Burn: A Novel (35 page)

“Don’t let him hear you say that,” Tiffany muttered. She was ignored.

“But he won’t take that kind of advantage. He just won’t,” Faith finished. “Tiffany’s right. If you want him, you’ll have to make the first move.”

“What makes you think I want—” Both women looked at her as if she’d lost her mind, so she didn’t even finish the question. Okay, they were observant. It was part of their jobs, she supposed. She threw out her arms, so frustrated she wanted to hit something. “Would you even consider getting involved with a man in this kind of situation?” she asked, incredulous.

Calmly Faith asked, “What makes you think I didn’t?”

There was something about the expression in her eyes that told her this was no joke. Something had happened with Ryan, something Jenner never would have suspected, given Ryan’s suaveness. Not the same situation—was any situation ever exactly the same?—but they hadn’t met in the produce section of the supermarket or been introduced by a friend.

She blew out a breath and looked back at Tiffany. “While we’re apparently laying it all on the line, what about you and Cael?”

“What about—?” Understanding flooded her face. “Oh, no. Never. No way. He’s
so
not my type.”

How could Cael not be any and every woman’s type?

With a smile, Faith clarified. “Tiff prefers a … different type of man.”

“I like nerds,” Tiffany said defiantly. “So sue me.”

Faith gave a ladylike snort, if a snort was ever ladylike. “What Tiffany’s saying is, she prefers men who let her be the boss in
all
areas—and that so isn’t Cael Traylor.”

“I got it,” Jenner said. She held the condom out, getting back to the subject at hand. “What am I supposed to do with this? I don’t even have an evening bag with me.” There hadn’t seemed to be any point in bringing one, as she didn’t have her cell phone or even a key card for the suite. Her lipstick was in Cael’s pocket.

Tiffany shrugged her shoulders. “Your call. Do what you want with it. Stick it down in your bra, or throw it away.”

Another group of three well-dressed women entered, so the conversation ended. “I’m starving,” Faith said, leading the way from the bathroom. Jenner glanced briefly at the trash can near the door, hesitated, then tucked the plastic wrapped condom into her strapless bra.

T
HE SHIP SAILED
during the night from Hilo to Honolulu. Ryan, Faith, and Tiffany went ashore that morning, while Cael stayed onboard with Jenner. He’d expected her to rant and rave, to give him grief about staying onboard when they were in freak-in’ Hawaii, but she’d been oddly quiet since going to the ladies’ room with Faith and Tiffany the previous night, which made him wonder what they’d said. Jenner hadn’t even complained about the handcuffs last night. When they’d gone to bed she had simply stuck out her hand, a solemn and begrudging offering. A thoughtful Jenner Redwine scared the shit out of him. What the hell was she up to? He didn’t for a minute think she’d suddenly and meekly accepted the situation, because that wasn’t in her DNA.

She didn’t do anything, which made him even more wary. It was like waiting for a volcano to blow.

They were in Honolulu only that one day, and sailed that night
back to the Big Island, to Kona, which was on the opposite side of the island from Hilo. Kona was their turn to go ashore. Their movements couldn’t mirror Larkin’s, or even each other’s. Someone on the team would be aboard at all times, someone would be on Larkin at all times, but it couldn’t always be the same person, or group of people.

His original plan had been to take Jenner to a restaurant or coffee shop with a great view, and kill a few hours there. They could’ve gone along with the Kona group tour, which would’ve been great cover, but also a special kind of torture. Linda Vale and Nyna Phillips had met two other women who were traveling together, and the four of them had hit it off. Penny and Buttons—Buttons, what kind of name was that for a woman?—were staying in one of the smaller staterooms on another deck, but in the past couple of days they’d been spending a lot of time in Linda and Nyna’s suite across from Jenner’s. He knew, because a couple of times he and Jenner had run into the foursome in the hallway, and they’d also heard them out on the balcony, laughing and evidently having a blast.

Yesterday they’d met the four ladies twice: once in the hallway, once on deck. Today’s tour had been mentioned both times, as had meals. How about lunch? Join us for dinner? All the offers were friendly, casual, and genuine. They liked Jenner, and why shouldn’t they? Instead of quickly accepting, though, as he’d expected her to do, Jenner had offered polite, reasonable refusals. Still, the four older ladies were persistent.

All four were on the group tour; hence the torture that he wanted to avoid.

Instead of the tour or the coffee shop, Cael took Jenner to a small cove that a local had recommended for snorkeling. Jenner had mentioned that she liked snorkeling, and, hell, she deserved a little fun.

They separated from the group soon after leaving the ship, and he found the dive shop Sanchez had recommended, where he rented the necessary equipment and got directions to this cove,
which, according to the man who rented him the equipment, shouldn’t be as crowded as Kealakekua Bay.

The shallow water was an unexpected shade of blue; the half-circle of trees around the water were lush and thick, cutting them off from the rest of the world even though Kona bustled just beyond those trees.

Jenner stood a few feet away, her cover-up discarded to reveal a black bikini that looked as if it had been painted on her body. Seeing her in a bathing suit had made him realize she wasn’t skinny, at least not as he thought of skinny. She was thin, but her bones were covered by some sleek muscles. Her breasts might be on the small side, but they were firm and high. They were perky. She’d probably take his head off if he ever referred to her, or any of her body parts, as perky.

Those little breasts made his mouth water, and his hands twitched with the need to touch them. Her nipples would be—He jerked his thoughts away from the path they were racing down. His willpower was already stretched thin from sleeping with her. He’d woken the past couple of mornings to find her wound around him like a vine; his morning erections made the situation particularly dicey. If he were smart, he’d ditch the handcuffs, except then he wouldn’t wake with her almost on top of him. Tradeoffs were a bitch.

Her flip-flops and hat were sitting on the sand with her cover-up neatly folded and laid on top of the hat to keep it from blowing away; her snorkeling equipment dangled from her hand. She stared at the water before her, lost in its beauty—or maybe wondering if he was going to drown her once they got into the deeper water. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t given him cause.

“Don’t worry,” he said as he walked toward her. “If you disappear while we’re together, it’ll raise too many suspicions. You’re safe here.”

She rolled her eyes. “Thanks so much. You’re
such
a gentleman.”

There was more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. By now she
knew that he wasn’t going to hurt her, and he knew that she wasn’t going to cause him the trouble she continued to promise. Not in public—and not until this job was over, at least. Afterward … afterward, he and Jenner Redwine would settle the accounts between them.

That promised to be one hell of a battle. He looked forward to it more than anything else he could remember in his life, even his sixteenth birthday when he’d gotten his first car. He pulled on his mask and walked into the water, looking back to make sure that Jenner was following. She was, and like him she pulled on her mask as she moved into deeper water.

His eyes followed the lines of her body, because he couldn’t
not
look. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen her in form-fitting clothes before. Some of her gowns hugged her curves, and there had been the other bathing suit for sitting by the pool. But a bikini was the same as underwear, at least to a man, and the amount of skin visible was nothing short of torment.

Soon. This would be over soon. Then he and Jenner would have themselves a long talk.

J
ENNER TRIED TO DISMISS
all her worries and enjoy the snorkeling, but it was difficult when Cael was always so close. What did he think she was going to do, swim to safety? She gave herself a stern talking to. No, he wasn’t hovering over her, not today, he was staying nearby for safety. She should be accustomed to him being constantly close at hand, so his closeness shouldn’t affect her at all. But it did, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Like it or not, the condom she’d hidden in her underwear drawer was on her mind. How could it not be? It made the possibility of what might happen, what
could
happen, very, very real.

She floated on the water as colorful fish darted past, under her body, right before her eyes. She loved the feel of the ocean against her skin as she pushed through the water, propelled forward by
her arms and the gentle kick of her feet. It was like swimming in a huge tank of tropical fish, like being a part of the ocean instead of an observer. Eventually she almost forgot that Cael was with her. She couldn’t entirely dismiss him, but she almost forgot that she’d been sleeping handcuffed, held prisoner, made to play a role as Syd’s life was threatened, too. The water flowing over her skin, the abundant fish all around, was too soothing. If only she could stay here …

She lifted her head, and glanced behind her to see that she’d drifted farther from shore than she’d imagined. Still, when she straightened, her feet touched the sandy bay floor. Cael was close by—naturally—and when she stood, so did he. She pulled off her mask, deeply inhaling the fresh air.

They were far away from everything, truly alone in the world, and she was tired of guessing, tired of playing games. Her life was not a game; neither was Syd’s. They needed some truth between them.

“I’m not stupid,” she said.

Cael removed his mask and shook his head, sending droplets of water flying. He was a head taller than she, wet, and in better physical shape than any man she’d ever seen in the flesh. She loved the way he looked right now, more bare than not and soaking wet. He wiped away the water that dripped down his face. “I’ve pretty much figured that out for myself.”

“You can trust me,” she said. “Stop treating me like I’m a prisoner.”

“But that’s what you are, like it or not.”

“Don’t be a bonehead,” she muttered, exasperated. She was trying to make a gesture, call a truce. “You’re the good guys, all right? I can see that. I can put a puzzle together. Larkin’s slime, and he’s involved in something dirty. You’re trying to get the goods on him.
I get it.”

His expression was so controlled she couldn’t read a thing from it. “I appreciate that, but it doesn’t change anything.”

She thought she might explode from frustration. He had to
make everything so damn difficult. “Why don’t you go swim over there?” she said between gritted teeth, flinging her arm out and waving.

“I like it here.”

“I can make things easier for you, or I can make things difficult.”

“Ditto.”

He was maddening. She shouted “Numb-nuts,” then put her mask back on, turned her back on Cael, and gently reentered the water. Even with the water around her ears, she heard him laugh right before the muted splash that told her he was joining her.

She floated on top of the water, not working, not paddling, just
there
. She wanted to trust Cael; she wanted to be trusted. Was that too much to ask? Floating in the water, reaching toward a brightly colored fish that darted away from her, she let herself let go and just drifted. She did her best to stop worrying, to stop thinking. The problem was, when she let her guard down, old memories always shot to the surface and she got lost in another time, another breach of trust.

It surprised her, that her mind went back so quickly and easily. She hadn’t realized how she’d carried the betrayals of the past so strongly within her, all these years. She was always waiting to be hurt, to be used, and that had kept her from forming close bonds with any but the most trusted, who were Syd and Al. She didn’t allow anyone else to get close, didn’t allow herself to let down her guard long enough for anyone to break her heart. Not a man, not a friend.

She didn’t mourn the loss of Dylan, or even her own father, but Michelle was a different story. Jenner doubted the woman she’d become and the woman Michelle was now would have anything in common, but suddenly she missed her old friend as much as if they had had their falling out just yesterday.

With all the stress of the past week, suddenly it seemed unimportant to carry a grudge for long ago indiscretions. Michelle had been an important part of her life for a very long time, and even if
those days were long gone, even if she couldn’t get back what she’d once had, her life had been richer for having Michelle in it. She wouldn’t take back a single day even if she had the chance.

Years ago she’d walked away from Michelle and she’d never looked back. When this was over—and with every day that passed she was more certain that it would end with her and Syd unharmed and together again—would she walk away from Cael as easily as she had walked away from her old life? Would she cut him out of her mind and, yes damn it, her heart?

Would she even have the chance? The choice? She’d probably wake up one morning and he’d just be gone, leaving her life as abruptly as he’d entered it.

She thought of Michelle again, their celebrations and conversations and arguments, and she smiled. There had been more good times than bad, and though she’d denied them, she hadn’t forgotten. They were a part of who she was, even though she’d changed so much since those days. Even Dylan and Jerry had served their purposes in making her who she was today. She didn’t have any desire to see either of them ever again, but in her own way, she forgave them as she swam in this place that was like another world.

When she came up out of the water, Cael was, as always, close by. There was no one else in the cove, though that might not last.