Will's Rockie Way (6 page)

Will waved the waitress over to their table. “Two more of whatever she’s drinking,” he said. When the waitress nodded and whisked away, he turned his attention back to the women at the table.

“I danced with Cory for ages,” Rockie replied.

And then you tried to get away.
Will chuckled inwardly. Even if she had managed to get into her hotel room without her key, he’d have caught up to her sooner or later. She could run, but she couldn’t hide, not forever anyway.

“When we came off the dance floor, I had a terrible headache and decided to go back to my room.” Her eyes skittered to Will as if she expected him to voice his opinion. Will said nothing. “When I realized I didn’t have my key, I went to the front desk and asked to be let in to my room.”

Joanne frowned in concern. “I’m so sorry about your headache,” she said. “I hope you’re feeling better now.”

Oh, come on!
Will wanted to retch at Rockie’s innocent story.

“They wouldn’t let you in?” Blake asked, clearly as snowed by Rockie’s sob story as his wife was.

“No,” Rockie said. “In fact, the clerk called security.” She clasped her hands over her chest. “This huge man grabbed my arm and I thought my life was about to be snuffed out.”

“The guy with you when we came back from the dance floor?” Joanne asked, clearly stricken by Rockie’s story.

“Yes,” Rockie replied. “You have no idea just how terrified I was.”

Enough!

Will jumped up from the table and grasped Rockie’s hand. “We’re all glad you survived,” he said through clenched teeth. “Let’s dance.”

“I’d really rather not,” she said. “I’m still shaken up by the entire incident.”

Yeah, right!
He ignored Rockie’s protest as he propelled her to the dance floor. Blue eyes glared up at him as he pulled her against him, cradled one hand in his and planted his other on her back.

“You bastard,” she raged at him. “If Joanne hadn’t come when she did, you’d have sent me off with that damn security guard.”

Will chuckled as he looked down at her. So much for being terrified. Her cheeks glowed with anger as her eyes spit fire. “After what you pulled on me tonight, you deserved it.”

“After what
I
pulled?” she spat back at him. “At least you got satisfaction before you were humiliated.”

“Do you call that satisfaction? You left me tied to the bed and sent my friend up to find me.”

“Count yourself lucky,” she said. “You didn’t have a dozen of my college buddies ogling you. Imagine how you would have felt then.”

“Apples and oranges,” Will said. “What happened to you was different.”

“Oh really? How so?”

“You weren’t tied up,” Will said. “You could have gotten up and left any time you wanted. I wasn’t given that choice.”

Rockie’s back went stiff, her hand fell away from his as she stared up at him. “Are you saying what happened that night was my fault?”

Oh for fuck’s sake!
“Of course not,” he said. “I’m just saying you had a choice to stay or go and you chose to stay.”

Rockie took a step back from him, her nostrils flared as her eyes turned ice blue. “I was waiting for you,” she said.

Uh oh!
He suddenly had a vision of himself digging his own grave. He imagined a shovel delving into the soil; saw his foot pushing the blade as deep as it would go. “Well, yes, of course you were,” he said. “I was just saying that you weren’t tied to the bed. You could have gotten up and walked out at any time.” He tossed the soil over his shoulder before the shovel sank deeper into the ground.

“You son of a bitch!”

He saw her hand rise and strike out as if in slow motion. The smack on his cheek seemed to echo in the music-filled air. It took a second or two for Will to actually feel the sting and to realize that Rockie had left the dance floor.

You handled that well, Sheridan.

Will smoothed his hand over his cheek. The little firebrand packed quite a wallop! Will smiled. His Rockie was quite the spitfire.

So be it. He’d give her a little breathing room for now. But he wasn’t going to wait long.

Chapter 7

“I can’t believe we only have two days left. This has been such a wonderful vacation,” Joanne said.

Roxanne nodded in agreement. The gentle spring breeze floated over them as the students in their charge frolicked in the ocean waves. “I must admit, the last couple days have been nice.”

Joanne pulled the sunglasses off her face and looked at her. “You know, you can’t avoid Will forever.”

Just watch me!
She’d done a pretty good job of it for the past two days. In just over forty-eight hours, they’d be winging their way home to Toronto. Will would be a distant memory—a passionate, hot, sweaty, melt-your panties-off memory, but distant all the same. “I’ve managed over the last couple days, haven’t I?”

“Yes, you have,” Joanne conceded. “But I can’t help feeling Will’s making it easy for you. He’s kept his distance, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

Roxanne shivered in spite of the warm breeze coasting over them. She’d been quite aware of Will’s presence at functions over the past two days and was relieved that he’d kept his distance. She rose onto her elbows and looked at her friend. “You’ve seen him staring at me?”

Joanne chuckled. “Oh yeah,” she said as she replaced her sunglasses and raised her chin to the sun. “He looks like a hungry wolf stalking his prey.”

Roxanne sat up straight. “That’s ridiculous.” Surely if he’d been looking at her that way, she’d have noticed. Anytime she saw him, he’d been engaged with the teens, their eyes had never met, not even once. Still, her body warmed to the idea that Will hungered for her.

Joanne shrugged. “Whatever,” she said. “But mark my words, you aren’t done with that man yet.”

But she wanted to be done with him. She didn’t want to face him. She wanted to spend the next two days in peace, and then leave without making contact with him again. She’d go home to take up where she left off, while he went back to Calgary. That’s what she wanted.

Didn’t she?

Didn’t she?

Damn it! Even if she didn’t, she wouldn’t give in. She wouldn’t be his whore! She wouldn’t give him the opportunity to get anywhere near her again. She had more pride than that. She hated that she wanted him even more now than she did when she was in college.

No man was worth giving up her pride!

But oh, the thought of his touch made her melt. The memory of knowing him as he thrust inside her made her body sizzle with need. If she lived to be two hundred, she expected she’d never know another man like him.

There was only one man capable of taking her to the brink of sanity and his name was Will Sheridan.

Too bad the guy had to be the ultimate asshole. He’d learned nothing from the lesson she’d attempted to teach him. How sad was that?

Even sadder was the fact that Roxanne craved to see him, to touch him, to feel his body against her again.

* * * *

Will checked his clipboard as the students got off the bus. Twenty-five kids got on this morning to visit the wax museum and the same number got off. He slapped the clipboard into the hand of the waiting chaperone. “All accounted for. My job here is done,” he said. “They’re all yours.”

Will stood back and watched the kids enter the hotel. They only had two nights left at the resort. Soon they’d be headed home; spring break would be over for all of them.

He’d have to make his move before too much longer. He’d wanted to give Rockie some room but as the clock ticked away, he knew he’d have to do something soon. He hadn’t forgotten that he wanted to repay her for the trick she’d played on him. But he’d learned long ago that revenge was a dish best served cold. He wanted Rockie to relax, to think nothing was going to happen before he pounced on her. And, like a tiger stalking his prey, he fully intended to make his kill.

He wasn’t prepared for the smack between his shoulder blades. He winced and turned to see Blake standing beside him. “That was fun,” Blake said. “Who knew taking a bunch of teenagers to a wax museum would be that easy?”

“It was a breeze,” Will admitted. “We’ve got a good bunch of kids this spring.”

Blake rubbed his hands together. “Best of all is that we’ve fulfilled our duties as chaperones for the day. It’s up to the others to watch over them now. Let’s hit the bar for a few stiff belts before dinner.”

Will shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.” He had other plans, ones that included his lovely Rockie.

As he began to walk away, Blake said, “Joanne’s off this evening too. She’s meeting me at the bar for a couple drinks before dinner.”

“That’s great,” Will said over his shoulder. “Have a nice evening.”

“And so is Rockie.”

Will stopped in midstride. Rockie was going to be there? He turned and smiled at Blake. “In that case, lead the way.”

Blake grinned as he walked into the hotel. “Figured you’d change your mind.”

“Shut up,” Will said as he followed Blake inside.

* * * *

Roxanne smiled at the waitress when she delivered the second round of screwdrivers. At least she didn’t have to pretend she wasn’t drinking this time. Since she and Joanne watched over the teens at the beach all day, they had the evening to themselves while the other chaperones attended a closed beach function, this time a barbeque.

Seeing Will at close range was inevitable, she knew. But after their last close encounter, Roxanne wished she could hide for the rest of spring break.

If only he’d said he was sorry for what happened to her in college. If only he’d shown just the slightest bit of remorse. Instead, he stood before her as defiant as ever and, worse than that, all but suggested she asked for the humiliation.

His words echoed in her mind over and over in the last two days.
You could have left.

Yes, she could have. She could have stayed away from his apartment that night. She could have waited for him in his room without fulfilling his request to get naked and cover herself in whipped cream.

But Will had no idea just how anxious she was to please him, to have him to herself that night. He’d played her for a fool and she did not regret the stunt she pulled on him. Sure, there was a difference. Will was tied up and couldn’t leave.

What he didn’t know was that Roxanne was tied too…by her heart. The pain of humiliation he’d felt when Blake found him couldn’t touch what she’d gone through, especially the incredible heartache of knowing he’d seen her as an opportunity for a few laughs.

“Did you hear a word I said?” Joanne said, cutting into her thoughts.

Roxanne blinked and looked across the table at her friend. She offered a sad smile. “I’m sorry, Jo,” she said sincerely. “I’m a bit distracted today. What were you saying?”

Joanne peered over her shoulder and smiled. “Never mind what I was saying,” she said. “Looks like our men have just arrived.”

Our men.
Roxanne’s heart sank just a little deeper. How she wished Joanne’s statement was accurate. She wished she could be happy to see Will. Instead, her heart thundered with anxiety. She kept her eyes focused on her drink as shadows appeared over the table.

Joanne lifted her face to receive her husband’s kiss. “How was your day at the wax museum?”

Roxanne heard a chair scrape the floor beside her; her body prickled; her senses filled with Will’s spicy aroma. She didn’t have to look to know he sat close to her, sexual energy oozed from his pores, making her body quake with need. And then she heard his liquid silver voice; it washed over her, drenched her in awareness.

Amazing, if a person stared at a screwdriver long enough, the orange could take on a bleary ginger hue.

“Earth to Rockie.” The voice came from across the table.

Roxanne raised her eyes and looked at Blake. “What?”

“Will just asked how your day went.”

Oh God! Did that mean she’d have to look at him? Her eyes went back to the drink in front of her. “Fine,” she said. “It was fine.”

When the strains of a country song filled the air, she heard Joanne exclaim how she loved the song. “Let’s dance.”

Please don’t!

“Ah hell,” Blake complained. “I just sat down.”

Good answer.

“But I love this song,” Joanne countered. “Please, Blake, let’s dance.”

Please, Blake, don’t!

“Okay, just one dance.”

Damn!

The air seemed to crackle over the table when Joanne and Blake left her alone with Will. No amount of staring at her drink would erase the fact that Will sat so close to her. Her throat went dry. She lifted her glass to her parched lips.

“Stop it.”

Roxanne blinked at the words. She looked straight ahead of her as she responded. “Stop what?”

“Don’t be coy,” Will said, his voice tight with anger. “We both know what you’re trying to do.”

“What I’m trying to do?” Roxanne replaced her glass on the table without taking a sip. She peered at him. “Since I have no idea what you’re talking about, why not clue me in?”