The Trouble With Paradise

“Is your tongue swelling?”

“No.” Which was extremely curious in its own right. “He’s…”

“Fabulous?”

“Grumpy. Sort of offsets the whole fabulous thing.”

His gaze captured hers, held it prisoner.

And the oddest thing happened. Time sort of stuttered to a halt. Her body flashed hot, her heart kicked hard, and she began to sweat, but one thing did not happen-no tongue swelling.

What did that mean?

“He’s still looking at you,” Cadence whispered. “And oh my, but he’s hot. How’s the tongue?”

“Still behaving,” she said, shocked.

“Maybe it’s a sign.”

No, it couldn’t be. Clearly she was still suffering the effects from traveling halfway around the world, and then having champagne and a rum punch, because she couldn’t have a crush on him, she just couldn’t. Even without her social awkwardness, it was a supremely bad idea all the way around. Unfortunately, she seemed to make it her mission to follow bad ideas.

SIX

Cadence came back from the food table. “The buffet is going to be tricky.”

Dorie eyed Cadence’s full plate with envy. She’d given Andy her plate, damn it. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to be big as a house if you let me eat all this by myself. Dig in,” she ordered, setting the plate between them.

Worked for Dorie. Behind them the moon began its nightly rise, glittering over the water. The breeze cooled her as the sailboat gently rose and fell on the easy swells.

“He’s looking again,” Cadence whispered.

Dorie turned her head and met Christian’s hot gaze.

“Boy, oh boy, he’s something.”

“Yes.” The doctor sure was something. She just wasn’t sure what.

“It’s going to take a really together woman to keep him entertained.”

“In light of that alone, I should stick with Baseball Cutie.” Her chances were better, seeing as Andy had actually expressed interest, something Christian had not. Besides, she wanted Andy. She did.

Or she wanted to want Andy…

“Honestly? You really can’t go wrong either way. Look at Brandy.”

Brandy had positioned herself in front of the wall of windows so that the moonlight fell over her like a spotlight, where she held court with the captain, Ethan, and Andy.

“She’s a man magnet,” Dorie said with envy. “So confident.”

“I’ve heard that if you fake it, it sort of sticks.”

“Yes, but I’ve never really gotten the hang of faking it.”

Cadence’s eyes sparkled with good humor. “As women, we were born with the ability to fake it.”

Dorie laughed.

“Maybe she could teach us,” Cadence said, watching Brandy toss back her head and let out a low, throaty laugh at something the captain said.

Apparently it was infectious, because all the men laughed, too.

Dorie let out an admiring sigh. “Something tells me she never fakes a thing.”

Off to the side, Christian took a bottled water from the bar, uncapped it, and tilted it up to his mouth. After he drained half of it, he wiped his mouth on his arm and once again locked gazes with Dorie. An indefinable zing hummed through her system.

Cadence nudged her shoulder. “Here he comes.”

But Christian hadn’t moved an inch. He wasn’t smiling; he wasn’t doing anything except looking at her. “No, he’s not.”

“Cowboy,” Cadence whispered. “At one, two, three o’clock.”

Dorie broke eye contact with Christian as Andy came close.

“Hi, ladies.” He still wore those designer duds, looking like a million bucks as he smiled at Dorie.

Whose tongue promptly began to swell and stick to the roof of her mouth.

Oblivious, he sat down next to them at the bar. “The captain said we’re snorkeling tomorrow.”

“Snorkeling?” Cadence’s smile congealed. “Oh. Is that an entirely underwater sport do you think?”

“Unless the fish are flying through the air.”

Cadence looked at her list. “No. Snorkeling is not on here, sorry.”

“Are you kidding? We’re in the South Pacific. The fish are huge. Denny says they swim right up to your face mask and bump into you.”

Cadence lost some of her color. “On purpose?”

Andy laughed. “That’s right.” He turned to Dorie. “Sound like fun?”

“Ith nether thn-” Ruthlessly, she bit her own tongue, then tried again. “I’ve never snorkeled.”

“There’s a first time for everything, darlin’.” His smile said that maybe snorkeling wouldn’t be their only first.

In response, Dorie’s tongue twitched. Panicked, she looked at Cadence.

Cadence shook her head. “Sorry, but I have a fear of putting my face in the water. Totally and ridiculously juvenile, I know, but snorkeling is not happening for me. You’re on your own.”

Andy smiled at Dorie. “No problem. We go in pairs anyway. How about we partner up?”

“She’d love to,” Cadence said for her.

Andy lightly tugged on a strand of Dorie’s hair. “Don’t worry, you’ll be in good hands.”

Dorie looked at his handsome face, and thought of him in a bathing suit. “Fun,” she agreed.

He smiled the smile of a man charmed. A man who knew he was on his way to getting lucky.

She just had to decide if that was going to be true. And if she could sleep with him without swallowing her own tongue.

Night One-No cabana boy yet but still working on it.

Dorie slept in soft, lush bedding that wasn’t from Shop-Mart and woke to the sound of the wind whipping at sails. From her window she could see an incredible blue sky, so bright she needed sunglasses to look at it. She showered and winced anew at her unreachable splinter, but it didn’t look infected so she wasn’t going to worry about it.

Much.

Her ankle felt better and was no longer swollen. She pulled on the bathing suit she’d designed when she’d promised herself to lose ten pounds, which had never happened because barbeque chips had gone on sale at the store and she’d bought an entire carton. Not a single bag, but a carton. Now the suit was a little tight, but the top gave her breasts a nice lift, which was a fun bonus. Unfortunately, the shorty bottoms exposed more than they covered.

Damn BBQ chips.

She pulled out a wraparound skirt, tied it on, and called it good.

Up on deck, she was momentarily staggered by the huge, yawning sky and even huger, yawning ocean, both in that brilliant blue, with only the occasional whitecap to break it up. The air was warm, with a soft breeze that felt like heaven. Far above, the sails soared and cracked in the wind like fireworks.

“An amazing way to wake up, isn’t it?”

She turned and smiled at Cadence, who sat on a lounge. “Beats the L.A. smog, that’s for sure.” Despite the warm air, Cadence had her sweatshirt zipped up to her chin, and Dorie gestured to it. “You cold?”

“No. My bathing suit is all screwed up. I think it shrank.” She grimaced. “Okay, that’s a lie. It didn’t shrink, I got bigger.”

“Let me see.”