the counter watching him. When their eyes connected, she smiled alluringly and raised her own glass in a small toast.

Lips curving in a lazy smile, Remy winked at her.

Seeing the way Zandra’s eyes narrowed, the resort employee gave her an apologetic look. “She assumed you two weren’t together.”

“Is that so?” Zandra said coolly. “And what made her assume that?”

The young woman looked uncomfortable. “Your body language, ma’am. She said you seemed to be, um, hiding yourself from Mr. Brand.”

Zandra’s face flamed. She shot a glance at Remy, whose dark eyes were glittering with laughter as he brought the glass to his mouth and drank.

“Mmm, that’s good. What is it?” he asked the departing employee.

She smiled over her shoulder. “A Hole in One.”

Remy laughed.

But Zandra wasn’t amused.

“On second thought.” She snatched the glass out of Remy’s hand, looked toward the cabana and met the bar floozy’s gaze. As the other woman watched, Zandra raised the drink to her lips and took a long sip, then deliberately licked her lips and mouthed, Delicious. Thanks.

The woman smirked, her eyes flashing with challenge.

Zandra should have stopped right there. She’d made her point and had nothing more to prove. But something came over her, some reckless impulse that had her jumping up and standing over Remy’s chair.

He stared up at her. “What—”

“Shut up.”

His eyes widened in surprise as she lowered herself onto him, straddling his hard, muscular thighs. The moment she felt the thick, rigid bulge between his legs, she knew she’d made a big mistake. But it was too late to backtrack.