Bring It On (17 page)

She tried to recapture the enjoyment of the day, but couldn’t seem to do it. At one point Colt suggested they head back, but that only added guilt to the mix she was struggling against. He’d gone to so much trouble to make her happy…even if it could only be for this one day.

Finally, the captain came down and said, “It’s time to start heading in. Marcy told me to have you back at two on the nose.”

Together, they went to sit at the bow again. Lena curled her legs up onto the cushion beside her. Draping an arm around her shoulders, Colt pulled her closer against his body and leaned down to capture her lips.

The kiss was hot, as they all were with Colt, but there was a softness beneath it as well. Tears she desperately wanted to hold in stung the backs of her eyes. She let her eyelids slide shut to hide them.

She wanted the heat they’d shared the night before. She wanted to be consumed so that she could forget, for a little while anyway, what was eventually going to come.

Well, she supposed, there was one bright spot. Unlike when her mother had been overwhelmed by disappointment and despair, there was no one else in her life to be caught in the crosshairs of her devastation.

No, Lena clamped down hard on the inside of her cheek, ignoring the metallic tang of blood as it welled into her mouth. She refused to be that person. No matter what happened, she would not let this crush her.

When it was over, she’d tell Colt goodbye. And go on with the rest of her life. And find exactly what she was looking for.

If she could figure out what that was anymore.

THEY HAD JUST ENOUGH TIME to shower, change and get ready for Marcy’s next assignment—a ballroom-dancing lesson followed by a party so that everyone could practice their newfound skills.

Lena was beautiful, as always. She’d dressed in a black strapless sheath that hugged her body and made his mouth water. She’d taken the time to pile her hair high on her head, mahogany curls cascading down to brush against the nape of her neck. Colt’s fingers itched to sweep them away, to palm the curve of her neck and kiss her senseless.

He resisted, barely.

She’d been out of sorts since they’d gotten back into the boat this afternoon. He couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong, but something definitely was. He’d asked, but she’d given him a quick—too quick—answer that she was fine.

He didn’t believe her.

Perhaps his surprise hadn’t been such a good idea after all. When they’d first reached the boat, she’d seemed excited. Even in the water, she’d been laughing and smiling, enjoying herself.

Now she was silent and distant. And he wasn’t used to that. Aside from the details of her childhood, he was under the impression that they’d shared everything. In the past, he would have teased her until the truth spilled out. But this wasn’t the past and the dynamic of their relationship had changed.

He no longer knew how to handle her. He was terrible at relationships, which was one reason he tried desperately not to have them. They were work. He had to consider someone else’s feelings, wants and needs.

No woman had ever been important enough to deal with that headache. The difference was, with Lena, it didn’t feel like a headache. He was genuinely worried about her. If she was upset, he wanted to help.

But he couldn’t force her to talk to him.

They walked across the complex, entering the main resort building for the first time since checking in. A friendly girl greeted them, directing them up two floors to the ballroom at the end of the hallway.

Walking into the room, Colt had the sudden feeling that he’d stepped back in time a couple hundred years. The space was huge.

Floor-to-ceiling windows ran the entire length of one side, interspersed with French doors that led onto a full-length balcony. Through the glass Colt could see the scrolling ironwork that ringed the space. It looked as original to the structure as the hardwood floors, crystal chandeliers and period wall sconces.

Ornately framed artwork graced the walls. Depictions of scenes from Victorian ballrooms echoed what the current residents must have assumed took place inside the ballroom. Touches of the modern—Mikhail’s light poles, a large rolling cart with sound equipment and the updated wiring that allowed for electrical lights—left him with a sort of distorted reality.

A small group of people were gathered at the far end of the room. Probably twenty or thirty total. There were two or three older couples, perhaps empty nesters enjoying their newfound freedom. The way they joked with each other, laughing and teasing, twisted something sharp inside him.

They reminded him of his parents. Before the accident his father had just retired, selling the business he’d spent all of his life building. His parents wouldn’t get to enjoy those quiet years together and that made him sad.

Even now, years later, the pain of losing them was still so sharp. It would surprise him sometimes, coming out of nowhere, regret and loss tightening an ever-present band across his chest. Maybe if their deaths hadn’t been so sudden, or if he hadn’t lost them both at once. But Colt didn’t think that would matter. He missed his mother’s indulgent smile and his father’s high expectations, and he always would. Losing them was the most difficult thing he’d ever had to deal with. And he never wanted to experience that kind of grief again.

Colt was locked somewhere inside the demons of his own past when a squeal shattered the moment.

Separating from the group, Georgie rushed up beside them, wrapping her arms around Lena and giving her a big hug. It didn’t seem to register with her that Lena did little more than pat her on the back before trying to extricate herself from the other woman’s grasp.

“What have y’all been up to since yesterday?” Georgie asked with a sly wink and a big white smile.

“Snorkeling,” Lena said, looking around her, probably for the emergency exit.

Before she could find it, Marcy and Mikhail entered the room, followed by a striking couple who seemed to glide across the floor with effortless grace.

Marcy stopped in front of the gathered group. Putting on her straightest Manager smile, she said, “We’re all excited to welcome you to our couples’ ballroom class. I hope you’re enjoying your stay at Escape. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to enhance your experience. Everyone enjoy the class.”

The man stepped forward, his eyes running expertly over the crowd. “I’m Tony and this is my partner Sara. Our only rule is that everyone must have fun tonight. Does anyone have a request for which dance we learn?”

Behind them, Georgie’s light, lyrical voice shouted, “The Lambda.” Everyone chuckled at her mispronunciation of
Lambada
. Wesley groaned, but as Colt turned around to look at him, he noticed the man’s arms were wrapped tightly around his wife.

Tony said, “Maybe we should start with something a little easier. How about the Tango?”

A general sound of acceptance rose from the group.

Marcy stepped up beside Tony and addressed everyone again. “Mikhail is going to be photographing one of our couples.” She pointed toward them. Lena squirmed beside Colt as every eye in the place turned to take them in. “You might have seen them around the resort this week. They’re going to be featured in an upcoming ad campaign and magazine spread. Mikhail’s going to attempt to keep everyone else out of the shots because we value our guests’ privacy. Rest assured we will be obtaining your permission if you appear in any of the photographs. In the meantime, just pretend that he isn’t here.”

Colt knew from experience that that was easier said than done. There was nothing like a camera to make the shyest person outgoing and the most flamboyant person retiring. People seemed to change, although now that he stopped to think about it, Lena hadn’t.

With a clap, Tony and Sara began the class. Colt, who’d taken ballroom lessons as a child, immediately picked up the hold that he remembered. Lena, on the other hand, turned out to have two left feet. He honestly never would have guessed it. She was fluid and sensual in bed. But on the dance floor, her arms and legs moved as if her knees and elbows had been frozen in place.

“Lena, can you look a little more…relaxed?” Mikhail asked as he spun around them.

She grimaced. “I don’t think so.”

Mikhail sighed and dropped to his knees, setting up for an elongated shot that would minimize her stiffness in the final product. Colt admired the man’s adaptability.

Georgie and Wesley wedged their way beside them. The two were obviously no strangers to a ballroom floor. Colt would wager she’d insisted on six months of classes before the wedding. He wondered, as practical and detail-oriented as Lena was why she hadn’t done the same.

“Didn’t you and Wyn take lessons for your first dance?” he asked, forcing her backward in the basic step.

“No. We weren’t going to have a traditional first dance.”

“I bet that went over well with Diane.”

Lena stumbled, unable to keep up with the advancing steps of the dance. Colt caught her, deliberately slowing their pace.

“She didn’t know,” she gritted out through stiff lips.

Sara walked up behind Lena. Without any warning, she bracketed her hands over Lena’s hips, making her jump in surprise.

“It’s all in the hips, Lena. Loosen up and just let yourself feel the beat of the music. Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow.”

Colt wanted to yell at everyone to leave her alone, but he realized that wouldn’t solve anything. He was about to whisk her away, photographs and party be damned, but before he could do it, Georgie and Wesley slid to a smooth stop beside them.

Wesley had his wife bent over backward, supporting her with a lunging knee and his strong frame. Georgie’s head was thrown back, her spine arched, her blond hair trailing against the floor.

Hanging upside down, Georgie looked straight at Lena and said, “Honey, it’s like sex standing up. Colt, however did you get through the reception?”

He could see it coming. Colt watched as anger, frustration and something akin to pain gathered deep in Lena’s blue-gray eyes. They darkened and swirled, and even he was powerless to stop the explosion.

“We did not have a reception. We did not have a wedding. We are not married!” Lena yelled, her voice getting louder with each statement, until the entire room was staring.

11

THE MOMENT THE WORDS LEFT Lena’s mouth she regretted them. Georgie was speechless, something she was certain hadn’t happened often in the young woman’s life. Wesley pulled her slowly up out of their dip, sheltering her with his arms and body. A shocked, hurt expression filled Georgie’s face. For a minute, Lena felt as if she’d just kicked a puppy. A sickly sensation that she didn’t like settled thick in the bottom of her stomach.

A rather large scowl pinched Marcy’s mouth. And Colt simply watched Lena, as if trying to decide what she might do next so he could formulate a plan of action.

Reaching up, Lena rubbed both hands into her eye sockets, hoping that the pressure would relieve the headache she’d been fighting all day.

It didn’t work.

Colt tried to pull her into the protection of his arms, too, but she wouldn’t let him. Instead, she turned to Georgie and said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on you.”

And then she turned around and walked away.

Lena could hear the hushed murmurs as the group behind her began to discuss her outburst. She hated that, knowing she’d let her emotions get the best of her and made herself a spectacle.

It was exactly what she always tried to avoid, and the unwanted attention reminded her painfully of her wedding day.

She was so close to the edge. Volatile and unpredictable. Her entire body was overrun by chaos, and she didn’t like it.

She didn’t want to go back to the bungalow. It wouldn’t take long for Colt to follow her and he’d want to talk about what was wrong. And she couldn’t explain it…not to him. Not this time.

And that made things worse. Colt was the person she’d always turned to for help, for advice. He might have been worlds away, but she could always count on him when she truly needed someone.

This time, she didn’t have that. She longed for the easiness of their friendship, the comfortable familiarity they’d always shared. It was definitely gone, overrun by her own complicated emotions and uncertainty. Lena feared they’d never find that ease again.