Jill Shalvis - Superb And Sexy

Nothing would help.

Oh, God. She’d totally underestimated what coming back here would be like. The scent of the beach, the air, the tropical atmosphere that she’d once outrun but had never truly forgotten.

The storm blocked her view, but she looked out into the black night anyway, seeing in her mind what it would look like tomorrow-calm azure sea for as far as the horizon allowed. She knew elegant, posh resort hotels and casinos lined the white sandy beaches, which were mixed intermittently with weather-beaten motels and tourist trap shopping mazes, where she’d spent many hours as a young teenager working, saving.

Hording.

Planning. Always planning…

Nope, she didn’t need to see the picturesque scenery; it was imprinted in her mind along with memories.

Some good, most bad.

Once upon a time, the island life was all she’d ever known. Her mother had had Maddie and Leena right here in Nassau. And up until the day she’d left them, Maddie had never understood how her world could crumble and fall.

Maddie didn’t remember much about her mother, a fact that always disturbed her when she thought about it, so she didn’t. But sometimes, like now, she wished she could see her mother’s face more clearly in her head, that she could hear her voice.

That she hadn’t left her girls behind.

Maybe they’d been difficult babies. No doubt, twins were hell on anyone. But if Maddie ever had kids-and just the thought made her want to laugh because she’d screwed up every single relationship she’d ever been in, so how could she ever have kids-she’d never leave them behind.

Never.

Ever.

But her mother had. And then their father had left them, too. Not by choice. No, death wasn’t by anyone’s choice, but gone was gone.

Leaving her and Leena with no one but Rick and a gang of thugs masquerading as gem dealers.

She and Leena had gone to school here, had played here as well. And had learned to lie, cheat, and steal here…

Feeling nauseous, she turned away from the window. If only she could turn from the memories as easily…

Now what? Brody would be right back. Damn it, this was all his fault. He’d given her the upper hand by being easier to manipulate when he believed her to be hurting and in need of taking care of, but suddenly, she didn’t have to fake a damn thing, and couldn’t have if her life depended on it.

Because being here made her feel like a victim.

She’d hate Rick for that alone, but there were so many other things to hate him for. Her entire childhood, for one. Losing Leena for another.

She felt sick, sick, at bringing Brody here. Putting him in danger…

Once upon a time, she’d actually hoped that they could have something. She knew she was different, that she didn’t look like his everyday woman.

And he liked the everyday woman. He liked them sweet and kind and warm…

She wasn’t those things, none of them. She was tough and driven and damn good at what she did, and yet…and yet he seemed to accept that about her.

She could love him for that alone.

Not that she could let herself. She had a sister to get to before Leena did something she would regret, and then there was that Plan, which unfortunately, did not include a big, tall, gorgeous pilot who made her feel things she’d never felt before.

Brody got ice-and also scored with another chocolate-filled vending machine-and let himself back into Maddie’s room.

She was standing by the window, looking exhausted and unsteady enough that a soft breeze could knock her over. “Lay down.”

“I can tuck myself in and get myself iced up.”

“Really?” He moved closer. “Then what was earlier about? At the cabin, when you needed help out of your clothes?”

Guarded, she dropped her coat to a chair and sat on the edge of the bed. “Okay, you win. I need your help.”

“What?”

“I need your help.”

He cupped a hand over his ear. “I’m sorry?”

“I need your help! Are you deaf?”

“Nah, I heard you.” He smiled at her. “I just wanted you to say it a couple of times.”

With a sigh, she lay back on the bed. “You’re a jerk.”

“I know. Oh, and you’re stripping yourself this time.”

“Why?”

“Because my brain fails when I strip you.” He waggled a finger at her shirt, a stretchy number that was hugging her curves and messing with his brain pretty badly. “Get moving.”

“You’re so romantic.”

Brody opened his mouth and then shut it again, deciding not to touch that one with a ten-foot pole since it happened to be true. He didn’t have a romantic bone in his body. Well, other than the one that wanted to, indeed, strip her and then kiss every inch of her body as he exposed it. But since what he wanted to do after that involved him stripping, too, he kept it to himself.

Then he heard the unmistakable hum of a cell phone vibrating from somewhere close. “You?”

“It’s just my alarm. Can I have some tea?”

“Oh, no.” He shook his head. “I’ve fallen for that one before.”

“No, really.” Her big eyes met his, all warm and soft and hurting. “I need some tea. I told you, I can’t take my medicine without it, or it tears up my stomach.”

“I thought you were done with the meds.”

“I thought so, too.”

He looked her over for a sign she was just fucking with him again, but she really did look pale and weak. “Okay, but if you’re gone when I get back, I will find you.” On that ridiculously empty threat, he left the room, then waited a minute, pressing his ear to the door.

He heard nothing.

Deciding to take her at her word, he made his way to the front desk, having to admit that a big hotel would have been nice for the room service alone. He asked for hot tea. The woman there took her sweet time making it, too. By the time he had a tray in his hands, he was nearly crawling out of his skin with impatience.

Once again, he swiped Maddie’s room key, watched the lights flicker green, giving him the go-ahead, but when he turned the handle, the door didn’t budge.

She’d bolted the door. “This isn’t funny, Maddie. Let me in.” When she didn’t, he headed next door to his own room, walking directly to the connecting door.

She wasn’t in her room.

His heart dropped into his gut until he realized the shower was running. Okay, so he’d overreacted. He sat on her bed and waited.

And waited, trying not to picture her in there, naked and soapy and wet…

Then he saw the cell phone on the nightstand, which immediately distracted him. With only a small zing of guilt, he flipped it open and checked her alarm. It was off. He moved directly to last received and dialed calls. Nothing he recognized. Then he got to text messages, where the last one stopped his heart.

Be late and Maddie pays, I promise you.

No longer feeling so patient, he knocked on the bathroom door.

Nothing.

A bad feeling curled in the pit of his gut right next to where his heart had dropped. He waited another minute and then decided the hell with this and broke in.

The room was filled with steam pouring over the top of the closed shower curtain. “Maddie?”

More of that silence.

Okay, so clearly they were going to do this the hard way, not that that was any big surprise. “I snooped on your phone and saw the text.” With a quick jerk, he pulled the curtain aside. “And-”

And Maddie sat on the shower floor, head on her knees in rare defeat as the water pounded down over her, and the sight absolutely broke the heart still sitting in his gut.

Steam rose all around her but did not quite cover her. Nor did her hair, plastered to her shoulders. Not looking would have been physically impossible, but still, he wasn’t prepared for the visceral punch the sight of her gave him. “Maddie?”

She didn’t move.

Resigned, he stepped over the edge of the tub and got in with her.

With a sudden gasp, she bolted upright, giving him a quick flash of her pale, shocked, horror-filled face.

And more. Way more.

Water ran over her in rivulets. Her eyes were wide, her mouth open in a silent scream, and two things hit him at once.

One, she hadn’t been ignoring him-she really hadn’t heard him coming in because she’d been asleep.

And two, he’d caught her in mid-nightmare.

Processing the information took a moment because she was naked, dripping wet, and extremely earth-shattering, heart-stoppingly gorgeous. Which is the only explanation he had for how she managed to wrap her foot around the back of his knee and tug so that his leg collapsed.

He fell like a ton of bricks to the floor of the tub, where he lay being pelted by the shower.

What the hell?

He blinked through the water raining down over the top of him to focus in on the very naked, very wet, very furious woman, hands on her hips, standing over him, glaring into his face.

“Did I hear you say you snooped on my cell phone?” Maddie demanded.

“Yes.” On the floor of the shower, fully dressed, drenched, Brody glared back at her. “And you neglected to tell me that if Leena doesn’t make it to the meeting you’re trying to stop her from making, you pay.”

Maddie had no intelligent response, so she kicked at the inch of water in the bottom of the tub, splashing an already drenched man. She wanted to hurt Rick for the nightmare. She really needed to hurt him. Instead, she splashed Brody again.

“Hey-” He spit out a mouthful of water and came up on his knees, his shirt plastered to his tough body like a second skin as he held up his hands. “I’m not the bad guy here!”

Another kick of water helped, but her breath was still hitching, her body coursing with fury, hatred, adrenaline. Never mind the cell phone threat, she was caught on the stupid nightmare she hadn’t had in years, but she’d had it now and she couldn’t erase it from her brain.