Mary Baxter - In Hot Water

“Fancy us meeting like this,” he said, his tone sarcastic. “I see it as one of those meant-to-be things.”

Maci glared at him. She’d be damned if she was going to let him stroll down memory lane. Their past was off-limits.

“Yes, fancy that.” She heard the defiant note in her tone as their eyes met.

The effect was galvanizing.

Maci sucked in her breath, and he cursed. Later she didn’t know who turned away first. At the time, she didn’t care. For her own self-preservation, she couldn’t have looked at him another second. “Look, I know this…us…is awkward, but—”

“I thought about trying to find you.”

Her heart skipped several beats and she tried to avert her gaze, but found that she couldn’t. “Holt—”

“Holt, what?” His tone thickened. “Don’t say what’s been on my mind for two years.”

“Stop it,” she muttered tersely, leaning closer as though fearing someone would hear their conversation. “I told myself I wouldn’t let you dredge up the past.”

“Too late, honey. The past has slam-dunked us both.”

www.mirabooks.co.uk

To Warren and Wayne Elledge

for all their invaluable help.

Thanks, guys!

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Epilogue

She knew she shouldn’t be dancing so intimately with a complete stranger.

And she shouldn’t be enjoying it, especially when there was no music. But she was. His strong arms and callused hands were like nothing she’d ever experienced.

Still, this was crazy behavior. She’d come on a mission to this Jamaican paradise, but it wasn’t to get involved with a man.

“You feel so right in my arms,” he whispered against her ear.

Each touch, each caress made her burn inside.

He chuckled. “Cat got your tongue?

“Yes.” Her breathing quickened. “I mean no.”

He laughed even as he pulled her closer, their bodies swaying in the light breeze. In the distance, she could hear the ocean raising as much havoc as her heart.

She had seen him the first day she and her three friends had arrived on the island. He had intrigued her immediately. He wasn’t classically handsome. His shoulders were broader and his arms more muscular than those of any man she knew. His abs were cut to perfection. Rugged was an apt description. She figured that was what had aroused such a wild streak in her.

Character lines had been etched into his tanned face by the sun and wind, and coupled with his blond hair and blue-green eyes, his looks were captivating.

When their eyes first met, she felt an electrified attraction between them. Whenever their paths crossed afterwards, that intensity made her stomach quiver.

Earlier in the evening at a cabana party he’d asked her to dance to a slow, erotic tune. She’d gone into his arms without hesitation. After remaining there through several songs, he’d grabbed her hand and said in a low voice, “Let’s walk.”

They had strolled barefoot along the water’s edge until he’d stopped and pulled her again into his arms. Now, as they continued to dance to imaginary music she was powerless to stop him.

“You’re not supposed to be thinking,” he whispered into her ear.

The warmth of his breath sent chills down her spine. “I’m not.”

“No,” he whispered again, stopping in the middle of the make-believe dance and pushing her to arm’s length.

She looked at him, held his gaze, and felt her heart beat loudly in her chest. “Why is that?”

“Because only feelings are allowed.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her in step with him. “It’s a night of magic.”

The raspy tone of his voice affected her as much as the touch of his hand clasping hers tightly.

“I don’t know you,” she said, her gaze resting on his profile.

“That’s okay.”

“Is it?” Her voice wavered.

He stopped, turned her to face him, then tipped her chin up. “Forget about the world. Just think about the moment and how you feel.”

“I don’t even know your name.”

“If a name is what you want, call me Stan.”

“I’m Mildred.” She couldn’t believe she had outright lied, but then she didn’t believe his name was Stan either.

“Mildred it is,” he said in a low voice.

She shivered, though the ocean breeze was warm against her skin. “This…is crazy.”

“I’m crazy about you,” he countered.

In the moonlight she could see his chiseled features and his deep-set eyes, eyes that seemed to penetrate right through to her thoughts.

She licked her dry lips. “That’s not possible.”

“Anything’s possible tonight,” he rasped. “Don’t fight yourself. Don’t fight me.”

She closed her eyes, struggling to get control of her wayward emotions. If only she hadn’t had that last drink. Perhaps, then, she wouldn’t have left her friends partying at the cabana and taken a midnight stroll on the beach with a perfect stranger.

“Hey,” he said, “you’re thinking again.”

She felt his finger trace the line of her jaw before running it along the inside of her lower lip.

Her breathing became erratic. His touch left her feeling hotter than she’d ever been.

“I want to kiss you,” he whispered, his hand now trailing down her neck and onto her collarbone.

Her head lolled back like a flower on a weak stem as his hand found its way to a breast. “Please.”

“Please what? Kiss you? Touch you?”

“Yes to both.” Her words came out in a gasp.

His hand slipped under her halter top and rubbed her breasts. She couldn’t breathe or talk.

“Perfect,” he whispered, lowering his mouth to hers.

His lips gently cajoled hers, but then she whimpered; his kiss belied such raw, aching hunger that she nearly collapsed against him.

As his mouth continued to cover hers, he sank to his knees and took her with him down onto the wet sand.

“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone.” His voice was so hoarse she could barely understand him.

His words didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except the feel of his hands removing her top, his mouth suckling her breasts and his teeth gently nibbling at her nipples. Locking her hands on his head, she held him close, reveling in every sensation he aroused.

“I want to see all of you,” he said, pulling her upright.

He removed her shorts and panties and cast them onto a dry, sandy part of the beach.

Standing like a dazed nude statue drenched in the moonlight, she watched as he peeled off his own clothes. She gazed upon his flat, muscled stomach only a moment before looking downward.

He was big and hard.

Desire spread throughout her body. She must have made a satisfactory sound in her throat because he made a strange sound of his own before grabbing her and kissing her again.