Sinfully Summer (8 page)

Amusement sparkled in his eyes and she knew she was right. Pressing her lips together, she fought the urge to scream her frustration. Ric wasn’t the kind of man to back down. He was a younger, hotter version of her father with just the right amount of arrogance to pull it off. That thought alone should put her libido on ice.

‘It will be easier for us both.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘What were you doing out until this time?’

Alexa grinned. ‘Dare number two.’

He eyed the top half of her body with his jaw taut. ‘Flaunting your body in public this time?’

The icy question had her chin dropping. He couldn’t think she was that bad. ‘No. It was Jenna’s turn tonight.’

His posture relaxed. Alexa wondered why he would be angry at her for flashing others anyway. He’d made it clear he didn’t want her and she had told him she wasn’t interested. So what if she did run the length of Marbella in her knickers? Then she remembered. Stick-up-his-ass Ric was all about respect. If he took her to a function to network and half the room had seen her naked they wouldn’t take her seriously.

‘Do I get to hear what the dare was?’

The smile he threw her way made her silly hormones leap with joy. She had to get out of there. Now. Before she did something daft on this desk. Alexa rose and tried to hide her wince by placing both hands on the table.

‘Not a chance,’ she told him, forcing a grin onto her face while her feet felt like they would crack under her weight.

Ric rose and scowled down at the hands supporting her. ‘Try flats tomorrow.’

She nodded, not willing to argue when her feet hurt this much. It would be a shock if she could even fit them into pumps in the morning. Still, when she glanced at the Jimmy’s on the desk, Alexa knew she’d happily take the pain again if it meant wearing something so pretty.

He rounded the desk and offered her his elbow. She took it gladly and tried to shift as much of her weight as possible onto him. Snatching up the shoes in her free hand, she hobbled to the door and down the corridor with Ric supporting her.

He hit the button and the doors opened. After helping her in, he stepped back out. ‘I guess you’ll have to wear the navy suit tomorrow again. One more day shouldn’t kill you.’ He grinned.

As the doors began to slide shut, Alexa couldn’t hold back. ‘Yeah, like that’s going to happen.’

His scowl was the last thing she saw. She smirked and leaned back against the cool pole. They’d been shopping and she now had a new conservative wardrobe for her time in Marbella. Alexa had checked his schedule for the month and it was packed with ‘mortuary’ gigs and non-fun. Still, she was doing this for her business and herself. She could bear the penguin-suited functions and her silly craving for Ric’s hot body. Now all she had to do was forget the sight of that chest.

It couldn’t be too hard. After all, he had the personality of an accountant.

Chapter Five

‘Purple?’

Alexa’s skin prickled at the sound of his husky, accented voice. She kept her gaze focused across the road, firmly on the ocean, refusing to turn back to face him until her heart slowed enough to think around the blood pounding in her ears. It was ridiculous the sound of his voice affected her like this.

Ric offered his elbow and she had no choice but to make eye contact. She nearly swallowed her tongue at the amusement tilting his lips. With as little sleep as they had, he looked fabulous whereas she had circles under her eyes to rival a panda.

‘Beats navy,’ she answered and slid her hand through the crook of his arm.

Like a gentleman, he led her down the marble steps to the waiting limo. All she knew from Ric’s curt phone call to her suite at seven this morning was that the owners of the yacht would meet them in a speedboat in the harbour, so she’d sensibly opted for a dark purple knee length dress. It was tight enough not to blow up in the wind and expose her flesh. But standing next to him in flats made her feel like one of the seven dwarfs—Sleepy at the moment.

Ric waited until she scooted over and he slid into the seat beside her. She was hit again by his intoxicating smell, but this time she was prepared. Scooting closer to the opposite side, she rolled down the window and leaned her head against the frame.

He eyed her curiously. ‘Do I smell that bad?’

Maybe if she closed her eyes and couldn’t see him, the mortification would go away. ‘No, my stomach’s queasy.’ Which was also true, but she could handle that.

His laugh shivered through her and she was glad when the car pulled away from the road. Alexa made herself focus on the reason they were there. ‘Tell me more about the owners.’

‘Two American men own the yacht. Justin is planning to take Mark on a European tour as a second honeymoon in a month or so, but they have to return to the States for work before that.’

‘They’re married?’ He nodded. ‘I’m glad I wore Prada.’

He chuckled again and she made the mistake of not looking away. When he let loose like that his face relaxed and he looked young, carefree and even sexier. She turned back to the window to look out at the tourists setting up on the beach for the day, wishing it was her.

‘We have to convince them to trust us to take care of their boat while they’re in the States. Justin is very attached to it.’

Alexa nodded and shut her eyes. Yawning, she shifted until her weight rested against the inside of the limo. Functioning on so little sleep was tough, especially without coffee. Even her body’s reaction to the infuriating Spanish hunk next to her couldn’t keep her alert today.

A hand shook her shoulder a second later and she snapped her eyes open. ‘What?’ She scowled at Ric.

His warm smile made her heart stutter. ‘We’re here.’

Stunned, she turned to look out the window and caught sight of two men a few yards down the beach near the harbour. She couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep. Scowl still in place she turned to glare at Ric. ‘You could have woken me sooner, now I’m going to be fighting the cobwebs in my brain to concentrate on the conversation.’

He frowned at her. ‘If you’d gone to bed at a reasonable hour, this wouldn’t have happened. Don’t mess this up, Alexa.’

He abruptly left the limo and a jolt of anger chased away the rest of the sleep from her brain. If he hadn’t blackmailed her to begin with, she wouldn’t be in this position at all.

Alexa left the car and followed Ric across the beach. The two men were blonde, tanned and toned all over. They both had oodles of sex appeal in their swim shorts. The best men were always either gay or married. She sighed. Not that she was looking, but if she was these two wouldn’t have been on her no-way-in-hell list. Anyone who’d buy a yacht this huge and sail around Europe for a second honeymoon couldn’t be boring.

Ric introduced them and she shook both Justin and Mark’s hands. They winked at her and she grinned.

‘Wow, this will be the first time we’ve had a proper celebrity on
Madame Dior,
’ Justin said to Mark.

She was about to ask who the celebrity was when Ric jumped in. ‘I assure you, Alexa will be on her best behaviour.’

Oh. They’d meant her. She fought the urge to curse Ric out. Two days ago he’d said he hadn’t known who she was, now all of a sudden he was defending her against behaviour he had claimed to know nothing about. Git wasn’t strong enough an insult.

‘We’re not worried about that, just excited. The old girl hasn’t seen anyone other than our families.’ Mark linked his fingers with Justin and smiled.

‘Really?’ she asked. The boat was huge, more like a cruise ship than a private vessel.

Justin nodded. ‘And we’re really sorry, but we have a meeting in an hour at the other side of the city.’

She noticed Ric’s shoulder’s tense. ‘That’s okay,’ Alexa assured them before grumpy Castillo could make an appearance. ‘We can come back another time.’

Mark shook his head. ‘That’s not what we meant. There are two boats here. Ric, you used to race speedboats right?’ At Ric’s nod, he continued. ‘You should be able to get you both there and back. Justin and I will give you a quick tour and leave you to check the place out. If it’s what you two are after, you can give us a call later.’

Ric nodded, his gaze flashed to hers and away so quickly she swore she imagined the unease there.

‘You raced boats?’ she asked. If her mouth hung open a little, she didn’t care. Ric, stick-in-his-ass appearances-are-everything
raced speedboats.
She knew he had been involved in extreme sports, but she’d always figured it would be the dullest kind.

Justin chimed in. ‘He was one of the best, too. They have a tournament here every summer and four years ago he won.’

Ric shrugged. ‘I haven’t raced since then.’

She wanted to ask why not, but shut her mouth in time. The answer shouldn’t interest her. He was who he was now, and the more curious she got the more dangerous he was to be around. They were organising a party together and at the end of it they’d both go their separate ways.

‘I bet on you that year,’ Mark added with a grin. ‘Won enough to take this dude over to Italy for the weekend.’

Alexa guessed that might have something to do with them renting out their love boat for a ball they had no interest in. Ric smiled at Mark, but his shoulders hadn’t relaxed.

‘We better get going or we’ll be late,’ Justin announced and led them down to two speedboats next to the harbour.

After a quick tour of the deck, Mark and Justin left him alone on their yacht with Alexa. She’d been quiet on the ride over. Maybe still trying to wake up, like she’d said. She looked thoughtful, though. He wished the men hadn’t mentioned his speedboat racing stint.

The boat was bigger than it looked from the shore. Justin had boasted an ability to host almost two hundred guests on this level alone. There was a glass room in the centre, sporting a huge bar and toward the back was a stage that would be perfect for the band they’d booked.

Ric had a good feeling about the place. Raising money for the charity was important, there weren’t enough Marias and Antonios to save all the children without homes, and having the ball here would attract the rich and curious.

‘What do you think?’ he asked.

‘Honestly, I can’t picture you racing a boat. I’d thought that would be too much fun.’ The corners of her lips tilted, but her face looked too pale.

‘I meant the boat, Alexa.’ Curiosity shone from her eyes, but he wasn’t going into his crazy adolescent behaviour with her.

She looked around again. ‘There’s enough room for a decent sized party.’ The boat swayed on the waves and she grabbed the railing for support.

‘Are you okay?’ Her face had taken on a shade of green and sweat beaded on her brow.

‘I think I need to visit the bathroom.’

She had motion sickness, either that or the effects of the alcohol she’d drunk the night before were catching up with her. Ric sighed heavily and darted a glance around the deck. There was no bathroom in sight.

‘Let’s try a level down.’

She sucked in a breath and held it. Ric cursed silently and took hold of her hand. Urging her away from the rail, he pulled her towards the staircase which Justin had said led to the galley. Surely there would be a bathroom close.

Her hand was cold in his and he hoped she could hold on until they found somewhere. Once down the stairs, he passed the galley and tried random doors along the corridor. One was slightly ajar and led to a double bedroom, but it was the en suite inside that caught his eye. He pointed and she hurried in, slamming the bathroom door behind her.

He hovered at the doorway, not wanting to interrupt the private space or hear Alexa, but the boat rocked again and the door to the room creaked as it swayed. He pushed it shut to avoid the irritating grate of rust.

He heard the taps run, but as she cleaned up his gaze drifted to the double bed covered in black silk sheets. Before he could stop it, an image filled his mind of Alexa in her underwear, spread over the mattress with the same desire he’d seen darkening her eyes to a stormy grey when she was beneath him on his desk.

Closing his eyes, he cursed himself. She was sick, and he had just mentally undressed her.

Working with Alexa was risky enough, taking her to bed would be a minefield. He had to keep her off his mind. She was there to help with the party, nothing else.

The bathroom door opened. ‘I feel better now.’

His irritation at his wayward thoughts sharpened his tone. ‘If you hadn’t gone out last night, you’d be fine today.’

He didn’t believe for a second Alexa would choose a boat as the venue if she suffered from motion sickness.

She glowered at him and stomped toward the door. ‘I haven’t eaten anything today, that’s all. I’m fine after that glass of water.’

She turned the handle and pulled, but nothing happened. Ric grabbed the knob and twisted, but there was no purchase, like the knob wasn’t connected to the other side. He cursed.

‘Why did you shut the door?’ She folded her arms across her chest.

A jolt of irritation burned through him at her accusing tone. ‘Because it creaked and I didn’t know how long you’d be.’

He tried pressing the knob in tighter but it was useless.

‘This is the worst holiday ever.’

‘Perhaps if you’d foregone the partying, we wouldn’t be stuck in this predicament,’ Ric snapped, returning her glare with one of his own.

‘Don’t put this on me. The door was obviously left open for a reason. You’re the one who closed it.’ She stepped closer, her eyes burning. Arousal flashed alongside his irritation, angering him more. ‘And as you saw last night, I wasn’t drunk even though I’m on holiday and had every bloody right to be. If it wasn’t for you blackmailing me I’d be lying on the beach right now working on my tan.’

Alexa’s arms had switched position to her hips in her onslaught, tightening the fabric across the contours of her breasts. Her nipples stood to attention behind the material and all Ric could focus on was the sound of her harsh breathing, the remembered image of all that silky skin beneath and he was a heartbeat away from losing control.