Page 11 of Tropical Inferno

He met her gaze, startled. “Uh, no. You’re really freakin’ amazing. It’s beautiful to watch the way you glide through the water like a damn fish. I’m a pro—well, I work out a lot and I couldn’t keep up. Doing a triathlon is pretty cool too. How do you train?” Her triathlon training was a safe subject and she told him about it as she lay back in the sun.

“Mostly I swim,” she admitted. “I run too, but I hate running indoors and it’s too cold a lot of the year to be outside.”

“And biking?”

“That’s next. I think I’ve got the swimming and marathon parts down, but the biking is going to be an issue because I simply don’t have a place to do it. Especially in the winter. I did pretty well over the summer, but I was back and forth to Vegas to see my brother so not as much as I wanted. I don’t know how I’ll be ready for the race if I can’t find a place to really train.”

He ached to tell her about his buddy in L.A. who competed in bike races around the world, but that would only be another loose end he had to tie up when she found out who he was. It seemed as though everything was taking one step forward and two steps back when it came to her.

“I’m starving,” she said abruptly. “Can we get something to eat?”

“The restaurant inside the hotel, the Golden Porpoise, is good, or we can order pizza or something. I can run up to the hotel and grab it when it arrives.”

“Sure.” She smiled over at him. “Pizza sounds great. Pepperoni okay?”

He nodded. “A girl after my own heart.”

6

It was a long, lazy day alternately spent baking in the sun and swimming in the calm, clear water. By late afternoon, Maddie figured she was burned to a crisp and started packing up her things.

“I’m going to head up,” she said. “You can stay longer if you want.”

“Nah, I’m pretty well-baked too.” He sat up.

“You don’t have to keep me company the whole time I’m here,” she said quietly. “I know you have something, or someone, on your mind, and I’m perfectly happy on my own. I can’t thank you enough for letting me crash in your room and interrupt your vacation… Please don’t feel obligated to entertain me too.”

He peered at her over the top of his sunglasses. “Honey, I think you’ve got it all wrong. Seeing you in a bathing suit is the entertainment.”

She couldn’t help her sputter of laughter. “You must not get out much!”

He chuckled. “I work hard so I can play hard, but when I’m working, you’re right—I don’t get out much.”

“Sounds kind of boring,” she said lightly.

He shook his head. “Nah. I love what I do. It’s just been a rough couple of weeks so my boss told me to get away and do some thinking.”

“Have you?” she asked.

He looked away, staring out at the water that was glistening in the late afternoon sun. “So much that I don’t want to think about it anymore.”

“Okay,” she said softly. “Then how about thinking about dinner?”

He made a face. “Didn’t we just eat?”

“That was hours ago!” She tossed an empty water bottle at him. “And I must have swum five or six miles today!”

He got up and pulled on his T-shirt. “Then let’s get cleaned up and we can discuss dinner options.”

“And ice cream.”

“Ice cream?” He arched a brow.

“It’s hot and I’m on holiday… Sheesh, must I teach you how to properly relax?”

“Apparently.” He followed behind her as they walked back to the guest house. It was going to be a long night if he had to sit across a table from her. It would be even longer if she wore that damn black dress.

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