Private Paradise

© 2011 Jami Alden

Smashwords Edition

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After years of catering to the whims of the
rich and famous at one of the Caribbean's most luxurious resorts,
there isn't much that can rattle Carla DeLuca.

Until Sam O’Connell shows up.

Tall, dark, and sexy, Holley Cay's new
security chief is no stranger. He's the irresistible bad boy who
seduced her over a long, hot summer only to leave her heartbroken,
humiliated, and determined to never again fall for a player like
him. But though her heart still stings with the memory of his
rejection, her body can't forget the all-consuming pleasure of his
touch.

Sam never forgave himself for his too cruel
rejection of Carla over a decade before. Young, reckless, and
convinced it was only a matter of time Carla regretted hooking up
with a trouble maker like him, Sam pushed Carla away before she
could realize her mistake. But when Sam lands a job working for
Carla in paradise, he seizes the chance to finally make things
right.

When a hurricane strands them alone on the
island, Carla is unable to resist the passion simmering between
them. She doesn't fool herself that what they have will last past
the storm. But little does she know, Sam will do whatever it takes
to make her his – forever this time.

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This could not be happening.

That was all Carla DeLuca could think as she
stared, dumbstruck, at the man in front of her. The Caribbean
breeze ruffled night dark hair that was much shorter than she
remembered. His lean features had become bolder, more chiseled, and
his broad-shouldered lanky form had filled out substantially.
Despite the differences, she had known his face the instant she'd
laid eyes on him. Even after over a decade, there was no mistaking
those blue eyes, startling against his jet black lashes and
brows.

Eyes that crinkled at the corners as he
offered a friendly, if guarded smile, and didn't do a damn thing to
help her unglue her tongue from the roof of her mouth.

“
Isn't it amazing?” Her cousin Chris's
laughing voice broke through her daze, and she focused on his
smiling face as he clapped the other man on the shoulder. “Who
would have ever thought we'd hire Sam O'Connell as head of
security?”

“
Amazing,” Carla murmured. Mentally
steeling herself, she forced herself to meet Sam's eyes. The effect
of those laser blue eyes meeting hers was only slightly less
jolting than it had been two minutes ago, when she'd arrived on the
terrace of Holley Cay's dining room to see what Chris's big
surprise was.

After a two month search for someone to head
up security at Holley Cay, the exclusive Caribbean resort Chris had
started nearly a decade ago which Carla now managed, Chris had
found the perfect candidate.

Sam O'Connell.

A man who Carla could happily go to her grave
never laying eyes on again.

“
Sam,” Carla repeated. “You hired Sam
to head up our security,” she said, as though she expected Chris to
change his answer, like it was all some horrible joke.

But Chris had no clue what had gone on
between Sam and Carla during that hot Las Vegas summer, and if he
did, he'd never be so cruel as to pull something like this.

“
It's great to see you again, Carla,”
Sam said. His expression gave nothing away, but his voice, still
raspy and even deeper than it had been at twenty-one, had the same
maddening impact as it always did, curling around her like a warm
blanket and sending a little flutter of need to her core. “You look
even better than the last time I saw you.”

Not much of a stretch, considering the last
time he saw her she was a sobbing mess, practically bent double in
pain from the blow he'd just delivered to her heart.

Still, as she felt his admiring gaze roam
over her, she was glad she'd had her monthly Brazilian Blowout just
yesterday so her psychotically curly hair hung down her back in
silky waves and that her short, silky dress showed off arms and
legs that were slim and toned from hours on the running trail and
thousands of reps in the gym.

That's right. Take a long look at what you
gave up, everything you've been missing, she thought.

Then it hit her again, how easily he'd been
able to walk away. He hadn't missed a goddamn thing. The memory of
his smirk and the cruel glint in his blue eyes was enough to get
her hormones in check and straighten her spine.

She was no longer an eighteen-year-old girl
caught under the spell of a seductive bad boy. She was almost
thirty years old, in charge of a multi-million dollar operation.
And, if Sam and Chris had their way, Sam's boss.

Right. Maybe when hell froze over.

Her muscles strained with the effort to keep
her smile on her face. “You're looking good yourself.” It was the
understatement of the last millennium. At twenty-one, he'd been a
blue-eyed heartbreaker with his black Irish looks and tall,
athletic body. Now, at thirty-two, he was six foot three inches of
solid muscle. He'd packed on at least twenty-five pounds since
she'd seen him last, and not an ounce of it was fat.

His shoulders strained at the sleeves of his
white linen shirt. In deference to the tropical heat, he wore short
sleeves, exposing the lower half of biceps that were as big around
as her thigh and forearms corded with muscle and sinew.

His face had taken on a lean maturity, and
while his eyes were still piercingly blue, they no longer held the
naughty glimmer that said he was thinking of about a hundred
different things to do to her and she was guaranteed to enjoy every
one.

There was a seriousness about him now, a kind
of quiet readiness that hadn't existed in the charming hellraiser
she'd known. And in his eyes, she could see the shadows, the ones
she'd never had more than a glimpse of all those years ago.

The ones that made her want to pull him into
her arms and chase them away. She felt the same undeniable tug now,
the urge to chase away his demons with the sheer power of her
love.

Oh, gag me.

She shook her head, snapped herself out of
it. God, what was wrong with her? Five minutes in his presence and
she was already spinning fantasies like the dopey eighteen-year-old
she'd once been.

“
Chris,” she said, turning her
attention to her cousin, “I know Sam is one of your oldest friends,
but this position requires a significant level of responsibility.
No offense Sam, but from what I remember about you, I can't imagine
you're even remotely qualified.”

Sam's smile tightened around the edges.
“Based on what you remember about me, I'm sure you can't. But if
you'll look at my resume, I can assure you I'm more than qualified
to manage security for Holley Cay.”

He slid a piece of paper across the table.
Carla flipped it over and saw that it was a resume. She scanned
down, trying to keep the surprise from her face as she registered
the details. Six years in the US Army. That was no surprise. She'd
known he was headed off to basic the night he left.

At the time, after she'd seen his true
colors, she'd expected he would either go AWOL or get kicked out in
no time. She'd never expected him to last six years, five of them
in Special Forces, followed by an honorable discharge four years
ago.

While in the Army he'd completed a bachelor's
degree in business and economics, and in the four years since his
discharge, he'd been working for an international security firm
that worked protecting US interests in such lovely places as Iraq,
Somalia, and Afghanistan.

“
You know I'd never hire anyone who
wasn't qualified just because he's my friend,” Chris said, sounding
insulted. “You're my cousin, and I would have never let you take
over as general manager here if I didn't know you could to the job
as well as I did, and I'll fire your ass in a heartbeat if you're
not cutting it.”

His words, and the sharp look that
accompanied them made Carla's stomach clench. She thought she'd
made up for what had happened last year, but apparently not. “If
anything Sam is overqualified,” Chris added.

“
You obviously have a great deal of
experience,” she conceded. “But you understand it's hard for me to
consider hiring someone who nearly went to juvie for boosting cars
to run our security department.”

“
That was a long time ago,” Sam said,
his blue gaze unwavering. “I think you'll find a lot about me
that's changed since then.” She knew he wasn't talking about his
resume.

What if he's changed? What if he's not the
bad boy player he once was? A reformed bad boy is every girl's
dream... Where the hell had that stupid, naïve, romantic idealist
come from? Carla wondered as she gave herself a mental shake.

She thought she'd killed that part of herself
a long time ago. No, scratch that, Sam had killed it. Stabbed it in
the heart and laughed while he'd done it.

“
I appreciate you coming all the way
down here to interview,” she said, “but we're still reviewing
several candidates for the position.”

Sam and Chris exchanged a look. Chris' dark
brows pulled into a frown as he looked back at her. “This isn't the
interview. I've already offered Sam the position.”

“
And I've accepted,” Sam
said.

There as a roaring sound in her ears and a
tightness in her stomach.

She stood abruptly and said, “Will you excuse
us for a minute?” Turning to her cousin, “Chris? A word
please.”

She spun on her heel, her sandals tapping
against the stone of the patio as she strode quickly into the
restaurant's lounge area. At this time of the morning the crowd was
thin, most of the resort's guests still sleeping off last night's
revelry or basking at the pool or at their own private beaches.
Still, Carla pitched her voice low in case anyone cared to
eavesdrop.

“
What the hell Chris?” she said. “How
could you hire him without even discussing it with me?”

Chris held up his hands as though to ward her
off. “It all came together really quickly. Last week when I was in
Vegas visiting Mom I ran into Sam at the gym. We got to talking and
it turned out he's been looking to make a switch, but he was about
to accept an offer from a company in the UK so I had to act
fast.”

“
You should have consulted me,” Carla
snapped. “When I took over as GM―”

“
Interim GM.”

Carla's teeth clenched at the reminder her
position was still provisional, that the board of directors had not
yet approved her for the permanent position. “Interim or not, you
assured me you would let me call the shots.” A year ago, Chris had
decided to expand his operations beyond Holley Cay and opened up
another resort on a nearby island he'd acquired from the celebrity
owner who had overextended himself and needed to liquidate.

Unlike Holley Cay, which catered to wealthy
couples and singles, the new resort on Coral Cay was geared towards
families, with a high end child care facility and activities
designed to keep the younger ones entertained while the parents
soaked up the sun and enjoyed umbrella drinks on the beach.

Chris and his wife, Julie, who had just had
their first child just a few months before work began on the new
facility, were eager for the change of pace the new resort offered.
While the resort was under development, Chris had handed over more
and more of the day to day operations of Holley Cay to Carla. After
five years of working with Chris as the assistant manager of the
resort, it was a given, at least as far as Carla and Chris could
tell, that Carla would take over as general manager.

However, their board of directors, made up of
their biggest outside investors, wasn't entirely on board. Though
she knew the ins and outs of the resort better than anyone―maybe
even Chris – there was talk of getting someone from the outside,
with decades of experience, to insure Holley Cay didn't lose its
status as one of the world's most exclusive, luxurious playgrounds
for the rich and famous.