Girl Gear 3: Bound to Happen Read Free Page B

him a clear view of the strong lines of her back and her narrow waist easily spanned by his hands, he dug his toes into the sand. When she hooked her arm through Poe's and started to walk away, the sarong snugged tight to her hips and caressing the tight swells of her backside, Ray dropped the Frisbee and looked down, working to catch his breath as hunger grabbed hard between his legs.
    Their one night together had followed her high-school graduation and his first year of college, and it hadn't lasted long enough to be called an affair. But Ray wasn't sure it qualified as a one-night stand, either. If it had, surely those hours they'd spent tangled naked between the cheap sheets of an even cheaper motel-room bed wouldn't still linger the way they did in his mind.
    They'd been lingering more than usual today since this vacation had become landlocked and since, every time he'd turned around, Sydney had shed more of her clothes. Having looked forward to the sailing trip now for four months, he was surprised he didn't feel more disappointment at the forced change of plans. He hadn't been onboard the Indiscreet long enough even to think about getting his sea legs. Which proved he was more interested in the company than in the cruise.
    Following Anton and Doug as they headed toward the villa in response to Lauren's call to, "Come and get it!", Ray knew he'd be a fool not to take advantage of an opportunity he'd never see again. Sydney had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, nowhere to be for the next ten days, while he had the luxurious warmth of the sun, the seductive lure of the sea and the lush tropical nights in his favor.
    He wasn't looking for happily-ever-after. He was only looking for answers, and whatever good time they might mutually share. In his line of work, he saw too much tragedy, too many families torn apart by accidents and disaster, both natural and man-made. His own family was no exception, irreparably damaged by his brother's still-unsolved disappearance three years ago in this very part of the world.
    With the chances Ray took on the job, with the risky situations he encountered, he'd be stupid—and selfish—to consider any romantic involvement, to subject a partner to the very real possibility that he might lose his life on the job. He didn't have it in him to give Sydney or any woman a long-term promise, for her sake, as well as his own. Not when life was so fragile. Not when the loss of Patrick had shown him the truth of personal suffering for those left behind.
    And he sure didn't have to involve his heart to enjoy his time here with Sydney . He knew that for certain. He'd been her first lover, a fact he hadn't appreciated fully at the time. He'd had his hands too full of her body to question his luck or her decision. But before they returned to the States, he intended to get the answers he needed about that night. Like why she hadn't returned his phone calls afterward. And why she'd haunted his memory ever since.
    But most of all why, out of all the guys "Ice Queen" Sydney Ford had said no to, had she wrapped her arms around his neck and said yes.
    DINNER THAT FIRST NIGHT at the villa on Coconut Caye was one of the more intense meals Ray remembered sitting through. The men, along with Poe and Kinsey, had carried the conversation, sharing tales of past vacations gone bad.
    Among the six of them, they'd seen more than a few ports of call on more than a few continents and had faced lost luggage, mistaken identities and bungled reservations from car to hotel.
    So far Lauren hadn't said a thing. She'd never even met Anton's gaze.
    Sydney had talked, but not a lot, as if carefully weighing the import of what she had to say against the mystery of remaining silent. The mystery, of course, was all in Ray's mind, driven by her refusal to hold his gaze when their eyes met. Every time he glanced her way, he caught her staring. He even caught her looking back before he'd turned away.
    Her expression teased him, the way