Trial Run: Addicted To Love Romance Collection (4 page)

Their teenage gambling had never stretched past the odd hundred dollar bill. Rob could remember the worst bet he’d ever lost, and while it had been embarrassing and tedious at the time, it became one of his fondest memories in the end.

They’d bet on who would be Amelie’s guardian for her eleventh birthday party. Her parents had agreed to rent a yacht big enough for her and a dozen of her girlfriends to live up the day in style. They’d hired a caterer to supply the food and provide a barman who could mix a wide array of brightly colored non-alcoholic cocktails. Apart from him, the only male on board had been Rob. Thirteen excited pre-pubescent girls had been a scary experience, but he’d held up under the strain.

“Nah, cash is boring and too easy. I’ve got everything I want already...”

“Same here.”

“So then?”

“A wish.”

“A wish?”

“Yeah. If you come back in need of a shrink, or if she’s managed to ensnare you, you owe me a wish.”

“What could you want?”

“I don’t know yet, but I have two weeks to work it out.”

Rob thought about it for a minute. “Okay, you’re on. I’ll do it, for you, if it’s in my power. And if Amelie returns a changed girl…”

“You can have anything you want, as long as it’s in my power.”

Jason’s face opened up in a huge grin, and Rob’s mirrored it.

“Deal,” they chorused, and shook on it.

Morning came far too soon, before her addled brain could clear.

Amelie staggered to her en-suite and splashed her face. Bloodshot eyes stared back at her from the mirror. She looked terrible. Felt it, too.

Groaning, she turned to the shower, her eyes still on the stranger in the mirror. Just as she was about to blink, she caught a straight black line under the massive tangle her hair had become. She swept her curls away to reveal a straight angle clearly inked into her skin.

Eyes bulging out of their sockets, she pulled her hair to the top of her head and arched her shoulder forward. Another letter – S this time – was very clearly visible on her skin. She touched it tentatively. It felt rough, like newly tattooed skin.

What had she done? The previous night’s memory was so vague in her mind... She remembered setting out to attend Lara’s surprise party, and on the way she decided she’d check out a tattoo place off the beaten track, a recommendation from Tai, the Hawaiian guy she’d spent a night with only the week before, though there was no way she was going to repeat the experience…

Her thoughts were rambling, twisting off in all directions, and she clenched her teeth, forcing her mind to focus. Her memories seemed more slippery than a wet bar of soap. The last thing she remembered was the wall with black tulips painted on it. No, not the last thing. She recalled sifting through their portfolio, and then the tattooist introduced himself and offered her a shot of tequila.

All of a sudden, her stomach churned and she barely made it to the toilet in time. She flushed twice, feeling more tired than she’d ever felt before, and dragged herself back to the shower, glancing in passing at the S and… possibly L?... etched on her back.

Wrapped up in her short silk robe and feeling cleaner, though not much more energetic, Amelie made her way to the kitchen, in search of caffeine. Eyes half-shut, she felt her way along the counter to the coffee maker and stretched one hand over to press the button, while her other snagged a cup.

“Let me help.”

“’S all right, Jason. I can manage,” she mumbled. She was still so tired… Even Jason’s voice sounded off. She leaned on her elbows and dropped her chin in her hands, eyes closed, and mentally willing the coffee to percolate faster.

A chuckle. She opened one eye fully, keeping the other closed, and twisted to stare up. Her gaze travelled past the strong, tanned fingers clenched around the coffee cup, a hairy, strong wrist with a string of carved wooden beads around it, then skimmed over the exposed muscles of the forearm and up the thin button-down cotton shirt – not something she would have expected her brother to wear – until the turned-over collar and the jaw. A very strong jaw, stubbly. Not Jason’s jaw.

She gasped, turned around and jerked back the moment her brain computed why the voice had been familiar. Her elbow bumped the machine, which caused a small wave of coffee to slip over the rim of the cup and trickle forward over the edge of the counter and onto the floor. The splash of hot liquid on her toes propelled her into action and she grabbed at the kitchen roll, hastening to mop up the spillage.

Rob pulled her coffee cup out and lifted the machine so she could wipe underneath it.

“Sorry to make you jump,” he said, a smile in his voice. “I assumed you were awake, since you were standing almost upright.”

Rob’s chuckle caressed her ears and she smiled, completely ignoring his jibe.

“When did you get here?” She took in his relaxed appearance, messy hair and bare feet, then frowned. “Did you sleep here last night?”

“In your spare room.”

She nodded absently and reached for her coffee.

“You don’t remember, do you?” Rob asked, shaking his head.

“Remember what?”

“Probably best you don’t,” he answered.

Why couldn’t he talk straight? She hated riddles. What wasn’t she remembering? Something embarrassing, probably, since he was avoiding the subject. And then her lips froze a breath away from the edge of the cup. A chink of memory wormed its way through. Jason punching someone. Rob in the doorway, staring at her. Oh, dear God! The patch of freshly inked skin on her back suddenly burned hotter than her cheeks.

Warm coffee vapors tickled the tip of her nose as she pulled in a deep breath.

“What exactly happened last night? It’s obvious you must know, so tell it to me straight, please. I saw the tattoo this morning, so I know I ended up at the Black Tulip. I remember seeing you standing there, and Jason… Where is Jason? Did he get arrested? Is that why you’re here, looking after me like in the old days?”

Rob continued to chuckle and shake his head.

“Jason’s fine. Why would he get arrested?”

“Because the last memory I have of my brother is him beating three shits out of someone... I don’t remember why, exactly…” She blinked rapidly, frowning over her coffee again, working on ferretting out more of the memory.

“He was only defending his sister. No one died, don’t worry.”

She slurped the rest of her coffee and started off a second cup. Her fingers drifted to the tattoo on her back and she winced.

“Uncomfortable?” Rob asked. “Get some body lotion. I thought you knew how to look after a new tattoo.”

She turned on her heel and went to retrieve the lotion from her room.

“Unscented,” she heard Rob’s voice in the distance. She dropped one bottle and picked up another.

Ten minutes later, the skin on her back still tingling from the touch Rob’s fingers had left on it, she was lounging on her tummy by the pool, letting the sun draw the last of her tiredness out of her body.

More of the details had come to her as she lay there, chatting aimlessly to Rob, and she’d felt her face heat up in embarrassment when she understood what she might have looked like, stretched naked on the tattooist’s table. There was no doubt in her mind that she would have been in trouble if her brother and Rob hadn’t shown up when they did. She was even thankful for the fact they’d made sure to empty her stomach; if she felt this rough after a part-dose of roofies, she’d have hated to know what a full dose felt like.

It was then, looking sideways at Rob, that she first began wondering whether she could get him on her side. He used to like her. Judging by his smile, he was in a good mood. It wouldn’t hurt to try…

“Say, Rob, you know Jason well… and you’re a man…”

Rob laughed. “Last time I checked.”

Still smiling, eyes untroubled. Good.

“Why do you think he’s so against me starting up my own business?”

Rob grimaced. “Ah, honey, you’re not gonna drag me in the middle of a sibling argument now, are you? I’m too fond of you both to take sides.”

Amelie smiled. “No, of course not. I wouldn’t dream of it. But you can be objective, right? Can I ask your opinion on a few of my ideas? I won’t mind if you say they’re stupid,” she hastened to add. “Just give me half an hour of your time. You in a rush somewhere?”

“Nope. Free as a bird. I’m between jobs now, just taking my boat out to the Keys, or maybe the Caribbean, to soak up some sun. Haven’t decided on the exact destination yet.”

He paused for a moment, watching her intently, as if trying to read her thoughts. His dark eyes were mesmerizing, but she couldn’t allow herself to succumb to their power. Then the figurative light bulb in her mind sparked into existence so brightly, it made her gasp. He had a boat! And he knew how to use it!

Before she could formulate a clear plan, Rob smiled. “Okay. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to look. Show me what you’ve got.”

Amelie jumped up and rushed inside. Her emotions were jolting all over the place, from sheer panic that Rob might think her stupid, to apprehension at the quite real possibility that he might deem her business plans adequate and she might get her wish after all – could it be that simple? – and then to concern and embarrassment at some of her more outlandish ideas, and even the odd stabbing of something she shouldn’t be feeling toward Rob at all. It was gratitude, for goodness’ sake, not love.
Possible
gratitude, if and only if he would help her convince Jason to sign off her inheritance money. That was all. She’d have to tread carefully and make sure to say the right things, just like she would at a job interview, but she had confidence in her abilities. He was as good as caught already.
Freedom, here I come!

“I’ve only discussed my plans with Jason – no one else. He’s been so negative, I’m beginning to get a complex.”

Rob made space for her laptop on the deck table next to his lounger. She placed it down for a moment and dragged another chair closer, chattering away.

“Though it’s probably just his overall air of unyielding disapproval regarding every little thing I do. It makes me gloomy, and that’s not good for my complexion.” Her hand shot to her forehead in an involuntary gesture for a moment, to smooth out her faint frown lines.

Rob chuckled and watched the laptop land on the soft tanned skin of Amelie’s knees. The pink robe she was wearing had slipped open just enough to reveal a wedge of thigh so smooth it made him envious of the lump of plastic with Wi-Fi capabilities.

Get a grip!
he admonished himself and subtly rearranged his shorts to allow for free movement.

“Here,” she said and passed him the laptop. “The figures show a decent return in year one and quite an increase thereafter. I’ve got marketing research studies backing up my idea. The falls are a classic tourist trap, and so far this resource is completely untapped. I can so easily get planning permission for a cabin large enough to provide accommodation for about 40 people, plus restaurant and other facilities. In time, I can develop a whole village, though I’ll have to buy plot B and maybe another strip of forest down to the west. I’ve even researched the possibility of doing a deal with a local bus operator, so the flow of tourists would be guaranteed once the road is in place. I have provisional quotes for public liability insurance, and two different construction contractors backing it all up.”

Rob flicked through the spreadsheet, then the rest of the documents in the folder. The falls were not enormous, but the mountain landscape more than made up for it. She was right, tourists would be flocking to the area if she could sort out the infrastructure without overcommitting herself. Still, this was not the Bahamas, so he pulled a face and made a noncommittal grunt.

“Anything else? This one looks a bit heavy on the start-up investment.”

“Sure. I’ve got this one… Just a sec.”

She pulled the laptop out of his hands and her fingers moved swiftly over the touchpad.

“How’s this? Not as good a return, but far lower start-up costs.”

Rob laughed out loud. “I can see why Jason wouldn’t like you running a belly dancing and strip tease club… even in upstate New York.”

“Actually, I can take that business and move it anywhere. I could just go to Canada… I’ll have to re-do the market research, but that sort of business would work pretty much anywhere, as long as there’s a big city nearby.”

Rob nodded, to placate her. No wonder Jason had taken a dim view of such ideas. Heck, he didn’t like it much more, either. Belly dancing, indeed! She was asking for trouble.

The half hour he’d promised her morphed into two and a half. Rob had been required to look at eleven different projects, which were then narrowed down to eight and re-discussed in detail. Finally, he’d picked the four best ones, making sure the Bahamas underwater restaurant – which she’s introduced to him as her ‘absolute favorite’ – was among them, and the belly dancing school was not.

Amelie had slowly and inconspicuously drifted over to his lounger, sliding her tight little body closer and closer to him and making his blood race and attention scatter. Every gentle brush of her fingers on his arm, every touch of her thigh along his, the breeze scattering her curls over his shoulder… it had been sheer torture to just sit still and pretend he wasn’t affected. He was a hot-blooded man, for goodness’ sake!

“Another coffee?” she asked, jumping up from her seat alongside him, her face a glowing picture of happiness and enthusiasm.

She obviously thought she’d won him over, and he had to agree – he certainly felt like he’d do anything to make her smile. Moving mountains didn’t seem to be too big a job. He nodded weakly, feeling winded and unfocused, and wondering whether she would mind very much if he took her then and there, on the deck, bets and Jason’s friendship be damned.

Aw, hell! If one morning with her did this to him, how was he going to resist her for two whole weeks?

Amelie stepped back out gracefully, balancing the fresh coffees and a bowl of chocolate-covered wafers in one hand and a bottle of Captain Morgan in the other. He hadn’t noticed before how graceful she’d become, her movements lithe and fluid, like those of a fairy princess. He smiled ruefully. A wayward fairy princess who got her kicks from causing trouble.

“Isn’t it a bit early?” he asked, nodding to the bottle of rum.

His hands tightened on the laptop balanced on his thighs. He wasn’t ready to relinquish his shield until the tightness in his shorts lessened. Which was unlikely when she bent over like that, allowing her flimsy robe to part slightly so he could glimpse the roundness of her breasts, just a tease of soft skin and a graze of metal ring against the front of the pink material.

Rob bit back a groan and stared at the pool water, the bushes, the sky – anywhere but at her. It didn’t help. With inexorable predictability, her feminine magnetism sucked his gaze back a moment later, like a light-trapping black hole. This hadn’t been his first bet, but it might be the first one he’d entered into feeling already defeated.

“Mmmm,” she muttered. “It’s late enough for a decent drink somewhere in the world.”

Amelie set the coffees and snacks down, then poured a small measure in cut-glass tumblers and handed him one.

“To us!” she said cheerfully.

“To us,” Rob repeated, then took a small sip. Rum before lunch had never been his thing.

Amelie up-ended her glass, then smacked her lips and said, “I have a proposition for you.”

Rob gestured for her to continue and drained his drink, too. This was it. Keep it cool, Tyson.

“Those four business ventures,” she gestured vaguely toward the still-open laptop, “all have good potential. We agree on that, right?”

Rob nodded, and focused his eyes on the open spreadsheet, using the five-year plan on the screen to collect himself and work on cooling his blood.

“So there’s a good chance we might be able to actually prove to Jason I wasn’t just talking out of my a… That I know what I’m talking about,” Amelie corrected herself when she caught Rob’s disapproving glance.

“If we can get him to sit down and listen.”

“Exactly,” Amelie agreed. “So I was thinking…” she continued. Rob held his breath. “Wouldn’t it make our case stronger if we could present Jason with clear facts? Actual figures, gathered on location?”

Rob nodded, trying to stop his inner delight from seeping onto his face. She was making it easy, so easy. He could almost foretell what her next words may be.

“What are you thinking of?” he prompted, when a trace of uncertainty swept across her eyes.

She giggled and looked down, then back up to him, visibly uncomfortable. “You’ll probably say I’ve lost it… And I know you don’t owe me anything, but…”

“Just spit it out, Ammy.”

She laughed at hearing him call her by her nickname. His personal nickname, stemming from Amelie’s inability to pronounce her own name when she was still very young. As far as he knew, no one else dared call her that. It did the trick. Her eyes softened and she blurted out her request.

“Would you consider taking your holiday in the Bahamas? I could tag along and all you’d have to do is drop me off in Nassau, then come pick me up in a few days, when you’ve had enough of sailing. I wouldn’t be a burden, and Jason wouldn’t try to stop me if he knew you were with me; I mean, he worries about me, but he’s kinda cool with his best friend looking after his little sister.”

“Whoa, whoa! Stop. Okay.”

“You don’t have to lie to him, of course. We can… Wait. What?”

“I said okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay!”

She shrieked and launched herself at him, knocking the laptop sideways on the chair and flattening herself against his chest. Rob circled her waist, thrilled and self-conscious at the same time. Anyone seeing them now was certain to get the wrong idea. Next thing he knew, Amelie’s soft lips were touching his cheek in what must have been intended as a chaste ‘thank you’ kiss, only it didn’t feel that chaste to him, not the way she was wound around him.

“I –” she started, then stopped suddenly. Rob’s breath caught in his throat. “I… What I mean to say is that I am very grateful to you,” Amelie whispered in a breathy voice, too close to his face for comfort. Muscles frozen with tension, all Rob could do was watch the sensuous curve of her lips as they uttered words different to those originally intended; of that, he was sure.

“Hey, guys, don’t mind me,” Jason’s voice boomed from the doorway. “I was just going to ask if you’d like a beer, Rob. You’re not getting one, little sis. You must be still feeling rough. Not that anyone would guess it from your actions.”

Jason turned back to the kitchen as Amelie scrambled to her feet and Rob resumed his breathing.

She looked embarrassed, but the sparkle in her eyes was brighter than ever. The girl knew what she wanted and she wasn’t about to just give it up because of an awkward few minutes.

“Sorry about that. I got carried away,” Amelie said quietly, and then followed immediately with, “How soon can we leave?”

Her eagerness made Rob laugh.

“Don’t I get to spend any time with my almost-brother?”

“You’ll have plenty of time when we come back. Besides,” she clutched desperately at straws, “we’ll be certain to avoid hurricane season if we go now.” She smiled a winning smile.

Rob groaned. “Oh, man! I was planning to take a nap this afternoon,” he teased.

“Rob! Please!”

Jason joined them on the deck just then, beers in hand.

“When, then?” Amelie stomped her foot. “Tomorrow?”

Rob glanced off to Jason for confirmation. A small nod was all he needed.

“Sure. Tomorrow’s just fine.”

“Yes!” Amelie’s fist pumped the air and she streaked for her room.

“She’s… umm… excited.” Jason grinned.

“You could say that,” Rob agreed and took a gulp of beer.

“Worked without a hitch, then?”

“She actually suggested it. I almost didn’t have to do a thing!”

Jason laughed. “Should have come to visit earlier.”

Rob laughed in response, but said nothing. Would he have visited? If he’d known Amelie had turned from a gappy-smile frog to a fairy princess who could dish out magic kisses capable of turning a man to mush… would he have tried to find a reason to drop by?

His musings were interrupted by Amelie, now sporting an outfit capable of making even the most ascetic monk weep with desire. Her micro-mini was metallic pink, shiny enough to cause instant blindness, and made up of a narrow band plus two layers of up-turned, slightly narrower ruffles. She’d paired that with a barely-there band of pink lace tied up under her breasts.

No thoughts. He had no thoughts. But he was certain he must be drooling.

Thankfully, Jason had thoughts aplenty.

“You’re not going out,” he said, narrowing his eyes at his sister as she swept the laptop up in her hands without batting an eyelid.

“You bet I am.”

“Not dressed like that!”

“Oh, shush, Grandma!”

“Haven’t you got yourself in enough trouble already?” Jason seethed.

Amelie ignored his question. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Just some last-minute shopping to do, and then I’ll need the rest of the evening to pack. You two behave yourselves, won’t you?” she said, smiling at their stunned expressions. Then she answered herself. “Of course you will. You’re a cranky old man already, Jason. You’re gonna make a bunch of cats very happy in your old age…”

And with that she swept out. Rob felt her absence like a physical thing. Then his eyes fell on Jason and he couldn’t help himself. He burst out laughing. Between the paroxysms of laughter, he managed to point rudely at his best friend. “Old cat lady! Bwahahahaha.”

Jason threw him an exasperated stare, but didn’t even crack a smile.

“See what she’s like?”