Lying in Your Arms Read online

  “I’m sure you could.”

  “I’ve never vacationed alone.”

  “Me, either.”

  She tapped the tip of her finger on her bottom lip. “I’m wondering if we could, maybe, vacation alone...together.”

  His jaw fell open.

  “I mean, it would be nice to know somebody had your back, wouldn’t it?”

  “Sure,” he said with a nod. “I could totally use somebody to save me from any tarantulas that sneak into my room.”

  If he woke up with one of those suckers lying on top of him, the whole town would hear his screeches.

  “And you’ve proved yourself to be a champion snake wrangler.”

  A slow smile tugged at his lips. It was answered by one from her. Maybe her first real one since he’d heard her scream and ran forward to be her dragon, er, snake, slayer. Well, not slayer—he’d never kill an innocent animal that was just doing what animals did—snake catcher would be the better term.

  “You asking me if I want to be your vacation buddy?” he finally said.

  “Something like that. You know, like in kindergarten when you always had to have a partner to hold hands with in the lunch line.”

  He grimaced. “I’d never have held hands with a girl.”

  “I don’t have cooties.”

  He grinned and walked closer, lifting a hand to push her hair back over her shoulder. “I can tell.”

  She stared at him, licked her lips, then edged away, as if confused, a little skittish and shy remembering that heated embrace they’d shared.

  Again, he let her get away with it, knowing they’d get back there sooner or later. Right now, she was telling herself, and him, that she was just after a buddy to spend time with and cover her back during her vacation. But he knew deep down it was more than that. The encounter was driving her decisions, even if she hadn’t yet realized it. Somewhere deep inside, she wanted more. This was a logical, acceptable way to tell him she wanted to spend time with him.

  Of course, shoving her hand down his trunks and grabbing his cock had been a pretty good indication, too. In fact, he preferred it.

  “I suppose I could check out your pool every day before you get in it.”

  She shuddered. “Definitely.”

  “And come running if you call?”

  “How did you manage that, anyway?” she asked, as if finally remembering what had happened before he’d caught the snake. “Where’d you come from? I know my door was locked.”

  “Over the wall. We’re next-door neighbors.”

  A laugh escaped her lips and for the first time that morning, he began to think she was really going to be all right. Her panic had eased its grip on her and she was regaining her equilibrium.

  That was a good thing, even if her cute suggestion—that he be her vacation buddy—was driving him crazy. The idea that he could be buddies with a woman who had every one of his senses, and all of his male chromosomes, on high alert, was ludicrous.

  But he knew she was only half-joking. The thought of leaving really had crossed her mind, all because of a run-in with a member of the local population. And he didn’t want her to go. He desperately didn’t want her to go.

  So, not even giving it any more thought, he agreed to her suggestion.

  “Okay, Madison Reid, you’ve got yourself a deal.”

  “I do?”

  “Uh-huh. Let’s be solo vacationers together.”

  And see just how long it took for them to progress beyond the holding-hands-in-the-lunch-line stage.

  6

  THE HOTEL STAFF was incredibly apologetic about the snake incident. After Leo had called the front desk and explained the situation, no fewer than four maintenance men had shown up at her door. They’d deftly taken care of her unwanted visitor, and had then, at Leo’s suggestion, looked over every inch of her private courtyard, cutting back some of the lower tangles of hedge to make sure there were no holes, nests or sleeping family members. She had remained inside, unwilling to even look out the door for fear they’d stumble across Mrs. Snake and a passel of little snakelings.

  They hadn’t. They’d found an indentation under one corner of the wall, where they assumed the wild creature had made its entry, and had backfilled it in with packed dirt and stone. The foreman had gone on to assure her that nothing like this had ever happened before and it most certainly wouldn’t happen again.

  Right. Just her luck to get the pool with the big honking reptile in it.

  Of course, it had also been just her luck to have a big, powerful hunk right next door to save her ass.

  Lucky me.

  Good Lord, was he big and powerful. Even now, a couple of hours later, she couldn’t stop thinking about how his body had felt pressed against hers, so strong and masculine. Not to mention how he’d tasted. How he’d smelled.

  How that massive ridge of heat had swelled between them during their passionate kiss, making her legs grow weak and her mouth as dry as straw.

  She’d thrown her naked self into his arms, not even pausing to think of how he might react. And he’d reacted. Oh, had he ever. She knew for a fact she’d never been with a man who’d reacted more. Or had more to react with. Wrapping her hand around him the way she had had taken a lot of gall, and she knew it. But she hadn’t cared. She still didn’t. She’d wanted to touch him and had been desperate for him to touch her.

  No, she wouldn’t regret this morning. Not ever.

  Unless, of course, it was never repeated.

  Then she might regret it, because she would be left wondering just how amazing all the other things they could have done together would be.

  She lifted her hand and fanned it in front of her face, needing it more for her heated imagination than the warm weather. As they lay on a pair of huge, padded lounge chairs beside the stunning tropical pool that dominated the center of the resort grounds, she found herself continuing to cast glances toward his swim trunks, wondering if the lumps in the fabric were caused by the looseness of the material, or by the fact that he was still half-aroused. As she was, even hours later.

  She gulped and forced herself to focus on the book she’d brought along, not wanting to distract herself all over again by remembering how wonderful it had felt to be in his arms. And how wonderful it would be to be in his bed.

  That was where they were heading. She could no longer deny it to herself. The attraction was too strong, irresistible, and now that they’d kissed, touched each other, she knew there was only one place this kind of want could take them.

  He had to have figured that out, too. But for now, he seemed content to be her “buddy.” He’d insisted on escorting her down to the pool, making a big production of showing her how carefully he was inspecting the path in front of them. She’d finally begun to laugh and admitted she might have overreacted just a bit, and had found that laughing with Leo was almost as delightful as kissing him.

  “What do you suppose is this surprise the hotel is planning for us?” Leo asked, startling her. She’d thought he was sleeping—his eyes were concealed by dark sunglasses, and he’d been lying quietly for several minutes, which had enabled her to, she thought, sneakily glance at him and wonder how on earth his skin could stretch enough to accommodate all those muscles.

  “I’m not sure.” Madison reached for her drink—a tall, fruity concoction laced with rum that the bartender kept sending over. Apparently, word had gotten out about her close encounter with nature, and the hotel was bending over backward to make it up to them. “I’ve been wondering about it, too. Whatever it is, it sounds like it’s going to be pretty special.”

  Not only had she been upgraded to a completely all-inclusive vacation, meaning she wouldn’t have to pay for any more meals or drinks, she and Leo had also been invited to a private surprise dinner that evening. The hotel was making all the arrangements and kept insisting it was the very least they could do for the inconvenience.

  Personally, she preferred they give her a pair of snakeskin boots, b
ut she supposed that was being a little vindictive and bloodthirsty. She wasn’t a subscriber to the adage “the only good snake is a dead snake.” She simply didn’t ever want to have to see, hear or interact with one again as long as she lived.

  “I guess they take their snake incursions seriously,” she said.

  “I suppose it wouldn’t do their hotel any good if word got out that their pools came complete with their own boa constrictors.”

  She shuddered, hating to even think about it. That thing had been a boa, one of the maintenance men had confirmed it. He’d also said it was extremely rare for them to come out of the jungle, but that they did sometimes enjoy taking a freshwater dip. Again, just her luck. Maybe she had a sign on her back that she couldn’t see, saying Fuck with me.

  “I’m surprised they didn’t just offer you a spa day or something,” Leo said. “No need to include me.”

  “Hey, you were the snake catcher. I just stood there naked and screamed.”

  He smiled broadly. “Yeah. I remember.”

  She leaned over and flicked his arm sharply. He just laughed.

  “Of course, I have a feeling that the woman at the front desk is doing a little matchmaking,” he said.

  She gaped. “Seriously?”

  “Uh-huh. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this turns out to be some romantic setup.”

  Hmm. That didn’t sound so bad.

  “Though, they didn’t make it sound like we had to dress up or anything,” he said, “which is a good thing since I didn’t bring much more than jeans and trunks.”

  “Me, either.”

  “So you weren’t planning on doing any clubbing or hobnobbing while you were here, huh?”

  She snorted. “Definitely not. I planned to do exactly what I’m doing right now.”

  She just hadn’t planned to do it with a hunky firefighter from Chicago.

  “So why did you decide to take a solo vacation?” he asked, sounding a little puzzled, as if he’d been thinking about it since she’d mentioned this morning that they were both vacationing alone.

  She tensed, but didn’t overreact. It was a natural question. Everywhere around them were groups and couples. The airport had been full of them, as had the taxi line. And even here, at such a small hotel, one only saw pairs walking about. Right now, on the other side of the lagoon-shaped, flower-bedecked pool, she saw two cooing couples, one middle-aged, another young and honeymoonish. This wasn’t the type of place one vacationed alone.

  “I was going through some stuff and just needed to get out of town alone for a while.” She shrugged. “As it turns out, it might be a great thing.”

  He smiled lazily.

  “Because now I can finish up a project I’m working on,” she said a little teasingly, knowing he’d thought she was referring to him. She had been. But that had sounded a little too fawning.

  Besides, now that she’d voiced it, she had to admit, the project idea wasn’t a bad one. She might be persona non grata around Hollywood right now, but once the press forgot about her, the studios might remember her screenplay. She needed to do some rewriting, tinkering.

  Tommy was still insistent that he wanted to play the lead, and maybe an announcement that the two of them were going to be working together might throw some water on the fiery gossip. Since she hadn’t ever conceived of him in the role, she wanted to go back over the script and tweak it, make it more suitable for him.

  The more she’d thought about it, the more she’d realized he really would be right for the part. She just needed to change her dark, brooding, angry hero into a golden-haired angel whose good looks hid a dangerous, edgy soul. Plus, at least with Tommy, there shouldn’t be any diva actor fits over the homoerotic threesome scene!

  “What do you do, anyway?” he asked.

  “I’m a writer.”

  He turned his head to look at her from behind the dark glasses. “Novels?”

  “Not yet. I was a journalist when I lived in New York. I worked for one of the big papers and hated it. So earlier this year, I moved out to L.A. to market an original screenplay.”

  “Wow. Any luck?”

  “Yes.” And no. “There’s some interest but nothing concrete yet.”

  “That’s pretty amazing. Have you met any stars? Done the whole elite-Hollywood-decadence thing?”

  Chuckling, she admitted, “A few. And maybe a little decadence.” Then, remembering what he’d said yesterday about having two all-inclusive packages, she asked the question that had been flitting around in her mind.

  “So, what about you? Why the solo vacation—and the two-person package?”

  He sighed audibly, turning his head to look at the pool again. She lifted her drink, sucking some of the delicious sweetness through the straw, giving him time. She wondered for a moment if he was going to ignore the question, but finally, he cleared his throat.

  “This was supposed to be my honeymoon.”

  She coughed out a mouthful of her drink, spewing it onto her own bare shoulder. Sitting up straighter in the chair, she coughed a few more times.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  He’d sat right up and swung around to face her, patting her back as if helping a kid spit out too big a mouthful of food. Well, she had to concede, that had been a lot to digest. Even in the crazy moment, when her mind had begun to spin over the whole idea that Leo was supposed to be here with another woman—his wife—she had time to think how nice his strong fingers had felt on her back.

  “I’m fine,” she insisted, nodding and scrunching her eyes closed. Some of her drink had flown out of her mouth, some she’d gulped down, and now she had a damned brain freeze. “I was just surprised.”

  “Sorry.”

  Finally, when she felt in full control of herself, she turned to face him. Their bare legs brushed against each other, their feet inches apart on the stone pool deck. The coarse black hairs on his legs tickled her smooth ones, just another vivid example of his maleness compared to her femininity. The soft sensation made her stomach flip and her bathing suit feel a tiny bit tighter against her groin.

  She forced those sensations away to focus on their conversation. “You were supposed to be here with your wife?”

  “I’m not married!” he assured her.

  “Good thing. I mean, considering you came on your honeymoon alone. What happened?”

  “Same old story. Long engagement, nonrefundable trip paid for, wedding got canceled.”

  “So, what, she kept the dress and you kept the trip?”

  “Something like that. We returned what we could but both of us ate some of the costs.”

  “That must have been painful.”

  “Not too terrible, considering we broke up six months before the wedding date.”

  Six months. So he wasn’t exactly on the rebound. That was good to know.

  “But you still couldn’t get a refund on this?” She gestured around the grounds.

  “Nope. I’d prepaid for a whole honeymoon package. Nonrefundable.”

  Wow, that had been pretty optimistic, considering how frequently people broke up these days.

  He must have read her expression. “I know, I know. I can’t imagine what I was thinking. I wasn’t just being a cheapskate, I swear. I think, deep down, doing it that way was an affirmation that I believed we really would get married, even though, somewhere deep inside, I’d already begun to have doubts.”

  “So it was a friendly, mutual breakup?”

  He barked a laugh. “Oh, hell, no.”

  She didn’t reply, not asking the natural questions. She’d already been incredibly nosy. If he wanted to share more, he would.

  “She cheated.”

  Oh, no. Stupid, foolish woman.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  Those broad shoulders lifted in a careless shrug. “I’m over it. What hurt the most was that she did it with my best man...can you possibly get more cliché?”

  “Or more trashy?” she snapped. “What a bitch
.”

  “It takes two...he’s a bitch, too.”

  His tone held no heat; he didn’t seem to be bearing any grudges or holding on to any residual anger. So maybe he really was over all that. He’d certainly seemed to be so far. She would never have guessed he’d been recently betrayed and hurt by someone he’d cared enough about to propose to.

  It truly boggled her mind. She had no use for cheaters, anyway, something she’d never been more thoroughly reminded of than when she’d become the country’s most infamous one. But to cheat on someone like Leo? She didn’t get it. He was impossibly handsome. He was thoughtful, funny and heroic. He was built like a god, kissed like a dream and had hands that should be patented. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how amazing he would be in bed.... He certainly had plenty to offer a woman there.

  So why on earth would anyone risk that for a fling with someone else? Even more—how could anyone who proclaimed to care about him do something so hateful, so hurtful, to a man who was so wonderful?

  “She’s insane.”

  He waved a hand. “It worked out for the best. Maybe she sensed I wasn’t as emotionally attached as I should have been. I think part of her wanted me to find out, wanted to see how I’d react and make sure she really was the center of my world. If I’d played the part of enraged, jealous fiancé, she might have felt more certain that I really loved her.”

  “Oh, genius plan,” she said with a big eye roll. As if he’d have ever taken her back after she’d played such a game? What man would? “You didn’t, I presume?”

  He shook his head slowly. “I was embarrassed, and I punched the guy. I think I was more mad at him!”

  “Bros before hos?”

  He grinned, not appearing to mind that she’d just called his ex a ho. Then again, the ex was a ho.

  “I didn’t yell at her, didn’t fight, just...left. I told her what I wanted out of the apartment and that I never wanted to see her again. The end.”

  “Wow,” she murmured, suddenly imagining how that must have felt. Whatever punishment his ex had gotten, including the embarrassment and the ending of her engagement, must surely have paled next to the realization that Leo didn’t give a damn that she’d cheated on him. Madison honestly didn’t know if she could have survived that.