Mission: Seduction (2 page)

Nah.

Rafe glanced at the ocean and went in search of his board shorts.

A good hard swim would help ease his tension and get his mind off one very pretty resort owner.

2

“W
HAT
HAVE
I
done?” Kelly Callahan paced from one end of the kitchen to the other. Adrien, the resort's main chef, didn't bother to answer her. Though born in France, he'd grown up not far from where she had started surfing in Southern California. Still, half the time, he pretended he didn't understand her. Mimi, her sister, called him “tall, dark and dangerous,” but to Kelly he was only ever one of her surfing buddies.

Kelly continued her rambling. “He's so much more hot in person. I mean, almost godlike. But there's such sadness in those beautiful eyes. The kind so deep you think it's never going to go away. If he finds out the truth—”

The third time she bumped into the chef, he shooed her out of his way by silently threatening her with a large spoon. She resumed pacing on the other side of the enormous breakfast bar they used to lay out a spread of fruits and pastries for guests to snack on throughout the day.

She picked up a muffin but didn't take a bite.

“No.” She shook her head. “I should walk over there right now and tell him everything. Rafe deserves to know.”

Adrien mumbled something in French and waved his spoon again.

She stopped pacing long enough to lean forward to taste his soup. Closing her eyes, she savored the broth's spicy flavors against her tongue. Adrien never made a mistake with a meal.

“Why do you always have to do everything so well? Men! I swear. You're all so—argh.”

Adrien's eyebrow lifted.

She squinted at him and stuck out her tongue.

He smiled triumphantly and went back to his soup.

During her rant, she'd accidentally smashed the uneaten muffin onto the counter. She felt guilty about that, too. She hated to waste food.

Nearby, she could hear some guests returning from a catamaran outing. Time for Kelly to get a hold of herself. It wouldn't do for the guests to see her in the middle of a nervous breakdown.

After dumping the muffin in the trash, she went to her suite to wash her hands. Her rooms were the only private bedroom and sitting room on the first floor and possessed the best sea views. Outfitted in colors of soft ivory and chocolate-brown, her suite could have been in any exclusive hotel in the world. She'd been lucky. When she bought Last Resort, it had been made over only a few months before. However, a high-end destination like this needed constant maintenance. There was always something that needed to be fixed, replaced or updated. The staff, most of whom she'd inherited with the buy, kept the place running smoothly. Some of them had been doing the same jobs since before she was born, so she left them to it.

After washing her hands, she sat down on the edge of her bed. Staring at her cell phone, she contemplated her next move. Mimi had to be told. Maybe she could convince her sister to temporarily go along with the ruse until Rafe was feeling better. She remembered the way his face fell when he found out Mimi wasn't there. Kelly winced. There was no way Rafe would be interested in her if Mimi was around.

She lay back on the bed. “It's not supposed to be about that,” she chastised herself. “It's about helping him to get better.”

Initially, when Kelly had invited Rafe, her sole intention had been to help him. He never whined or complained, but she could always tell that he had seen things he'd rather forget. After several letters prodding him about his injuries, he'd finally told her everything. That he'd nearly died sent her heart reeling. That was when she knew she cared much more than she should.

In her mind and in her heart, she knew she could make a positive difference in his life.

She turned onto her side.

Rafe was even more than she had expected. His inner strength only intensified his attractiveness. She thought of his taut muscles and the way his jeans fit against his—

“Stop it,” she moaned. Even before she'd seen him, he had been a late-night fantasy. He'd often kept her awake as she wondered what it would be like if he touched her. Or better yet, kissed her.

Kelly quickly got out her cell phone and called her sister. She had to tell someone the truth, or she would die from guilt.

“This is Mimi, you know what to do,” the recorded voice said.

For a second Kelly thought about leaving the whole twisted story in a message. It would be so much easier, but she wouldn't stoop that low.

“Call me,” she said before hitting the end call button.

“I'm not a bad person,” she whispered to her pillows. “This all began so innocently. Can I help it if his letters made me fall for him? Is it my fault that I want him all to myself?”

A little voice in the back of her mind spoke up. “Oh, be quiet, conscience.”

She needed something to do so she would stop obsessing. There was always paperwork, but she couldn't concentrate.

Jumping up from the bed, she slipped off her shorts, revealing the rest of her bikini. She then reached for the latch and opened the sliding glass door.

Outside, her board stood waiting for her. She grabbed it and ran to do the one thing that always soothed her.

It only took a moment for her feet to hit the warm sand. Curling her toes, she watched as the waves broke over the sandbar. The motion of the water was the balm she needed.

Running, she dove with her board into the first wave.

Home.

* * *

R
AFE
STARED
AS
Kelly surfed one wave after another. The way she maneuvered the surfboard with such ease made him curious as to how someone so slim could tame the churning ocean. At first, he thought she must have to really focus on what she was doing, but she did it all so smoothly and controlled, she was clearly a natural.

When she hit the beach, she frowned and headed again into the surf.

Rafe didn't know her, but he did know human nature and she was worried about something.

That bothered him. She was such a kind soul. He'd recognized that about her from the instant they'd met. That and the fact that she'd welcomed him to her resort without a second thought. There was an immediate connection between them, one that disturbed Rafe because of its strength. The pull toward her was something that should only come after knowing a person for months, not minutes.

What amazed him the most was how fast he was over his initial disappointment of Mimi not being there to greet him.

Stop it.

He kicked his feet and swam back to shore. Once there, he claimed the towel he'd brought with him and sat down on the sand.

Had she felt the same awareness? Just because Kelly had been nice to him was no reason for him to think she might be interested in him.

Give it up.

You're here to hang out with her sister.

“Those look like some deep thoughts,” Kelly said. She stood before him with her board stuck in the sand. How had she snuck up on him like that?

Great, marine, just great.

“Not so deep, I promise. You're a great surfer. I mean, I don't know much about the sport, but you ride those man-crushing waves like a pro.” Rafe had stayed in shallow water to avoid the large swells, which rolled in higher by the minute.

“I am,” she said.

He gave her a questioning look.

“A pro,” she said, and laughed. “I surf professionally on the circuit. At least, I did until a few months ago before I decided to hit Pause for a bit and buy this place.” She nodded toward the resort.

If she made enough to afford this luxury spot, she had to have done pretty well as an athlete.

Rafe chastised himself for staring at her. Bikini bottoms with tiny red bows at the hips flattered her long, tanned legs. Her flat stomach was slightly ripped with muscles, just enough to show she wasn't afraid of a good workout.

Rafe cleared his throat as he stood up. The interest in her toned-in-every-way body had to stop. He searched his brain to recall what they'd been talking about. “Why did you hit Pause?”

She pursed her lips. “Maybe that's the wrong expression. I think of it as a long vacation. To reevaluate what I want to do next with my life.” She shifted from one foot to the other. “I've been traveling the world from one competition to the next since I was sixteen. Burnouts happen a lot in my sport. And to be honest, I was heading that way. I forgot my love for surfing and I wanted to remember why I'm addicted to those waves. And it's helped. A month's gone by and I'm already anticipating the next big meet.

“Listen to me. I sound like some confused chick trying to find herself.”

“No, you don't,” Rafe said quickly. “I love being an active marine and serving, but there are some days I want to give it all a rest and be a farmer or something.”

She grinned. Her amusement pleased him. “You don't seem like the farmer type.”

“That
would
be kind of funny, since I don't know a thing about it,” he admitted. “But some job where you work with your hands and you're alone out in nature. There's no one to report to, and you don't have to constantly watch your back.”

That was true. After his last assignment, he'd begun to reevaluate what was important to him. Unlike Kelly, he had no idea what might be next. He had invested in his friend Will's private security company so he would always have a job there. That was his safety net.

But Rafe seldom took the safe path. His beat-up leg and shoulder were proof of that.

“How did you end up here? Seems like a lot to take on for one person.”

She shrugged. “I'd been coming here for years during my off time because the waves are great for most of the year. A friend of mine owned it. One day he said he wanted to sell it, and everything fell into place so easily that I knew it was the right decision. It is a lot of work, but manageable. For the most part, it can run itself as long as there's someone to oversee the accounting and business stuff. Everyone who works here has been here for years, so that also helps.”

Rafe studied her. Kelly was proud of what she'd accomplished, and she should be. From what he'd seen so far, this was about as close to paradise as one could get.

“So what time did you say dinner was?”

“Oh, thanks for the reminder. I need to get back there. It's at seven, and it's casual. Very casual. Shorts are fine. Well, see ya tonight.” She grabbed her board and swung away with a jaunty lift to her step.

Rafe couldn't take his eyes off her bikini-clad body striding up the beach. The woman was insanely beautiful. It wasn't fair.

He laughed.

What was paradise without a little temptation?

3

R
AFE
SPOTTED
K
ELLY
from the open glass doors of his cabana. She was dressed in a white T-shirt and dark shorts. A pair of pink flip-flops graced her feet.

Yep. She was as hot as he remembered.

Hell.

What was he going to do? Rafe lived by the code of the corps, but he had his own code, as well. Before he'd ever thought about the Marines, his mother had instilled in him a profound respect for women. His father was strict when it came to treating others as equals. Rafe had grown up in the melting pot that was New York, and on his block everyone knew everyone else's business. There was no chance of getting away with treating a girl he dated any less than was expected.

Kelly leaned over to hand someone a drink, and he couldn't avoid it—the way her shorts stretched over her butt nearly sent him back to the showers for a cold one. As he approached the group of other guests, he noticed the man she'd given the drink to follow her with his eyes. The appreciation on his face didn't sit well with Rafe.

Hey, weren't you doing the same thing?

Shut up.

There were several people gathered in the mansion's central room. A big flat-screen was on in one corner where some of the men watched a soccer match. An older couple admired the fish in the aquarium that separated the room from the dining area. Rafe wondered how they kept the tank clean. It was enormous.

“Rafe, I'm so glad you're here,” Kelly said as if she were surprised to see him.

The confusion must have shown on his face.

“After so many hours on the plane and the swim you took earlier, I thought maybe jet lag might have taken over.”

He returned her smile. “It did—I passed out for a while, which is why I'm late. Sorry about that.” In truth, it had taken everything he had to push himself out of bed and into the shower. Only the curiosity of wanting to see Kelly again had kept him going.

Careful there.

“Can I get you a drink?” she asked.

Rafe shook his head. He'd taken two pain pills so that he could make the walk over, and the doctors had warned him not to mix them with liquor.

“Nah, I'm good. Maybe some water?”

“Kelly, the dinner is ready,” announced a lithe teen with the same beautiful skin of the Fijians and bright blue eyes that spoke of another ancestry.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Kelly asked the young girl.

She nodded.

“Okay, but if you spill anything—”

“I know, I know.” The girl almost rolled her eyes but stopped. “Sorry. Yes, ma'am.”

The girl left them, presumably for the kitchen.

“Nari reminds me of myself,” Kelly said softly. “I would do anything to surf when I was a kid.”

“I don't follow,” Rafe said.

“Oh, she helps out around the resort and occasionally waits tables to pay for her surf lessons here.”

“You give lessons?”

“That she does, mate,” said the man who had been watching Kelly when Rafe had shown up. The Australian was nearly as tall as Rafe's six-foot-four, but he had white-blond hair and the body of a boxer. Big biceps, short neck. Rafe couldn't imagine the guy on a surfboard.

“This is Josh,” Kelly said as she introduced them.

“Rafe,” he said as he stuck out his hand.

“Ah. You're the soldier Kelly was telling the Seymours about. Been in Afghanistan, I heard, and you were shot up pretty bad.”

Rafe glanced at her to find her cheeks were pink.

“Gracie is a doctor,” Kelly said. “I...had heard about how you'd been wounded and I wanted to make sure we had the right therapies for you, and that we didn't push you too hard. I promise we weren't gossiping.”

“You don't need to worry about me,” Rafe said. “As long as there's a gym, I can follow up with what my trainers started in Germany.”

“Best facility on the island,” Josh told him, and slapped him on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. Rafe struggled not to wince as a shot of pain raced down his back and into his aching hip. He reminded himself he was lucky to be alive. Unfortunately, there were few places on his body that hadn't felt the effect of his time in the military.

“Yep, they'll get you fixed up, all right. Came here a couple weeks ago to recover from a bruised hamstring and lower back troubles, and boom!” The man clapped his hands together eliciting a few startled glances. “All better now. This little chicken knows what she's up to. Got me back to fighting form months before the docs thought it would be possible,” Josh announced to the group, squeezing Kelly into the crook of his arm.

Rafe took pleasure in the fact that she didn't seem too happy about being smashed up against the guy.

“Josh, can you check that the doors to the kitchen are closed? I want to make sure we don't get sand in there and it looks like the wind is picking up.”

“On it.” The Aussie lumbered through the main room over to the dining area.

“Are you okay?” Kelly asked softly. The light caress of her hand on Rafe's forearm was enough to send him over the edge. “He has no idea how strong he is.”

“No worries,” Rafe told her, his voice deeper than usual because her hand was still gently stroking his arm. “Do you always order your guests around like that?”

It was a subtle way to find out if she and the Australian were close.

“Yes,” she replied with a laugh. “I'm bossy that way. Just ask my sister.”

At the mention of her sister, she lifted her hand from his arm and frowned. “Sorry. What were we talking about before that?”

“About you being bossy,” he said as he studied her carefully. Was there something bothering her about Mimi?

“Oh, yes. And with Josh, well, he was supposed to be here for a week and it's turned into several. That happens a lot. Almost everyone who visits says they feel like family, so I guess it doesn't hurt to treat them that way. We have a fairly exclusive clientele who are used to plenty of perks, but they like it here because they get all that and they get to be surf bums at the same time. There's no paparazzi or helicopters flying over to see what kind of bikini they're wearing or what they're drinking, or who they are with for that matter.” She shrugged.

“I thought I recognized some faces on the beach today.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I'm sure you did. They keep coming back, since no one bugs them here. It's always been my sanctuary when life got to be too much on the circuit, and I wanted to create that for other people as well.”

Sanctuary. If it weren't for his dilemma with the sisters, this place would definitely be that. The waves had put him to sleep in seconds after his head hit the pillow. The bungalow was warm, but the sea breeze kept it from being miserably so.

Rafe wasn't overly impressed with the boxer, but he understood why he was drawn to the place. It was the kind of environment a person could get used to easily. As Rafe sat down at the table across from Kelly, she gave him another smile.

Yep. He could definitely see why people never wanted to leave.

* * *

K
ELLY
CROSSED
HER
legs on the special platform Nari's father, Duke, had made for her.

Meditation was part of Kelly's regular routine and, no matter what was happening around her, she did it twice a day. Settling on the raised part of the deck outside her bedroom, she took a deep, calming breath and tried to clear her mind.

Adrien would kill her for not finishing her dinner tonight, but Kelly's nerves were like taut guitar strings ready to break. She'd have to speak to Josh about his being a little too handsy. Every chance he had, he put his arm around her shoulders or bent into her as if they were sharing a secret. He'd been overly friendly before, but Rafe's presence must have caused him to turn territorial. She and Josh had known each other a long time, but that didn't mean he could take advantage of their friendship.

His behavior probably gave Rafe the idea that they might be a couple, which was the last thing she wanted. She'd caught Rafe's eyes on them more than once during the meal and he had the strangest look on his face. She was adept at reading people, but she didn't have a clue what was happening in the marine's head. He'd been polite throughout dinner even though she'd seen him wince more than once when he twisted the wrong way.

He'd caught the soup tureen when it slipped from Nari's hands, keeping it from crashing to the floor. But his jaw had tightened and his hand shook as he placed the heavy bowl on the table.

In spite of his pain, he'd assured the young girl that all was well. His kindness toward the fumbling Nari had solidified his hold on Kelly's heart. And, as if that wasn't enough, she'd admitted she was infatuated with him before he'd even arrived.

What had begun as an act of kindness on her part for one of America's heroes had now morphed into a complicated situation that confused her. What should she do? He was an honorable man who appreciated the truth. After seeing that up close and personal, she felt certain he would leave if he knew she'd lied to get him here.

She truly cared about him. And if he left before he really got to know who she was, she'd regret it for the rest of her life. Maybe he would, too.

Helping him heal was the one way she could clear her conscience and set her karma straight. He'd been through so much, the least she could do was support him as he tried to put the pieces of his life back together again. She'd recognized the signs of post-traumatic stress syndrome in his letters. His trouble sleeping, the nightmares, his erratic moods. He'd shared a lot with her, and now she knew what she had to do to repay that trust.

Taking another calming breath, she shut her eyes, but just before her mind went blank, a vision of Rafe on the beach overtook her thoughts. Water dripped from his dark hair, his swim trunks riding low on his hips, his chiseled jaw and toned abs some of the best she'd ever seen on a man.

She sighed.

Well, no one ever said karmic justice was easy.