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Nothing was free. As Laney’s credit card company had called to remind her yesterday.
“You look as if you could use a drink.” Goth Princess leaned forward, revealing that she’d skipped a bra that morning. When she reached over to offer a flute to the third woman in the cabin, she followed the boob shoot with a flash of neon-green thong, which was way more than Laney needed to know about the woman’s preferences in the underwear department.
“I’m good,” she said.
Which was part of the problem, wasn’t it?
When Laney didn’t take the flute, the other woman curled up in her seat and grinned. “Two for me. Yay.”
“If we’re experiencing turbulence, you should probably buckle up.” PSA...achieved.
Goth Princess shrugged and knocked back half the flute. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
Laney knew exactly what could happen. “Fractures, head trauma, a snapped spine—all are likely outcomes of a hard-impact crash landing. If we hit something besides water, add road rash and possible burns to the list.”
“Wow.” Goth Princess nodded but didn’t lose her death grip on the bottle. Instead, she propped the buckle against her stomach, ramming the clasp in with her elbow. “Good points.”
Message received. Safety and champagne were an option. “Actually, I’ve changed my mind...”
Reaching over, Laney snagged the second flute. She was probably performing a second public service because she had no doubts whatsoever that Goth Princess would drink both. And, since the other woman clearly weighed some minuscule, waifish amount—unlike Laney—she’d be drunk before the seaplane ever landed. Or crashed. Whichever came first. Laney swallowed a sip of champagne reflexively. She should have been a married woman by now, but her fiancé had kicked the week off by cheating on her. On day two, she’d negotiated with the wedding venues—and been forcibly reminded of the meaning of nonrefundable deposit. On day three, her credit card company had called to not-so-gently remind her that they appreciated prompt payments, and her upcoming vacation to Fantasy Island had overextended her credit limit. Day four? No more job.
Not working double shifts in the trauma bay should have allowed her to finally catch up on her sleep, but her head wouldn’t stop running options to address days one, two and three. She hadn’t even processed the unfairness of being the one who had to give up her job because her fiancé had been caught having sex at work with another woman—and her continued presence at the hospital would make him feel uncomfortable—because that needed to happen on a beach while clutching a Mai Tai. Plus, since even God had rested on the seventh day, she was really hoping today would go better.
“So.” The cabin’s only other occupant leaned around her seat to take them both in. Laney had no idea where the redhead had found a pink suit, but instead of screaming board of trustees or clash worthy of a circus clown, the cinched-in jacket with a ruffle promised fun and sassy. Or maybe that was the spray of freckles covering the woman’s nose. “Spill. What are you doing here?”
“I’m on my honeymoon.”
She swigged more champagne. Huh. Somehow, she’d reached the bottom of the glass, which didn’t even have the decency to be half-full. Goth Princess leaned forward and obligingly topped her off, temporarily fixing the problem.
Pink Suit blinked and eyeballed the cabin. The three of them were the only passengers. “Lose someone?”
That was one way to put it.
“He decided getting married wasn’t in his plans. Since our tickets to Fantasy Island were nonrefundable and he preceded his antimarriage announcement in front of the entire surgical unit with cheating on me, here I am. Laney Parker, MD. Unemployed, newly single and extremely broke.”
The movers had taken her pitifully few boxes from his condo straight to storage. She’d deal with permanent relocation when she got back.
“That’s harsh.” Goth Princess stuck her free hand out. “I’m Ashley Dixon. I won a free ticket. Sorry.”
Laney shook the woman’s hand, the plane promptly lurched and champagne went everywhere. Hell. Wiping her palm on the superexpensive leather seats was probably a social faux pas, but it was that or her twelve-dollar yoga pants. Ashley licked her champagne-covered fingers. “Even better than spitting and swearing to be blood sisters.”
“Gross.” Pink Suit extended her own hand, displaying a really pretty French manicure, but no rings. “Madeline Holmes. I write a wedding blog.”
Free ticket. Gainfully employed. Yep. Laney had definitely drawn the short straw.
“I need snacks.” The champagne suddenly hit her empty stomach like a Mack truck barreling into a freeway retaining wall, the results of which she’d seen firsthand last week and which were decidedly unpleasant. She unbuckled and stood up. Never mind the possibility of blunt trauma injuries in the immediate future—she needed something salty. Now. Madeline grinned. “What happened to snapped spines and bashed-in heads?”
“I’m hungry. And really bad turbulence would bounce you hard enough in your seat to fracture your spine, anyhow. Or you’d slam your head back into the headrest.”
Ashley blinked. “Wow. Thanks for the visual.”
“You try working six days a week in a trauma bay in San Francisco.” She’d stopped sugarcoating approximately three hours into her first day on the job. She walked down the narrow aisle toward what looked like a small galley. Beneath the elegant granite counter was a stainless-steel fridge. She yanked open the door, leaving behind a sticky smear of champagne, and hit the mother lode. The seaplane folks had stashed an entire tray of chocolate-covered strawberries inside the fridge. Something salty would have been better, but who could pass up chocolate fruit? Plus, maybe if she ate her weight in treats, she’d feel better about the credit card bill.
“What kind of doctor?” Madeline asked at the same moment that Ashley yelled “Share!”
“Trauma surgeon.” Gunshot wounds, stabbings, freeway car pile-ups...she had seen plenty of action.
Her cases were unlike the small regional hospital in the Midwest where her mother worked, or the slightly larger, but not much busier hospital in Stockton, California, that had an unexpected need for a good ER surgeon. Of course, her mother had also come through for her, and she appreciated the offer letter tucked in the bottom of her bag. Really. All she had to do was sign on the dotted line and she’d be gainfully employed again. In the middle of nowhere.
She could sign after her honeymoon. Vacation. Whatever.
Right now her token gesture to playing it safe was to return to her seat and buckle up. “Well, Madeline and Ashley, what brings you out to Fantasy Island?”
Madeline had the grace to look apologetic as she reached forward and snatched a strawberry from the tray Laney held. “Just me, myself and I. No guy in sight for me, but since I blog about honeymoons, here I am. From what I’ve heard, the brochures don’t begin to do this place justice.”
Madeline toasted her with the flute, and then they both turned and stared at Ashley, who stared back and actually blushed. Laney got the feeling that was a red-letter day.
“Okay,” Ashley groused. “I’m flying solo, too. I won a vacation for two and there’s no boyfriend, fiancé or husband on my horizon.”
Madeline lifted her glass solemnly. “Your secret’s safe with me. That’s more than I’ve got. Guys look at me and assume I’m holding out for a white picket fence and a ten-carat diamond. Just once, I’d like to have hot, kinky sex. Not every guy has to be a keeper.”
The pilot came on the intercom to announce their imminent arrival. Seconds later the plane banked, and a small island swung into view on the right side. The first thing Laney noticed was the impossible quantity of palm trees—surrounding an impossibly teeny-tiny runway. The ocean flashed outside her window, a light aqua blue dotted with the darker shadows of coral reefs. So far, Fantasy Island was even prettier than its pictures. Laney couldn’t wait to see her private villa and check out the two-plus miles of white sand beach.
Madeline leaned forward. “Do you think it’s true, what they say about the cocktail menu?” She laughed at the look on Laney’s face. “That it’s not really a drinks selection. It’s a list of fantasies. Point and pick. That’s all you have to do.”
“They can do that?” According to the sleek marketing brochure Laney had read, Fantasy Island advertised itself as a small slice of paradise in the Caribbean Sea—and the perfect place for a honeymoon or a destination wedding. Renowned for barefoot luxury and discreet hedonism, the staff’s mantra was “Pure decadent pleasure.” Any wish. Any desire. If she’d read between the lines correctly, no sensual fantasy or pleasure was off-limits for the well-trained staff that catered to guests’ needs. At the time, that had seemed fairly adventurous, but she’d been thinking in terms of beach massages and sex on the sand with her new husband.
Apparently, she needed to broaden her horizons. Live a little. Blah blah blah.
It was some consolation that Ashley looked as shocked as Laney felt. Or not. Because, as the seaplane started a rapid dip and glide toward the island, the other woman grinned, and there was no mistaking the look of glee on her face. “This is going to be awesome.”
Laney double-checked her seat belt and wondered, not for the first time, why Harlan had picked this particular locale for their honeymoon. He’d been a grade-A asshole, but maybe the man hadn’t been as clueless about their bedroom fun times as she’d believed. Maybe he’d had fantasies and she’d not been enough. Well, screw that. This time the only fantasies that mattered were her own.
2 (#ulink_0e5de300-9c7b-5939-945b-35121fccc1f1)
ON A GOOD DAY, Laney saved at least five lives by noon. Her numbers dipped during the slower weeks, because not all days were a constant rush-rush of heart attacks, gunshot wounds and four-car freeway pileups. San Francisco traffic made the Autobahn look tame, and the off-ramps at Balboa Park alone had ambulances pulling into the bay on a semimonthly basis. Instead of scrubbing in, arms up as she hip-checked her way through the surgery door, however, now she was...naked.
Absolutely butt-naked and stretched out, waiting for a man to come and run his hands over her body.
Usually, naked was cause for celebration, except for the inescapable fact that she was all alone in a cabana with the same grade-A ocean views that had greeted her plane yesterday. Her surroundings included miles of powdery white sand, dotted with palm trees, and nothing but the calm blue Caribbean Sea begging for a close encounter with a snorkel. Fantasy Island—which was a ridiculously fantastic name—was undeniably much prettier and calmer than her usual Monday morning gig.
Harlan didn’t know what he was missing, the bastard. Oh, he was still a good-looking bastard, tall, broad shouldered and dark haired. He’d been tapped to play football for his college, but by then he’d already decided medical school lay in his future, and he’d passed on the team because he couldn’t risk the damage to his hands. If she hadn’t taken the Hippocratic Oath herself, she’d have been tempted to step on those talented fingers. Hard.
Imagining Harlan here on Fantasy Island was surprisingly difficult, although he’d been the one to pick out the place for their honeymoon. She was fairly certain she remembered what good sex was like. Or, at the very least, she remembered having sex. Decent sex with matching his-and-her orgasms at the end. Since both she and Harlan were trauma surgeons, they didn’t share too many off-the-clock hours, and she’d had to schedule time to make love with him, which was a sad commentary right there. This trip had been her chance to not be in control of every step of their sex life, and she’d been looking forward to it. While he, on the other hand, had been checking out nurses.
She wriggled on the massage bed and snuck another peek at her phone. Her ponytail slid over her shoulder and she forced herself not to grab it and play with the ends. But holy awkwardness. Lying here like a slab of meat hadn’t been in the spa brochure. Her cabana boy—aka masseuse—was late. The spa attendant had turned on some kind of New Age crap music, heavy on chimes but missing any noticeable beginning or end. The chiming went on ad nauseum. For added bonus points, the attendant had spritzed the air, and Laney’s towel cocoon smelled like some kind of floral scent that made her nose itch.
Waiting was not a good use of time. The sixty hours a week she spent—had spent—in a San Francisco trauma bay had been measured in increments of a minute or less. Of course, the same could be said about her sex life, which was her problem right there. She hadn’t been getting any, ergo she had sex on the brain.
Or maybe that was the resort’s fault. Her libido had Madeline’s explanations on the seaplane playing in a sexy loop through her head. Place an order from the cocktail menu—and pick a sexual fantasy. A Good-Night Kiss, Affair, Climax, Double Jack, Triplesex... Pick one. Point. All she had to do was ask for it.
She lifted her head up and fished her phone out from beneath her sheet. Six minutes late. She’d scheduled thirty minutes for this massage business—so she had twenty-four minutes left.
She liked to keep to her schedule.
Her masseuse, apparently, did not share her outlook on life.
“You’re cheating, sweetheart. No phones in the spa.”
Two big legs appeared in front of her, legs as big and rough as the voice issuing orders. Laney looked up and up and...sweet baby Jesus, the man had good genes. He was also more than a little rough around the edges. His face was all hard lines, his hair cut ruthlessly short with military precision. Dark stubble shadowed his jaw as he towered over her. He wore the loose white pants and form-fitting T-shirt that all the male resort employees sported, but somehow he managed to make the cotton look lethal, as if he were balanced on a razor edge, ready to pummel or go brute predator on the first threat that crossed his path.
This was her masseuse?
He tapped her phone. As if he had the power to make her do precisely as he commanded. It wasn’t hard to imagine him giving orders. Hit man. Maverick CEO. Rogue mercenary. She had no idea who he was, but her body leaped in anticipation when his thighs bumped against the side of the massage table.
Was he on the menu?
“This isn’t the spa.” Since her butt was stretched out beneath a cabana with a thatched roof, building rules absolutely did not apply. Neither did logic since, although Fantasy Island had twelve private villas, all positioned for maximum privacy and sunset views, what it did not have was an actual spa building. She’d been promised her masseuse would be happy to attend you wherever you wish, madame. “And you’re not in charge.”
“You’re on my massage table.” Amusement colored his deep voice, although his face remained impenetrable. Playing poker with this man would be dangerous. Hell, everything about him screamed dangerous. He certainly didn’t fit the spa’s brand of peace and mind-numbing serenity. He made the gangbangers, with their frequent-flyer cards to her ER, look like tame bunnies.
“That makes me the client.” And your boss. After all, she’d be picking up the tab for this little hands-on session.
“Uh-huh.” He plucked the phone out of her hand. “What could you possibly need to check?”
“The time. Give me back my phone.” She rolled over, sat up, extended an arm, and the sheet promptly dipped to nipple level. Damn it. The spa attendant must have been an Egyptian embalmer in a former life, because somehow the woman had gotten all the individual pieces of sheet strategically arranged to cover the embarrassing bits. Laney could do an emergency intubation on a flatlining patient, but the sheet defied her. She yanked it up and used her armpit as an anchor. Sexy. Not.
“You have a hot date?” He pocketed her phone, ignoring her outstretched hand.
Are you busy? “So. Are you going to massage me or what?”
Oops. That sounded downright pornographic. Her girl bits immediately voted for option B even as she lowered her arm.
“Lie down.” He nudged her eye covering back down, plunging her into the dark. She didn’t do vulnerable—and apparently her credit card wouldn’t need to cover a tip for this man because he had zero customer service skills.
“Wait.” The blast of heat she felt as she processed his order—and followed it—was chemistry. She knew all about chemistry, thanks to medical school. This man simply possessed enough symmetry that her own body had ramped up the pheromone production. It wasn’t personal—it was simply that he was mate-worthy.
“Who are you?”
Before he placed his hands all over her naked body—please—she needed to know his name.
* * *
“GRAY,” HE GROWLED. Since Laney Parker’s sweet little butt had intersected with his current mission, exchanging names seemed harmless. Plus, he was fairly certain that a real masseuse would have introduced himself or been labeled with one of those name-tag thingies. His three-day crash course in massage techniques clearly hadn’t prepared him as well as he’d thought.
Around her, however, he didn’t feel professional. Instead, he’d had a knee-jerk reaction to seeing her spread out and waiting for him. And that was before she’d instinctively followed his orders. How far would she let him push her? She wasn’t the kind of woman he usually went out with, but there was something about her... Raw. Vulnerable. Those were two words that came to mind, although they didn’t begin to describe her. She’d looked stiff and uncomfortable, sitting up on the massage table, until he’d ordered her to lie down. She’d liked the orders. Liked being told what to do, being able to shut off the commentary undoubtedly running through her head, and that was just fine with him. He could think of all sorts of orders he’d like to give her. She was unexpected and hot as hell, a delicious bonus he hadn’t anticipated finding here on the island.
She also wasn’t giving in easily. She’d make him work for her submission. He knew it instinctively.
“Gray, we’re going to need to work on your inter-personal skills.” She paused and then reached up to remove the cloth he’d slapped over her eyes.
“Leave it.” He shouldn’t have given her the command, should have let this scenario play out according to her rules, but he’d gotten a good look at her face when he’d confiscated her phone. Her eyes were dark blue, framed by long lashes. She had brown hair and fair skin, with no hint of a tan, so either she was a recent arrival on the island, or she was an overachiever in the sunscreen department. She’d pulled her hair up in a sleek ponytail that made him want to wrap the glossy rope of hair around his hand, hold her in place for his kiss. His touch. The arch of her brows and her stubborn jawline promised she didn’t take orders from just anyone, so the question was: Could he make her want it? She shifted uneasily, the ponytail sliding over a bare shoulder, teasing the freckle in the vulnerable hollow. Her eyes were authoritative and cool for someone who was waiting around naked.
“Stay down. I’m not done with you.” He pressed his hand against her bare shoulder, encouraging her to roll over. Such a simple touch, his hand against her skin, but she didn’t shrug him away or tell him to go to hell.
Instead, she flattened her palms against the white sheet. She had strong, capable hands, the nails neat and short. She’d eschewed polish, but a pale band of skin circled the ring finger of her left hand. She’d worn a ring until recently.
“You haven’t started. You’re late. And I’m not feeling relaxed.”
He could hear her mentally ticking off the reasons he’d failed her. It should have pissed him off but instead, her words were a challenge he wanted to rise to. It might be his first day on the job, but failure was never an option.
The orders to infiltrate Fantasy Island and lay the groundwork for a takedown operation had been straightforward. SEAL Team Sigma operated off the books. Gray had two weeks to get his team on the ground and canvass the island before Diego Marcos touched down. Marcos was unethical, ruthless and moving more product through Central America than coca. The man shipped weapons with his drugs, and his arms pipeline threatened the political stability of the region. Uncle Sam had more than a few questions to ask Marcos, and SEAL Team Sigma had been assigned the task of bringing the man in.
Alive.
Sometimes the job description sucked. It would have been simpler and safer to take the man down when he landed. A well-placed sniper. A mined road. Hell, a midnight meet and greet in the man’s room. Any of those three options worked for Gray. Instead, he got a hostile extraction. Intercept Marcos and move him to US custody. Although selected resort staff was in on the mission, the island’s vacationing civvies needed to remain oblivious to what was about to go down—and that meant not blowing his cover. He was the masseuse. She was the client. End of story. So what if civilian life, five-star living and gorgeous, classy women were foreign territory?
“Massage time.” The words came out more growl than not, so he added client banter to his growing list of skills to hone. Damn it. He needed to do some recon stat.
She tapped her fingers on the sheet, waiting for something. Damn. Possibly...an apology? Because he didn’t apologize any more than he retreated. He was a take it or leave it man. She thought she was in charge right now. Unfortunately, she was partially right.
“You start by introducing yourself,” she instructed. “And then you greet me by name and go over the paperwork I filled out so we can discuss any sensitivities or pain points I may have.”
It was cute, the way she tried to put him in his place. But he’d been broken and rebuilt by SEAL instructors during BUD/S training, three of the most grueling and physically challenging weeks of his life. The thirty minutes she’d scheduled with him was nothing in comparison.
“Gray. Laney. And you checked no boxes.”
A smile tugged at the corners of her delectable mouth, and he wanted to lift the cloth off her eyes himself. See if the smile lit up her eyes like it did the rest of her face.
“Good job.” She doled out the praise as if he were a toddler or a trainee. Boot camp and his military instructors hadn’t bothered with the carrot. They’d been all stick.
And then she gave in and rolled over, presenting him with her back. She was all tangled up in her sheet, the wrapping dipping perilously low on her butt. She had a fantastic butt. He could see the soft indentations at the base of her spine. The urge to smile came out of nowhere, as did the sudden need to trace those delicate spots with his fingers.
What the hell was he doing here?
In what universe had Uncle Sam and his superior officers believed a team of SEALs could go undercover as resort staff? From the other side of the pool, safely positioned inside the towel hut, Levi flashed him a thumbs-up. Right. The bastard had slapped him on the back and announced, “Bring her some towels, man, and give her a massage.”
She turned her head. “Clock is ticking. Chop chop.”
Did she have some place to be? Apparently so, because she held out her hand. “Give me back my phone.”
“The phone’s in time-out.” The words were out of his mouth before he could think them over.
She snorted. “Are you new?”
“You could say that.”
She nodded and then opened her mouth and proceeded to give him an unending stream of instructions. “I’ve indicated a preference for essential oils on my spa form. Medium pressure, but I usually have discomfort in my upper back that could benefit from deep tissue work. Start with the deltoids. Then the trapezius. If you can work my trigger points, I’d appreciate it. I can show you.”
