Five (Elemental Enmity Series Book I) (13 page)

Understatement of the century
. He had drawers full of trunks for the guys in every size and color imaginable. I searched through the selection of bikinis hoping for a one piece or at least a tankini. I was swiftly running out of options.

“How about this one?” Zach asked, holding up a turquoise number with studded rhinestones.

“I’ll pass,” I said, still optimistic I would find something I could work with.

“You would look fantastic in it,” he said hopefully.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll pick my own—unless you would like me to choose yours.” I nodded toward the Speedos.

His lips raised in a cocky grin. “Be my guest.”

I scrunched up my nose. “Eww. Those should be banned.”

He cocked his head to the side leveling his gaze to mine. “I wasn’t the one that suggested them.”

I laughed, cuffing him on the shoulder. “Would you stop distracting me?”

He got a funny look on his face. Even though I didn’t know him very well, his smile seemed a little off. “Only if you will do the same,” he replied softly.

“What?” I asked distractedly. With one more rack to rummage, I was frantically trying to figure out how I was going to get out of this. I had no idea what he was talking about, but it didn’t matter anymore. I sighed in relief. “Here.”

I held in my hands the only thing I’d found that might cover my scar. Although it was still a two piece, I thought it would do the trick. I should have kept a swimsuit in my purse.

Zach tugged on the fabric. “That is the ugliest thing I have ever seen.”

I couldn’t disagree. The outdated plaid was in colors usually reserved for bodily excrement. The back of the top looked like a regular bikini, but the front was loose and came to a fringed V. I gazed up through my lashes sweetly. “Who asked you?” He was not getting me into that flashy number no matter how much he sulked.

I followed Cassie into an adjoining bedroom. It was lavishly appointed in cream silks and velvets. The four poster bed could have probably fit Solomon, his wives, and most of his concubines.

Cassie didn’t seem as taken with the place as I was, but I wasn’t as used to opulence as she was. I turned my back to her, undressing.

“Roger seems nice,” I said.

“Yeah, he does.”

I was getting sick of our stilted conversations. But with the men waiting for us, we didn’t have time to get into it. I turned around, surprised by the skimpy thing she was wearing. Her mother would have never approved. That was most assuredly the point.

She walked over to me and strummed my fringe. “You could have chosen something less…repugnant. It isn’t half as bad as you think it is.”

We didn’t have time to argue about my scar again. I couldn’t help that she felt guilty for talking me into riding her Arabian Christmas gift. I didn’t blame her for the accident. That horse wouldn’t tolerate anyone but Cassie. We hadn’t known that at the time, though. “I didn’t exactly plan to swim today.”

She clicked her tongue. “That’s just it.” Shaking her head, she folded her arms. “You shouldn’t have to plan to swim. You think it’s worse than it is. It’s sort of cool.”

I sputtered, lifting the measly patch of cloth that covered the monstrosity between my ribs. “This isn’t cool!” I hated the snow-white patch that marred my otherwise golden skin.

“We need to go,” Cassie said, not waiting for me to follow her.

After a few minutes alone spent preparing for humiliation, I grabbed a beach towel from the hidden closet and went to join the group splashing in the pool. A few of them I recognized. A grimace inched onto my face. The other fifty or so people were complete strangers.

Roger stopped me before I could walk past him. His touch on my arm sent a rippled chill through my bones. “I got that as a joke.” He circled me, intently taking in every inch of my skin as though he searched for something in particular.

The creep factor oozing off him pummeled into me. Disgusted, I yanked my elbow from his grasp. “Yeah, thanks for that.” I glared at him, wanting to pound the amused look off his smug face. Maybe there had been something to the way Natalie had acted toward him. “If you’re going to house a department store, you might want to supply other options besides bikinis.” If I hadn’t been so mad, I would have laughed at the bewildered expression that slid across his features.

His voice cracked as he spoke, “Why would I ever do that?”

I walked away without saying a word because what I had to tell him wasn’t nice. Where did Zach go anyway? He had officially disappeared. No one I asked claimed to have even seen him.

I searched around the three pools, the spa, the lawn, the tennis courts—you get the idea. I climbed the bigger than I expected hill in a final attempt.

A private beach complete with sand and surf lay nestled snuggly at the top. I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn Roger’s parents had trucked in the mountain of earth that lay beneath my feet. This was the only place I had seen in Indiana that wasn’t relatively flat. I walked to the water’s edge, dipping in a toe.

I was pleasantly surprised. It was warm and soothing against my skin. The rage of rushing water roared from somewhere below me. I walked a few feet into the shallow end. Shielding my eyes from the glare of the glistening water, I dug my toes into the sand. This was the closest I had ever come to a real beach.

The view of the sunset reminded me of my favorite bluff back home. Nothing but sky was visible in the horizon. I might as well have been standing on the edge of the world gazing at the gilded gates of heaven.

“I will never tire of seeing that,” a melodic voice erupted behind me.

If I had gotten a bit more air, I would have landed on Mars. “Zach.” I put a hand against my pounding heart. “You scared me.” I hadn’t even heard him come up to me.

“I noticed.” He smirked. “I was trying my best not to disturb you. You looked so peaceful, but I am a selfish man.” He chuckled, moving closer.

My attraction to him was hard enough to handle when he had all his clothes on. My pulse raced with his approach for an entirely different reason. He had the sort of flawless body that belonged on the airbrushed pages of a magazine. His skin glowed golden in the blazing sunset that brought out rusty hues in his dark hair. My fingers itched to trace every angle of his sculpted abdomen and chest.

“Leave it to you to make this thing look good,” he said, running a finger under the strap on my shoulder. “By rights, it should be burned. Are you going to tell me why you insisted on wearing it?”

“No.”

He traced my collarbone. “Really?” In one fluid motion, I was in his arms, and he carried me deeper into the water.

I hoped he couldn’t feel the thud of my heart beating against his chest. “What do you think you’re doing?” I asked, more calmly than I felt.

“Changing your mind,” he said just as evenly.

I could see where he was going with this, and over the edge of a cliff wasn’t my idea of fun. “Don’t.”

He grinned. “Tell me.”

I stiffened in his arms. “If you do this, I will leave—without you.”

His exaggerated exhale tickled my neck, sending goose-bumps down my body. “Don’t you ever relax?”

I gritted my teeth, hating what I had become in the past few weeks. If he had tried this back home, I would have protested, giggled, and screamed but loved every minute of his antics.

Things were different now. I was on edge constantly. “I’m so not okay with heights. Let me down.”

The set of his jaw didn’t give me any comfort. He walked up a ramp between the two converging rivers that made the waterfall. On sure feet, he stepped to the edge. I honestly didn’t know how he was still standing with the water blasting against his knees. He leaned into my ear. “Tell me.”

I clung to his neck like grime to a barn cat. “I don’t want to.”

When he looked over the edge and back at me, the humor in his gaze died. He sighed, stepping back a few paces. My heart found its way back into my chest. He carried me to a lounge chair, setting me down gently.

“You can’t possibly think that thing is pretty,” he commented after a while.

“Pretty isn’t everything,” I said.

He raised his brows, tucking his strong chin inward in mockery then looked at me sidelong. “It helps.” His smile turned to a teasing grin.

I shot him a dirty look before giving him my back. Pretty soon, he placed a timid hand on my shoulder.

“Come, now. It can’t possibly be as bad as all that.”

Why couldn’t he just let it go? I wasn’t all up in his business, so why did he feel the need to be in mine? “Drop it already.”

Zach sat beside me, coaxing my chin upward. His voice was soft. “Aren’t you having fun, lass?”

I wouldn’t look him in the eye. If I did he would see every insecurity I had. “I was before you decided to go all Tarzan on me.”

He thumped his chest, doing a great imitation of the call. I tried to smile, but I didn’t think it helped.

“You weren’t like this the other day.” He turned away as if in thought then glanced back at me hastily. “Don’t you like swimming?”

The other day I didn’t have four terrifying men after me. I would have liked to give him an easy out, but I didn’t want to lie. “I usually love it.”

Cassie had an indoor pool back home. On the rare occasion I actually got to stay the night at her house, we would spend hours in the water. She taught me how to float first. I had progressively gotten better. Thankfully, I was an adequate swimmer now. The one thing I didn’t like was the high-dive.

He frowned. “Is it me?” His brows furrowed as though he was really worried. “Have I done something to offend you?”

I closed my eyes, inhaling a sharp breath. “I’m sorry. I’ve had fun today, really. I just have other things on my mind right now.”

He grinned, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I’m a great listener.”

I didn’t like being such a disappointment, but I couldn’t snap myself out of it. I could just imagine how fast he’d be gone if I did tell him everything that was wrong with me at the moment. “I’d rather not talk about it right now.”

He knelt in front of me and took my hands in his. “You can’t expect me to not be curious.”

“It’s a free country,” I said. “Be curious all you like.” I was pushing him away when normally I would have been doing everything in my power to keep him interested in me.

The sun had made its final descent. The haze of twilight settled all around us with the stars spotting the barely glowing sky above. In a few minutes, I would be able to relax a little.

Zach tugged my hand. “Do you wish to go join the others?” He sounded dejected.

Why was I acting like this? I needed to snap out of it. My mood wasn’t his fault. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather stay here for a while.”

He nodded then moved to a lounge chair opposite me, wasting no time in getting comfortable. “Why don’t you tell me of your home?”

The subject seemed safe enough. “Have you ever been to eastern Utah?”

He made an odd sound, sort of a half concealed groan. “It has been many years.”

He wasn’t old enough for it to have been that long ago. I leaned back and put my arms behind my head preparing to give him details.

“I see,” he said in a sympathetic tone, his eyes soft with compassion.

I followed his gaze down to my exposed torso. How could I have been so stupid? The bottom half of my scar poked out from beneath the fringe. I bolted up, pulling awkwardly at the fabric.

He shook his head. “Everyone has imperfections, Rayla.” In an instant he moved to the edge of my chair. Calloused fingers caressed my shoulder before skimming down my arm. “Some are just more visible than others.”

I turned away. Then I got mad. “Really, where’s yours?”

His face crinkled thoughtfully while his eyes held haunted shadows. “You’d be surprised.”

I gave him a look. “Enlighten me.”

“There are certain things I want to change so badly about myself that it consumes my life.” Unless he was a fantastic actor, he was being sincere.

“Like?”

He grimaced, only slightly, but it was enough to make me wonder. “I would rather not get into that with you yet.”

I cocked my jaw, clicking my tongue. “It’s okay for me, but not for you, huh?”

He leveled his gaze to mine seriously. “If a scar is all you have to hide, you should be thankful.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shoved a hand through his dark hair. “Only that there are worse things to bear than a scar.”

The truth burned me like a solar flare. I should have been able to put on a pretty bikini without so much as a second thought, but I wasn’t there yet. I hoped I would be some day. I felt ridiculous being so shallow. “You didn’t answer my question,” I said after a moment of hesitation.

The lines of his face turned hard. “I know.”

“There you are,” Natalie yelled, cresting the hill in a sprint with Sam close behind her. “Help me, Rayla!” She crouched down between my chair and the stacked rock wall.

“They can’t save you,” Sam said coldly, standing by my feet. “You will pay.”

I turned back, whispering, “What did you do?”

She smiled proudly. “Put ice in his trunks.”

Zach narrowed his eyes at Natalie. His jaw tightened. “You deserve anything you get.” He grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet.

Sam swept the chair sideways. Natalie squealed, trying to out-maneuver him. She didn’t make it.

Attempting to wrench away from him, she said desperately, “You can put ice in my suit. Rayla, do you have a drink?”

Sam smiled wickedly before he looked over at the edge of the falls. Did all male minds work the same? “I have something better in mind.”

She put her hands on his cheeks. “Please, Sam. I’m sorry. I won’t do anything like that again.”

He grabbed her wrists, pushing her into the river. She kicked at him and squealed the entire way.

“Not after this,” he said, grinning. Without another word, he pinned her arms to her sides in a bear hug. She smiled at him. I couldn’t see his expression, but her eyes flew wide just before he shouted, “Geronimo.”

Her “No” was squelched when they hit the water. Zach grinned down at me. My smile shriveled.