MONTANA SKY 07.5: Angel In Paradise (5 page)

Rafe took a swig of the beer.
I could always burn them
. Not that he would.
There’s more where those came from.
But maybe the act would buy him more time with her.
And make me look as childish as a five-year-old.

To avoid temptation, he climbed the stairs and passed her room. The sound of the shower made him imagine Angel naked under the running water, and Rafe felt an answering response in his body.
Joining her probably wouldn’t be a good idea.

He quickened his pace into his room and onto the balcony, where he stretched out on his lounge. Taking another sip of his beer, Rafe stared at the water.

Tonight, the sound of the waves didn’t lull him into relaxation. Instead, his body was strung tight, his emotions turbulent, and his thoughts in a whirl. Angel’s abrupt appearance today had torn away his contentment with his life in paradise.

For years, he’d lived in this house and enjoyed his solitude. Could probably have gotten along just fine by himself for a long time, maybe forever. But tonight, Angel’s presence had broken open a deep-seated loneliness within him, old and bitter. He didn’t like the feeling.

Taking the last swig of beer before setting down the bottle, he leaned his head back against the cushions to do some serious thinking. Rafe knew he stood at a crossroads. He could continue on as he had been, avoiding his past, his pain, his family. But he doubted, after today, he’d have success with that decision. The only choice really was to open up to Angel. Face his past. Hear what she had to say.

But…if they talked in the morning and she convinced him to sign whatever the heck those papers were, he knew she’d leave on the next ferry. If he absolutely refused to sign them, she’d still leave on the next ferry. The thought struck him.
The papers be damned. I want her!

Rafe realized he needed to ask Angel for more time, for her to remain just long enough so he could hook her into staying for good.

He began to plan his strategy—Operation Angel.

The next morning, Angel awoke feeling surprisingly refreshed. She’d expected to toss and turn all night, thinking about her life, especially Rafe. Indeed she had for a while before crashing into a deep sleep, soothed no doubt by the sound of the waves through her open windows and balcony door.

She stretched, then made her way to the bathroom, using the toilet and brushing her teeth. When she opened the door to the hall, she saw her clothes in a neat pile next to several boutique shopping bags. Intrigued, she scooped up everything and brought them inside, dumping the armful on the bed.

Rummaging through the first bag, Angelina pulled out five bikinis in various colors and styles, which all looked about her size. She held a gold top to her chest, wondering if she’d dare wear the tiny scraps of material in public. Just imagining wearing the bikini in front of Rafe made heat flush through her body.

Angelina set down the bathing suit and opened the other bag. This one contained three pairs of jeans. Again, he’d guessed her size.

The warm breeze blowing through the windows made her decide on the clean tank and shorts from yesterday. She dressed and combed out her curly hair, but left it free, flowing to her waist. Rafe had always loved her hair. She put on a little make-up and made a mental note to ask him for sunscreen.

Angelina paused at the door, wondering how she could pin him down to talk.
I’ll find a way,
she promised herself.

Barefooted, Angelina padded down the staircase, eager to see Rafe. She heard the ice-crushing sound of the blender and followed the noise into the kitchen, where she found him whipping up a smoothie. Dressed in a faded gray T-shirt and running shorts, with his hair rumpled, he looked far too attractive for her peace of mind.

“Ah, just in time.” Rafe smiled, poured the smoothie into two tall glasses, and handed her one. “Good for what ails you.”

You are what ails me.
But Angel didn’t say anything, just took a sip, enjoying the tropical flavors.

He watched her drink. “Mango. Papaya. Pineapple. Vanilla protein powder. Ice cubes. Liquid vitamins and minerals and other good-for-you things.”

As opposed to bad-for-me Rafael Flanigan.
“I found some interesting articles of apparel outside my door this morning. A bit early for shopping, isn’t it?”

He flashed the charming Flanigan smile. “A few phone calls, and the deliveries arrived on my doorstep.” He snapped his fingers. “Magic.”

She took another sip of her smoothie.

“On Seeker’s Island, the locals aren’t strangers,” Rafe explained. “We help each other out.”

Angelina wondered just how well he knew these shop owners.

“You can return anything that doesn’t fit.”

“I won’t be here long enough to use them.” Regret followed the words.

“Don’t go, Angel. Give me today. Later, I’ll listen to your proposition, sign those confounded documents if I think it’s right to do so. But I want you to spend some time relaxing on Seeker’s Island.”

Why?
Because she was pale? Or because he wanted her? Angelina thought of, and then dismissed, her boss’s reaction. She’d send him another text. “You’ll cooperate?”

His grin was wicked. “You could call it that.”

“Rafe…” she warned.

He held up a conciliatory hand. “Here’s the plan. I want to go for a run on the beach, and I hope you’ll join me. Then, breakfast and a ride to the falls for a swim in the magical pool. Then lunch. After that, whatever you want to do, even if it means talking about things I’d rather avoid. Deal?”

Angelina studied Rafe’s face, searching for his level of sincerity. What she saw reassured her. “Deal.”

~~~

Wearing wide-brimmed straw hats and bathing suits under their jeans and T-shirts, they rode two of Rafe’s Paints around the island to the falls.

Angel had missed being on horseback.
How did I stray so far from my roots…from what I loved?
Even as she thought the question, she knew the answer.

Sweetwater Springs had been too full of painful memories of Rafe, so she’d stayed away from her home as much as possible. Her family had made her avoidance easy, for they’d frequently visited her at college and law school and later in New York.

Angelina forced herself to concentrate on the present. To enjoy the beauty of the white sand beach; the turquoise water that deepened into dark blue; the mangroves anchored on the edge of the water; the sandpiper that skittered across their path—and the sexy man who rode beside her, though she fought the attraction.

They passed a thatched roof, open-sided tiki hut.
Seeker’s Paradise Bar
read the sign out front. The man behind the bar saw Rafe and waved.

Rafe waved back but didn’t stop. “Only another few minutes.”

Up ahead, the sandy beach changed to rocks. Rafe pointed inland to a grove of trees. “The nature preserve. The falls and pool are there.”

They headed their mounts off the beach and onto a path leading through the mangroves with their stilted roots burrowing into the moist soil. Shade provided welcomed relief from the sun. Farther in, the mangroves gave way to white cedars, tall palms, and gnarled oaks dripping with Spanish moss. Here and there, Angelina spotted a tree with small orange-red flowers or an orchid peeking through the thick ferns.

An old man, wearing overalls and no shirt, stepped between two oaks. Spanish moss dangling from the tree limbs framed his head. His face was brown and wrinkled, and his gray hair waved to his shoulders. A squirrel monkey rode on his shoulders.

Rafe shot the man a dark look. “Amos, you have the worst timing.”

The old man saluted and backed away. “Just checking things out, Rafe. I’ll head back to my place. Leave you two alone.”

Rafe watched the man go and winked at Angel. “I supposed we should be glad he had clothes on.”

Her eyes widened.

“Yep. Amos likes to soak naked. Not a pretty sight. And Chachi, the little devil monkey…nothing’s safe around him. He’ll steal you blind. I know from experience…never, ever leave your clothes lying around while you skinny dip.” He urged his mount on.

Angelina followed, chuckling at the image of Rafe running around naked to catch a monkey and retrieve his clothes.

As they neared the pool, the distant sound of a waterfall grew louder. Instead of cascading over a cliff like the Flanigan Falls, here the water spilled down a hill of jumbled rocks, lush with ferns and other greenery, and divided into several streams before splashing into the turquoise pool. The water looked deep near the falls, but became shallower on the other side, and she wondered why no one was around.

Angelina sat on her horse watching the hypnotic dance of the water and feeling sadness for a girl who’d once happily ridden to another waterfall, excited and in love. The hurt that lay in store for her…. She glanced at Rafe.
Would history repeat itself?

~~~

Rafe watched Angel, wondering what she was thinking. Like him, was she remembering the past?

They dismounted, and Rafe short-tied the reins to a limb of a towering sand pine. A long time ago, someone had trimmed away the lower branches, except for one used as a hitching post, the scaly red bark worn smooth from generations of use.

Rafe sat on a rock to pull off his boots and socks, then shucked off his outerwear.

Angel took her time undressing. But when she bared her body, her golden curves barely concealed by small triangles of shiny fabric, Rafe had to do everything he could to keep his hands off of her. Over the years, he’d probably seen thousands of women in bathing suits, but none affected him like Angel.

To distract himself, Rafe rolled up his clothes and tucked them in the saddlebag he’d brought for that purpose. “To keep them safe from Chachi. I can’t guarantee the safety of our hats though.”

Angel folded up her clothes and handed them to him.

Once he’d secured them in the saddlebag, Rafe pointed at the pool. “The water’s warm.” He raced the few steps to the pool and dived in, swimming deep to touch the bottom before pushing off to the surface. The water was crystal clear and almost too warm from the hot springs combining with the cold waterfall on a hot summer day. Definitely not chilly enough to cool his reaction to seeing Angel in a bathing suit. He had a moment of wishing for the cold Montana pool at the bottom of Flanigan Falls to quench his ardor. Coming up for air, he waited for her to join him.

Her hair was loose in a mass of curls that bounced when she followed his lead. She dove in next to him, emerging with the water shining on her skin, her thick eyelashes clumped together.

Rafe tipped his head, indicating they swim across the pool. Side-by-side, they stroked to the shallow end. When he knew the water was waist high, he stood.

The weight of the water pulled Angel’s hair into long waves, which flowed all the way to her waist.

Rafe fingered one tendril, then in an instinctive reaction, wound the strand around his wrist, twisting until his hand reached her face. He used her hair to gently reel her closer. With his other hand, he cupped the back of her head and tilted up her face.

Her lips parted. In that moment, Rafe remembered doing this very gesture in a snowmelt pool under a blue Montana sky, with the sound of Flanigan Falls in the background. Their first kiss on a magical day.

The memory surged through him, unbelievably sweet and nostalgic. A time as different from now as could be. Yet…the promise of
more
was there, as strong as ever.

Rafe’s heavy-lidded eyes gazed knowingly into hers.

Tethered by her hair, Angelina found herself fighting the ache in her throat. Was this really happening? Was she going to allow herself to become intimate with him?

Angelina felt torn, as if she were two different people. One was the detached and rational lawyer. The other ached for Rafe, wanted and needed him, and knew this encounter had been inevitable from the moment her father asked her to fly to Seeker’s Island.

Passion darkened Rafe’s smoky eyes. Dipping his head, his lips only a few inches away, he paused, giving her time to reject him as she had the night before.

Angelina arched her back to close the distance, longing for the feel of his lips on hers, a return to an earlier time of innocence.

But Rafe wasn’t an inexperienced boy, and this kiss wasn’t gentle, tentative. Instead, his mouth claimed hers, his lips possessive, demanding her passionate response.

Angelina wrapped her arms around him and slid her hands up his wet back, the muscles strong and sleek under her palms.

The kiss deepened. Tongues touched. All her senses heightened. The feel of his lips, their shape and texture felt so familiar, so
right
.

The kiss ended as suddenly as it began. She pushed against Rafe’s chest at the same time he pulled back.

They stared at each other, breathing raggedly, before Angel leaned away.

Rafe seized her wrist and towed her over to a flat rock submerged in the shade of the overhanging trees. He gently pushed her onto the wide surface—a comfortable seat.

“Rafe…Rafe, wait—”

“I know,” he murmured. “We need to talk before we….”