Bird of Paradise (14 page)

Once or twice it occurred to her to
wonder why he was spending every available moment with her and none
following Sally
—
not to mention the question of just
why
he had been hired to follow Sally
in the first place
—
but she pushed the question to the back of her mind. Sally had
probably told him off again, and he was wisely keeping his
distance. It certainly didn't seem to bother him, and Lord knew she
was enjoying every second they spent together.

The truth was, she was most definitely in love.

Hero giggled like a schoolgirl; she was so eager to
see Adam again, to have another date. Everything was looking
wonderful—her dates with other men were pleasant, but not
thrilling, and both Adam and she had full points for every event,
ensuring they'd make it to for the next round. Every evening she
sat up in her cabana and worked late into the night on her story,
much happier with it after she changed the focus from poking fun at
Yanks desperate for love to one that reflected the reality of
dating in today's world, and the intrepid few who went the extra
distance—like becoming a contestant on a reality dating show—to
find that special person, that someone marvelous enough to spend
the rest of their lives with.

Someone like Adam.

Hero sighed happily, then giggled at her sigh, then
giggled at her giggle as she raced into the ballroom. The
announcement was being made about the day's events. She couldn't
remember what was on the day's schedule for dates, but she was
confident that as it was the gentlemen's choice, Adam would pick
whichever date would allow them the most time together.

The show host, Asterisk, was doing his usual
routine, relating some of the more memorable comments on the
confession-booth tapes, making the audience laugh over amusing
incidents during the previous day's dates—Hero's air horn adventure
had even made it into his morning routine—and generally setting the
crowd up for their day in paradise.

She stood to one side and searched the crowd for
Adam, finally spotting him and Jesus at a table across the room. He
was evidently watching for her, because he lifted his hand in
greeting. She smiled in return, and leaned against the cool wall,
watching without listening as the Eden producer expounded about
some point or other. Whatever it was, it didn't matter. Nothing
could possibly matter when she was so very happy.

“Hero?”

Sally's voice pulled her out of the daydream
involving Adam and that big bed in her cabana. “Good morning,
Sally. How are you?”

Sally looked nervous, chewing on her lower lip and
casting a quick glance over her shoulder. Evidently Hero had missed
the whole of the morning announcements, because the men and women
were separating into either side of the ballroom in preparation for
pairing off for the day's dates.

“Hero, there's something I want to talk to you
about. Something…well, something that I shouldn't have done.”

Hero's attention switched from admiring Adam as he
approached to the smaller woman in front of her. “You didn't say
anything to the television show people about Adam, did you?”

Sally's frown deepened. “No. He's left me alone
these last few days; I told him if he left me alone I wouldn't
expose him. This doesn’t have to do with me, not really, you
see…oh, it's confusing…”

Hero, relieved as soon as she knew Adam was in no
danger, gazed over Sally's shoulder and smiled as Adam and Jesus
strolled up. “I'd be happy to talk to you at lunch, Sally.”

“Morning Sally,” Adam said politely, his eyes only
for Hero, even when Sally muttered something inaudible and moved
off. A warm kernel of pleasure formed within her. How could she
have ever doubted his sincerity? Oh, to be sure, he still had silly
notions about her admitting she was attractive, but she hadn't once
seen a look of distaste or pity on his face when he kissed her.
“Hero, as always, you look lovely.”

She blushed gently and beamed at him as he chatted
politely when they were joined by Phillip, a man she had dated the
day before. Phillip was interested in another woman, and posed no
threat to her peace of mind. He certainly wasn't anywhere near as
fascinating as Adam.

“I thought you'd prefer the first one over the
second, since we can take a lunch along,” Adam was saying to her.
She dragged her mind back to the present and smiled. He was no
doubt talking about the day's dates. Anything that would extend her
time was all right by her!

“Absolutely,” she said under her breath, uncaring
what she agreed to. Perhaps, she mused as she admired him as he
talked to Phillip and another woman, sheepishly declining the
opportunity to offer the woman advice on the best way to find her
G-Spot, perhaps Adam was one of those men who liked fleshy women.
There were some men like that, or so she had heard. She'd never met
one, but Adam was unique. If anyone would be able to overlook her
obvious flaws in the body department, she was sure he would.

Adam grinned at the G-Spot woman and leaned his head
toward her when she whispered something in his ear, causing him to
laugh out loud.

A small doubt burst out from
nowhere, dampening the pleasure that glowed within her. What if
he
wasn't
the sort
of man who liked women of abundant form? What if he just didn't
realize exactly what she looked like beneath the loose gauze of her
jackets and cotton dresses and voluminous skirts? What if the sight
of her body without clothes repulsed him? How would she survive
such a devastating occurrence? A cold chill gripped her, making her
almost sick to her stomach as she watched him from beneath her
lashes. He was laughing with another woman now, one who was
squatting next to Jesus and his gecko. That woman was also
fit.

“How about it Hero? Care to bowl with me this
afternoon?” Phillip was asking her.

She smiled wanly, fighting down the uncertainty that
roiled within her. There was only one thing she could do—she'd just
have to make sure that Adam never saw her naked. If they made
love—and she fervently hoped they would very soon—it would simply
have to take place in the dark. “I'd love to, Phillip.”

“Great. Well, guess I'd better go get suited up.
Nancy, I'll see you down at Boat fourteen.”

The Jesus-stroking woman agreed, and said something
about going to fetch her swim fins, then she, too, strolled out of
the ballroom.

Adam took her arm and steered her
out the double doors into the heat of the morning. “I thought
rather than joining everyone else, we'd take advantage of Dead
Man's Cove. I've already rented a sailboat, so if you go change
now, I'll meet you down at the docks. We have the
Calypso
Sunset
for the morning.”

She blinked at him. Sailboat? Change? Maybe she
should have been paying attention earlier rather than daydreaming
about him.

“Don't forget your snorkel equipment,” he called as
he turned down the path toward his row of cabanas.

Snorkel equipment? A wave of horror crashed over
Hero, causing her to stagger for a moment. Snorkel equipment? A
sailboat? Change? As in…donning a swimsuit?

“Oh, dear God, no!” she moaned, blindly heading for
her cabana. “He's going to see me in my swimsuit! What a ghastly
turn of events!”

Chapter Seven

Hero was not one to face life's little trials with
fluttering hands and cries of “Woe am I!” She had come prepared
with supplies for horrific eventualities leading up to, and
including, death and dismemberment, but in truth, she knew she'd
rather face both than the epitome of horrors, the pinnacle of
dread, the zenith of everything loathsome—appearing in public in
her swimsuit.

With that repulsive thought in
mind, she had purchased not one, not two, but
three
beach cover-ups, all of which
modestly covered her swimsuit-clad body from breast to mid-calf.
True, she reflected as she padded down the wooden dock, looking for
the sailboat named
Calypso
Sunset
, the cover-up was ventilated with
hundreds of holes intended to keep its wearer cool, but she had
critically examined herself in the mirror and couldn't see that any
untoward expanses of her flesh were exposed.

Adam was already on board the sailboat, stowing a
picnic basket. She greeted a petulant-looking Jesus, the cat once
again peeved because he had been wrestled into a life jacket, as
well as parted from his boon companion, and settled herself down to
enjoying the unexpected pleasure of time spent with Adam at one of
the resort's three secluded beaches that were reachable only by
boat.

“Do you know how to sail?” Adam asked as he handed
her a life vest.

“No, but it isn't that difficult, is it? Don't you
just point the boat in the direction you want to go?”

Adam coughed what sounded suspiciously like the
beginnings of a laugh, but he quickly regained control of his
esophagus and explained the principles behind sailing, ordering
Hero to sit with her hand on the tiller. Before she knew it, they
were heading out of calm waters protected by a reef to the north
side of the island.

Dolphins rode their bow, splashing and leaping ahead
and alongside them with wild abandon. Hero leaned back, the wind
ruffling her short hair, feeling an odd combination of peace and
excitement at the day's outing. A short time later Adam pointed out
their destination: a small, white-sand beach edging a corner of the
wildlife sanctuary. It was lined with palms and dense vegetation
that left a ten-yard wide swath of sand that stretched out into a
small spit. Adam dropped anchor, carried the picnic basket,
blankets, and Jesus to a shady spot at the base of the spit, then
turned to wave at Hero.

“Come on, the water's only waist high. We can have a
swim before lunch.”

“Hell,” she muttered quietly to herself, smiling and
waving back at him. “I just knew this was going to happen. Well,
make the best of it, Hero. You don't want to ruin this lovely time
simply because you're too embarrassed to get in the water.”

“Is something wrong?” Adam called out to her,
peeling off the t-shirt and cotton shorts he wore over his
teensy-tiny blue swimsuit.

She closed her eyes at the sight of all of his
marvelous tanned flesh, flesh that called to her, flesh that she
craved to touch and taste and stroke. Oh, no, nothing was wrong.
Nothing other than there was much too much Hero for her liking, and
most of that dyed a bronze that she suddenly realized made her look
as if she had a severe attack of jaundice.

“Just coming,” she said, opening her eyes to see him
swimming toward her. “Eek! No, stop, go back!”

He paused midway to the boat and stood up. As he
predicted, the water was only waist-high. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing, I'm coming, you just have to…erm…turn
around for a moment.”

“Turn around?” He frowned and started half swimming,
half walking toward her. “Why? You've got your suit on under that,
don't you?”

“Yes, but I have to take the cover-up off to get in
the water. Please don't come any closer.”

He ignored her and kept coming. “So?”

She would
not
die of embarrassment, she
would
not
die of
embarrassment…”If you don't mind, I do not want you watching when I
get in the water.”

“I do mind,” he said, reaching the side of the boat,
swaying slightly with the gentle roll of the waves. “And it's about
time we had this out. I don't know why you want to hide yourself
from me, but you don't have to. There are no cameras here now, it's
just you and me.”

“Yes, but—”

“I've told you I think you're beautiful, and you
know what sort of an effect you have on me. It's about time you
realized how stunning you are.”

Hero recalled rubbing up against
him the prior evening when he kissed her good-night. Oh, she knew
she had an effect on him, but… “Yes, but you haven't seen
all
of me. And I don't
want you to, so please do the gentlemanly thing and turn around so
I might get into the water.”

Once she was in the water, she'd be safe. She'd be
half covered. She just wouldn't go into the very shallow water, or
she would paddle around until he had to go pee before streaking for
the safety of the blanket he'd spread out and its accompanying
stack of beach towels.

He squinted up at her, his hand shading his eyes
against the bright sunlight. “You won't get in the water unless I
turn around?”

She nodded. He sighed pointedly, but turned around.
Hero approached the ladder leading down the side of the sailboat
into the water, peering at him suspiciously, but he remained
looking in the opposite direction. Halfway down the latter she
peeled the cover-up off, and jumped the rest of the way into the
warm ocean.

“Now,” he said, turning around and wading toward her
with a dangerous glint in his lovely blue eyes. “You and I are
going to have a little talk.”

“Talk?” she asked weakly, her knees melting under
his gaze. “You want to talk?”

“In a manner of speaking,” he said in a growl,
wrapping his arms around her and pulling her up to his chest
seconds before his mouth descended upon hers.

Hero's senses swam. His tongue was so hot, so
demanding, she could do nothing but moan softly against his lips,
and open her mouth to him, allowing him to sink into her and fill
her mind with the addictive taste of him; She wanted him, she
wanted him not just then, but for the rest of her life.

The water was warm around them, but his hands were
warmer, stroking the bare flesh of her shoulders and arms,
smoothing a path down her back and around her sides, then up to
where her breasts ached for his touch.