Romantic Acquisition (18 page)

Kate stared at the closed door for a full thirty seconds before her body sprung into action.  She jumped out of the bed and headed for the bathroom
.
  She’d never showered so quickly in her life.  Once she was dry, she pulled on a pair of white shorts and a sunny yellow, short sleeved shirt and a pair of white and yellow sandals.  Again, she was amazed that they all fit her so well. 

After braiding her hair and putting
on
a light coat of powder and mascara, Kate rushed up to the main deck.  Carlo was sitting on a deck chair sipping coffee but he was obviously in a place that would allow him to see her the moment she came up on deck. 

“Was I fast enough?” she asked, slightly out of breath.

“Amazingly,” he
answered
and stood up to walk towards her.  “I’ve never known a woman who can be dressed so quickly and l
ook as lovely,” he said quietly, looking down at her fresh, clean beauty. 

Kate was
flustered by his words
and didn’t know how to respond.  She liked the way he looked at her but didn
’t
want to like it.  “You flatter me,” she finally said.

“Just being honest,” he challenged.  “Would you like some coffee?””

“Please.  Where is everyone else?”

“They heard from Melissa that we were otherwise oc
cupied and went on without us.” He laughed at her reddened cheeks.  “
We’re going to meet up with them
later in the day
.”

“Oh,” she said, overwhelmed by the idea that they were all alone on a luxurious ship.  “Where’
s
the coffee?” she asked, not sure what else to say.

Carlo raised a hand and sat back down, taking a sip of his own coffee.  Within moments, a waiter appeared with a silver pot of coffee.  He poured her a cup and placed it on a teak table next to her.  “Where did everyone go?”

“They went ashore.  Melissa and Ashley convinced Jamil and Phillip to take them shopping.  I’m not sure how though.”

“What would you recommend?”

“Do you
scuba dive
?”

“Nope, sorry.”

“How about snorkeling?”

“I haven’t tried it,” she said. 

“Want to give it a
try
?”

“Sure.  I have to get my suit on though.  You didn’t give me enough time to figure out all the possibilities.”

“No problem.  I need to change as well.  Jamil has equipment around here somewhere.  I’ll gather them up.  Why don’t you grab some breakfast and I’ll be back,’ he said and downed the rest of his coffee.

He got up to leave a moment later, but not before bending down and kissing her hard.  “You’re lovely when you’re embarrassed,” he said, chuckling as her blush increased.

Twenty minutes later, a speedboat delivered them to the shore.  Carlo had already arranged for a smaller boat that
he
drove to a small cove.  The coastline was rugged and filled with trees and flowers draping over the small beaches to the water.  It was truly paradise from this angle. 

They put on their gear and dove into
the
small lagoon
Carlo had found for them
.  Kate was instantly in love with the small, curious fish that darted in and out of the reef.  Carlo took her around the area, showing her small sea turtles,
sergeant
majors, invisible fish and lots of others that she couldn’t name. 

They swam for over an hour, skimming through the waters, watching both the fish and the coral as they danced among the dappling sunshine.  Coming out, Kate was in love with the underwater world. 

“Wow!  I’ve never im
agine anything like that before,
”
she said as they boarded the boat again. 

He followed her up into the boat, helping her take off her flippers. 
“It’s pretty amazing.  You should see it with scuba gear.  You can go lower and see more types of fish.  Larger ones too.”

“I’m not sure if I want to see larger ones.  Doesn’t larger mean more teeth?”

Carlo laughed.  “No necessarily.”

“Where are we going for lunch?’ 

“There’s a small restaurant on this side of the island.  It shouldn’t be too difficult to get to from here.”
  He started the engine and pulled up the anchor.  “Why don’t you go below and change.”

Kate change
d
quickly into dry clothes, braiding her hair and just letting it hang down her back.  Carlo was already changed into navy blue shorts and a white polo shirt by the time she came back up and she sat in the back of the boat and enjoyed the sea air as he maneuvered the boat along the shoreline and back into the harbor. 

They met up with the two other couples in a small restaurant with rough, wooden tables that looked like they had been around for centuries and never sa
n
ded down.  The waitress that greeted them, Lady Beth, hugged the three men, as if they were all old friends. 

She turned to the women sitting at the table, her eyes admonishing each of them.  “What you ladies doing with these bad boys
?
” she asked. 

The three men laughed and shook their heads.  “Be nice, Lady Beth.  Don’t tell them all the naughty things we’ve done or we’ll publish your recipes,” Jamil warned. 

Lady Beth shook her finger at them, “I know you boys wouldn’t do that.  You know I’d come up to those cold places you call home and wallop each and every one of you.”  Turning back to the group, she smiled,
“You
all gonna
have the fried fish sandwiches today
?
  It’s the best.”

The men laughed.  “
You’re the boss, Lady Beth
,”
Phillip
said and sat down in one of the seats, putting his arm around Melissa. 

“Good boys,” Lady Beth said, wiping her hands on her flowered apron and moving quickly away.  “Six fishies,” she called to the cook and started pouring lemonade into mismatched glasses. 

They sipped the lemonade and laughed about the day
’
s excursions.  No one believed that Carlo and Kate spent the morning snorkeling but Carlo just laughed off their suspicions.  The fish sandwiches were wonderful.  There was some sort of seasoning that created a lemony taste with a kick.  The fried part was not greasy but was crunchy.  Ashley asked how the sandwiches were made but Lady Beth just laughed and shook her head as she walked away, mumbling about
the
pointlessness
of
giving family secrets away to skinny women.

They moved on down the street to a noisy bar that was playing jazz music that spilled out onto the street.  All six of them joined in the dancing, playing darts, pool and various games.  The afternoon slid into the evening and they settled for a variety of appetizers for dinner and drinks. 

Kate stuck with less potent drinks
this time
, eventually switching to club soda by the early evening.  She’d had too much to drink the night before and didn’t want to get into the same predicament she’d been in with Carlo this morning.  She had fuzzy memories of the night before, and she thought she might have done something inappropriate last night too.  But Carlo just laughed knowingly at her
when she asked him about it
and pulled her back onto the dance floor, swinging her around
, making her laugh gaily
with all the moves
he expertly put her through
. 

The night was wonderful as they all made their way back to the ship.  Carlo walked her to her room and leaned her against the wall of the hallway.  “Are you going to invite me in?” he asked.

“No,” she laughed but enjoyed Carlo flirting with her even though it was dangerous.

“Why not?” he asked, feigning a wounded look.

“Because it wouldn’t lead anywhere you’d like it to go so what’s the point?” she challenged and tried to slip under his arm.

He wasn’t going to let her get away with that though.  He spun her around so her back was against the wall.  “Are you telling me that if I kissed you right now, you wouldn’t melt in my arms?”

“Carlo, please don’t
.
”

“What’s the answer?  You’re saying that it wouldn’t go anywhere.  That’s your mind speaking but your body is telling you something completely different.  Why don’t we listen to your body for a while?”

Kate wriggled against him, trying to escape.  She knew exactly what would happen if
he kissed her.  And she wasn’t
sure if there would be another interruption to stop him.

“Carlo, you don’t have to prove anything!  I admit it.  I want you.  Obviously I can’t deny that.  But do you really want me to regret something in the morning?”

He looked at her eyes, his own intense as he shook his head. 
“I’m not sure if you’d regret it.  We seem to go up in flames each time we touch so it wouldn’t be a bad experience for either of us, would it?”

“Bad experiences tend to happen later, much later.  We don’t know each other well enough to get into this kind of relationship.”

“What are you telling me?” he asked, determined to get at the root of
why she was so afraid to commit
to a physical relationship
with him
. 

“Why can’t we be friends?’ she demanded. 

He stared at her face, his eyes glancing over her crystal blue eyes and knew there was something she wasn’t telling him.  “Why can’t we be friends?
” he repeated.  “
Because you tremble in my arms when I touch you.  And because I feel the same way about you.  Each time you touch me, even inadvertently, something happens inside me and all I can think about is getting you alone, in a bed and naked.”

She couldn’t respond to him.  Her mind was filled with the same image and her body reacted to the notion of making love to him.

He nodded when he noticed her eyes clouding up.  “I can see you feel the same way.  But you’re not going to give in to those feelings are you?”

Kate shook herself.  “Let’s just say that I gave into them once and it almost destroyed me.  I’m not willing to go through that again.”

Carlo took a step back and nodded.  “I’d figured something had happened in your past that had scared you away.  Will you tell me about it?”

“No.”

Carlo took a deep breath.  “Well, I’m a patient man.  And I can be persuasive.  So I’ll bide my time and will respect your space.  But I’m human.  It would be wise to remember that,” he said and kissed her softly on her lips.  After that, he turned and walked down the hallway, disappearing into the next room. 

Kate took a shuddering breath and opened the door to her own room.  She pulled off her clothes, showered and brushed her teeth, feeling some steadiness with the routine.  She slipped into the bed naked again, enjoying the sensuousness of the sheets as she did so. 

She didn’t sleep that night though.  She stared at the ceiling, felt the ship sway gently on the ocean and imagined what it might be like to make love with Carlo. 

Would it be so horrible?  Would she be able to endure it if it wasn’t?  And what if she got pregnant?  Would he demand that she abort the baby?  She couldn’t and wouldn’t do that, but it would break her heart if he didn’t love their child the same way she knew she would.

The idea of having a baby with Carlo made her stomach clench.  She examined that idea and sighed.  She realized that she was in love with the man.  Which only made him more dangerous.  She hadn’t been in love with her one and only previous lover.  That experience had turned her off sex and intimacy for almost six years.  What would happen if Carlo had the same reaction?