Page 6 of Tropical Inferno

Assuming she likes you enough to want to hang out with you, he told himself with a grunt. He just wanted to get her back home to Toronto none the wiser about whom she’d spent time with here in Hawaii. Well, now that he definitively knew who her brother was, she would most likely see his face somewhere in the hockey world and figure out she’d been duped, but that would be well after the fact. She’d never forgive him, but at least he’d make sure she remembered someone different than the man she’d hear about on TV or the sports grapevine.

He walked through the house softly calling to her, but she didn’t respond. The door to the second bedroom was open and there was a shopping bag and a few items strewn on the bed, but no sign of her. Had she already left for the beach?

He was about to make his way to the other bedroom when he saw a flash of dark hair. He paused, looking out the sliding glass doors to the pool just as she dove into the water. Her body looked strong and lithe, appearing much longer in the water than when she’d been pressed up against him in that stairwell. She was probably about five feet five or so, but very slender. However, from what he could see now that she was half-naked, she was athletic. There were muscles and toned calves in those legs as she dove off the side and he watched in fascination as she cut through the water like a pro. She made it almost to the other side of the pool without coming up, flipping around underwater and kicking at the wall before gliding another ten feet and finally breaking the surface. She did a strong, steady crawl back to the other side, dove under and did the whole routine three more times before slowing to a stop in the middle of the pool. She flipped onto her back and let her legs float out in front of her, arms at her sides, completely at ease.

She was stunning, he thought, unable to tear his eyes away. A veritable sea nymph, despite being in a pool. She was as comfortable in the water as he was on the ice, except where hockey got him worked up, being in the water seemed to erase every trace of tension in Maddie. Sure, most people relaxed out by the pool or the ocean, but this was different. Maddie was in her own little world, unaffected by the sun, the ocean air or even the man watching her; she was completely in her element. Was she a swimmer? When he’d looked up her brother on the computer in Jim’s office there’d been no mention of a sister who was an athlete. They had a brother who’d played college hockey before blowing out his knee, but Maddie had remained firmly under the radar.

Turning around, he went to his room and dug out his swim trunks. He stripped off the clothes he’d been wearing since last night and tugged the trunks on, grabbing sunscreen and his favorite baseball cap as he headed back outside. She was just getting out of the water as he stepped onto the patio and they both froze.

“Hey,” he called out. “Looks like you were enjoying yourself in there.”

She flashed a brilliant smile. “It was wonderful! Thank you so much for inviting me!” Without warning, she took three steps towards him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. “This makes up for everything bad that happened in the last twenty-four hours.”

He nearly groaned at her closeness, all soft wet skin and toned muscles. “You’re welcome, hon.” He took an involuntary step back, unwilling to let her affect him any more than she already had.

“Are you coming in?” she asked, her wet hair making a pool of water at her feet.

“Sure.” He didn’t know how to refuse so he put down his hat and sunscreen and followed her.

3

Maddie had almost stumbled on the steps of the pool when she’d looked up and found Garrett standing there. He was truly larger than life and it took her a second to regain her composure. Sculpted shoulders, six-pack abs and that damn V that disappeared into his swim trunks—under different circumstances she would have made the first move to seduce him. Something about Garrett was different, though; he wasn’t hook-up material. Sure, he was a hot, tattooed, muscular hunk with the kind of bedroom eyes that made a girl weak in the knees, but he was a bad boy with a secret. Maybe a wife or girlfriend back home?

She had no idea what his story was, but her women’s intuition rarely steered her wrong and it was screaming that he was playing his cards close to the vest. The only reason she was comfortable staying with him was because whatever it was couldn’t possibly involve her. There was no way in hell he’d known she would go running out of her room at the same time his car alarm went off, so their meeting had been accidental. With that in mind, she didn’t care what his secrets were—she just wanted to enjoy this unexpected gift he’d given her. And maybe the company of the hottest man she’d ever seen.

When they’d met this morning she’d been stressed and terrified, so though she’d been aware of him, she wasn’t looking at him that way. Now that she was here and about to spend some time with him, she was hyperaware of every little detail, from that crazy haircut to the body that made her mouth water. A little. Okay, a lot.

He dipped his head underwater to get wet and as he stood up straight, she watched the drops rippling off him with delight. Now that she wasn’t worried about her safety, she’d morphed into relaxation mode and enjoying the view of this hunk of a man who’d been so sweet to her was definitely a perk. She couldn’t have torn her eyes away from him if her life depended on it, and in another place and time she would have licked the water off his chest just for the chance to touch him. He probably hadn’t given her a second thought, but who could blame a girl for having a little fantasy?

“What do you do in Toronto?” he asked as they relaxed in the water.

“I’m an assistant at a law firm,” she responded.

“You like it?”

She shrugged. “It’s okay. I have a degree in business but haven’t been able to decide which aspect I want to focus on. I’m not interested in marketing, human resources bores me, and I don’t want to do anything with numbers.”

“That leaves sales, project management…”

“What type of business does your family have?” she asked, looking up at him with interest. She hadn’t been expecting intelligent conversation about business of all things.

“It’s an auto repair shop—both repairs and bodywork.”

“Are you a mechanic?”

He smiled. “I do a lot of different things, but yeah, working on cars and motorcycles is something I enjoy. Just wish I had more time for that kind of thing instead of…business things.”

“I wish I had more time to travel,” she admitted. “Monique and I started planning this trip almost a year ago. She’s my best friend and my roommate. We started saving up but then...”

“Why’d she cancel?” he asked, frowning.

She rolled her eyes. “Why do girls usually bail on their friends?”

“A guy.” He grimaced. “So she met a guy and…what? He wouldn’t let her go on vacation?”

“No. She said she would miss him too much. She’s at his place almost every night, or he’s at ours. They’re together every minute of the day outside of work and he told her she couldn’t possibly love him if she wanted to be away from him for six whole days.”

He groaned. “Damn, that’s a tired one.”

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