She had died that night. Leaving Wade had destroyed her and it had been a long hard road getting her life back. She didn’t want to dwell on the past or how her friend Sarah had duped her into leaving Wade. The truth had come out a few years later, and she’d long since forgiven Sarah. But the fact remained: Gina had left Wade in El Paso after one secret, glorious night with him.

“Not that young, Gina. You’d graduated from college. We weren’t exactly kids.”

“My parents died that year. I didn’t know what to do or how…or how I would survive.”

“My father solved that problem for you, didn’t he? He paid you off. And you took the money and ran, for all you were worth.”

Yes, Gina had taken Blake Beaumont’s money. It had given her a way out of a very serious dilemma. She’d fallen in love with Wade and the night she’d given him her virginity had been wonderful. She’d hoped for a future with Wade, but thinking back on it now, she wondered if she’d been too clouded by grief to see the truth. Later that night all of her hopes had come crashing down around her.

Sarah was pregnant and she’d named Wade as the father.

Gina went to bed that night, tears falling uncontrollably and her heart aching at how she’d been betrayed by the one man who had given her a measure of comfort and happiness after the death of her parents.

Blake Beaumont’s offer had come at exactly the right moment. She’d wanted to hurt Wade for his calculated cruelty. She’d wanted to make him pay for his betrayal. She’d hated him.

She remembered so vividly standing there, face to face with the older man who had abandoned his two sons in favor of building his company. Triple B had been Blake’s passion, not the two sweet young boys he’d pawned off on his sister and her husband to raise.

Blake Beaumont slid an envelope her way. “Take the money and this airline ticket and leave El Paso. You’re a distraction Wade can’t afford right now. I sacrificed his childhood so that he would one day stand beside me and run the company and that time has almost come. Sam, Wade and I, we’ll build an enormous empire together. There’s no room in it for you, dear.”

Gina’s first instinct was to rip the check up and toss it into Blake Beaumont’s smug face. The selfish man wanted his son’s full attention. He wanted to dictate his life—a life that didn’t include love. Blake Beaumont had made it clear that he fully intended for Wade to immerse himself in Triple B. The only relationship he wanted for Wade was one of dedicated service to the company.

If her heart hadn’t been broken, Gina would have laughed at the irony. Blake wanted her out of the picture but how would he feel knowing that it was really Sarah and her unborn child that would disrupt his plans? Gina had wished she could have stayed around long enough to see the look on Blake Beaumont’s face when he realized his troubles were just beginning.

Gina accepted the check and ticket out of town. She knew Blake was too ruthless not to tell Wade about the bribe. And that’s what she’d counted on.

Wade had a baby on the way with Sarah and that had been all that mattered. Sarah hadn’t known about Gina’s feelings for Wade and she’d kept it that way. By accepting his father’s bribe, Gina guaranteed that Wade would stay in El Paso with his family. She’d hoped that he would realize his responsibilities to Sarah, too.

Gina lost contact with Sarah then, deciding to deal with her pain in her own way. She moved to Los Angeles and dug her heels in, determined to make a good life for herself. It wasn’t until a few years later that Sarah had come looking for Gina with the whole truth.

“Answer me, Gina. Why did you run away?”

“I had good reason, Wade. It’s not important now. But you have to believe that leaving El Paso when I did broke my heart.”

“It broke your heart?” he said, coming to stand right in front of her, his anger almost tangible. “Funny, but I remember it differently. I remember you letting me strip you naked and take you in my uncle’s barn. I remember every little moan, every whimper, every time you cried out my name. I never once heard you say your heart was broken and that you were leaving town the next day.”

Tears welled in Gina’s eyes and her body trembled with unspoken grief. She had loved Wade then and had felt the cold slap of his betrayal. She shed tears all the way to Los Angeles, but had made up her mind not to look back.

“Wade, when I came to see you that night I didn’t know I would be leaving so soon. I…wanted you.”

Wade let out a derisive laugh. “And Gina always gets what she wants, right?”

Gina hadn’t gotten what she wanted. She’d lost her best friend that summer and the man she’d loved.

Wade had been so sweet, so caring. Once he kissed her and touched her skin, she’d reacted with primal, desperate need. She’d wanted Wade, thought maybe they could have a future together. His every touch and caress excited her, warmed her, told her that she’d been smart to wait to give up her virginity to the right man. They’d spoken of love and the future in vague terms, the relationship too new to know for sure. But Gina fully believed that Wade Beaumont had been the right man for her.

“It wasn’t like that,” she said in a calm voice, one that she almost didn’t recognize.

But Wade didn’t really want her explanation. He wanted to lash out. “You were a virgin, Gina. Don’t think that didn’t weigh on me. I wasn’t a boy. I was a twenty-one-year-old man. I didn’t know if I’d hurt you physically or emotionally. I didn’t know what to think. I was half out of my mind when I learned that you had left El Paso the next day, catching the soonest flight out of town.

“I made the mistake of telling dear old Dad that I’d found the right girl for me during a phone conversation days earlier. Even before we made love, I knew I wanted you in my life. Next thing I know my father makes a rare visit to El Paso. He couldn’t wait to tell me that you’d taken a hefty bribe from him. The man was so damn cocky. He didn’t realize that I’d hate him for his part in it. He thought I’d appreciate knowing that I’d been wrong about you. But it didn’t matter anymore. I pretty much wrote you off as the biggest mistake of my life.”

His harsh words cut like a knife. He didn’t know the agony she had gone through that night, her emotions running hot and cold, thrilled to have finally given herself to him only to find out later that he had been deceitful. She managed to bolster her courage and hoist her chin. “If that’s the case, why did you bother seeing me today? Why did you hire me?”

“Because Sam asked me to. I did it as a favor to him, Gina. And now we’re stuck with each other.”

She gasped silently from the immediate shock to her system. She’d seen Sam a few months ago, crossing paths with him at the airport, his new family in tow. They’d exchanged pleasantries and when he’d found out that she was living in Los Angeles he’d offered her a job if she ever needed one.

With her pride deeply injured, Gina shot back. “Consider yourself, unstuck. I won’t ask you to work with the biggest mistake of your life.”

Gina turned her back on Wade and walked toward the French doors. She wanted out, away from Wade for good. But just as she stepped inside the house, Wade grabbed her from behind, his hands holding her gently just under her breasts, the zipper of his jeans grinding into her derriere. She felt the pins being pulled from her hair, freeing the tresses from their knotted prison. Wade wove his hand in her hair and brought his lips to her throat, his voice a gruff whisper. “Don’t run away again.”

Gina’s traitorous body reacted to Wade and, angry as she was, she couldn’t deny the overwhelming heat pulsing through her. “You don’t want me here.”

“That may be true.” And then he added softly, “But I need you.”

Gina slammed her eyes shut. She felt herself softening to Wade and when she turned in his arms to face him, she witnessed the depth of his sincerity. “You need me?”

She glanced at his mouth just as his lips came down onto hers. He cupped her face and deepened the kiss, slanting his mouth over hers again and again. Gina reacted with a little whimper, urging her body closer. His heat was a fire that burned her. And when she sighed, he took the opportunity to drive his tongue into her mouth, mating them together. Soon, Gina’s body swayed in rhythm and Wade wrapped his hands around her waist, his fingers pressing into the curve of her buttocks, drawing her closer.

She felt his erection, the hot pulsing need rubbing into her. Heart pounding out of control, she felt dizzy and wanted Wade with undeniable urgency.

“Yoo-hoo, Wa-ade? Are you home? I brought you chili, honey. Just the way you like it, hot and spicy,” the low throaty rasp of a woman’s voice startled Gina. She pulled away from Wade in time to see a young redhead coming up the deck steps from the beach. In a flowery bikini covered only by a hip-riding sarong, the woman held a hot bowl in her potholder-clad hands. She stopped up short when she reached the deck, finding Wade and Gina together. “Oh, sorry, Wade. I guess I had the wrong night. I thought we were on for the hot tub. My mistake,” she said casually. “I’ll just leave this here for you.” She set the chili on the deck table.

“Shoot, Veronica. Sorry. I forgot.” He winked at her and smiled. “I’m working tonight.”

“I can see that,” she said, taking a quick glance at Gina, before backing down the stairs. “Don’t work too hard, honey.” Gina heard her chuckle as she disappeared onto the beach.

Gina stared at Wade and abruptly everything became clear. For a moment she thought that she was back in El Paso with the young, sweet man she had given herself to unconditionally. Suddenly, she felt foolish. And stupid for thinking that nothing had changed, when, actually, everything had.

She tried to brush past him to get away, but he was like a block of granite, too strong to move without his willing surrender. He reached for her arms and held her without budging. When she glared into his eyes, he shrugged and said calmly, “She’s a friend.”

Gina wasn’t a fool. She doubted Wade had female “friends” who came over just for a quick meal and a splash in the hot tub. She shook her head adamantly. “I think not. I’d better go. Will you drive me home or shall I take a taxi?”

“Neither. We have work to do. When I said I needed you, I meant it. I need a personal assistant for this project and we have to catch you up on the details.”

“You mean you’d give up your hot-tub date?” Her voice was deliberately rich with sarcasm.

“I just did, didn’t I?” Wade shot back.

Gina bristled. “Yes, you did. You dismissed her quite easily. But what about what just happened between us? Can you dismiss that just as easily?” His kiss had stole Gina’s breath, but she had regained normal breathing.

Wade pursed his lips. He stared at hers, well-ripened and swollen from his powerful assault. “I never could dismiss you, Gina. You’re hardly the kind of woman a man can forget.”

“That does not answer my question.”

“Listen, maybe I was out of line a minute ago. But I’m not kidding when I say I need you. As my assistant. We’re setting sail first thing tomorrow so—”

Gina snapped her head up. “Setting sail? For where?”

“For Catalina island. You should have been briefed during the first interview with Helen in Personnel. It was a stipulation of the job.”

Wade seemed full of surprises. First he stunned her with that incredible kiss and now this unexpected announcement of an island trip. “I wasn’t informed about a trip.”

“You knew about the latest project the company plans to bid on. It could be the biggest contract in Triple B’s history and I intend to get it. It’s right there in the file I gave you to review.”

“Yes, but I didn’t think—”

“It’s the reason for the big bonus, Gina,” he interrupted to clarify.

“But that’s what I don’t understand. That’s a great deal of money for a trip to Catalina. It’s only a few hours away. Surely, one day isn’t worth such a large sum of money.”

“One day? Gina, we’ll be on that island for a minimum of one week and I guarantee you’ll be working long hours.”

Gina slumped her shoulders. “One week?”

He nodded. “Seven days, including the weekend. So are you in or am I going it alone tomorrow?”

Gina slammed her eyes shut. She hated her own cowardice. She hadn’t been on the water in any capacity since the boat accident that claimed her parents’ lives. She’d dealt with the guilt at being the sole survivor, but she hadn’t been forced to face her fear—until now. And she was ready. She’d been praying to find a way to conquer her anxiety and now she had the opportunity. If she didn’t face her fears, she’d not only lose the revenue to rebuild her future, she’d lose part of herself all over again.

Gina made a split-second decision. She needed this job for more than one reason. But she would accept the position under one condition, and one condition only. “I’m in. Under one condition.”

Wade narrowed his eyes. “I don’t usually—”

“We keep it strictly business.” Gina had allowed personal feelings to get the better of her in business once before and that had landed her with a pile of bills, slimy pawnshop receipts and creditors pounding on her door. She couldn’t let that happen again to her pocketbook or her heart. “Agreed?”

Wade’s lips thinned.

She stood her ground and kept her focus on his unflinching face.

Finally Wade nodded. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do. Now, let’s go over those files. I don’t want to get you home late. We’ll be setting sail at eight sharp.”

Gina drew in a deep breath wondering how she would fare spending her days and nights with the only man who could anger her, confuse her and make her ache desperately for his touch.

I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.

Great, she thought ruefully. She’d just realized that Wade hadn’t agreed to her terms at all, but instead, issued her a challenge.

She felt herself slowly sinking and she had to paddle fast to keep from going under. Which was saying something for a woman who had a dire fear of water.

Three

The next morning, Wade watched Gina make her way down the ramp that led to his docking slip at Marina del Rey. He’d told her to dress comfortably for the trip over to the island but as he watched her descend the steps he was almost sorry he’d given her that instruction. Her flowery sundress hugged her body perfectly and the tight white jacket she wore only accentuated her full breasts and slender waistline. July breezes lifted the hem enough to show her shapely legs as she strolled toward him. She’d pinned her hair in that knot again, but the breezy weather wouldn’t allow it and those chestnut tresses fanned out in tempting disarray. The vision she created of simple elegance and unquestionable beauty turned heads at the marina. Wade winced as he caught men stop what they were doing on their boats to watch her walk by.

Wade muttered a curse and told himself this was a business trip where he needed to keep his focus. He’d never let a woman get in the way of what was important to the company. Yet, when Gina approached his yacht he had a hard time remembering that. He peered up from the stern of the boat to greet her. “Morning,” he said, none too pleasantly.

“Good morning,” she said, but her eyes weren’t on him, or his yacht. They focused off in the distance, to the ocean that lay beyond the calm marina.

“You’re right on time.”

She took her eyes off the ocean long enough to answer, “Thanks to the driver you sent to pick me up.” She bit down on her lip and stood there looking quite businesslike, her chin at an unapproachable tilt and her stance slightly rigid. But that dress…that dress could make a man forget his own name.

“Come aboard,” he said, putting a hand out to help her.

She scanned the length of the boat and drew a deep breath as if steadying her nerves.

“You haven’t changed your mind, have you?” he asked.

She gazed once more at the ocean beyond the marina and shook her head, but her soft tentative answer left room for doubt. “No.”

Wade gestured with his outstretched hand. “Come on, Gina. We have to set sail soon.”

From the minute he’d seen it, Wade had known he had to own this fifty-two-foot Jeanneau sloop. It hadn’t mattered that he didn’t know how to sail. He’d made it a hobby and a far-reaching goal to master the craft when he’d first arrived in California. And he’d never been sorry.

Gina’s gaze scanned the deck and the steps leading to the quarters below. “I don’t see the crew? Are they late?”

“You’re looking at the crew.”

Gina’s dark almond-shaped eyes opened wide. “You?”

“Sam’s the pilot in the family and I’m the sailor.”

He stepped from the boat onto the ramp and grabbed the suitcase from her hand. “Come aboard and I’ll show you around.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Gina accepted his help and he guided her down onto his boat, releasing her the moment her feet hit the deck.

“I had no idea this was how we would arrive in Catalina.”

Wade had purposely left that detail out. He didn’t know how she would’ve reacted to his sailing them across to the island. Some people got jittery when they realized only one man had full charge of the boat. But that was what appealed to him most about sailing—the solitude and the challenge of being at the helm. And since he’d had a hard enough time convincing Gina to take the job last night, he’d thought it best to leave their travel arrangements out of the conversation.

His old man once told him that timing was everything. Wade believed him. He knew that after that kiss last night and then the untimely appearance from Veronica, he was on shaky enough ground with Gina. She’d been ready to walk out of his life again.

But that kiss had him tied up in knots all night long. Gina had melted in his arms. That much hadn’t changed. She’d tasted like wine, her lips soft and full and ripe. Her body molded to his, they fit each other like two puzzle pieces. He couldn’t hide his reaction to her any more than she could to him. Wade had lost himself in that kiss and he realized that he couldn’t let her go until they’d cleared up all of their unfinished business. Then and only then, would he say farewell to Gina for good.

“Can’t say that I ever imagined I’d get you on Total Command.”

Gina arched her brow. “Excuse me?”

“Total Command. The name of the boat. And the only way I operate these days.

Gina cast him a disapproving look.

“Listen, I’ll get us both to the island safe and sound. There’s no need to worry.” Wade picked up her travel bag and stepped down into the living quarters of the boat first and reached for her hand. She advanced carefully down the steps. But when the boat rocked slightly, she lurched forward. Wade grabbed her and their eyes met as their bodies collided. Intense heat sizzled between them. She was soft where she needed to be soft, and firm in all the right places. Wade held her for only a second before stepping aside.

He showed her the open space that would serve as a living room and then they walked through the galley where he had fixed them a mid-morning snack of fresh fruit, cheese and coffee.

Next he explained about the VHF radio and the SSB, the Single Sideband system used for a wider perimeter of communication. He’d even explained to her how she should call for help in case of an emergency. “But don’t worry about that. The weather is clear, the wind perfect, I’m in good health and we’ll be in Catalina before lunchtime.”

Gina nodded, but he didn’t miss her wide-eyed expression when he described to her how she could reach the coast guard if necessary.

“And what’s in there?” she asked gesturing toward a doorway.

“The master bedroom and bath. There’s two more bedrooms on the opposite end of the boat.”

“You don’t expect, uh, you don’t expect me to sleep down here.”

Wade wouldn’t get a lick of work done if she did. “That’s not in your job description. You’ll have a room in the finest inn on the island.”

“And you?” she asked. “Where will you be?”

“Right here. I stay on the boat when we moor. I don’t get as much time as I’d like on the boat. So I’ve set up an office in one of the spare bedrooms.”

He guided her back to the stairs, catching a whiff of her perfume, some exotic fragrance that reminded him of sultry tropical nights. As she climbed up the steps to the top deck he admired the wiggle of her bottom and those long tanned legs as he followed her up.

“Ready?” he asked.

She drew another deep breath into her lungs then put on dark sunglasses. She looked mysterious in them, a superstar trying to conceal her identity. And in a way Gina was a mystery to him. He didn’t know her mind, how it worked, what made her tick. He’d known her body and, hopefully, would try his best to know it again, but he would never believe he knew what she was thinking. He refused to make that mistake again.

Wade prepared the yacht for their departure, untying the ropes and setting the sails. Soon they were moving through the marina, past the rocks that harbored the bay, picking up wind that would take them into the Pacific Ocean.

Gina shook with fear the moment the boat began its journey out of the calm marina waters. She took a seat in the cockpit area as salty sea spray lightly drizzled her. With slight desperation she tried to block out images of the last time she’d been on the water, the last time she’d seen her parents alive.

She prayed for enough courage to sustain her through this trip and placed her faith in Wade and his sailing abilities. She watched him move along the sheets and sails, making adjustments and setting the course.

In faded blue jeans and a white tank, Wade might have looked like a typical sailor except his muscles strained harder, his body held more steadfastly, the concentration on his face appeared deeper than on any man she had ever known. Studying his fluid movements along the rigging, Gina could only admire him.

His kiss last night had been something.

But it had meant nothing to him.

I need you.

Yes, she understood that he needed her as his personal assistant, a right-hand man and a secretary all rolled up in one. He didn’t need her in any other capacity. Not in the way she had needed him nine years ago.

Wade took his place behind the wheel and they sailed in silence for a short time. The boat rocked and waves smashed up against the hull as they sailed along. Gina shuddered, unable to suppress the trembling of her body.

Wade turned at that very instant, catching her in a moment of fear. Their eyes held for a moment before he angled around again and Gina hugged her middle, tamping down the tremors that passed through her.

A few minutes later, Wade left the wheel and handed her a life jacket. “Put this on. You’ll feel better.”

Gina didn’t bother to protest. He was right. But though wearing a life vest might help with her fear, it wouldn’t erase the memories she had locked away that were surfacing. She put her arms through the armholes and closed the jacket taut.

Wade helped her fasten the snaps and tied it for her. And when she thought he would return to the wheel, he surprised her by taking a seat by her side. “Feeling seasick?”

She shook her head. Her queasiness had nothing to do with the motion of the sea. “No.”

“You’re trembling and pale, Gina.”

“I’m not—”

“You are.”

“No, I meant to say, I’m not seasick, but this is the first time I’ve been on the water since…the accident.”

Wade’s dark brows rose. He appeared genuinely surprised.

“I realize that this is the ocean and the accident happened on a lake, but—”

<1 2 3 4 5 >

На страницу:

Перейти

2 из 5