Page 32 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
u, and you wouldn’t be all tied in knots like this if it was just about a quickie with a guest. You feel like you’re cheating on Carlos?”
“No! Carlos and I aren’t together!” she exclaimed.
“He know that?”
“Yes, we have an agreement!” Although, after last night, she should probably put the brakes on said agreement.
“If you say so,” Dalton drawled.
They stood there, silent for a moment, Dalton waiting on some kind of response from her that she wasn’t ready to give. She didn’t have the words to express everything she was feeling, and they weren’t going to magically appear just because Dalton was waiting.
“It meant something, didn’t it?” he asked, breaking the silence.
“No!” she exclaimed quickly. “Maybe. It’s complicated.”
“Because of…” he said, trailing off, trying to prompt her to continue.
“Yes, because of that,” she said, emphasizing the word “that,” not wanting to say it out loud. There were exactly two people on the planet other than her and Cullen who knew what had gone down that morning at La Isla Bonita. While she’d left out some of the details, like hitting him, when she had told Drea when they were teenagers, she had fully confided everything to Dalton one night over a bottle of local rum. Their physical relationship may have fizzled, but he was oddly easy to talk to and she often found herself confiding in him. Not that he was much of a sharer in return, but his lack of wanting to reciprocate made it easy for her to be the center of attention in whatever moment she needed it, and she was always grateful after they talked. The man was a vault. He’d never shared anything that she told him, and always did a damn good job of playing like he knew nothing whenever she said something that had been news to the rest of the group but not him. She knew that no matter what she said to him now it would stay a secret, just like everything else she’d ever told him.
“I know you know this, but you are the only person other than Drea who knows what happened ten years ago, okay? And I’d really like to keep it that way.”
“Of course, Lee, you know I’d never betray you like that,” he said, looking her directly in the eye with a serious furrow to his brow. “What exactly happened?”
“So yes, we fooled around the other night and yes, it was more than just a ‘boob squeeze’ as you so eloquently put it. Both literally and figuratively.”
“Get it, girl,” he said in a high-pitched voice, holding up a hand for a high five. When she didn’t return the gesture, he put his hand down and his look turned serious again. “Okay, so, did history repeat itself?”
“No, nothing like that,” she sighed. “He…apologized, sort of, and, I don’t know. He asked me to join him on the boat today, to ‘get to know him,’ and I just…you know what? Nothing. It all means nothing.”
“No, don’t do that, darlin’. Don’t blow this off. You wouldn’t be all wound up like this if you really thought it was nothing,” he said. His voice was calm and reassuring. “Know what I think? I think it means something to you, Lee, a lot of something. But you’ve been hiding feelings for him for so long, feelings masked as hate, that now you don’t know how to react.”
“Are you suddenly Freud?”
“Am I wrong?” he clapped back.
“Yes, very! I don’t have feelings for Cullen Cruz!”
“You can continue to lie to yourself, but I think in time you’re gonna realize that’s all you’re doing,” he said, throwing his arm over her shoulder and turning her so they could finish heading toward the boat. “But for now, we’ve got a boat trip!”
Cullen made his way down the jetty at the marina full of excitement for the day that lay ahead. The sun was sparkling off the water and he could feel the heat of the day starting to stir in the air. It’d been a long, long time since he’d felt this way, and he couldn’t put his finger on just what it was that he was feeling. Excitement, yes, but there was also something else. Whatever it was, it felt damn good and he didn’t want to take it for granted.
It had been easier to talk Leona into joining him on this excursion today than he had planned for. When she had stormed into his bungalow last night, he was sure that she was going to hit him again. He couldn’t blame her. After all, he’d deserved it then and he probably still deserved it now. Not to mention, he hadn’t had a chance to sit and talk with her the way he had her mother, so she still didn’t know the entire story behind his motivation. Hell, she didn’t know any of the story behind his motivation. It’s not like he’d been incredibly forthcoming about anything over the last ten years. It’d been all about keeping her at arm's length so that he behaved himself. He'd been punishing her for his own bad behavior. But that all changed now.
Last night had not gone as he had expected at all. It hadn’t been his intention to kiss her, but his body took over in the moment and he gave in to the spark between them. Standing there, with her perched in between the sinks, he felt so at ease that he had no motivation to move, ever. Her lips were lush and soft against his, and her curves felt perfect under his hands as he caressed her all over. He wanted more. He wanted to wrap his whole body around her, to just hold her against him. He wanted to worship her with his hands and mouth, to make love to her long and slow, instead of just a hurried frenzy up against the shower wall. But he also hadn’t wanted to push his luck and send her running away as she had the other night. He needed to find a way to keep her coming back.
Now, walking down the pier, he was looking forward to a day filled with her smile and laughter, getting to know her better. Having her friends there would allow her to let go a little more, be a little more at ease. Or so he hoped. He also hoped that maybe it would show her another side of him that she hadn’t seen over the years. He saw her a little way ahead of him, talking with one of the guys he’d seen around the resort. David? Dawson? It was something like that. It had occurred to Cullen the other night after dinner that he looked just like that pretty-boy American actor, the one with the super famous dad, whose name he also couldn’t think of. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but Leona was looking pretty animated about something.
As he approached, he saw the pretty-boy put his arm around Leona and pull her in close as they turned to head to the boat. Cullen could feel a swell of envy rise up in him but tried to tamp it down, reminding himself that they were coworkers. That was all they were, right? She wouldn't have fucked him like she did last night or let him touch her the way he did in the car if she was with someone. Regardless, he didn’t like seeing another man’s arm around her.
When everyone was finally on the boat, they did a quick round of introductions. There were only six of them on this trip today—Kyle, Drea, Dalton, Leona, himself, and some girl he’d never seen, who introduced herself as Maeve Patterson. According to Drea, Maeve was brand-new to the resort staff, brought on to help manage the new spa that was about to open. While Drea said she dragged Maeve along so she could get to know everyone, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was also to even out the numbers on the boat. The tall, pretty brunette had a timid way about her, but she smiled at him politely. He could tell she wasn’t exactly sure who he was, which was more than fine by him.
Kyle and Dalton gave a brief safety talk once they were out in open water, although it seemed like they were just going through the motions. It was obvious that other than he and Maeve, the other four spent more than their fair share of time doing this and knew how it all worked. But once they were done, Drea busted out the rum punch and everyone relaxed even more.
He saw Leona, Drea, and Maeve sitting on the trampoline that was up at the front of the catamaran, so he started to make his way toward them, hoping to get some face time with the pretty little blonde in the ice-blue bikini. However, before he could reach them, Dalton approached him, hand extended.
“Dude, I promise this will be my only fanboy moment of the day,” he said, shaking hands with Cullen. “I know we were introduced the other day at breakfast, but seriously cool to mee
t you. I’ve been a fan since I was kid. Forget Ronaldo, you’re the greatest footballer there is.”
