“Are you telling me it’s my patriotic duty to sleep with Gray? Because I’m not buying it, but nice try.”
Ashley grinned and stopped outside Laney’s bungalow. “New tactic. Any chance you have a soldier fantasy?”
She did, but just for one particular soldier. And didn’t that suck?
* * *
SNORKELING BENEATH THE pier was apparently the equivalent of crashing the local fish bar—loads of fish just hanging around the wooden piers. Or maybe the fish were bored and also waiting for the rain to stop. Laney had no idea. Fantasy Island, however, was definitely not living up to its reputation as a sunny retreat. The two days since she’d patched Gray up had passed in a wet blur. Not that resort living was all bad. The five extra pounds on her butt and the permanent aversion to making her own bed were testament to that.
Rain stung her back and her legs, destroying much of the visibility when she moved out from underneath the pier. Still, she’d spotted an orange-and-white clown fish, so she could check finding Disney fish in the wild off the bucket list. She didn’t particularly want to be snorkeling in a rainstorm, but there were limited land-based activities in the rain, plus, she was avoiding a certain undercover SEAL.
She hadn’t seen much of him in the past two days. Once or twice, their paths had crossed, but he’d nodded and kept right on walking. She hadn’t even merited a conversation. Which was typical. Have sex, patch a guy up and the fantasy disintegrated. Boom. A slap in the face from reality right there on the spot. Today she’d avoided the massage cabanas as if the huts were an Ebola hotspot. Her new game was walking around the resort, trying to identify undercover SEALs. She’d ruled out the female guests—other than Ashley, who was more an honorary SEAL, anyhow, as far as Laney could tell—but the constant rain wasn’t helping.
It was perfect sex weather.
Maybe that was her real problem. She drifted over to check out a particularly colorful clump of coral and considered the possibility. She’d had sex with Gray and it had been fantastic. It had also made her cranky. And horny. And, okay, more than a little bit depressed that what had been the hottest sex of her life apparently didn’t rate so much as a repeat in his orbit. Of course, he was also busy leading a double life and a SEAL team, so possibly he didn’t have time for vacation sex since he wasn’t even on a vacation. Or maybe he was actually taking it easy and babying his gunshot wound and had temporarily crossed hot monkey sex off his to-do list.
Right. Just the thought made her snort, and that had her sucking in a mouthful of seawater. Popping upright, she treaded water while she emptied out the snorkel and her lungs. When she stuck her face back in the water, movement flashed in her peripheral vision. Whoa. Big fish alert. She turned and came face-to-face with a long, gray tube of a fish sporting a mouthful of teeth that would make a vampire proud. No blood-sucking for her, thank you very much. When it swam straight toward her, she bolted. Heart in her throat, she pretty much flew up the ladder, teetering in her fins when she neared the top. Except she didn’t fall back. A sun-bronzed hand with a familiar dive watch wrapped around her wrist and lifted her up the last few rungs.
Well...shoot.
Mr. Fantasy in the flesh.
He steadied her effortlessly, as if he hadn’t just hauled her not-so-featherweight self up the ladder one-handed. While she stared at him and wondered when he’d become her own personal elevator, he gave her a small smile and let go of her wrist. The powerful lines of his big, hard body were all too evident thanks to the rain and the white linen spa uniform he still wore. She had no idea how she’d ever bought the masseuse line, because he moved like a street fighter, all raw power and leashed menace. Yep. It was official. She could think of a few more fantasies to reenact with him.
He looked hot. She, on the other hand, looked like a first-class dork. She’d accessorized her practical black two-piece suit with a snorkel, mask and an inflatable snorkel vest because, okay, she panicked when the water got over her head and it wasn’t safe to snorkel alone. Risking drowning to fish-spot was stupid. So was sporting the bright pink snorkel vest. Monster fish had probably taken one look at her bobbing along and decided he’d found himself a floating Twinkie. Gray didn’t seem to mind, though. He held an oversize towel over their heads as if it was their own personal canopy.
“Fish biting today?” She liked the smile in his eyes as he spoke, even if she had no idea why he was out here. Maybe it was part of the secret SEAL mission to recon the pier for enemy soldiers and errant snorkelers. Lucky her.
“You have no idea.” She pulled off the mask and started squeezing air out of the vest. “There’s something down there with more teeth than a piranha and it’s way too friendly.”