Taking It All Off. Cindi Myers

breath, he turned from the sight of her and signaled the bartender for another drink. Now he’d done it. Just when he thought they were connecting. Though why should he care? He and Glynna were from two different worlds. His father and grandfather had been oil-field roughnecks who spent their time off in Telephone Road ice houses, drinking beer and playing pool while Glynna’s family sat behind desks in clean suits all day, then drank cocktails and munched hors d’oeuvres around the swimming pool in the evenings. She’d had her career gift-wrapped for her the day she graduated from some upper-crust college. She didn’t know what it meant to struggle to prove yourself. So why should her opinion of him matter at all?

      GLYNNA DRESSED for dinner, but all she really wanted was to take three ibuprofen and crawl under the covers until morning. Why, oh why had she drunk those two rum punches? The sun hadn’t even set and already it felt like the morning after.

      But her head wasn’t the only thing that hurt her. Jake’s words had wounded like a dart in her flesh, all the more painful because she knew they were true. Of course she had been letting her father run her life. Anyone would see that on the surface. But did they understand he was all she had? It had been just the two of them since her mother died when she was nine. He’d discouraged relationships with men, even talked her into living at home until two years ago, when she’d insisted on her own place.

      So here she was, twenty-six and alone. She’d never done anything her father didn’t approve of. For a long time, that had worked for her. She’d made a life for herself, but maybe that wasn’t enough anymore.

      And now here was Jake, offering opinions she hadn’t asked for and imposing all his rough edges on her nice smooth life. Her father disliked Jake, but Jake didn’t care. Where others quaked at Gordon McCormick’s rages, Jake stood up to him.

      She sank onto the edge of the sofa, hands in her lap. There were times when she would have given almost anything for that kind of courage. Not just the backbone to go against her father, but the guts not to feel guilty about it afterwards.

      Maybe this weekend was her chance to learn a few things from Jake. A shiver chased down her spine at the thought and she hugged her arms across her stomach, as if trying to hold in the excitement kindling within her.

      But the thought had taken root in her and wouldn’t let go. No one she knew was on this island. Her father wasn’t here this weekend. But Jake was, so why not take advantage of that? Why not indulge in her own fantasies, romantic and otherwise?

      Jake said she needed to be her own woman. So why not ask him to help her discover exactly what kind of woman she really was?

      JAKE WAS SITTING at the bar when Glynna walked in. He looked up and saw her standing in the doorway and it was as if the temperature in the room rose ten degrees. He tried to look away, to ignore her, but she drew his gaze, like a riptide pulling him under.

      Still, he managed to turn his back to her as she drew near. He contemplated signaling the bartender for another beer just as she put her hand on his shoulder, freezing him. “Come walk with me,” she said, the soft murmur of her voice cutting through the bar chatter.

      The last thing he needed right now was to go walking off into the darkness with her. He swivelled to face her. “Let’s stay here,” he said. “I’ll buy you a drink.”

      She glanced around the crowded bar, at the laughing couples with their sunburned faces and umbrella drinks. “No. I need to ask you something. In private.”

      He shook his head. “That’s not a good idea.”

      “Why not?

      He shoved the glass aside, then let his gaze linger on her too long. She was wearing a little strapless dress made of some silky, clingy material, the hot pink-orange of a sunset. She crossed her arms, as if shielding herself from his gaze. “Why not?” she asked again.

      “Because I’ve had a little too much to drink and you look way too good in that dress and I’m liable to do something that will get me slapped.”

      Her laughter startled him. She reached out and took his hand. “Come on. Let’s walk.”

      He didn’t resist, letting her lead him out of the bar, past the lighted swimming pool to the shadowy beach. At the edge of the sand, she slipped off her shoes and, picking up her sandals, took his hand and tugged him toward the edge of the water.

      He slowed his pace to match hers, and studied her out of the corner of his eye. Moonlight—or the beers he’d had—softened her features, making her look younger, more vulnerable. “So what did you want to talk about?” he asked.

      She wrapped her hand more securely around his, but avoided looking at him, focusing instead on the ocean. “You might not know this, but I’ve always admired you.”

      A single barking laugh escaped him. “You have a hell of a way of showing it.”

      She glanced at him. “I guess I deserve that. But it’s true. I’m envious of the way you insist on doing things your way, no matter what other people say. You aren’t afraid of my father. There aren’t many men he can’t intimidate.”

      “You’re right. I didn’t know you felt that way.” He stopped, and pulled her around to face him. “Why are you telling me now?”

      She raised her chin and looked him in the eye. He recognized both determination and fear in her gaze. The fear surprised him. Why would a woman who had everything be afraid of anything? “I want to ask a favor of you this weekend.”

      “What is that?”

      She wet her lips, a provocative, sensuous gesture he felt all the way to his groin. “I want you to pretend that I’m not the Glynna McCormick you think you know. That I’m not Gordon’s daughter.”

      He raised his hand and traced the soft line of her jaw. “Then who are you?”

      She cradled her head against his hand. “I’m just a woman. A woman who’s tired of doing what everyone expects of me. I want to spend this weekend doing what I want, getting reacquainted with part of myself I’ve put second for too long.”

      He stilled, holding his breath. “And what do you want?”

      “This.” She stood on tiptoe, and put her arms around his neck, pulling him to her. Her lips were soft against his, the kiss tentative at first, then more assured.

      He resisted for the briefest moment, stunned, before instinct and desire took over and he gathered her closer. He shaped her body to his as he deepened the kiss, opening his mouth to taste her fully. She made a breathy, mewling sound that ripped away the last shred of his reserve. He forgot everything but how much he wanted her. Here. Now.

      He cupped her bottom, pressing her close against him, savoring her heat against his growing erection. She hooked one leg around him, her gauzy skirt falling back to reveal the pale beauty of her inner thigh. He slid his hand up that silky expanse of flesh, toward the burning center where he wanted to bury himself.

      She nipped at the corner of his mouth. “Let’s go back to the cottage,” she whispered.

      The cottage. Like a cold wave splashing over them, the words reminded him of where they were. Why they were here. Who she was.

      He pulled away from her, so suddenly that she almost fell. “This is insane,” he said.

      “Yes, it’s insane.” She stared at him, out of breath. Flushed. Gorgeous. “That’s the whole point. I…I want us to spend this weekend doing all the things we can never do back home. Exploring those fantasies I’m supposed to be writing about.”

      He took another step back, as if physical distance could break the spell she’d cast over him. “You mean you want us to have sex.”

      She flushed more, but nodded. “Yes.”

      “Why? Beyond the obvious reasons that we turn each other on?”

      “I think…” She wet her lips again, almost sending him over the edge.