Texas Fandango: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 3 (5 page)

Inhaling deeply, she felt her muscles relax. She’d been right. She did need this.

As her eyes adjusted to the bright glare of the sun, she could make out a small beige building designed to look like a tribal hut complete with grass roof. The architect had designed the airport terminal to blend with the native foliage and continue the tropical theme of the resort, and she had to admit, it worked.

Parked on the tarmac in front of the terminal was a small white electric tram bearing a Mercedes-Benz logo on its grill. It looked as though someone had taken a Mercedes limo, removed the doors and shrunk it. There were five rows of seats, enough to carry everyone. An amused laugh filled her throat. She loved the car. Heck, she wanted one, except only a little smaller. She’d be the talk of the country club driving that around the golf course.

Parked behind their transportation was a utilitarian tractor with a luggage cart attached. The ground crew was busy transferring the bags from the cargo hold to the cart.

“You know, you might like the resort too,” Drake said. “But we’ll only know if you’ll get off the plane.”

She laughed and the sound was so light and free and girlish, it surprised her. She walked down the stairs, found her carry-on sitting on the tarmac and made her way to the car. The other passengers had filled the first four rows, leaving the rear seats for Drake and her. They climbed on and the tram set off.

The narrow quarters of the seat squeezed them tight together. Each bounce of the tram made his thigh rub hers. If they didn’t get to the hotel soon, the constant rubbing might set her off in flames.

As they pulled into the circle drive in front of the Sand Castle Resort, KC worked frantically to keep her mouth from dropping in astonishment. The driver stopped the car at an almond-colored concrete bridge that led into a courtyard housing a reflecting pond. Beyond the pond stood a five-story castle complete with turrets and spirals. The exterior of the building was finished in the same almond color of the bridge, making the entire structure appear to be an overgrown sand castle.

“Oh my God,” she said, leaning across him so she had a better view. “This is incredible. I looked this place up on the internet and it looked fabulous, but the pictures don’t do it justice.” She straightened. “How in the world did you find it?”

Drake grinned. “You’ll never believe it. It was one of the featured hotels on a travel ad I got in my email box. It must have been five years ago. I’ve wanted to see this place since, but…” He shrugged. “I just never had the time until now.” He slid from his seat and extended his hand to her. “Have to say, I’m pleased.”

KC took his hand and allowed him to help her from the car. Her eyes opened wide. “Good Lord. Is that a moat?”

“Sort of, but not exactly,” a tanned, muscular twenty-something male employee answered. He’d met the car as soon as it’d stopped and had been assisting the other passengers. He was dressed in what appeared to be the resort employee uniform. Khaki shorts. Golf shirt embroidered with the Sand Castle Resort on the left of the chest. Sandals. The attendant looked at Drake. “You guys don’t want to miss that.” He indicated the moat. “Go take a look.”

Drake held her hand as they walked over to the retaining wall. Before she could look down, she heard a loud splash and a female squeal. Glancing in the direction of the cry, a bikini-clad woman swam madly away from a man in hot pursuit. Of course. It made total sense now. The moat was the swimming pool, or at least a part of it. Her gaze followed the couple as they swam around the building, via the moat, and out of sight.

Drake squeezed her hand. “That looks like fun.”

“No kidding. I read online that there are a number of pools here. We may have to try them all.”

“If we have time,” he said, and gave her a deliberate leer, which made her chuckle. She hoped he was serious. She’d gladly give up pool time for play time…so to speak.

Chapter Four

They walked across the bridge into the brick courtyard landscaped with lush green ferns and colorful boxes of unusual bright flowers. A dancing fountain filled the center of the reflecting pond, its rim covered with more huge green ferns waltzing in the breeze.

As hard as she tried to act unaffected by the castle’s lobby, KC finally surrendered, turning and twisting her head, trying to take it all in. The floor was a highly polished tan and beige marble. Looking down, her excited smile reflected back.

Large marble columns flanked a wide staircase that looked ripped from the pages of
Gone with the Wind
. It took no imagination at all to picture Rhett carrying his Scarlet up those stairs…or better yet, Drake sweeping KC up those stairs to have his way with her. In her head, she giggled.

Across from the staircase, an exclusive boutique filled with brightly colored, island-appropriate clothing and accessories stood with its doors open. Its window flaunted a fire-red bikini with matching sarong. Gorgeous. Daring. Hot.

She wanted that bikini. She had three with her, but that one was simply oh-my-God sexy. Even though Drake had agreed to her terms for this trip, she needed to know in her own mind that he was seriously into her…at least for these two weeks.

On her left, by the staircase was a small drug store stocking all the vital personal items easily forgotten in packing…toothpaste, deodorant, condoms.

Would they need more condoms? She doubted it. She hadn’t exactly packed two cases as she’d joked, but she had put in a healthy supply and she suspected Drake had too.

Drake checked in and the receptionist handed them a set of card keys. “The cards will open your cabin door. There’s no slot. Just wave them at the black space and wait for a green light.” She reached behind her and took a key ring off the wall. “This is the key to your car.”

KC cut her gaze toward Drake. “Car?”

“No full-sized cars on the island,” Drake explained.

“I know. Saw that on the website but I thought we’d have to ride bicycles.”

“Our unit comes with an electric car.”

KC giggled as her head swam with unbridled glee. She looked at the receptionist. “We get one of those Mercedes?” She whipped her gaze to Drake. “I want to drive.”

The receptionist smiled. “Well, this one isn’t a Mercedes, but I think you’ll enjoy it. It’s a bright-red Jeep.”

“I still wanna drive.” KC held out her hand and wiggled her fingers for the key.

Drake rolled his eyes. “Sure. Whatever, babe.”

The
babe
vibrating in his deep voice made her knees soft like butter. She could get used to hearing him call her that.

The receptionist placed a map of the resort on the counter. “We’re here,” she said, marking an X on the map. “Take this road down to here.” She drew a line on the map with a felt-tip pen. “When you get to the four-way stop, turn right. Go to the next intersection, turn right again and drive to the end. You’re in suite number sixteen. Your luggage will be delivered within twenty minutes.”

KC took the map. “Let’s go.”

Drake chuckled and followed her outside. She was moving as if the devil was at her heels, but he found KC’s enthusiasm infectious and thrilling and stimulating. He felt sure she would keep him on his toes the whole vacation. Actually, he was looking forward to discovering how thrilling and stimulating she could be in bed. He had his money on
very
.

He’d risen at the crack of barely morning to have time to pick her up and make sure they made their flight. As much as he wanted to, he hadn’t been able to nap on the plane. Their
deal
had kept his mind turning since he’d walked out of her house on Friday.

To say he’d never noticed her would be a lie. Of course he’d been aware of her over the years. Who wouldn’t be? She was tall and well-proportioned. Her long blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes were stuff men dreamed of. Her personality and sense of humor were both quirky and amusing.

It seemed as if she’d been off-limits forever. When KC had turned sixteen, she’d bloomed from a skinny, annoying kid into an attractive, sexy young woman. Her cousin Travis had been Drake’s best friend since grade school. On a weekend trip home from college with Travis, Drake made an offhand comment about KC’s sexy looks and figure. Travis, well aware of Drake’s slew of college women, had let Drake know in no uncertain terms that KC and Olivia were hands-off. He’d heeded his friend’s request as far as KC was concerned, but that ended today. And frankly? He couldn’t wait to get
hands-on
with her,

Olivia had loved Mitch, but fate had conspired to keep them apart. Drake had hurt for Olivia, and loved her in his own way. And because of that, he’d married her knowing she loved another. Putting all he could into making that marriage work, if not for him at least for her baby, he’d pushed his attraction to KC to the side.

After their divorce, he and Olivia had remained close friends. He’d been serious when he’d told KC he was glad Olivia had realized back in May that she and Drake weren’t meant to be together. It might have taken all of June and July for her to come to her senses and let Mitch back into her life. But she had and now they were just starting to build a life together.

Which meant that Drake was free to find out what might have been all those years ago. Would the attraction to KC still be as strong today as it once was? He was looking forward to seeing how these two weeks went.

From around the corner of the building, he heard her shriek of delight before he actually saw the car. KC was shifting from foot to foot.

“Come on, Drake,” she called and slid onto the seat of a fire-engine-red golf cart.

The body of the cart had been raised slightly to accommodate larger tires. The rear where golf clubs usually rode had been replaced with a storage area, much like the bed of an extremely small truck. KC had tossed both their carry-on bags there. She tapped the horn a couple of times.

“I’m coming. Cool your jets. We’re here for two weeks.”

“Uh-uh. We’ve only got twelve days, not two weeks.”

Her face was alight with sheer joy, an expression he’d never seen on her before. He took a minute to really look at her. Her full lips, the bottom lip fuller than the top, were pulled into a wide smile, exposing straight white teeth. Her nose, with its slight up turn at the tip, had him wanting to tweak it. Her smooth, usually line-free forehead puckered as she tapped her fingers on the car’s steering wheel. He loved the shape of her face, the way it curved to form her chin, leaving her with full cheeks pink from the heat—and maybe her excitement—right now. The hot Caribbean breeze picked up strands of her long hair and tossed them across her face.

“I’m giving you to the count of five and I’m leaving your ass,” she shouted with a mischievous grin.

He returned her grin with one of his own. “All right. All right.”

Picking up his pace, he made it to the car by the time she got to three. He hopped in and wrapped his hand around the edge of the roof for balance.

“Hit it, Danica Patrick.”

She handed him the map, then backed out and headed across the Sand Castle’s parking lot. As soon as she left the resort lot, she floored the power pedal on her miniature Jeep and whizzed along the crushed-shell road away from the main resort building and toward their bungalow.

Taking in a deep breath was akin to taking a drink from the wind. It was very much as if they were driving through the thick steam of a sauna. But he didn’t mind. He loved the taste of fresh salt air on his tongue, and as a born and raised Texan, a humid environment was like a kiss from home.

KC’s hair flittered in the breeze, the individual strands flying around her face and his. After he’d picked a tress or three out of his eyes for the fourth—or was it fifth—time, he gave her an elbow.

“Stop for a minute.”

The car crunched to a stop on the path. Around them, an intoxicating aroma of exotic floral scents and salty sea filled the air. He leaned out to snap off a particularly fragrant white flower from a loaded bush and inhaled its fresh scent. He gathered her silky but wind-tangled hair into his hand and then pushed the aromatic bloom behind her right ear.

“There,” he said with satisfaction. “I’ve got control of your hair. You’ve been beating me to death.”

She just laughed and floored the power pedal again.

When she made the final turn and found suite sixteen, she pulled the car to a stop at the base of a set of rock steps leading up to a rock landing.

“You know, it’s pretty hard to leave me speechless, but this place is doing a great job.” KC’s face glowed and her eyes sparkled.

“You? Speechless? Not hardly. Go on up and unlock the door. I’ll get our carry-on bags and be right behind you.”

She bounded up the stairs and a couple of seconds later, she flung the door wide.

“Holy shit. You’ve got to see this.”

He lost sight of her after she crossed the threshold.

“Hurry up, Drake,” she hollered from inside, which made him grin. For as many years as he’d known KC, he couldn’t remember hearing such raw excitement and animation from her.

After taking the steps two at a time, he walked into a fantasy suite. Sure, he’d seen the pictures on the website, but they hadn’t done the place justice. The entire wall facing the ocean was comprised of sliding glass doors with an electric curtain that could be extended to cover the glass or pulled completely out of the way to expose the view. The floor was made from small tiles that ended at the external glass where a patio and its four-foot wall had been built from rock. The living room/dining room combo furniture had obviously been chosen for its bright Caribbean colors and native woods. A private dining table sat in a corner niche next to an outside wall overlooking the suite’s private pool and beach.