Who Needs Mistletoe?

“It’s the rainy season,” she said with a smile. “Sometimes, it rains for days.” She looked out the window of the plane. “Today is a good day. I can’t promise you that tomorrow you’ll even be able to see anything below us.”

Trey grabbed his messenger bag from between his feet and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. “Tell me everything you know about Suaneva,” he demanded, anxious to keep her engaged in conversation.

He listened, silently taking notes as she explained the physical topography of a Polynesian atoll in comparison with an island. But he was less interested in the facts than he was in the sound of her voice.

“Suaneva is an atoll. An atoll begins with a volcano sticking out of the water,” she explained. She let go of the controls and turned to him to gesture with her hands. But when she saw the startled look on his face, she sent him an apologetic smile. “I set the autopilot.”

Trey exhaled the breath he’d sucked in. “Oh. Well, fine then.”

“Coral builds up around the base beneath the water’s surface,” she continued, “and over the years, the volcano top falls away until all that is left is the coral ring and a huge lagoon in the center. Vegetation grows on the ring and beaches form and you have an atoll. They look like little rings in the sea.” She pointed out his window. “There. You see? This atoll is part of the Archipel des Tuamotu. The Tuamotu Archipelago. We are about 150 miles from Pape‘ete. Tahiti is part of les Iles du Vent. The Windward Islands. Mostly mountaintops that haven’t erupted or disintegrated. Although there are many atolls, too. Vous comprenez?”

He stared at her hands, wondering what it might be like if she actually reached out and touched him. Trey wanted to capture her fingers and pull them to his lips, to kiss each neatly manicured tip until he got a reaction from her. How could such a simple gesture intrigue him so? “Yes,” he murmured.

“In an atoll, there are often separate islands in the ring and these are called motu. A motu can be very large or quite small, but they are…lower. Flatter than an island like Bora Bora.”

What he wanted right now didn’t have anything to do with islands or resorts or trust funds. Listening to her voice, watching her beautiful mouth, was pushing his thoughts in a very different direction. If he had his way, he’d demand she land the damn plane so he could drag her into his arms and kiss her. And once he sensed her surrender, he’d strip off all their clothes, lie in the warm sand and make love to her. It wasn’t just a fantasy. There was definitely an attraction between them. He could see it every time their eyes met.

But as long as they were in the air, nothing could happen. Trey wondered how long it might take to make their tour before heading back to Pape‘ete. He could always just cut the trip short once he saw Suaneva. Hell, maybe it would suit his purposes perfectly and there would be no reason to continue. Or maybe they could simply continue tomorrow, after they’d spent the night together in his bed.

“How long before we reach Suaneva?” he asked.

SOPHIE GLANCED DOWN AT HER hands clutching the steering yoke of the plane. They were white-knuckled, frozen in place, the only part of her body that looked the way she felt.

It all happened so quickly Sophie hadn’t found time to think. From the moment her gaze had focused on this gorgeous man, she hadn’t been able to breathe. And the instant Trey Shelton took her hand in his, she’d felt a current race through her body, setting every sense on edge.

She couldn’t remember a man ever affecting her in such an intense and immediate way. Had she possessed any common sense at all, she would have refused to take him up. Flying with Trey was like flying drunk! Every nerve in her body had shifted into overdrive. The scent of his cologne filled her head and the feel of his warm hand still tingled on the tips of her fingers. His voice sent a shiver down her spine and she could barely stand to look at him without moaning.

Of all the times for her to fall apart, this was the worst possible moment. A man as sexy as Trey didn’t just walk into her life every day. And if she had any intentions of seducing him, she couldn’t make it seem easy. Her mother had taught her a lot of valuable lessons about the opposite sex, and one of the most important was to let the man take up the chase. She wanted to be elusive and mysterious, but right now she just felt breathless, giddy-desperate. She’d vowed to have a man by New Year’s and she was a week ahead of schedule.

Thank goodness they were flying over Suaneva, she mused. At least she had conversation to distract her from studying his handsome face and incredible body. Yes, she’d imagined him undressed more than once and as they’d flown northwest from Pape‘ete, she’d managed to catalog each perfect feature.

He had an attitude that many American men possessed, an easy confidence that made his masculinity even more powerful. His smile was stunning, his features rugged yet refined, and his hazel eyes were so penetrating she thought he could see right through her flimsy facade.

“Suaneva is one of the smaller atolls,” she said in a shaky voice. “Though the lagoon is small, there’s a fair amount of land to build on.”

Trey peered out the window. “I was told someone already tried building a resort there.”

“Yes, but I don’t know what’s left of it. Can you see anything down there?” She banked the plane steeply to the right to give him a better view, but the moment she eased into the turn, Sophie felt the engine hesitate.

A few seconds later, it sputtered. “Merde,” she murmured. Maybe it was just moisture in the fuel line. That sometimes happened during the rainy season. The engine cut out and Sophie’s instincts immediately kicked in. She switched to the auxiliary tank and tried the ignition, but to her surprise, it wouldn’t turn over. The battery was dead and without it, there’d be no way to restart the engine.

“What’s wrong?” Trey asked.

She and her father had practiced dead-stick landings on several occasions and his words came back to her now. Keep the nose up, maintain airspeed and find a smooth place to land.

“The engine cut out,” Sophie replied, attempting another start.

“I can see that,” he said, his voice laced with concern. “Don’t you think you ought to start it up again?”

“I’m trying. But I need to pull us out of this turn first.” She lined herself up with the tiny lagoon below, then pushed the ignition for the engine again. There was no response.

“I’m going to have to put us down,” she said.

“What?”

She heard the panic in his tone. “Don’t worry. We’ll land, and I’ll radio for help. We’ll be fine. I’ve done this before.”

“Run out of gas in midair?”

Sophie shook her head. “We didn’t run out of gas. I think there’s moisture in the fuel. I drained the sumps, but sometimes this happens.”

“Sometimes you crash?” he asked.

“No. Usually, the engine will start up again. But the battery seems to be dead. Don’t worry. I can put us safely down on the lagoon.” She glanced over at him to see a dubious expression on his face. “You’re not going to die, Mr. Shelton. It might be a bumpy landing, so make sure you’re strapped in. If the plane flips in the water, kick open the window and get out as fast as you can.”

“I knew I should have trusted my instincts,” he muttered. “The moment I saw the inside of that hangar, the moment I saw you fixing that engine, I should have just turned around and walked out. But no, I brushed my doubts aside. You were beautiful and I figured, why not spend the afternoon trying to seduce you? This is exactly what I deserve. I put my need to get laid in front of my need to keep breathing, and now I’m about to die.”

“You’re not going to die,” Sophie repeated, a warm blush rising on her cheeks. He had wanted to seduce her? The thought made her dizzy with desire. She drew a shaky breath and pointed to the instrument panel. “I want you to watch this gauge. This is my airspeed. I need you to call it out to me.” She could keep an eye on the gauge herself, but this would give him something to do.

She ran through the checklist in her head, her father’s voice speaking to her. Maintain your composure, fly the airplane, watch your glide speed. Sophie adjusted the flaps and lined the plane up with the near end of the lagoon. Landing the plane without power would be tricky, but she was more worried about coral heads in the lagoon tearing apart the plane’s floats or stopping their forward motion once they hit the water. If they hit coral, it might flip the plane. If they hit the beach too fast, they’d flip, as well. She banked slightly, determined to give herself as much water to work with as possible.

She drew another deep breath, said a silent prayer and began her descent to the lagoon. If they died, she’d never get to enjoy sex again, much less sex with a man as beautiful as Trey Shelton. So, she’d just have to make