In Too Deep: A Romantic Suspense Novel (2 page)

I
felt uncharacteristically
nervous after leaving Melina on the beach. I mean, it wasn’t like me at all. It was like she cast a spell over me. Her hair was kind of short, and she had just enough meat on her bones. She looked like a real woman, something I could appreciate.

Leaving Melina, I walked further down the beach, enjoying the feeling of the sun on my shoulders. I'd spent too many years in cold, dreary places that didn't get enough sunshine. But this was perfect. I'd been at the resort for a few days and had enjoyed myself completely.

I headed down to the water, which lapped at the beach gently. The Caribbean doesn't create waves like the big oceans, so I was able to wade through knee deep water with little to disturb me.

As I walked, I felt someone following me, and I turned, hoping it was Melina. Unfortunately, it was the blonde girl from the pair who'd been heckling her. She was wearing a tiny bikini that left little to the imagination. "Hey."

"Hey," I said, turning away. I'm not a rude person by nature, but I didn't want her to have any impression that I was interested. Apparently my action was misunderstood. That or the girl didn't have any familiarity with being rejected. I’d bet on the latter.

Unfortunately, I forgot one of the first rules of the so-called pickup laws, which is ignore that which you want to attract. The girl followed me, splashing through the water to catch up to me. "My name’s Tiffany," she said, giving my arm a touch. "My friend and I were kind of wondering if you'd like to have a drink."

I glanced over and had my suspicions confirmed as it was the same girl that I'd seen her with before. She’d been here about as long as I had I think. I’d seen her around. From what I could tell, she was here to see if she could engage in enough debauchery to make a porn star blush. Obviously, Tiffany was here for the same purpose.

"No thanks," I said dismissively. “I’d prefer to keep my kidneys."

Tiffany laughed at my joke, which wasn't as much of a joke as I'd let on, and grabbed my bicep. "Come on, stud. You can get yourself some stories to tell the boys back at work."

I turned and fixed Tiffany with a withering stare. “Look, I’m normally not the rude type, but you don’t seem to be getting the message so I’ll try it a different way,” I said softly, pulling my arm out of her grip. "I wouldn’t let my dick anywhere within ten feet of your diseased, stretched out bodies if aliens invaded and you two were the only chance we had for repopulating the human race."

Tiffany's face went from shock to sullenness to rage in the course of about five seconds. She probably didn't get rejected often, and I doubt anyone had the guts to say something to her like I just did. She was certainly a country-club type girl, whose father probably allowed her to want for nothing. "What are you, some fucking faggot?"

I ignored her and walked away, heading out of the water. She hurled insults at my back, the usual litany of a spoiled child who didn't get her way, but I didn't really notice the diatribe except for the splash of cool water across my back. "Fucking prick!”

Making my way up the beach, I exchanged amused glances with the staffer I passed. He’d seen it all and just shook his head. I guess at a resort with a new reputation for being a bit wild and sexy, he'd seen a lot.

Checking out a cruiser bike from the shack, I decided to do a quick couple of miles around the island. While the total amount of tracks was probably less than three-quarters of a mile total, the island did have a large hill that dominated most of the terrain. Going up that thing was a great way to get my heart pumping, and after about forty minutes or so of going up the hill, cruising down and circling back around, I was feeling good about things.

I made one last trip up the hill, finding a clearing area that gave me a nice view of the main portion of the resort. I could look miles out into the sea, letting me clear my mind. I sat down on the loamy earth, assuming a lotus pose on the forest floor and starting my deep breathing. It's an important part of my daily routine.

"
Einz, zwei, drie, vier
....." I started in German, reaching twenty before switching over to Chinese. Chinese gave way to Finnish, then Icelandic, and finally Spanish before I reached one hundred. I was centered and opened my eyes to just sit back and observe the natural beauty of the resort.

This was a heck of a place for my yearly retreat
, I thought to myself as I leaned back against a tree trunk.
A lot better than last year
.

It was true. Last year I'd settled for two weeks in the Sangre de Cristo mountains around Taos. Beautiful, but too austere for the inner peace that I sought. I'd spent too much time in desolate places.

I admired the flew for a few more seconds, then got to my feet. I had just enough time to enjoy a light lunch and some reading in my room before it was time to get ready for my date with Melina. I hadn't been on a real date in a while, I couldn’t afford to get too attached. With the secrets that I knew, anyone that got close to me could be in danger. But there was something about Melina, in her eyes, that made me forget, that made me want to get to know her. I actually felt a little bit of anxiety as I rolled down the mountain toward the main part of the resort.

I
had
no idea what the hell I was doing, dressing up for dinner. I hadn't been on an actual formal date in months, at least, being so busy with my work, and the last boyfriend I had wasn’t the sort of guy who got dressed up. Jeans and a polo shirt was about the best I could expect from him, and a romantic dinner was a trip to Olive Garden. Nothing against Olive Garden, I loved the place, but would it hurt to go somewhere a little nicer every now and then?

Finally, at about five forty-five, I got frustrated as I couldn't decide for the fifth time between the skirt I'd packed and the one dress I'd slipped into my suitcase on a last minute whim. I picked up my room phone and dialed room 275. The phone kept ringing, and I was just about to hang up when Cameron picked up. "Hello?"

"Cam? It's Melina, you know, from the beach today?"

“Of course, hi Melina," Cam said. “I was hoping you’d call. What’s up?”

"Well, I have a problem," I said.

“What is it,” he asked, his voice dropping in disappointment. "You need to break our dinner?"

I nearly dropped the phone I was so shocked. First, I'm not the sort of woman who breaks a date. Second, I damn sure would never break a date with a man like him. “Of course not," I said quickly before he could continue. "I just wanted to know what you were wearing. I've been sitting here in my room for the past half hour trying to figure out what to wear and I'm stuck."

Cam's sigh of relief combined with laughter was audible even over the phone line, and I had to chuckle in response. "Did you really think I was calling to break our date?"

“Maybe, who knows,” Cam said. "That, and I thought I'd look damn foolish going down to dinner in my best suit and tie. That isn't overdressed for you, is it?"

"No, it sounds great," I replied. "Actually, it makes my decision easy. I'll meet you down at the restaurant in fifteen minutes."

"Sounds great. See you out front," Cam said before he hung up. I set my phone down and quickly changed into my dress, zipping the side and pulling my sling backs on three minutes before six o'clock.

I was still nervous as I walked down the stairs to the restaurant. From what I'd read, this place had top quality food. Part of it was that as one of the smallest in the chain, the chef was able to put in more individual effort toward making a tighter menu. At least, that’s what the reviews said.

Cam was waiting for me just like he'd promised, wearing a pale gray suit, white shirt with a lime and blue striped tie that looked amazing on him. I couldn’t wait to find out who Cameron Swagger really was. At least I'd have plenty to talk about at dinner.

Cam's eyes lit up when he saw me coming down the hallway from the stairwell, and I swore that a hint of pink touched his cheeks as he watched me approach. "You look. . .” he began, then stuttered. “You look amazing."

"Why thank you, Mr. Swagger," I said, smiling naturally. "And you look dashing. Shall we?"

The host seated us at our table, where Cam took the gentlemanly step of actually holding my chair for me before he took a seat. I felt my own heat rise as he gracefully sat down, and I looked around. "Where are the menus?"

"The restaurant doesn't do printed menus for dinner service," Cam said. "Our server should tell us what's on for tonight."

"Oh. Sorry, first day here, and I'm not exactly used to this sort of place," I replied, taking my napkin and placing it in my lap. "In fact, this is the nicest vacation I've ever had."

“It’s a nice place,” Cam replied. “A little more extravagant that what I usually go for."

"Really? You look so at home. I figured you for one of the people who come to places like this all the time. What do you do? Banking? Doctor?"

He laughed hard, having to take a drink of his ice water before he could calm down. The server came by and took our orders, Cam adding in a bottle of wine that wasn't part of the normal menu but sounded great to go with our fish and saffron rice pilaf anyway. “Far from it actually, I'm nothing at all like that. I'm actually just a High School teacher."

"Shut up," I said with a laugh. "Really? How'd you get here then?"

Cam shrugged. "I had an uncle pass away six months ago, he left me a little bit. I figured why the heck not? I've always wanted to go to the Caribbean, and I’ve got two weeks before I have to go back for summer work. I help out with the JV basketball team at my school, and offseason lifting starts August first. What about you? You said this is your first time in a place like this, what do you do?"

I took a drink of my water, setting it down to shrug. I wasn’t quite buying his story, but hey, who knows. “I’m technically unemployed now. Up until a week ago I worked as the pharmacy manager for one of the major chains that I won't say because they're actually paying for this trip. My store manager gave me the employee of the year award right before corporate closed the branch down."

The server brought the bottle of wine, pouring us two glasses before leaving the bottle behind. Cam inhaled the aroma and then gave me another startling white grin. "Well then, here's to unemployment," he said, toasting me. "May your previous employer regret leaving such a valuable person behind."

"And to success for the JV basketball team," I replied, clinking glasses with him. "Where is this High School, by the way?"

Cam smirked and took a sip of his wine. I followed, impressed. It was just a bit fruity, but not overly so. If the fish was as good as I expected, it would be a great compliment. "I live in T or C."

"Where?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow. "I've heard of T and C, but that's a surf shop or something, isn't it?"

"T
or
C. Truth or Consequences, New Mexico," Cam said. "And yes, that's a real town, not just an old show or some place thought up for fictional stories. What about you? When you're not making this island all that much more beautiful, where do you call home?"

"Lima, Ohio," I said with a shake of my head. "So if you think you get jokes about where you live, try living in a town named after a bean."

"A universally hated one at that," Cam laughed. "Well then, another toast. To two people from ridiculously named places."

We toasted again and relaxed as our first course was brought to us. "The chef loves to use lots of fresh vegetables and tropical ingredients," Cam said. "If you're into steak and potatoes, you're in for disappointment."

"I can use a week of lighter fare," I said. "It was so nice of you to come over and say something after those two girls were so disrespectful. Even if they were right.”

“No, they weren't," Cam said casually as he stabbed a piece of Romaine lettuce and took a bite. "They're just jealous. And let me be clear," he said softly, but still with command in his voice. "If you think I asked you to dinner out of some sense of charity or pity, you’re mistaken. I asked you to dinner because I think you're attractive, I'm on vacation by myself, and I was hoping to get to know a pretty woman."

I blinked, then lowered my eyes. "Thank you. I mean, ever since you asked me, I've had that at the back of my mind. I guess it's hard for me to think of myself as anything other than average.”

"With those eyes and that face? You're gorgeous," Cam replied, picking up his fork again. “And I’ll admit, I checked out the rest of the package as you were lying on that lounge chair. But since we’re at a polite dinner, I'll keep those observations to myself . . . for now."

I was about to reply when I was at a loss for words, so I just smiled instead.

Cam grinned and tilted his head. “So tell me about yourself. I guess this is the point in the date where we figure out if you can tolerate my habit of sleeping in on Sundays until noon, or if I can deal with your My Little Pony obsession."

"She-Hulk, actually," I said with a laugh. "Growing up, she just kicked so much ass that I couldn't help but admire her. And she was the total package too, brains and body."

"Good point, but I always preferred Power Girl for female superheroes," Cam said. "Good character."

"You mean giant boobs," I countered, and he laughed, nodding.

"Hey, I was a teenager. And she was a lot more interesting than Psylocke," Cam countered. "Don't tell me you didn't do the same thing."

"
Touche
," I answered, thinking back to watching the Captain America movie back in 2011. In fact, thinking about it, Cam looked a lot like the super-hero. I decided to change the subject. "So why'd you move to Truth or Consequences? You don’t exactly strike me as a desert guy."

"I'm not," Cam said. "Actually, I'm originally from Chicago. I kind of messed around a lot in high school, so the only place I could get in with a decent scholarship was the University of Arizona-Flagstaff. While Flagstaff is hot in summer, it's actually colder than Chicago in winter at times, and after that, I spent a lot of time in really frigid areas. So when it came time to find a new job, I chose going back to the desert. T or C had an opening, and it's a small town, which I appreciate after growing up on the wrong side of Chicago."

I couldn’t help but notice his vague comment about
frigid areas
, but I dismissed it. If he wanted to be cryptic, I’m sure he had his reasons for doing so. “How many bullets did you dodge in school?" I asked, and he shrugged, a suddenly closed look in his eyes. "Sorry. Guess that's sensitive territory."

"A bit, but that's okay, you didn't know," Cam said. "So tell me about Lima. How'd you get into doing pharmacy work?"

"I had the grades, just not the money for college. But I could afford to do junior college, so I started there. I didn't know what I wanted to do really, and I figured wasting the money screwing around for a degree that wouldn't help me get anywhere was a waste of time, so after I got my associate's in business, I looked at the tech courses the college offered. They had a pharmacy tech course, and I already had the grades that I could qualify for a scholarship. I took it, and that was that. I actually liked my job too."

"I'm sure you can find another one. That's a job in demand a lot, right?"

“Maybe, but not in Lima," I said. "I'll probably end up moving. That was what I spent most of the past three weeks doing, job hunting and stripping down my house. I have a little one bedroom place that I'm renting, one of the former mill houses for a mill that's no longer there. So, I'm looking everywhere I can, and plan on only taking what I can fit in the back of a 98 Taurus."

"Taurus, huh? Ford girl."

I shook my head and took a sip of my wine. “More like used car girl, I’ll drive anything if it gets me from
A
to
B
.”

“Well, with the way T or C is, you're pretty much an outcast if you don't have some sort of pickup truck or SUV, so I've got a Dodge Dakota."

Our main courses arrived, and I watched as Cam ate with a unique blend of freaky speed and total fastidiousness, devouring his entire plate in the amount of time it took me to sample half of the coconut rice with cilantro and grilled dorado. Still, he didn't spill a single grain of rice or flake of fish. He looked up and smiled sheepishly as he set his fork down.

"Sorry, I've gotten into the habit of eating quickly. You'd be amazed at how much work a small town basketball coach and English teacher has to do. Squeezing in a few minutes to actually relax before tackling the newest pile of tests is vital."

"Not a problem," I said, taking another bite of my dorado. "Did you get to taste it, or will your brain just get the signals later on?”

Cam laughed and sat back. "A little bit of both. It was good, but I think tomorrow I'm going to hit up the poolside grill. I've gone forty-eight hours without any red meat, and I'm jonesing for a burger."

Our date continued, and before I knew it my plate was empty, the wine was gone, and the two of us were talking and sharing all sorts of stuff. When the server came over to inform us the next service needed to be seated, I was shocked to see that we'd been talking for close to two hours. "Wow, time flies."

"It's still early," Cam commented, looking at his watch. "I'm not ready for the night to end."

"Me either," I said. “What’d you have in mind?”

Cam seemed to be thinking. "You know, this resort is supposed to have a small nightclub built into it. I haven't checked it out yet. What do you think?"

"On one condition," I said with a nod, wiping my mouth. "I'm wearing slingbacks, so if you ask me to dance, you better be ready to let me rest my feet."

"Deal," Cam said with a laugh. He stood up with panther-like grace and tucked his chair in before offering me his hand. "May I?"

I took his arm, a thrill of warmth flushing my body as I wrapped my hand around the swell of his bicep beneath his suit coat. "So tell me Mr. Swagger, are you this much of a gentleman all the time?"

Cam smiled and led me down the corridor toward the lobby. "Usually, but I'm not always a gentleman. I can be aggressive when I need to be."