Chapter 6
Six
Liana could barely breathe. Kissing Travis was, without a doubt, the most carnal experience of her life. She couldn’t imagine what making love with him would entail.
He rolled her under him on the beach and the feel of his chest hair brushing against her sun-kissed skin made her breathless with longing.
As he trailed kisses down her neck, between her breasts, and over her belly, Liana writhed beneath him. “Travis . . .”
“Hmm?”
“Does this mean our fling is on?”
He nibbled on her hipbone, causing her to cry out.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
Liana couldn’t seem to breathe. “When do you plan to decide?”
He kissed his way back up to her lips. “Soon.”
She decided if he could test out the merchandise, so could she. Sliding her hands over his back, she ventured further south and discovered he had muscles everywhere.
His gasp told her she had his attention. “Liana . . .”
The sound of a speedboat caused her to panic. She pushed him off her and sat up.
Startled, he asked, “What is it?”
“Paparazzi.”
“Huh?”
“Reporters, Travis. If they catch me rolling around on the beach with you the photos will be all over the Internet in an hour.”
He took a good look at the boat. “That’s Tommy Boyle. I’d know that boat anywhere.”
“Photographers could’ve hired him. They’ve done it before.”
He whistled for Dash. “Let’s go back to the boat.”
They packed up their picnic, folded the sheet, and waded into the water.
Liana welcomed the coolness of the water after the heat of the beach.
She hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d told Travis she was in over her head.
Suggesting a fling! What had come over her?
This was all Enid’s fault. She hadn’t found her life to be lacking anything until Enid had pointed out what she was missing.
And now she was dying to know exactly what she’d been missing.
What if Travis said no? Would she ever have the courage to offer it to anyone else?
Probably not. She reached the boat a minute ahead of Travis and Dash.
Climbing the ladder, she tried not to think about the view he was getting from behind her.
When he caught up to her, she leaned over to retrieve the cooler and caught the quick glance he gave her breasts in the skimpy bikini.
He lifted Dash onto the boat with a warning for Liana to watch out for the shake the dog launched into the moment her paws hit the deck. Travis climbed up after the dog and brought the ladder in with him. He put it away and ordered Dash to stay on the bench seat.
Unaccustomed to his sternness, the dog lay down with a whimper.
Travis looped an arm around Liana’s waist and urged her into the cabin.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To where your imaginary reporters can’t find us.”
“And what are we going to do there?”
He pushed her back against the V-berth and captured her lips in a deep, lush kiss. “Practice.”
“For?”
“Our fling.”
“Are we having a fling?”
“I’m still trying to decide.” He untied her bikini top and peeled it down. “Oh, Liana,” he sighed. “You’re so . . .” His lips took a slow journey from her long neck to her full breasts. “So very beautiful. I know I wasn’t going to say it, but . . .”
Liana moaned when he ran his tongue over her nipple.
“Do you like that?”
She clutched his shoulders, which were still wet with salt water. “Yes,” she whispered.
“Do you want more?”
“Yes!”
“We’ll get back to that,” he said as he kissed each of her ribs before he dipped his tongue into her belly button.
“Travis,” she gasped. “Oh God.”
He urged her back onto the bunk and stretched out next to her. “Kiss me, Liana.”
She reached for his face and molded her lips to his.
His arms tightened around her, brushing her sensitive breasts with his soft chest hair. He cupped her bottom with one big hand and pulled her tight against his erection.
Soon her lips were numb and her face chafed from the abrasion of his beard, but she didn’t pull away from the kiss. Skimming her hands over his back, she discovered he was now slick with sweat, and suddenly she got it. This was sweaty sex—or the start of it anyway. “Travis, please . . .”
“What, sweetheart?”
“I want you.”
“And I want you.” He kissed her throat, her jaw, her ear, and then her lips again. “You’ll be glad to know I’ve decided to have a fling with you. Two weeks, no boundaries, no emotion. Is that we what agreed to?”
“Yes. Can we start now?”
He chuckled as he caressed her breast. “Not quite yet.”
Her eyes flew opened. “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t say ‘no’ to romance, did you?”
“Romance? What are you talking about?”
“Before we have sex, we’re going to have a little romance.”
“But I don’t want romance,” she protested. “I want sex. Sweaty sex.” She pushed her hips against his erection. “Remember?”
“Yes,” he hissed. “I remember. Sweaty sex is always better after a bit of romance, sweetheart. Take my word for it.”
“Oh, that’s right,” she snorted with disgust. “You’ve got all kinds of experience at this.”
“And you’ll be the beneficiary of all that so-called experience. When you’re screaming out with one orgasm after another, you’ll be thanking all those women you think I’ve been with for showing me how to do it.”
“One orgasm after another, huh?”
He kissed her breast and made her shudder. “Uh huh.” “Good luck with that.”
He stopped what he was doing to her breast and looked up to find her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’ve never . . . you know . . .”
“I have, but not easily.”
“Oh,” he said with a smug grin. “A challenge.”
She pushed him off her and sat up, retying her bikini top. “I’m starting to think you’re all talk and no action.” Before she knew what had hit her she was flat on her back with two fierce brown eyes staring down at her.
“I’ll show you action, sweetheart. And when we’re through with each other, you’ll spend the rest of your life trying to find another man who makes you feel the way I’m going to make you feel.”
Liana felt a tremble go through her entire body as she studied his handsome face.
Reaching up to caress his cheek, she brought him down to her for a kiss.
With his soft lips gliding over hers, Liana’s heart began to race with fear and excitement as she realized she might have just made a deal with the devil himself.
The sun was setting in brilliant pinks and oranges by the time they returned to the marina. Dash sprinted from the boat the moment it landed alongside the floating dock.
“Will she be all right?” Liana asked.
“Believe it or not, she knows where she’s allowed to go.” Travis tied the last of the lines to a cleat. “She’s gotten better about not peeing on the boat.”
“How long have you had her?”
“She’s been my best girl for four years.”
“She’s got you wrapped right around her paw.”
He faked offense. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Liana reached for his hand, and he stopped what he was doing with the sails to focus on her. “Thank you,” she said.
“For?”
“A wonderful, relaxing day. I haven’t had this much fun in a really long time.”
He kissed her hand and then her lips. “That’s too bad. We’ll have to see what we can do about that over the next two weeks.”
“I have to spend some time with my mother,” she reminded him.
He laughed. “Sweetheart, as much as I’d love to spend the next fourteen days in bed with you, I do have a business to run.”
Liana rolled her eyes. “When exactly is the ‘in bed’ portion of our fling going to begin?”
He shrugged as he secured the bright blue sail cover over the boom. “I don’t have a schedule.”
Liana nibbled on her bottom lip and stared at the colorful sunset.
Travis sat down across from her and reached for her hands.
“Don’t stress out about it, Liana. It’ll happen when it happens.
And when it does, I want you to enjoy it.
If you don’t feel like you can trust me—really trust me—you won’t enjoy it.
” He pressed a kiss to each of her hands.
“I already know you well enough to know that. Since this isn’t something you do every day, I want you to enjoy it.
So let’s take our time, get to know each other a little, and see what happens, okay? ”
Liana sized him up, trying to decide if he was for real. He surely seemed to be, but she had learned to question her judgment in such things. “All right.”
“Why do you still look stressed?”
“There’s just one other thing we didn’t talk about, and it’s kind of a big deal . . .”
“What’s that?”
“You can’t tell anyone you’re . . . seeing me.”
Travis sat next to her and put his arm around her. “You can trust me. And you can trust the people around me. You’re not going to read about us in the papers—not because of me, anyway.”
She studied his earnest face.
“You’ve heard that before haven’t you?”
She nodded.
“This time you can believe it, Liana. I promise you. I won’t tell anyone.”
“Hey, Trav!” A tall blond man came bounding down the dock with Dash trotting behind him.
A walkie-talkie was attached to the belt of the cargo shorts he wore with his burgundy North Point polo shirt.
He took in the scene on the boat—Liana wearing her denim skirt with her bikini top and Travis still shirtless. “Um, we had a little trouble today.”
Liana watched as Travis tensed. She wanted to reach out to him but didn’t.
He stood up. “What happened?”
“More flat tires. This time in the parking garage at the tower.”
“How many?”
“Thirty tires on twelve different cars.”
“Son of a bitch,” Travis muttered. “Did you call the cops?”
Beck nodded. “And the garage. They’ve all been replaced.”
“Thanks. Did you notify the tenants?”
“Taken care of.”
“Good job, Beck. Thanks. Oh, this is Liana McDermott. Liana, Peter Beck.”
She nodded to the other man. “Nice to meet you.”
“You, too. Well, I’ll let you get back to enjoying your evening.”
“Thanks for taking care of things today,” Travis said.