Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
I zzy sat under an umbrella and read a romance novel bought in the resort gift shop. It was the only thing she could find in English. She'd also purchased a swimsuit and a pair of swimming trunks for Viper. Now that they were away from everybody, there was no reason why he couldn't join her in the pool.
Shamefully, she couldn’t wait to see him out of those clothes. The tiny glimpses she’d had of his bare torso had stunned her, and part of her just wanted to see if it really was as gorgeous as she remembered.
He'd felt secure enough to leave her sunning herself while he went to sort out the inflatable. He'd told her it belonged to the CIA, and he wanted to send it back. Izzy took a deep breath. If he wasn't worried, then neither was she.
Not really.
Although, she did keep glancing at her fellow guests, wondering if they were really who they seemed to be.
The resort wasn't busy, and she was one of three women lying by the pool. There appeared to be a conference in the convention center attached to the hotel, and the lobby was filled with flashy men in expensive suits and well-coiffed women in designer outfits, expensive shoes, and expertly manicured nails. What could she say? She noticed these things.
Izzy read her book and tried to remain unobtrusive. She wore a cheap pair of sunglasses and stayed on the lounge chair, getting up only to take a dip in the swimming pool when she needed to cool off. The less attention she drew to herself, the better.
It was strange not having a phone or laptop with her. Usually, she was joined to both at the hip, and now she didn’t have them, it took some getting used to. She wondered if Emily had pushed on with the fashion shoot or whether they'd abandoned it until she got back.
She was dying to ring her assistant but knew that was out of the question. Viper had told her explicitly not to call anyone, and for once, she was going to listen to him.
"All set." Viper appeared from the path that led down to the beach. He had sand on his feet and was wiping his hands on his T-shirt with the dolphin on it.
She smiled. "You look like you've just gotten back from a day at the beach."
That hint of a dimple. "I have."
"Nobody would ever guess you were my bodyguard."
He sat down beside her on an empty lounger. "That's a good thing. The less conspicuous we are, the better. It helps if people think we’re a couple.”
If only they were.
She couldn’t meet his gaze for fear he’d see right through her, see her yearning, the desire that had been building ever since she’d first met him.
“The newspapers are full of your disappearance," he said, his voice edged with concern.
"They are?" The thought pulled her roughly back to reality.
"Yeah, I spoke to Blade earlier. Your abduction caused quite a stir. Your social media's been blowing up. Everyone's asking if you're okay."
"Crap, I should reply." She bit her lip, anxiously. "You can't ignore your followers. They can be so fickle—think you don’t care, and they’ll move on in a heartbeat."
He shook his head. "I'm not sure that's wise."
"Okay, fine, but I have to speak to Emily. She needs to release a statement that I'm okay and thank them for their concern. It's imperative. This is my business, Viper."
His nod was curt. "Call Emily from reception, but don't tell her where you're staying."
She pursed her lips. "I don't think I even know the name of this hotel."
He snorted. "Let’s keep it that way."
She got up and handed him the swimming trunks. "I got these for you. I thought you might like to jump in." She nodded at the pool. "The water's amazing."
"Thanks, but maybe later." Now it was his turn to avoid her gaze. She wondered what he was thinking, why he was so resistant to enjoying himself with her?
"You aren't on duty all the time, you know," she told him. "Just being with me is enough. You said yourself, we're safe here."
"I know." He walked beside her into the lobby. "But it’s complicated. I’ve already fucked up once. I can’t afford to do it again.”
“Having a swim is not fucking up. You deserve a little down time.”
He stared straight ahead. “Make your call and then, maybe, we can go for a swim."
She grinned. "Deal."
Emily was ecstatic to hear from her and gabbled on for a full five minutes about how worried she was and how she hadn’t been sleeping and thank God Izzy was all right.
"Emily, I need you to issue a press release," Izzy interrupted gently.
Emily gulped and calmed down. "Okay, sorry. Shoot."
"Tell my followers that I'm okay and thanks for their concern. Say I'm taking a break from the public eye for a short while, but I'll be back soon. Post some of the photographs Max took of me in San Diego. There are some good ones there. They'll think I'm still on vacation somewhere, recuperating."
"You are okay, aren't you?" Emily's voice wobbled with concern.
"Yes, don't worry. I'm fine. I'm with Viper."
"Oh?"
"Not like that. He's protecting me." Saying it didn’t stop the excited flutter she felt in her stomach.
Emily sniffed. "As long as you're all right, I don’t care who you’re with. Text me if you need anything."
"I can't. My phone is at the bottom of the ocean right now. But I'll call you if there's anything else. Oh, did you finish the shoot?"
"Yes, I thought you'd want to get it done while we had the crew out there. Was that the right thing to do?" She sounded guilty. "I thought about canceling it, but it was only the catalog shoot which we didn’t really need you for, and I didn’t want to waste money, especially since we’d paid everyone up front."
"You did the right thing," she confirmed, her voice warm. "Thanks, Em. You're the best."
They talked for a few minutes longer, then Izzy said goodbye, and handed the receiver back to the concierge. "I feel better now that’s taken care of," she said as they made their way back up to the room. "I can't afford to let my followers wane. As it is, I'll have to explain to my sponsors why I'm not advertising this week. Luckily, I had planned on taking a week off anyway, so they were expecting it."
Viper opened the door, then stuck his head in to check out the room before she entered. Always on the lookout. “I get it. Your contracts depend on their support.”
When it was safe, she followed him in. “Exactly.”
"I'll just get changed." Viper made sure the door was locked behind them, then headed for the bathroom. With only the one room between them, the bathroom offered the only privacy.
Izzy was so not prepared for how he looked when he emerged a few moments later.
Whoa!
That gorgeous body, perfectly honed, a smattering of chest hair, military ink over a bulging pectoral and… Holy crap! The swim trunks were on the small size, leaving pretty much nothing to the imagination.
"Oh," she stammered, eyes wide and failing miserably to look away. "I'm sorry, that was the biggest size they had."
"It's okay. They're fine."
She sure as hell wasn’t complaining.
He turned his back on her and she gasped, noticing the two coarse, circular scars on his back. One was positioned above his shoulder blade, the other on his right side below his ribs. "Are those...bullet wounds?"
Viper reached for his shirt and pulled it on. "Yeah, happened a couple of months back."
"You were shot?"
He grimaced. "Occupational hazard." His tone told her he didn't want to talk about it. She watched as he pulled on the shorts, then picked up the towel, slotting his gun between the folds.
Scarred hands. Bullet wounds. Firearm. His life was so different from hers. Filled with violence and death.
Yet, he was also so gentle. The way he'd held her...
"Ready?" He cut into her thoughts.
Slightly breathless, she picked up her towel and followed him out of the room.
The swimming pool and surrounding terrace was deserted, everybody else having left, so they had the whole place to themselves.
"This is even better than San Diego,” Izzy called, as she slipped into the water. As earlier, it was still the perfect temperature. Warm and caressing, and totally relaxing.
"It's a lot more private," he agreed, his midnight gaze fixed on her.
She leaned against the edge of the pool. “You coming in?”
Viper carefully placed his towel on the lounger, then, with a confident stride, he walked around to the deep end and dove in.
She watched, mesmerized, as he swum toward her. His powerful strokes sliced through the water, creating hardly a ripple. When he stood up, water cascading off his broad shoulders, her mouth went dry.
There were no words.
He grinned at her. "You were right, this is great."
Her heart lurched at the relaxed, carefree expression on his face. It was the happiest she’d ever seen him. "You like the water, don't you?"
"Love it. That's why I joined the SEALs."
Izzy’s gaze fell to the intricate design of his tattoo. It was the first chance she’d had to really study it up close. A fierce eagle with its wings spread wide, clutching a U.S. Navy anchor, a flintlock-style pistol, and a trident. The detailed lines and shading of the tattoo highlighted the eagle's feathers and the sharp edges of the trident. “I didn’t know you were a Navy SEAL.”
He blinked, as if realizing what he’d said. “Yeah, that’s where I met Phoenix, on the SEAL training course.”
She exhaled, the pieces clicking into place. The rescue, the precision, the ease with which they’d extracted her and brought her here. “Pat didn’t say.”
He shrugged, the movement causing small waves around them. “We don’t usually talk about it, but I guess it’s okay, since I’m out. Most of the guys your uncle hires are ex-special ops. That's why they have such a good track record."
"Except for me." She rolled her eyes. "I was a failed operation."
He took a step toward her. "We got you back. No harm done."
"True." She sobered, the weight of their situation pressing down. "Do you think we'll ever catch who's doing this?"
"Pat and the rest of the unit are very good," he said, after a short pause. "If anyone can figure it out, it'll be them."
"I hope so,” she breathed. “I don’t want to live in fear my entire life."
"It won't be like that," he reassured her, his voice firm. "We'll get to the bottom of it. You'll get your old life back. Don't worry."
Izzy fell silent, content to float gently. The calm of the pool contrasted sharply with the chaos they’d left behind. Viper did the same, treading water in the deep end. She could feel the water moving outwards around him, caressing her.
"This is a nice change," she murmured, after a brief pause. "Not having a million people around. No phone beeping. No emails to respond to. It feels surreal."
"Enjoy it while you can. All too soon it'll go back to normal," he said, then turned on his back and kicked down the length of the pool.
She watched as he swam toward her, admiring the way the water glisten on his smooth, tanned shoulders. The muscles rippled as he moved, and she unable to help herself, she followed the line of his washboard abs down to where they disappeared beneath the water. "How long were you in the Navy SEALs?"
He was silent for a moment. "Almost seven years," he said finally.
"Why'd you quit?"
"I got shot."
She hesitated. "The marks on your back?"
"Yeah. And another in the thigh. After I got out of the hospital, they declared me unfit for duty. I never went back." His face looked so stricken she wanted to reach out to him, to comfort him.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
He shrugged, but she could see it still bothered him.
"Do you miss it?"
He nodded, the water rippling around him.
"So, you've gone from that to me?"
He managed a weak smile. "It could be worse. I could be guarding some boring diplomat in the Middle East."
"Instead, you're hiding out at a luxury resort in Mexico." She burst out laughing, the sound echoing off the water. "Crazy, right?"
"It's not what I expected." He smiled at her, the tension easing from his face. "But I'm glad I was here when it counted."
She grew serious, the laughter dying on her lips. "Me too."
The water seemed to sizzle between them. Slowly, she swam toward him, drawn in by the intensity of his gaze, the same color as the water around them. Looping her arms around his neck, she looked deep into his eyes. "You don't mind, do you?"
He shook his head, his gaze never leaving hers. No words, just those eyes burning into hers.
Tentatively, she stood on her tiptoes, her lips brushing his. At first, she thought he wasn’t going to respond, but then his powerful arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her firmly against him.