Bailey was afraid she was going to throw up. Or pass out. Or scream. Or maybe melt into a puddle or something. What on earth was Zack Elliot, the man she'd walked away from despite the pain it caused her, doing here on Mimosa Key? And at the Casa Blanca? Why wasn't he in Nowhere, Alaska, immersed in his dream of a life of flying? And just like that, a truckload of memories slammed into her. She wondered if it would cause too much of a commotion if she just turned and ran from the lobby as fast as she could. Back to the villa. Back to...where? Naples?Don't be ridiculous.She drew in a deep breath in an effort to calm her skittering nerves, and wet her lips."What a surprise to see you here. Aren't you a long way from Alaska?" There. She sounded calm, didn't she? Not as if her entire life had just been turned upside down and sideways.He just stood there for a long moment, staring at her, apparently having as much trouble getting himself under control as she was."I, uh, flew a cli
Bailey was desperate to say something to break the silence, so she blurted out the first thing that came to mind."So how do you like Alaska?"When he took a moment to answer her, she wondered if there was something wrong."I left Alaska," he said at last."Oh?" Smart answer, Bailey. Duh! "But I thought it was everything you wanted"He nodded. "It was, for a long time. Uncle Nate had bought a small charter company and steadily built it into one of the premier charter services in the state. God, Bailey." His smile said it all. "You wouldn't believe the places I've flown. Most of Alaska is accessible only by plane, so we were flying people and supplies into places so desolate, sometimes I thought I'd reached the end of the world." His eyes got a faraway look. "It was like being as close to heaven as you could get. Sunrise on all that pristine snow was incredible.""So why did you leave?" Maybe she could just keep him talking about himself and not about the two of them.He was quie
"Bailey?"Bailey turned to Neil Rothbart seated to her left. "Yes, Neil?""Nothing, really. You just looked like you were deep in thought." He studied her with keen eyes. "Everything okay? Any problems at the firm I should know about?""No." She shook her head. "None at all. In fact, everything's great.""We were pleased to see you'd snagged Hyerdahl Industries as a client." Neil's voice broke into her mental conversation with herself. "That's a big one."She certainly knew that. She'd worked for a year to get Evan Hyerdahl to agree to switch to Blake, Rothbart and Padilla as his corporate counsel. She'd spent a lot of hours on his boat when he came to Naples, chatting with him and members of his board. She knew they figured in every major decision he made, so it was worth the investment of time. She also was aware he'd checked with two other conglomerates she handled and had done an intense study of the firm itself. That was okay. A man didn't grow a billion dollar enterprise wit
When Bailey opened the door and saw Zack standing there, the outdoor light shining on him, the blue shirt he now wore the exact color of his eyes, for a moment, she simply could not breathe. Her pulse ratcheted up so much she was sure she could hear it pounding in her head. She was afraid she'd actually lick her lips.Big mistake, Bailey. The last thing you need is to be alone with him."Okay if I come in?" he teased."Oh. Of course. Yes." Idiot.She opened the door wider and stepped back to let him inside. He stopped right in front of her and dipped his head, inhaling."Still wearing the same scent of jasmine that always knocked me out.""I can't believe you remember it after all this time."He cupped her chin and tilted her face up so he could look directly into her eyes."There's not a damn thing I've forgotten about you, Bailey. Not one single thing." He dropped his hand and looked around the living room. "Quite a place, this resort. Must have cost them a bundle to build."
"Well, what do you expect when you didn't take it seriously enough to tell me something this enormously important?"She had to remember this was the hurt talking."I was thinking of you." She twisted the wine glass. "You had this wonderful opportunity to do the thing you loved more than anything in the world, and I knew you had to focus on just that. A wife would have been a distraction to you.""A wife would have been wonderful to come home to after every flight. Especially if that wife was you. And who said I loved it more than anything in the world? More than you?"Bailey distracted herself with another sip of wine and tried to deflect the conversation. "Are you telling me that, in all these years, you never met someone else you wanted to marry? Not one single person?"He leaned forward. "I told you that on the beach. You were it for me, Bailey. No one else ever came close. You have no idea how insane I was when I couldn't get in touch with you. Especially when I couldn't even
It was still there, the magic she'd never felt with anyone else. Not that she'd tried to, of course. Whenever she looked at another man, all she ever saw was Zack-his masculine body, his square-jawed face, the dark curly hair, and blue eyes the color of the morning sky. The curve of his lips when he smiled.Oh god!The walls of her sex throbbed, and she knew her panties had to be soaked, just from this contact. She pressed herself against him as hard as she could, every nerve and particle throbbing with hunger for him, a hunger that had never faded in all these years. Someone moaned softly. And she didn't know which one of them it was.How had she ever thought she could walk away from him, shut him out of her life, and never want to be with him again? He owned her heart, and it was time she admitted it to herself. She realized she'd done a terrible thing, something she'd have to finally admit to him. But not right now.She broke the kiss but not his hold on her. "I-I thought we wer
"Gorgeous. Still totally gorgeous.""I'm a lot older." She swallowed. "The body's not quite the same.""It's still beautiful to me." He stroked his palms down her hips and over her tummy. "It will always be beautiful to me, no matter how old you get."She swallowed and closed her eyes, not sure she wanted to see his reaction as he took in every inch of her skin, every dip and swell and curve. When he didn't move his hands again or say anything, she forced herself to open her eyes and look at him. The mixture of acute hunger, desire, and lust she saw burning there nearly did her in."Gorgeous," he repeated again then dropped to his knees. "A taste. I have to have a taste."He nudged her thighs apart, coasting his thumbs gently over her skin before pressing his mouth to her core, panties and all. He stroked the length of her with his hot tongue, pressing the flimsy fabric into her heated, wet flesh. She balanced herself with her hands on his shoulders, fingers digging into muscles h
Zack had decided not to eat dinner at the resort. He'd ended up at a friendly Mexican restaurant called South of the Border-which the bartender told him locals referred to as SOB. The food was unexpectedly good, and, by eating at the bar, he was able to soak up a lot about the area. The chatty bartender apparently loved to gossip, and Zack was more than eager to listen to everything he had to say. Everything he learned helped him flesh out the picture of Bailey as she was today. Where she worked, where she played, ate, hung out.Last night had been incredible. Better than he remembered. Maybe because they were older, took their time with things. He hadn't forgotten the way to touch her to arouse her, the special places that set her on fire. And when she took him into her body, her sex hot and wet around him, he nearly lost his mind. It wasn't just as good as it had been. It was better. A damn sight better.He sipped his Mexican beer, trying to relive every minute of the previous nigh