Anything Goes...

Her throat worked as she swallowed. “Not really. I’ll probably be eating with Ginger.”

“I have a feeling Tony will be keeping her busy. He has a debilitating weakness for redheads.”

“A match made in heaven. She has a weakness for nice chests.” Color seeped into her cheeks. “I assume she thinks he has a nice chest,” she murmured, then grabbed the cola and tipped it to her lips.

He frowned, annoyed that Carly had obviously been eyeing Tony. “I’m guessing Ginger is here for the same reason.”

She arched her brows at him. “You mean, to take a vacation before starting work?”

“Don’t get so defensive,” he said, playfully cupping the back of her neck. Her skin was so soft and warm he wanted to run his palms all over her. Hard to believe this was the scrawny little tomboy who’d taught him how to bait a hook and beaten him at soccer. But here she was, all grown up and filled out. Soft and curvy, and making his blood simmer.

“I’m not defensive. It’s just that you’re making too big a deal out of a simple vacation.”

“My apologies.” He continued to massage her nape, pleased when she briefly closed her eyes and let her head fall forward.

His gaze followed the rise and fall of her chest, the way the rounded tops of her breasts pushed up above the sarong. The strong urge to slide his hand between the overlaps of the fabric made him sit up straighter and strategically angle his arm over his overactive crotch.

“Feel good?” he asked,

“Oh yeah.” She sighed. “Too good.”

“Nothing can feel too good,” he whispered. He had to watch himself. Given the slightest encouragement, he’d crawl all over her. He eased up, letting his fingers trail away. “About dinner…how about we get together?”

“I don’t know.” She sat up straighter. “What about Ginger and Tony?”

He shouldn’t have backed off. A little physical coaxing might be in order. “What about them? They can make their own plans. Or I suppose we could have dinner with them.”

She hesitated, her brows drawn together in thought, her tongue slipping out to moisten her lips again and drive him insane. “This is only the first full day of vacation.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “And?”

Fidgeting with the sarong, she seemed reluctant to continue. “Why are you here?”

“What do you mean?”

“You told me this was a notorious pick-up place.”

“And you’re assuming I’m here to get laid?”

“Yeah.”

He grinned at her directness. “That would be nice.”

“Okay, so don’t you think you’d be better off spending your time meeting that goal?”

He didn’t know whether to laugh or groan. “Talk about a brush-off.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Basically you’re telling me I’m not getting lucky here so don’t waste my time.”

She let out a low growl of frustration. “Don’t you see? I’m letting you off the hook.”

He was getting frustrated himself. “How?”

She leaned back and took a deep breath, the swell of her breasts undermining his concentration. “Let’s discuss this hypothetically, okay?”

“Okay,” he agreed, trying to keep a straight face. Hypothetically. Right.

“Let’s say we both came here to have a week of wild, uninhibited sex.” She quickly added, “Hypothetically, of course.”

He nearly lost it then. Wild? Uninhibited? He shifted to hide his body’s eager reaction, and nodded.

“Okay, then…” She seemed remarkably calm. “Wouldn’t you want the whole thing to be anonymous?”

“Why?”

Her eyes widened. “Surely you wouldn’t want anyone who knew you to be around watching.”

He put up both hands and shook his head. “Hey, I’m not into that.”

“Darn it, you know what I mean.”

He grinned. “Yeah, okay, I do. But I still don’t understand what you’re worried about.”

She shook her head and sighed. “Look, this is my one week of freedom and I’m not going to blow it.”

“Don’t you think we would hit it off in bed?”

“What part of anonymous don’t you understand?”

“Come here.”

“What?” She eyed him warily when he grasped her chin.

“What part of chemistry don’t you understand?” He slanted his mouth over hers and teased her lips open with his tongue.

At first she tensed, but in seconds she gave up all resistance and put a hand on his chest. He deepened the kiss, sweeping the inside of her mouth, tasting, sucking, absorbing her sweetness. When her hand drifted downward, he sucked in a breath, disappointed when she stopped at his waist.

He fought against guiding her hand down to his growing erection. He’d gotten so damn hard it was uncomfortable. But he didn’t want to rush her. She had enough misgivings.

Instead he drew his palm down her arm, then back up again, deliberately brushing her breast, pleased when she didn’t pull away. Cautiously he molded his hand to her shoulder and then moved it to cup her breast lightly.

She whimpered softly and shifted, forcing him to lose contact. When she leaned back, her eyes were dazed. “I shouldn’t be here.”

“Why not?” He casually moved his hand to her thigh, while holding her gaze.

“We have to stop before it’s too late.”

“Too late for what?”

“To stay friends,” she whispered, shifting, squirming, until his hand landed higher up on her thigh.

He couldn’t tell if the action were conscious or not, but he was getting damn close to heaven. “Who says we can’t?”

“This is so confusing.” She sighed, leaned away and moved her leg so that her thighs clamped together. “I never ever expected to see anyone I knew here.”

“But you did, and you have to realize we’re two mature adults now.”

“I do.”

“Obviously, I’m very interested.”

She blinked. “Okay, but if we do go through with this, and I’m not saying we will, we need to set ground rules.”

He frowned. “Such as?”

“If we agree to a physical relationship, we both go into this knowing it’s a one-week stand. Or you may decide one night is enough, someone else may catch your eye and I don’t want you to be afraid to—”

“Christ, Carly, I didn’t come here for the sole purpose of having sex.”

“I didn’t either,” she said defensively.

He smiled. “I didn’t think otherwise.”

“Okay, then…” She cleared her throat. “You understand that this is a one-week deal, right? Then we go our separate ways.”

A disgusting thought occurred to him. “Are you getting married?”

“Married?”

“When you return to Oroville. Is there someone waiting for you? Is that what you meant by a last fling?”

“Good God, no.” She shook her head vehemently. “I wouldn’t be here if I were about to be married.”

“Okay. I had to ask.”

She drained her cola and stood. “Maybe I will have a Bloody Mary.”

“Help yourself.” He watched her walk to the mini bar, enjoying the gentle sway of her hips, the athletic curve of her calves. “Are you still playing soccer?”

“No.” She laughed. “Not for over eight years.” She rinsed out her glass and then turned to look at him with dismay in her eyes. “This is a bad idea, isn’t it?”

“Why?”

“We have a history together. Not much of one, but still…”

“Isn’t that better?”

“No.” She looked away and focused on making her Bloody Mary. “We can forget the whole thing, Rick. No problem. Really.”

“Just stay friends?”

“Sure.”

He couldn’t tell if she was ignoring his sarcasm or just didn’t get it. “We haven’t seen each other in over twelve years. We’ve made no attempt to contact each other. I wouldn’t classify us as friends.”

“I’ll send you a card this Christmas.”

“Very funny.” He shook his head, wondering if this was commitment phobia making her so paranoid. “Is this an annual thing for you? Once a year you go on vacation and—”

She stiffened and set down the glass. Without another word, she headed for the door.

He jumped up and caught her around the waist. She shoved at his chest but he wouldn’t let her go. “Come on. I wasn’t being judgmental or trying to insult you. I’m simply trying to understand.”

“Of course I haven’t done this before. I’m just curious, okay? You know what Oroville is like. It’s a darn fishbowl. I can’t sneeze without everyone knowing about it.”

He tightened his arms around her. She was so soft, her skin smooth and warm and her eyes… “I didn’t remember your eyes being this green.”

“They’re kind of hazel.”

“Right now they’re green. Very green.”

“Because I’m annoyed.” With raised eyebrows, she added, “Very annoyed.”

“Not at me.” His mock expression of innocence made the corners of her mouth twitch.

Her lips lifted in a reluctant smile. “I don’t see anyone else in the room.”

“That’s right.” He waggled his eyebrows up and down. “We’re alone.”

Her gaze drew to his mouth, and he felt the tension radiate from her. “Rick, I’m very much attracted to you and I’d like for us to get together. As long as we both understand there are no strings attached.”

“Ah, so you think once we’ve made mad passionate love I won’t be able to resist your charms.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t quit your day job.”

He smiled, his gaze falling to her lips. “Guess there’s only one way to find out.”

HAD HE SLIPPED something into her cola? Or had she simply been hanging around with Ginger too long? Carly Saunders was not that bold. Well, sometimes, but in many ways she was still that shy little girl Rick had first met, full of false bravado and bluster on the outside.

She looked away, out of the window toward the ocean. Not that she could actually see it from where she stood but she imagined the warm blue-green water gently lapping against the shore. The image did little to calm her.

“Carly?”

She wouldn’t look at him, and instead reclaimed the Bloody Mary off the top of the mini-bar. He hooked a finger under her chin and brought her face around to meet his. The hunger in his eyes sent a thrill of pleasure up her spine. She forgot for a moment that she held the glass, and it tilted, the liquid sloshing on her hand and wrist

“Let me help clean that up.” Then he picked up her hand and bent his head.

Mesmerized, she watched as his tongue made contact and he licked off the spilled liquid. Her breath caught at the velvet warmth of it, and she closed her eyes, knowing she should stop him, but helpless to do so.

He continued licking his way up her arm, until he got to the curve of her neck. He kissed her there and then worked his way up to her ear.

She let her head loll back. This was much better than anonymous. This was Rick. She knew him. She trusted him.

He made a low guttural sound and captured her mouth. She responded, holding nothing back, opening up to him, their tongues meeting in an erotic dance.

When his hand moved to the knot securing her sarong, she didn’t stop him. When he untied it, letting it fall to the floor, and then slid his palm down the curve of her hip, she still didn’t object. In fact, she did some of her own exploring, running her hand over his flat taut belly, and twirling a finger in the hair around his navel.

He was the one to finally break the kiss, his breathing ragged and heavy. “We’d be more comfortable in bed.”

She swallowed, her breathing not so steady either. “God, this is so hard.”

“Not as hard as I am,” he whispered, lightly biting her earlobe.

“You’re awful.” She smiled at the casual way he ran his hand up and down her side as they talked, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“And you love it.”

Carly bit her lip. That was the problem. She did love it. She loved Rick’s irreverence, his sense of adventure, and his go-for-it attitude. She remembered how much she’d learned that first summer with him. Oh, and the fun they’d had—even though she’d gotten into more trouble than ever before in her whole life. She’d also learned that it wasn’t so easy being the pastor’s good daughter.

“We have to take this slow,” she said firmly, straightening so he knew she meant business. “Really think about it.”

“I’ve hardly thought about anything else.”

“Rick.”

The pleading in her voice must have sunk in because the amusement faded from his face. “We’ll take it slow,” he said as he toyed with the elastic of her bikini bottom, slipping a finger inside, stroking her skin. “Did I ever ’fess up about the dreams I had about you?”

She shook her head, his mesmerizing gaze capturing hers. “Tell me now.”

He added another finger to his exploration, and yet another, and then followed the curve of her bottom, but not too far. Nothing threatening. Just enough to tease her. Make her wish he’d cup his palms over her flesh and pull her against him. Make her forget about going slow.

“I guess I wouldn’t have said anything then, especially at sixteen,” he said, watching her, his gaze locked onto hers. “Way too embarrassing.”

Mimicking him, she traced the top of his waistband, letting her fingernails dip under the elastic, pleased at his sharp intake of breath. “I hope you’re going to tell me now, since you brought it up.”

“It was the typical sex-crazed sixteen-year-old boy’s dream. I think I’ll leave it at that.”

Carly smiled. “Okay, then let’s talk about what you’ve been doing since then.”

“I thought that would be the kind of thing you would want to avoid on this vacation.”

Annoyed with herself, she lowered her hands. She was curious about him, about what he’d accomplished, but he was right, getting personal led to intimacy. Exactly what she wanted to stay away from.

He shifted away and reached for his beer. “Okay, what the hell…after high school I went on to USC. Stayed for two years of graduate school. Then headed for Kenya and the Ivory Coast.”

“To dig?”

“That, and to see the sights.” He brought the beer to his lips, drained it and opened the small refrigerator. “What about you?”

“That’s all?” She laughed, and he stared blankly at her. “Silly me. Everyone’s been to Kenya. Must make for very boring conversation.”

Ignoring her sarcasm, he got out another beer. “In school I did a lot of studying and an equal amount of partying. Just your average college Joe.”

“You’ve been everywhere. That’s hardly average.”

He shrugged. “I haven’t traveled much since. I’ve come here on vacation for the past three years.”

She frowned. He’d been dead set on studying archeology, on making his mark in the same field as his parents. That required travel. “I’m assuming you studied archeology.”

“Oh, yeah. Got my master’s and all that.” He gave her a pensive look. “You always wanted to teach. Is that what you’re doing?”

“I will when I go back to Oroville next week. Well, in two months when the school year starts.” She paused, hoping he’d continue. “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing.”

“Trying to seduce you.”

“Come on.” She gave him a playful jab, but her insides were already turning to butter. “I’m serious.”

He took a swig of beer, and faced her, determination and desire blatant in his eyes. “So am I. But—” He held up his hands in surrender. “We’ll take it slow.”

“Thank you,” she said, her voice a breathless betrayal. “Let’s talk some more.”

“Oh, brother.”

She ignored his grumpy expression. “How are your parents?”

“Divorced.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Why the surprise? It happens to couples all the time.”

“So they don’t work together anymore?”

He gave her a mocking look. “That’s about the only thing they could do together without fighting.”

“I didn’t know,” she murmured. As a boy he’d told a different story. To him they were like gods.

“No big deal.” He set down the beer. “If we’re going to talk, sweetheart, it’s not going to be about the past.” And then he reached for her. “Let’s talk about what we’re going to do tonight….”

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