She nearly spilled her drink.
She ran her tongue across her lips. Brice tracked the sensual movement and wondered if it was as sweet as it looked.
“I…I don’t know what you mean,” she finally managed to say.
“You’re frowning. Is the drink that bad,” he repeated.
The sun blazed behind him, casting him in a magnificent glow that created an almost surreal image.
“Oh.” Her light laugh fluttered and stumbled in her throat. “Just thinking.”
“Antigua isn’t the place for deep thoughts. Mind if I sit down?” He indicated the empty chair beside her with a lift of his chin.
“I’m sure it’s fine.” Don’t act too eager. Play it cool.
He lowered his long, lean body onto the chair and stretched out. Naomi tried to swallow over the hard, dry knot that rose in her throat as she glanced down at the bulge in his swim trunks and the tight muscular thighs. A line of perspiration broke out along her hairline. She uncrossed and recrossed her legs. Breathe.
“As I was saying, Antigua isn’t a place for deep thought. You’re supposed to be having fun.” He turned his head to look at her and immediately had to order his body to back down and stay under control. He dropped his towel across his lap.
Up close, she was more tantalizing than he’d first thought. The warm brown of her skin, tinted by the rays of the sun, was as appealing as an appetizer before the main course. Her face looked as if it had been carved by a sculptor’s expert hand: wide, dark eyes, prominent cheekbones reminiscent of the ancestors, and silky black hair. Her long neck led down to the rise of heaven. Her breasts were perfect, full and round, not too much, and not too little, her chest tapering down to tight abs, all balanced on dancer’s legs. Her body could put the Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model to shame. That dowdy outfit she had on the day before definitely hid her assets. This was one hot sister, from the top of her beautiful head down to the tips of her pink-polished toes.
Naomi was amazed at the length of his lashes and how they framed his dark eyes, the smoothness of his milk chocolate skin and full lips that seemed eager to offer a smile or a sensual kiss. She forced her mind away from his mouth and what he hid beneath the towel.
“What makes you think I’m not having fun?” she asked, bringing them both crashing back to reality.
His eyes glided slowly across her face. A hint of a smile curved his mouth. “Are you?”
Her gaze was glued to his lips when he spoke, tracing the outline of them, their fullness and the way they matched perfectly with the hard lines of his face.
The raucous laughter of a group of partygoers passing in front of them snapped her back to attention.
“I’m having a ball.” She put the straw between her lips and sucked deeply.
He chuckled. “My name is Brice.”
His voice was like a gentle rumble before a storm, she thought.
“Naomi.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Naomi.”
Her heart was pounding so furiously at this point, that she was certain he could hear it.
“Are you here with friends?”
If she said no, would that paint her as desperate, she worried. But if she said yes, where would she drum up these “friends?”
“I’m on vacation,” she managed to finally shoot out.
Brice knew a cold shoulder when he felt one. It was obviously a mistake. He should have listened to his gut in the first place and stayed away. He pushed up from his seat. “Well, enjoy your vacation, Naomi.”
Before she could think of anything to say to stop him, he was walking away. Naomi slumped back against the chair and sighed. That went swimmingly, she thought, her spirits sinking. She may as well paint a note on her forehead saying “stay away.”
She reached for her sunglasses and put them back on to hide the disappointment in her eyes. This was only her first day and she was turning men away already. She had nine more to go. Would the rest of her time in paradise be just as miserable?
Brice stole a parting glance at Naomi from across his left shoulder. That was a mistake, he thought, while he watched her return to her haughty pose, throwing up the barrier and her dark glasses. He shook his head and strode toward the hotel lobby, then took the elevator to his room. He had no one but himself to blame for the annoyance he felt. But he could certainly blame Naomi for the uncomfortable tightness in his groin. He should have paid attention to his gut instinct and kept his distance from the ice queen. There were plenty of lovely, available women on the island who would welcome his company. But the truth was, he’d been on the island for a week and not one of these bathing beauties had caught his eye. Until Naomi. He wasn’t the type of guy to be so easily dissuaded. His philosophy had always been “only take no for an answer when you have exhausted all possibilities.” He hadn’t even put up the good fight yet. He smiled to himself. Ms. Naomi, I’m going turn that ice into liquid fire.
Chapter Two
“So tell me, tell me. How was your first day?” Alexis asked.
“Before we get to me, how is your mom?”
Alexis blew out a sigh. “She’s doing better. But she really put a scare into me this time. COPD is no joke but she refuses to stop smoking. Just makes me crazy. They had to intubate her this time to get her lungs working. Girl, it was crazy. She should be coming home by the end of the week. I’m getting a home attendant for her. Hopefully, they can keep an eye on her.”
Naomi harrumphed. Alexis’s mother, Sylvia, was a chronic smoker and over the past few years it had begun to really take its toll. This wasn’t her first trip to the hospital and if she didn’t do something about her habit, it wouldn’t be the last. She worried about Sylvia, and particularly about Alexis. As much as Alexis may fuss about her mother, she adored her. Sylvia had been a single mom who sacrificed to make sure that Alexis had whatever she needed and Alexis never forgot that.
“Well, you just tell her to behave herself and that I’m thinking of her.”
“I will. So, now back to you. How is it going?”
Naomi hugged the phone between her cheek and shoulder while she took off her sandals and put them in the closet. “Could be worse, I suppose.”
“Oh, Nay, what happened? You didn’t introduce yourself as doctor and act like your usual self did you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She smoothed the bedcovering and sat down.
“You know exactly what I mean. Distant and above it all.”
“You’re wrong for that, Lexi,” she said, feigning hurt.
“Did you at least try to meet anyone?”
She thought about the gorgeous man named Brice who kept invading her thoughts and then her space, and what a disaster that turned out to be. Finally, she spilled it all to Alexis. She could almost see her friend shaking her head with disappointment.
“Girl, what am I going to do with you? Don’t you remember anything that I told you?”
Naomi sighed. “Lexi it’s useless. I’m not like you. I’m not a party girl. I’d just as soon teach my class naked than flirt with a perfect stranger.”
Alexis moaned. Naomi Clarke was clearly the African-American version of Dr. Brennan on the television show Bones. They were both unbelievably brilliant, beautiful and totally naive about the ways of the regular world. Rather than give in to feelings, they would prefer to rationalize everything away. It was both endearing and frustrating.
She’d lost count