Sunset Tryst
Sun, sand, surf…and sex.
Riley Watson is looking to kick off
her vacation a little early as the convention she’s attending in a gorgeous
Florida beach town winds down. When two sexy men offer her an unforgettable
night of heat and passion, the last thing she expects is a maelstrom of searing
emotions. Together, Garrett and Evan are her most vivid erotic fantasy—and her
most heartbreaking reality. As red-hot desire and aching intimacy escalate,
Riley is forced to pack a lifetime of ecstasy into mere days. But after nature
takes a bite out of her unexpected affair, a gut-wrenching goodbye might be all
they have left as a reminder of their sunset tryst.
A Romantica®
contemporary ménage erotic romance
from Ellora’s Cave
Kristin Daniels
Dedication
To my mom, who, without knowing it, taught me to never
hesitate when it came to seeking out my dreams, to reach for the stars with all
my gusto and to always be true to myself. This life we’re given can be either
short or long, or both at the very same time. Dementia might’ve taken her away
from me too soon, but she’ll forever be with me in my heart.
Acknowledgment
Huge thanks to Jim Summers, Captain of the Fat Jax,
Pensacola Shark Fishing, for his palpable passion, for his in-depth and vivid
answers to my many (many!) questions, and for his willingness to help out this
shark-fishing neophyte. Our back-and-forth emails were a pleasure, Jim.
A woman on a mission, that was Riley Watson.
She’d spent the last eight hours learning about cutting-edge
treatments and diagnoses for tears to the meniscus of the knee. The first half
of the day was informative and actually interesting, but the afternoon session
had quickly become a rehashing of the morning program, thanks so much to
stupid-question guy. Every conference she’d ever been to had one and this time
wasn’t the exception. By three o’clock, an annoying twitch had developed in her
eye. By four, an impatient hum in her chest captured every bit of her
attention. And by five? Well, by then she’d pretty much felt like toast.
As a physician’s assistant, she’d been sent to this
conference by the director at the clinic where she worked. She’d learned a
handful of new techniques, listened to countless spiels on up-and-coming drug
therapies and typed pages worth of notes on her laptop in the last three days.
To say she was glad it was the last night of the conference seemed like a vast
understatement. She’d never been so ready for a cocktail and some desperately needed
downtime in her life. And as she wormed her way through the hotel’s
still-packed atrium and headed straight for her new favorite place—a dimly lit
pub tucked away at the far end of the lobby—she honestly wasn’t looking for
anything more than an opportunity to unwind.
Even so, a flutter raced through her stomach when the
bartender—the one she secretly hoped would be here tonight—greeted her with a
double-take the instant she walked in.
“Well, well,” he said with a smile before he tilted his head
seductively to the side. “Isn’t this a treat. I didn’t think I’d get to see you
again. Most everyone else I talked to said they were cutting out early to spend
a little time on the beach before they had to leave.”
Wasn’t it funny how a simple smile and just the right words
could alter a person’s perspective? In the span of a finger snap, her thoughts
sparked with a few naughty ideas and she went from wanting this night to be
over to wondering where it might actually end up.
“Not me.” As she hopped onto the barstool, she hooked her
purse and the convention bag onto the back and swung her legs around to face
front. “Being the trooper I am, I decided to stick the workshops out until the
end. Fun in the sun comes after,” she said.
“I’d have to say it’s my lucky day, then.”
Her cheeks warmed at the flattery and she prayed the sultry
mood lighting inside the pub would hide their pinkness. She didn’t usually
blush this easily. That she reacted with such an evident display spoke to how
effortlessly this guy was able to draw her in—even if she didn’t know his name
or anything else about him. She bit back the urge to fan herself with her
fingers and instead propped her elbows on the edge of the bar, feeling not
quite edgy, but hmm…restless, maybe.
That was when
he
sauntered through the door. Garrett W.,
his name tag read. She knew that not because she could read it from across the
room now, but because she’d been staring at this particular hunk of man along
with the masculine handwritten script on his name tag for a good portion of today’s
neverending workshops.
Talk about your lucky days…
Mr. Bartender slipped a napkin across the bar in front of
her just as Garrett claimed the stool kitty-corner from her. He sat close but
not too close. She folded her arms and crossed her legs with a teasing,
slow-motion sensuality and played the entire situation utterly cool.
Garrett, a hot-shot drug company rep, had shown up for
today’s meeting to tout his corporation’s latest and greatest anti-inflammatory
injections. She’d meant to meander her way over to chat with him during one of their
breaks, but she hadn’t wanted to interrupt the quiet conversation she’d spotted
him having with the petite blonde from a St. Louis treatment center right
before the afternoon session. They’d been sitting together earlier in the day
and it was quite apparent that the magnetic Mr. Garrett W. admired the tight
pink sweater she filled out. Made Riley do a mental rummage through her closet
at home, wondering if she owned anything similar that might catch his eye in the
same way.
Lord, she wished she could pinpoint exactly what it was
about
this
man that got to her. It was something more than his powerful
charisma, even more than his enticing good looks. She loved his dominating
presence just as much as she loved his dark, wavy hair and his equally dark,
piercing eyes. And his smile. Good God, his smile. Simply breathtaking.
And okay, in all fairness she’d admit that maybe a quick cocktail
wasn’t exactly what she really needed right now.
“What can I get for you?” the bartender asked her.
She threw him a charming smile, but the show wasn’t so much
for him as it was for the sexy man to her left. She could feel Garrett watching
her and her entire body buzzed at the thrill. “In celebration of this
exhausting convention finally being over, I’m thinking I should try something
different. Something fun. Any suggestions?”
Mr. Bartender was hot in a Chippendales kind of way, and he
knew it too, if the way he licked his lips while giving her the once-over was
any indication. Then again, maybe it was his blond, beach-bum good looks or the
form-fitting black shirt with the white bow tie and matching cufflinks that
reminded her of the gorgeous dancers. Or the way he entranced her with just a
single glance any time she stopped in for a cup of coffee after lunch or for a
quick glass of wine before a group of them headed out to dinner. They’d not
really spoken other than some innuendo-laced chitchat when she had placed an
order, but oddly enough, she’d grown accustomed to seeing him here.
He met her appreciative smile with a provocative one of his
own and she nearly melted in her seat. “I make a killer chocolate martini. Or
maybe you’d like something more tropical? Like a little Sex on the Beach?”
The offer really could’ve been for the actual drink, but the
fact they were cozied up in a convention resort’s bar in Destin, Florida, along
with the way he leaned in and lowered his eyelids as he oozed the suggestion
had her seriously doubting that. She waggled her finger and chuckled. “Sand
gets in too many hard-to-reach places. Besides…”
“Evan,” he offered when she paused. “Evan Tucker.”
“Evan Tucker.” She smiled gently. “Well Evan, I’m much more
of a chocoholic. That martini sounds as if it’d be right up my alley.”
He straightened, and this time when he smiled, he tossed a
wink in too. “Ah, you don’t know what you’re missing out on. But just in case
you’re wondering—” He stopped to peek at her name tag. Heat sizzled over her
breasts when his gaze lingered a bit as he did so. “Riley. The offer stands.
I’ll be here for at least another half hour.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she replied with a wispy exhale
and a wink of her own even as she slid her gaze toward Garrett, who simply
shook his head and laughed. “Did I say something funny?” That she failed
miserably at masking her grin as she asked the question wasn’t too much of a
surprise.
Garrett ran a hand through his hair and she melted all over
again. The strands looked so thick. Silky. Really soft.
“Nope, not a thing. I just enjoy being right every now and
then.”
“Right? About?”
“You. I had you pegged for a flirt since I first laid eyes
on you.”
A flirt, huh? She supposed she was one since she learned to
love the excitement a little sexual banter created between a man and a woman. The
same sexual banter she wanted to get into with these two men.
She shrugged a moment later, just as her chocolate-swirled
martini was placed in front of her. “I’ve discovered that a little harmless
flirting is good for the soul.”
“Amen to that,” Evan muttered in her direction as he moved
on to Garrett. “And for you, sir?”
Garrett never broke his stare with her. The rush his
attention created made her very aware of her suddenly overactive heart rate.
“I’ll have a martini as well. But make mine top shelf and
dirty. Up, with three olives.”
Evan nodded. “You got it.”
She lifted one eyebrow. “Dirty?”
Garrett blessed her with another heart-melting look. “Yeah,
it’s the way I like most things in my life lately. A little dirty. Somewhat
rough around the edges. You know, not so typical.”
She could certainly understand that. Life was short and
there was only one ride on the merry-go-round, so why not enjoy what you got
into for as long as you were able? “Spoken like a man who goes after what he
wants.”
“I’ve been known to.”
“I’ll just bet,” she quipped and then sipped on her drink.
The decadent concoction slid down her throat and warmed a sugar-coated path
straight to her stomach. Oh, this could be dangerous. Too dangerous. Just one
and she’d be infringing on her keep-her-wits-about-her limit.
“So how was your day?”
She set the martini back onto the bar, licked away a bead of
chocolate and looked up to find two sets of eyes ogling her. Well, ogling her
lips, really.
It was Garrett who asked her the question, but the way he
focused on her mouth and then trailed his gaze lower to her neckline told her
he couldn’t care less about her answer. Feeling a tad powerful, hell, maybe
even a little mischievous, she sat straighter and casually arched her back to
thrust her assets forward. Hey, she could certainly play the game too.
“Keeps getting better, it seems.”
When the two men glanced at each other and shared one of
those
holy hell
looks, she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from
laughing. Things hadn’t always been this way for her and she had to admit she
loved the jolt enjoying a little appreciation from the opposite sex gave her.
So far, her thirties had been pretty good to her. She
finally felt comfortable in her skin—confident and sure of who she was—which
led to new opportunities and even more open doors. There was something to be
said for figuring out the person she truly was on the inside and knowing that
person well enough to be honest about what she wanted.
Or in her case tonight,
who
she wanted.
Times two.
A small group of resort guests bustled into the bar just as Garrett
and Evan seemed to gather their wits and drift back to earth. Evan shot her
another wink before heading toward the new arrivals and Garrett took complete
advantage of the other man having to go back to work. He didn’t waste any time
trading barstools to sit next to her.
A second after he lifted his martini and took a breath to
say something, a rowdy country song blared from the juke box in the corner.
Perfect timing, she mused. The music was so loud he’d have to snuggle in even
closer to talk.
Which, of course, he did.
“Here’s to the perfect ending to an otherwise ordinary convention,”
he said, mere inches from her ear.
He leaned back slowly but the moist heat where his breath
had brushed her neck lingered on. They touched glasses and sipped and she knew
from experience it wouldn’t take much to lose herself in the depths of the dark
eyes suddenly staring her down.
They sat in silence for a moment, each gauging the other
with alluring grins and a more obvious perusal. He wasn’t overly tall, five-ten
or so, but sexy as hell. Hair the color of midnight with a slight wave running
through it had her fingertips itching to explore the texture. His lips were
full and the perfect shade of dark-pink—so smooth and downright kissable.
Bulging muscles over his chest and across his shoulders led
to a set of impressive biceps, every inch not-so-hidden under a crisp white
button-down. With the sleeves rolled up to below his elbows, she was treated to
a nice view of his forearms, complete with a light dusting of hair and several
thick, ropy veins.
She bit back a strangled sigh. Oh, how she loved the feel of
strong, powerful arms—ones exactly like those—wrapped around her and holding on
tight.
He lifted his drink to his lips again and shifted on the
barstool, which only drew her attention lower. His waist was thin, tapered, and
her mouth watered when she pictured the dips and valleys of sculpted abs
waiting just beneath the soft cotton. When he settled against the seat back in
that classic spread-legged man-pose, her insides cut loose in a free-for-all.
The dark silk of his dress pants didn’t do a thing to conceal his nice-sized
package or the pair of hard, taut thighs just a little farther down.
Her stomach continued its flutter when his inspection of her
was just as thorough. The conference had been deemed business-casual, but she
always loved to dress up. Today she chose a powder-blue collared blouse,
somewhat satiny and probably buttoned one button too low. Not that her cleavage
would stop traffic, but she liked showing off what she had. She had tucked the
blouse into her short, black pencil skirt and finished the whole ensemble off
with a cute silver link belt and a pair of killer Manolo pumps.
To hell with tight pink sweaters and the like, she thought.
By Garrett’s visible appreciation, she knew the choices she made while getting
dressed this morning were certainly working to her advantage now.
Evan made his rounds behind the bar and stopped once he
reached them again. He handed over menus and said, “Either of you hungry?”
This time she couldn’t hold back her laugh. Hungry was a
perfect description, yet food wasn’t what she needed to satisfy this newfound
craving. And from the raw energy circling her and Garrett and now zipping
around to include Evan, she’d have to guess these two men would agree with her
on that. God, the sexual tension sparking between the three of them was almost
palpable.
She skimmed the late-night menu anyway, if for nothing else
than to give herself a moment to calm yet another wave of heat flooding her
cheeks. With every smoky glance or flawlessly worded innuendo these men
delivered, each cell in her body was standing up and taking notice. She loved
the rush that gave her, but at the same time she wasn’t in any hurry. She
wanted to slow down to savor each and every moment.