hang out nearby to serve as doting uncle and baby-sitter. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, just think what this will do for him. He’s pining for Laurie. He needs a change of scenery to think things through.”
Her brother would be with them? She was supposed to think of this as something they were doing for his benefit? That didn’t sound much like a honeymoon. She should have found that reassuring. Instead she found it irritating. As much as she adored Harlan Patrick, she wasn’t sure she wanted him along on her honey... Whoops, she’d almost done it herself. She didn’t want him along on their vacation.
Then, again, she reasoned, he could prove valuable. He could take Ashley while she and Cord spent time alone. She owed Cord that much, if only to thank him for all he’d done for her. Maybe she even owed herself a chance to discover if these feelings she’d been trampling on out of fear would blossom into the real thing, something strong enough to withstand whatever curves life tossed them. Was she brave enough to take that final, giant leap of faith?
She met Cord’s gaze, caught the hopeful expression on his face and her heart flipped over. This trip could be a turning point for the two of them.
Suddenly she realized that she desperately wanted it to be. She wanted to stop living in lonely isolation. Even with Cord in the house, that was what she’d been doing, holding him at bay, shrouding her heart in ice so it couldn’t be broken again. Maybe it was time to find out if Cord’s touches and a fiery tropical sun could melt away the ice and leave her whole again.
“I’ll go,” she said softly, even as her pulse ricocheted wildly.
Cord scooped her up and whirled around. “Thank you, darlin’. You won’t regret it.”
Sharon Lynn doubted she would regret the trip. How could she when she was finally going to steal a few days of romance with a man who had proved time and again just how deeply he loved her? It was the heartache that could come after that terrified her.
* * *
The breezes in their tropical paradise were sultry and scented with jasmine. The air shimmered with the sound of reggae, a beat that invited the listener to throw away cares and indulge in all life’s passions.
Sharon Lynn felt as if she had stepped into another world. She had even put aside her aversion to alcohol and accepted a frothy, icy tropical drink with a sweet taste and an astounding kick. She was pretty sure her inhibitions had vanished a couple of hours ago, right after Harlan Patrick had taken off with Ashley. She hadn’t even mounted much of a protest when they’d gone.
When Cord beckoned her onto the tiny, seaside dance floor, she floated into his arms. He smiled down at her.
“Having a good time?”
“I feel like some other person, as if I’ve fallen into an enchanted fairy tale. How is it possible to step off a plane and turn into somebody else?”
“No one knows you here. You can be anyone you want to be. Back home that’s not possible. In Los Piños, there’s history and family and a ton of emotional baggage. Here there’s just the heat of the sun, the brilliance of the moon, a sky studded with stars.” He winked. “And me.”
She gazed into his eyes, which were regarding her with amusement. “Do you feel different here?”
“Not so different,” he confessed. “I still want you.”
Though the words were lightly spoken, the heat in his eyes commanded her to take the statement seriously.
She tightened her arms around his neck and snuggled in closer. The sensations shimmering through her were lazy and seductive. “I think you’re a very sneaky man, Cord Branson.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you knew I wouldn’t be able to resist you here,” she murmured, her breath fanning over his chest.
His breath hitched at that. “Is that so?”
“Mm-hmm.”
He tucked a finger under her chin and tilted her face up. “This will only go so far, unless it’s what you want,” he assured her. “You’ll have to set the pace.”
She took that as an out-and-out invitation to tease. How far could she push him? she wondered.
Could she indulge in an intimate caress? She tried one and heard his gasp. That was enough to embolden her.
Maybe she could sneak a few of those breath-stealing kisses. She tried one and this time she was the one gasping for air when it was