Going Overboard (6 page)

She was sitting cross-legged in the sand, facing the bushes. She turned and glanced up at him. “Shh.”

For one wild moment he wondered if she’d made the noise herself, as part of some mystic pagan ritual, but then it came again, from the direction of the bushes.

Andi might think safety lay in silence, but hiding from danger wasn’t Chance’s style. Wielding the fork, he leaped to the sand. “Who’s out there?” he shouted. “Show yourselves or get the hell out of here!”

There was a snort and the clatter of hooves.
Hooves?
Damn drunks must have been riding horses.

“Hey!” Andi protested, getting to her feet. “You scared them.”

“That was the idea.” He was breathing hard and his heart pounded from the adrenaline rush. “You’d better come over here, closer to me, in case they circle around and come back.”

“They wouldn’t hurt us.”

He stared at her. “What’s that, some New Age trust in your fellow humans? Some drunken bastards riding around the lake on horses don’t sound like the kind of company we want around here. This isn’t the Old West, y’know, where you invite any passing saddle tramp to share your campfire.”

She began to smile. “They were burros.”

“Okay, drunks riding burros. That doesn’t make them any less suspicious, in my opinion. You saw how they took off, acting guilty as hell. They were up to something.”

“Nobody was riding the burros,” she said, her smile widening. “They’re wild. The sound you heard was them braying.”

He mentally replayed the noise he’d heard. “I thought donkeys went hee-haw.”

Her shoulders shook and she covered her mouth with one hand. “It’s not quite that neat a sound.” She cleared her throat. “It’s more like
eeagh-haugh!
”

“You do that very well.”

“Thank you.” She continued to grin at him. “I guess you’ve never heard a real one.”

“No.” He glanced down at the fork he still clutched in his hand. It was tough to imagine how he could have made a bigger fool of himself than by charging out of the houseboat ready to battle wild burros with a barbecue fork.

“It was really sweet of you to be so ready to defend me, though.”

He grimaced and walked over to toss the fork back up on the deck. “From fuzzy little burros.”

“You thought it was a band of drunken desperadoes, and you were ready to take them on with a barbecue fork. That’s pretty gallant.”

He turned back to her. “Oh, I’m a regular Lone Ranger.”

She walked up to him. “I think you are, at that. All the cares of the world rest on those Armani-covered shoulders, don’t they, Chance?”

He shrugged, trying to remain calm. She was dangerously close, and the adrenaline rush seemed to be meshing with a different kind of jolt to his system. He’d be wise to end this little conversation before things got out of hand. “Somebody has to be the grown-up.”

“Twenty-four hours a day?” Her bathing-suit-covered breasts lightly nudged his bare chest as she moved closer still.

“You can’t just turn it on and off.”

She slid a cool hand behind his neck. “Isn’t there an override switch somewhere?”

He closed his eyes. Her touch was like velvet against
his suddenly hot skin. She spread her fingers and ran them lightly up through his hair. He drew in a breath.

Then she applied subtle pressure to the back of his head, urging him down. “Kiss me, Chance. Trip that override switch.”

A
NDI HAD ALREADY
hot-wired his override switch, Chance thought, winding his arms around her and opening his eyes long enough to make sure his mouth would connect solidly with hers. He felt her lips part beneath his hungry assault, and the muffled groan that filled his throat sounded the death knell of his restraint.

She took the first thrust of his tongue with an urgency that sent the blood pounding straight to his groin. He pulled her closer, wanting her to feel the pressure of his erection. The coconut scent of her suntan oil mingled with the scent of arousal, his and hers. Finally he accepted the truth—he’d wanted this from the first moment he saw her seven months ago. Maybe she’d wanted the same thing.

She tasted forbidden and lush. The sensual movement of her hips told him she was ready for anything he had in mind, and his mind raced with images of hands stroking, mouths exploring, bodies joining in pulsing completion.

His lips sought the honey from her warm mouth as he wedged his pelvis firmly between her thighs. She moaned and pushed against him, blotting out all reason.

He reached for the shoulder strap of the red suit that had tantalized him for hours. The strap offered no obstacle as it slipped down her smooth shoulder. Pushing his throbbing erection against the cradle of her thighs, he abandoned her lips to seek the pulse at her throat. His heart
hammered as he worked the bathing suit down and finally cupped her breast in his hand.

She arched her back, pushing up against his palm. She was matching him desire for desire, and he’d never felt so excited by a woman in his life. She moaned as he leaned down and took her nipple into his mouth. He rolled the sensitive tip against his tongue and felt her shudder. Ah, this was going to be good. Very, very good.

He pulled the other strap down so he had access to both breasts as she writhed and whimpered against him. He felt her warm breath on the back of his leg. Dimly he realized that would be difficult, given their upright position. He paused.

Someone, or
something,
was breathing on him. He lifted his mouth from her breast.

Andi grew still in his arms. “Chance.” Her voice held a warning.

The warm air traveled up the back of his legs. Every hair on his body stood erect. “What’s breathing on me?” he whispered.

“A burro.”

“Shi—”

She clamped her arms tight around his shoulders. “Don’t make any sudden moves.”

He leaned his forehead against hers and tried to stay calm. At least he wasn’t naked. “Do they bite?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s not the right answer.”

“Just stand still.”

“Easy for you to say,” he muttered. “It’s not licking your leg.”

“Licking?”

“Yeah. Probably for the salt, but God, it tickles.”

“I’m going to try something. Stay still.” She leaned around him. “Shoo!”

He stared down at her. “Shoo?”

“You got anything better?”

“Yeah. I’m going to turn around really fast and yell at him. Stay behind me.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“I do. He’s started nibbling on my shorts.”

“Then it must be a female.”

“Ha, ha. Okay, on three. One, two, three,
now!
” He whirled and shoved her behind him. His eyes widened as he gazed at not one, but
four
burros. “Go home!” he yelled, waving one arm as he kept the other behind him, protecting Andi.

The burros trotted away a couple of yards and stood looking at him.

Andi started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“They
are
home. We’re the trespassers.”

“Oh. Okay, then go…somewhere else!” he yelled again, waving his arm some more.

Andi whipped off her sarong and stepped out from behind him. “Shoo!” she said, waving the skirt at them.

The flapping cloth seemed to do the trick. They spooked and took off into the bushes.

Chance stared after them, shaking his head. “Burros.”

“Now that they know interesting stuff is here, they might come back.”

He glanced at her. She was sliding her arms into the straps of her swimsuit.

The burros had broken the spell that had caused him to forget everything except the need to make love to her, but sanity had returned, and he was flabbergasted at his behavior.
What had he been thinking? “Do you realize what almost happened?”

She smiled at him. “I think so. I watched all the films in junior-high health class.”

“Exactly. And in those films, do you remember that little matter of taking precautions?”

She paused and gave him a long look. “You don’t have anything with you?”

“No. Why would I have anything? This was supposed to be a family vacation. I didn’t even know you were coming along, and I wouldn’t have brought birth control even if I had known. Our last meeting wasn’t exactly romantic.”

“But I thought guys always carried something.”

“Well, they don’t. And even if I had something, what kind of guy would have grabbed a condom on his way out to save you?”

“One who expected me to be very grateful?”

He laughed in spite of himself and shook his head. “Oh, boy.”

“So you would have made love to me without using anything?”

“Looks like it, doesn’t it?”

“Hmm.” She gave him a slow smile.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s nice to know Chance Jefferson isn’t quite as buttoned-down as he pretends.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t like being at a disadvantage, and he always seemed to get in that position, with Andi. “I’d appreciate it if you’d keep this little incident just between us.”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.”

“What shall we do now?” she asked.

“Go to bed—separately.”

“Well, that’s pretty obvious, but what about the rest of the week?”

“Andi, we’re on a houseboat with two other people. I went crazy enough to want to make love out here on the sand, but obviously that has certain…hazards. And I don’t know about you, but even if we had birth control, I wouldn’t feel very comfortable getting wild and crazy inside the houseboat, with Nicole and Bowie just down the hall. The only doors on this barge are for closets and the bathroom. Neither place seems appropriate, so I think it’s a moot point.”

“That stinks.”

“To be honest, it probably saves us from making a terrible mistake.”

“It didn’t feel like a terrible mistake a little while ago. If you’re so intent on being honest, why don’t you admit it felt damn good, Chance?”

And it still would,
he thought, watching her standing there, her breasts thrust forward in defiance. He remembered how the blood had raced in his veins when she’d arched into his caress. “I want you, Andi,” he said quietly. “After this, I can’t very well pretend not to. But our lives don’t fit together, and all we can do is hurt each other. That’s not going to promote family harmony, and I don’t think either of us wants to make difficulties for Bowie and Nicole.”

“Ah, I see, the reasonable, responsible Chance is back in control.”

“Barely.”

“Well, that’s something.” She turned and hoisted herself up on deck. “Good night, Chance.”

He watched her go, and then he swore under his breath. For the first time in his life, he truly resented the wealth
and position life had settled on him. Had he been the only one to consider, he would have figured a way around all the obstacles. He would have made love to Andi Lombard.

“H
EY
, the stock market rebounded last night!”

Chance’s enthusiastic announcement from somewhere in the front of the boat woke Andi up.

“Bully,” she muttered. “Better than an orgasm anytime, right, Chance, old boy?” She’d gone to sleep frustrated and had awakened in the same condition, although the smell of bacon and coffee coming from the kitchen helped mollify her. From the sound of things, everybody was up except her. Waves slapped the side of the boat and a breeze blew through the tiny window over her bunk. She peered out at a cloudy day and choppy gray water.

Hopping down from the top bunk, she located her duffel bag in the stash of supplies on the bottom bunk and went into the bathroom to change into her spare bathing suit. Acting so impulsively with Chance had been a stupid move, she thought as she took off her nightie and put on the suit. Recently, she’d vowed to start looking before she leaped into romantic encounters. Maybe then she’d find herself kissing Mr. Right instead of the usual Mr. Wrong.

The black tank-style suit might be a tad provocative, she thought as she glanced in the bathroom mirror. A lace insert down the front and each side didn’t leave much to the imagination. But what woman deliberately bought a suit that made her look sexless? Mother Teresa, maybe. Not Andi Lombard. Chance would just have to deal with his hormones, she decided, walking out into the kitchen.

Bowie looked up from the bacon he was turning with a familiar-looking barbecue fork. “He-ere’s Andi!”

“Morning. Did every—”

“Oh, God!” Chance wailed from the table which had become his temporary office. “Quick, throw me a towel, somebody.”

Andi grabbed a towel from the kitchen counter and threw it at his head with a certain amount of relish. He caught it and started mopping his keyboard.

Nicole slid down from her perch on the captain’s chair and went over to watch. “What happened, Chance?”

“Spilled my coffee.”

Bowie paused with the fork in midair. Then he turned to give Andi the once-over. “Uh-huh. Wonder what came over him? Any ideas, Andi, sweetheart?” He winked at her. “Nice suit, by the way.”

Nicole looked over at Andi and back at Chance. She grinned. “It is a nice suit, don’t you think, Chance?”

“Didn’t notice,” he mumbled.

Bowie leaned closer to Andi. “He didn’t notice,” he said in a stage whisper. “It was pure coincidence that the minute you came into the room, he started pouring his coffee into his computer.”

“I guess I’ll just have to let it dry out and hope it still works.” Chance picked up the open laptop as if it were an injured animal and carried it out to the front deck.

Nicole clapped her hands together. “I
love
it. I haven’t seen him this rattled since he got showered with champagne at our reception. I wish I’d seen his face when you first walked in just now. I’ll bet his jaw was on the floor.”

Andi looked down at the black suit. “Is it too much? I’m beginning to get a complex. Every time I’m around, something crazy happens to Chance.”

“It’s time a few crazy things happened to Chance,” Bowie said. “The guy needs to have his chain rattled. Now, if anyone cares to scramble up a few eggs, the bacon’s about ready.”

“I’ll do it,” Nicole said.

“Nope. I will. You relax.” Andi opened the refrigerator and took out a carton of eggs. “How did you sleep last night?”

“Unfortunately, your niece kicked most of the night, so I didn’t sleep a lot.”

Andi paused in the midst of closing the refrigerator door. “That’s too bad.” She wondered if Nicole had heard what had gone on in the sand outside the boat the night before.

Chance came back in. “I put the laptop on a deck chair outside, but turned it away from the sun. I think it’ll dry quicker that way than leaving it in here.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Nicole said, “but it sounds logical. I’d offer you a hair dryer, but I didn’t bring one. Did you, Andi?”

“Nope.” She stood next to Bowie and cracked eggs into a bowl while butter melted in a frying pan “I figured I wasn’t on this trip to be gorgeous.”

Bowie lowered his voice. “Just sexy as hell.”

She answered out of the corner of her mouth as she whipped the eggs. “These are the suits I happen to have, okay?” She poured the eggs into the frying pan.

“Very okay. He’s a basket case.”

“By the way, I heard those crazy wild burros braying last night,” Nicole said. “And you tearing out to save Andi, Chance.”

Andi froze. Sound tended to carry in such an open area. How much else had Nicole heard? Not that there had been much talking. Moaning and gasping, but not much conversation.

She turned, a spatula in her hand. “Yeah, it was very sweet, Nic. He’d never heard what real burros sound like, and he thought some drunks were out there having a party.
I explained it, and that was that. It’s nice to know chivalry isn’t dead.” She didn’t look at Chance.

“It’s nice to know my brother isn’t, either,” Bowie said.

Andi kicked him. “Eggs are ready.”

During breakfast they plotted the cruising for the day. Andi sat across from Chance. She couldn’t help noticing that he seemed intent on keeping his gaze on her face whenever he looked in her direction. Even then, there was a banked heat in his blue eyes that made her stomach flutter every time she saw it. His hormones were definitely giving him problems. But then, so were hers.

“I hope the weather doesn’t deteriorate,” Nicole said, glancing at the cloudy sky outside the windows as they cleared away the dishes.

“It’s not supposed to rain this week,” Andi said. “But we might have wind.”

“Then we’ll just find a sheltered little cove and wait it out,” Bowie said. “Before we break up camp, though, I want Andi to teach me a couple of yoga moves.”

“Seriously?”

“I’m a man of many facets,” Bowie said. “And yoga’s always intrigued me. Maybe after we finish the dishes, we can—”

“I’ll do the dishes,” Chance said. “You two go ahead.”

“And what am I supposed to do?” Nicole asked.

“Be pregnant,” Andi said, giving her a hug. “Go lie down in the back for a little while. If you didn’t sleep much last night, you probably could use some more rest.”

Nicole looked relieved. “Thanks. Maybe I will, at that.”

After she left, Chance turned to Bowie. “Is she okay?”

“She says she’s fine. The baby’s just being especially
active, that’s all. I told her we’d cut the trip short anytime she wanted to, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”

“She’s really looked forward to this week,” Andi said. “It would be a huge disappointment if we had to go home early, but we have to think about her health, too.”

“We won’t go far from the marina today, just in case,” Chance said. “And don’t forget, I have the cell phone if we have an emergency.”