13 - Peyton
PEYTON
Belize felt like another planet.
The very air itself was alive; thick with the lush, delicious scent of life, of salt, of fragrant, flowering hibiscus. Color exploded everywhere; from the azure blue skies dotted with puffy white clouds, to the verdant green jungles that edged the yellow, sandy beaches.
Four days.
I couldn’t believe we’d been here for only that long. Four days without running. Four days without dodging gunfire, or having to worry about the shadow of Donovan Prescott; looming over us.
It felt like an eternity already. A sun-soaked reprieve in a remote, isolated villa, that might’ve well have been paradise.
The walls were open. The breezes were legendary.
Every morning we woke to platters of fresh fruit and warm bread, laid out for us by the locals.
We ate and drank together, as the morning sun spilled generously across bare skin.
My skin.
Their skin.
It took a day or two to decompress. But now that I wasn’t looking over my shoulder every few minutes, I was focusing on, well… other things.
And now here I was on the patio, dressed in a stunning, high-hipped swimsuit that left little to the imagination.
Stretching my arms high to the sky, releasing the final kinks from my encounter with the tree, as I decided whether I wanted a second cup of coffee, my third piece of toast, or my first morning swim.
“Morning, darlin’.”
Ripley smiled as he brushed past me, his hand lingering on my waist on his way into the villa.
He pressed in a little closer than he needed to, but I wasn’t exactly leaning away, either.
His shirtless body was built for weather like this; all sculpted abs and tightly-coiled muscle.
I touched him reflexively on his own hip, just above one of those two sinfully precise ‘V’ lines that guided my eyes lower, into dangerous, tempting territory.
It had been like this the whole time, since we arrived, since we’d been provided just about everything we needed to lay low, keep our heads down, and decide what happened next.
We’d boarded a sleek jet, where Colson had greeted the pilot.
Landed at some remote airstrip, where a car was already waiting.
There were no passports, no checks, no questions.
Everything was prepared in advance, through Ripley’s contacts or Colson’s military connections, or through Theo’s magic fingers, gliding over his keyboard.
It was one of the caveats of Donovan only hiring the best.
Turned against him, they were still the best.
I glanced inside, to where Colson was pouring coffee.
Every time I saw him, the sleeves on his way too tight T-shirt looked intentionally higher.
He’d relaxed somewhat over the past four days, but he was still sharp, still on point.
I couldn’t stop gawking at those incredible shoulders, swiveling left and right as he checked exits, double-checked sightlines, and generally kept us safe.
Even so, I’d caught him looking at me on more than one occasion.
Those blue eyes lingered on my curves sometimes, here and there, during his constant sweeps and scans.
One night, while leaning over the railing, he’d come up behind me with a drink in each hand.
The air was thick with the buzz of insects, and distant, floating music.
But standing there, side by side, I’d swear he’d devoured me whole.
Mentally, anyway.
Theo was in the water. I decided to join him. It was one of the few times he wasn’t bent over his keyboard, and I wanted to pick his brain some more.
Besides, he was sweet on me. And that was always an advantage.
“Hey…”
I surfaced beside him, to find a head on a pair of floating shoulders. They were very nice shoulders, too.
“You finally decided to enjoy yourself, I see.”
We drifted together, only feet apart. Right away I felt the conflict in those sharp, intelligent eyes, as they battled to keep from dipping down to my bobbing breasts.
“I uh, took a break. Yes.”
His lashes were long and dark, even wet. They partially masked his soft brown eyes.
“I didn’t know computer nerds got breaks.”
“We do,” Theo laughed nervously. “It’s in our contract.”
I smiled demurely, and drifted a little closer. It was immediately more intimate.
“I can’t imagine what sort of evil contract brought you into Donovan Prescott’s world.”
It came out as accusatory. Right away I regretted it. Theo’s eyes lowered, but it wasn’t in guilt. He was lost somewhere else, somewhere completely different. I wondered what it was that held him, that bound him to Donovan like the rest of us. Whatever it was, it made him look sad.
“I guess I could say the same for you.”
I nodded, biting my bottom lip. I had it coming.
“I never thanked you for rescuing me,” I said plainly. “So, thank you.”
Theo bobbed there, swirling his arms. Kicking his legs. His smile returned.
“Are you thanking Theo or Cleo?”
Rolling my eyes, I reached out and punched his shoulder, lightly.
“I remembered your name, you know. At the time, I was fucking with you.”
Those eyes flitted downward, but only for a moment. When they returned they were bolder, more confident.
“Are you fucking with me now?”
“No. You’ll know it the next time I’m fucking with you.”
He reached up and slicked his dark hair back. He had plenty of it, too.
“I see.”
“And you really do look like a Theo, by the way.”
“I do?”
“Oh yeah, totally,” I flirted, adding my widest smile. “One-hundred percent. You’re a Theo all the way.”
I kicked my legs faster for a moment, letting more of my cleavage break the surface of the water. The move wasn’t lost on him. His eyes took advantage.
“Soo… have you made any progress with the locket?”
My leg brushed his. He didn’t move backward.
“Some.”
“But you still haven’t cracked it. You still haven’t been able to access the files.”
We drifted even closer now, beneath the water. He shook his head.
“Don’t rush it then,” I told him. “I’m having fun here. I had no idea how much I really needed this.”
I looked around, and he followed my lead. The place was Eden. All oasis and no mirage. Between the sand, the surf, and the swaying green trees, it just didn’t seem real.
“Don’t take too long, though,” I added with a reluctant sigh. “I mean, the sooner you can clone that drive…”
“The sooner we have an insurance policy,” he finished. “Against whatever your fiancé does next.”
“He’s not my fiancé,” I said unnecessarily. “In a lot of ways, he never was. I never truly wanted to marry him.”
My words turned Theo’s expression hopeful.
“You didn’t?”
“No. Not in my heart, anyway.”
I surged forward, erasing the rest of the space between us.
“Besides, did I really want to be Peyton Prescott?” I wrinkled my nose. “Ugh. It sounds like a superhero name.”
Theo laughed, and winked at me. “Or super villain.”
We were only inches apart now, our foreheads nearly touching. Buoyed by the warmth between us, my ankles found the backs of his legs and pulled him in.
“Thank you, Theo,” I murmured softly. “For being there when I needed you.”
I slid my arms over his shoulders and kissed him. Half on the cheek, half on the mouth.
It was warm and wet. Sweet, but also electric.
Fuck.
The kiss turned into a second kiss, then a third. His hands went to my waist. My legs wrapped around him.
Double fuck.
I wasn’t sure what was happening. Or maybe I was, and I was only trying to convince myself that I hadn’t a clue.
“Peyton…”
Theo’s lips moved beneath mine. They were about to say something important. Something with history, or gravity, or both.
Either way, I never found out.
Bending my knees to my chest, I quickly kicked off him and swam away.