desires and Grace’s heart beat even faster as every nerve ending inside her was stretched to the limit. Then in an instant, they all flew free in an explosion of joy more colorful than any Fourth of July celebration she’d ever experienced.
Seconds later, waves of tension rippled through him and he cried out her name, then joined her in this place that was beyond anywhere she’d ever been before.
A while later, he gathered her in his arms and dozed for a time. His pounding heart grew quiet and steady against her chest and she felt completely cherished for the first time in her life. If they never left the boat again, she knew she could be perfectly happy here. Then her eyes fluttered open and she gazed up at his expression. Maybe she was dreaming, but she would’ve sworn she was looking into the face of serenity, pure and simple.
And that’s when she knew she was in big trouble.
It was early afternoon the following day when Grace glanced around at the fertile hillside of palm trees and couldn’t believe her amazing good luck. Fumbling in her bag for her forceps, she kept her focus on the profusion of spore-rich fronds she’d just discovered. The groupings looked slightly thicker and darker than the others down in the palmetto grove. Was that due simply to the lack of direct sunlight on the hill or were these new spores a different subspecies? Would these more prolific creatures provide even more insight into the scientific puzzle she was on the verge of solving? She could only hope and pray that they would.
She’d spent the morning collecting samples from the palmetto trees. Then, on a hunch, she’d walked a few hundred yards along the trail that led into the rain forest, stopping when she reached a fork. Instead of the wider trail she’d taken before, she chose the narrow, less worn path that clung to the side of the rugged green hill and meandered even farther into the vast canopy of verdant trees, thick vines and wild green ferns.
It was hot and close, with sunlight only managing to peek through the heavy trees occasionally. The thick scents of the rain forest wrapped themselves around her and she smiled despite the sweat she felt rolling along her spine.
The path continued climbing up and around one hill to another area of the forest where she found more palm trees growing in scattered profusion up and down the hillside. She stopped to study the fronds at the base of one tree that grew close enough to the path, since she didn’t dare veer off in her lightweight sandals. Next time she decided to hike into the hills, she would wear appropriate shoes.
After collecting as many spores as her forceps would grab, she stacked her petri dishes in her bag and looked around at her surroundings.
With a short laugh, she realized that after walking for at least an hour, she’d barely risen thirty or forty feet above the forest floor. But the view was incomparable anyway. From here she could see a slice of coastline in the distance. Unlike the calm, protected waters of Logan’s bay, there were waves swelling and tumbling onto that faraway beach. Did Logan ever go surfing there?
She turned and stared at the tops of the trees and felt tears sting her eyes. That’s when she hugged herself, knowing she’d never seen a view more exotically beautiful in her life. After a few minutes, she pulled out her smartphone and took some pictures, despite knowing they could never convey the true colors and natural splendor of the real thing. That was okay. The photos would at least provide a reminder to Grace that she had, indeed, stood in this place once upon a time.
A movement caught her eye and she glanced to the nearest hill across the expanse of trees. A narrow rush of water fell over rocks and shrubs on its way down the hill and formed a waterfall that splashed into a small, secluded pool at the base.
Surrounded by thick plants and greenery, the tiny pool wasn’t visible at first. But now she could barely wait to see it up close. She wondered if Logan knew it was here. Then she wondered if he would come back here with her. She shivered at the thought of the two of them frolicking in their own private lagoon.
Her next thought caused her to shiver again, and not in a good way. Were there alligators? Snakes? She would have to find out for certain before she dared step foot in the water.
“What would paradise be without a snake?” she muttered aloud, and shivered all over again. But it was too lovely a day to be harboring sucky thoughts of reptiles, so with a mental shove, she rid her mind of all images of slithery creatures. Instead, she went with the much more pleasant daydream of lazing the day away with Logan in their own private rain forest swimming pool. As she picked up her kit and headed out of the forest, she smiled in anticipation.
Seven
Logan stood beside the limousine and watched Aidan jog down the stairs of the brothers’ Gulfstream G650 jet before strolling across the tarmac. He was followed closely by their Senior VP, Eleanor, and two corporate staffers as a crew of airport workers began unloading luggage from the plane onto a cart.
“Welcome home, bro,” Logan said, and grabbed his brother in a bear hug. Then he shook hands with Eleanor and the two staffers. “You all did a great job in New York. Thanks.”
They all piled into the limo and while they waited for their luggage to be loaded into the trunk, Logan passed around bottles of beer to anyone who wanted one. He knew he did. He’d spent the past two hours dealing with Pierre, his irate hotel manager, and the entire housekeeping staff, who were in various stages of tears and anguish after Pierre had reamed them for stealing from a hotel guest.
Nobody had confessed and Pierre was on the verge of firing every one of them. But armed combat was unexpectedly averted when the hotel guest called Logan’s office to announce that, oops, she’d found her diamond necklace after all, in another handbag she’d forgotten she brought.
Pierre was still simmering and the staff were all nursing grudges that would eventually fade. Pierre tended to hit pretty high on the drama meter, but he was also savvy enough to make it up to the staffers for insinuating there was a thief among them. They were all used to Pierre’s over-the-top reactions, but the fact that he cared so very much about the guests’ safety and comfort was what made him an excellent manager.
Still, that was the last time Logan would ever make the mistake of casually asking the hotel manager how things were going.
After the short drive back to the hotel, Logan and Aidan waved off the staffers and headed for Aidan’s suite.
While his brother changed from a business suit into a pair of cargo shorts and a T-shirt, Logan pulled two more bottles of beer out of the refrigerator, opened them and handed one to his brother.
“Thanks,” Aidan said, and took a long drink. “Damn, feels like I’ve been gone a month.”
Logan sat in an overstuffed chair and rested the beer bottle on his knee. “And to me, it’s as if you’d barely left.”
“Ah, feel the love,” Aidan said, laughing. The two brothers grinned at each other, staring into identical blue eyes that reflected the exact same image back at them.
They had grown up so identical that no one besides their father had ever been able to tell them apart. Even close friends and family members, people who should’ve been able to tell the difference, couldn’t. Their mother, for instance, had always mixed them up, from the time they were born. But then, she’d never really bothered to get to know them. And when she disappeared when the twins were seven, no one was too surprised.
Ancient history, Logan thought, and shook off the grim memory. Aidan wanted an update on anything new that was happening at the hotel and Logan brought him up to date on each department.
As he spoke about the latest housekeeping kerfuffle and filled his brother in on new staffing and such, Aidan unpacked. He made several piles of laundry on the bed, then put in a call to housekeeping.
“Tomorrow after the conference call, we need to finalize the Dukes’ visit,” Logan said as soon as Aidan was off the phone.
“Good thinking.” Aidan found his briefcase and pulled out a thick, leather-bound notepad. “I’ve made some notes.”
Logan still couldn’t quite believe he and his brother had never met their Duke cousins until this past year. Adam, Brandon and Cameron Duke were the adopted sons of Sally Duke, who was the widow of the twins’ father’s brother, William.
