Scandal on the Sand

  “Excuse me, sir,” Alex said in a soft voice. “Colonel Ivory is calling your stateroom.”

  A call from his grandfather was rare, but not entirely unexpected. Sometimes, the old man had to “spend time in the trenches,” as he liked to say. “Have him hold, Alex. I’ll be right there.”

  “Do you have to go?” Liza asked when the steward walked away.

  “For a few minutes. Go up to the bridge, and I’ll meet you there. Captain Vicary will make you feel at home.”

  “I doubt I’d ever feel at home here,” she said. “But take your time, and I’ll enjoy the scenery.”

  He followed another corridor to the oversized master stateroom that took up nearly half of the second deck. Taking a deep breath, he sat in a plush office chair and picked up the satellite phone.

  “Hello, Colonel.”

  “Key West, young man? That’s never a good place for you. Bad as Vegas, in my opinion. Why don’t you go somewhere less colorful?”

  Nate smiled to himself, not at all surprised at the greeting. “I’m entertaining a young woman—”

  “Of course you are.”

  “—who we are hiring to work as an admin for the baseball team.”

  He harrumphed. “Don’t get your milk where you get your bread, son. It’s bad form.”

  It was impossible not to laugh at him. “I’ll take your counsel, sir. Is that why you’re calling?”

  “I’m calling because we haven’t seen you in over a month. Mimsy gets anxious, you know, and wants as full a table as possible for our family meal. Sunday dinner is critical time for the family.”

  Critical for bonding or for the Colonel to stick his nose into the business of every one of them? Both, Nate knew. Every Ivory who could make it was expected to show up at the “Ivory Tower” in “full uniform”—suit and tie for the men, formal dress for the women. It was tedious as hell, but they all knew better than to ignore too many Sundays and risk a surprise visit from the Colonel. “Maybe in a few weeks, sir. I’m really tied up with this new venture.”

  “If I know you, you’re tied up, all right. To the bedpost with this female friend.”

  “Actually, you’re wrong. She’s not…” Well, she was hot. And he had been thinking about kissing her for the entire trip, but…they had too many complications. “She’s got a kid.”

  “Really? Nothing wrong with that, long as you make your own.”

  Evidently, he had. He didn’t answer, his gaze moving to the open view of Key West out his sliding glass door.

  “Listen to me, Nathaniel.” Nate knew what the softening of his voice meant. The Colonel often used a different tone when he really wanted to make sure his point got across. “I’m watching for that progress you promised. You know I’m not getting any younger.”

  He was eighty-three, going on fifty. “I know, sir.”

  “And no matter what situation you get yourself into, you can depend on your family—especially me—to help you.”

  “Thank you, sir.” He thought about Dylan for a moment, longing to tell the Colonel more about the boy and the situation. It would be so easy to bring Dylan into the Ivory clan. He’d be accepted and loved and, regardless of what Liza thought, he’d be brought up right.

  Shit, what a mess. “I’ll be in touch with you, sir,” he added vaguely.

  They finished the conversation after a moment, and Nate headed back to the bridge, but before he turned the corner, he heard the pretty, musical notes of Liza laughing.

  The impact brought him to a halt, making him realize how rare a sound that was. And how much he wanted to hear more of it. She had laughed over lunch, but she’d been cautious, asking a lot of questions about his family, keeping the subject on him and not her. Now he realized, with a little regret, he’d found out very little about her. And everything in him wanted to change that.

  He came around the corner, and she was still laughing with the captain, but her face flushed slightly. “Everything okay?” she asked, her laughter fading.

  No, he thought with a start. This wasn’t okay. Every minute with her, things just got more complicated. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just...work things. You want to walk to the bow and watch the docking? It’s a lot of fun from up there.”

  “It’s fun from here, too,” Captain Vicary said with a flirtatious wink at Liza. “But you can take her.”

  Without thinking—well, maybe he thought a little—Nate reached for her hand. “Careful, he’ll have you working here if you show any interest in yachting at all.”

  She settled her pretty gaze on the captain. “We were just talking about that.”

  “She’s working for me,” he said, pulling her hand into his chest. “And it’s time we finalize that arrangement right now.”

  She let him guide her around to the bow, their feet tapping the teak deck in unison. “He’s a lady killer, you know that,” Nate said.

  “Captain Vicary?” Once again, the infectious laugh. “He let me steer for a while. It was great. I got us around that island all by myself.”

  He laughed. “With the help of a crew and a few engines, not to mention radar navigation. But I agree, it’s a kick to drive this thing.” And so was putting his hands on her waist and getting behind her, guiding her up the last narrow set of stairs to the tip of the bow.

  There, he stayed right behind her, close enough that her body molded into his and the wind blew her hair against his cheeks.

  “I swear I won’t make a ‘king of the world’ joke,” he teased.

  She tilted her head back just enough to catch his gaze. “But you are king of the world, Nate Ivory. And this thing is damn near as big as the Titanic.”

  “But more seaworthy, I hope.” The wind lifted more of her hair, and he reached out and got a handful, sliding it to the side to revel in the shape of her bare neck. And a sudden bloom of chills on her skin. “Are you cold, Liza?”

  Her body, just close enough to his so that he could feel her from shoulders to thighs, relaxed a little. “Anything but.”

  “Good.” He studied those chill bumps and the tiny dark hairs on the nape of her neck, fighting a very strong desire to lean forward a few inches and plant one little kiss on that smooth, smooth skin.

  “You know what you are, Liza?” He dragged one finger over the skin, making her shudder.

  “I bet I seem terribly pedestrian to you.”

  “Pedestrian? That is not at all the word I was thinking right now.” Delicious. Inviting. Feminine. “Why would you say that?”

  She glanced over her shoulder at him. “I’m not made for this, you know. This...life. I’m really kind of simple and ordinary, and my idea of an exciting Saturday afternoon is a trip to the Germ Factory with Dylan.”

  “The Germ Factory?” He laughed. “What the hell is that?”

  “A play place with bins of plastic balls for jumping. That’s what I do, Nate. And during the week I straighten out documentation messes for the county. I don’t...drink cocktails on yacht decks with billionaires.”

  “Well, you do today.” He looked at her for a long moment, then gently touched her chin, directing her face forward. “Now watch how fantastic your buddy Vicary is at docking. He’s going to take this thirty-foot-wide monster and slide it right there, between those two piers.”

  He felt her sigh, doing as he suggested, and letting herself slip a little closer to him. She fit perfectly there, so he rested his hands on her shoulders, and neither of them spoke, letting the sounds of the crew dropping the dock cushions on either side of the yacht and the low rumble of the engines fill the silence. A few birds squawked in greeting, somehow intensifying the tangy, briny smell of the sea.

  An unexpected lurch made Liza fall into him before she grabbed the railing for stability.

  “And speaking of straightening out documentation messes for the county…”

  “Yes?”

  “Are you taking the job as chief unraveler of red tape for my organization?”

  Slowly, she turned, t
rapped by his body and the railing, the look on her face saying she either didn’t believe him or...maybe she liked the idea. He couldn’t tell.

  “You know you want to, Liza.” As much as he wanted to kiss her right that moment, to seal the deal.

  “I’m not going to lie, Nate. I’m intrigued and interested. But…”

  “No buts, say yes.”

  “Not yet,” she replied.

  He added a little more pressure, pulling her forward as if he could just impress upon her how fantastic this idea was. “Look, I’m lost in this job. I’ve never had a freaking job in my life. I don’t want to fail, and you’re...you’re like a secret weapon. You’ve worked your whole life.”

  “You say that like it’s some kind of true accomplishment instead of a jail sentence. Plus, Nate, I hate to break it to you, but out here in the real world, everyone works their whole life. That doesn’t make me some kind of Wonder Woman.”

  “You are a Wonder Woman when it comes to land documents and official records. I’m going to work right at the Casa Blanca Resort until we get offices built on-site at the stadium, and it’s beautiful there...”

  He didn’t have her, he could tell. She was definitely waffling between “you’re out of your mind” and “no.”

  “And,” he added with a smile he hoped charmed her, “they have that amazing kids program.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What don’t you know?” he prodded. “It’s perfect.”

  “I can’t do anything until I know what’s going to happen with Dylan. And how could you work with him around and…” She shook her head. “No. No. My goal with meeting you was to get rid of you, not get closer. I can’t.”

  Without thinking, he pulled her into him, the very opposite of what she said she wanted.

  She put her hands on his chest and looked up at him, those incredible sapphire and emerald eyes wide and serious. “You want to know something about me, Nate?”

  “I actually want to know everything about you,” he confessed.

  She gave a vague smile. “Let’s start with this, the thing I dislike the most about my…situation in life. The almost-not-quiteness of it.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “It somehow always seems to haunt me. I almost-but-not-quite have an amazing son, but he’s not, you know, mine. And I can’t be sure he ever will be. I almost-but-not-quite have a beautiful, safe home in a nice development, except my mother owns it, and that makes her think she owns me. I almost-but-not-quite was in love once, too, but he...” She gave a dismissive wave. “Didn’t work out. And now I almost-but-not-quite have the perfect job offer land in my lap, except it’s...”

  “It’s what? It’s not almost-quite anything. This is a bona fide offer.”

  “I can’t spend that much time around you…with Dylan and…no.”

  Without thinking, he pulled her a little closer, just to erase the raw misery in those beautiful eyes.

  “I am common and simple and pedestrian,” she said softly, not lifting her arms to return the embrace but not pushing him away, either. “And I have very strong feelings about that child. I love him beyond description.”

  Her lower lip quivered just enough to show she was a little afraid of what he might say next. Or do. Because he couldn’t stop looking at those lips and thinking about...

  The ship lurched again, bumping the pier and slamming them together, his lips hitting right on hers in a completely unexpected kiss. For one flash of a second, neither moved, then they both slowly backed away.

  He refused to apologize, and she just let a hint of a smile lift her lips. “You know what you just did, don’t you?”

  “Changed the dynamic between us?”

  “You almost-but-not-quite kissed me.” The smile grew. “The story of my life.”

  The boat stopped with a loud horn announcing their arrival and covering up his next sentence. “Might have to change that story, Liza.”

  Chapter Seven

  The minute they stepped off the yacht to the pier, Nate pulled on a nondescript baseball cap. “Sorry,” he muttered as he added his reflective shades. “Gotta suit up.”

  “I keep forgetting I’m with a celebrity.”

  He snorted derisively. “You’re not. You’re with someone people love to say they saw in person and prove it by taking pictures.”

  “That’s a celebrity,” she said.

  “No, that’s this stupid country that makes people idols and famous even though they’ve accomplished exactly nothing in their life.”

  She glanced up at him, wishing the sunglasses didn’t deny her the chance to gauge how sincere that bit of self-deprecation really was.

  “Oh, and this helps,” he said, sliding an arm around her and tucking her tight to his flank. “Stay very close.”

  “A human shield?”

  “No, but I won’t get bothered nearly as often when I’m with someone and deep in conversation. When I’m alone, I’m like a walking target.”

  “Ugh,” she said, and not at all because she fit perfectly under his arm like she belonged there. His body was warm and hard and so, so masculine, and there was absolutely no other way to stay there without sliding her arm around his waist. “That must be a craptastic way to live.”

  “You can’t imagine.”

  A woman walked by and did a double take at him—not the usual check-out-a-cute-guy double take, either. The woman’s step slowed, her eyes narrowed, her mouth dropped to a little O as she reached for her husband to whisper something.

  Isn’t that Nate Ivory?

  Liza could practically read her lips. Nate steered them away with purpose, moving faster, keeping his head low.

  “Just keep moving and get into a crowd.”

  “Holy cow,” she murmured as they did. “You really can’t go anywhere.”

  “I can, but I’m selective.”

  “Like you can’t just go to the store and shop like a normal person.”

  “In some cities, I can. New York, LA are usually safe zones. In some places I lie low, in some I have the stores come to me, and in others, I hire bodyguards.”

  “Armed?”

  He laughed. “Of course.”

  “Whoa.” What would it be like to have to have a bodyguard? What a limiting life that would be and another really good reason for him not to have Dylan.

  He guided her to a secluded sitting area between some stores, finding a bench under a tree and choosing the empty side that faced a wall rather than all the people.

  “This life would totally suck,” she announced as they sat down.

  “What sucks is having to be rude to people when I don’t want to. I don’t want to come off as some kind of cocky asshole, because that does nothing to help my family’s image, and really, it’s just fodder for tabloids looking for the worst. I don’t mind someone knowing who I am, but I hate when I have to be a prick in order to have privacy.”

  “Well, if anyone bothers you, I’ll be a prick for you.”

  He eyed her up and down. “Sorry. You couldn’t if you tried.”

  “I could be a bitch.”

  “Doubtful. Now, listen, we need a plan,” he said. “I don’t want to just wander around here like tourists. I thought we could start by going to my friend’s house where I’d been to the party that night, but he’s not answering his phone. I left a message, and he knew I was coming.”

  “Why don’t we go to the restaurant where she worked?”

  “You know what it is?”

  She opened her purse and pulled out her cell phone, where she’d jotted down notes the night before. “I went into the office yesterday afternoon and did some digging around. I know where she worked, the apartment complex where she lived, and the number she gave ‘in case of emergency’ when she first applied for a job with the County Clerk.”

  He threw up his hands with a soft laugh. “See what I mean?”

  “What? What’s wrong with that?”

  “Nothing, and that’s the point. Yo
u’re so...efficient. You’re all prepared. You’ve gone through papers. You have names and addresses.”

  “That doesn’t make me a rocket scientist.” She laughed but had to admit the compliment warmed her.

  “Maybe not, but it would make you a hell of a right-hand...woman.”

  “I thought I was going to be the chief unraveler of red tape?”

  “You can call yourself CEO if you want.” He took the phone and read the notes. “She worked at a place called Red Suns and Hot Buns?”

  “We’re in Key West, my friend. There are lots of suns and buns.”

  He just smiled. “Let’s go.”

  Both the restaurant and apartment complex were well within walking distance, so a few minutes later, they were navigating the crowds again, with Nate holding her very close and keeping a running commentary in her ear.

  That move easily hid his face from people.

  It also sent a million chill bumps over Liza’s skin and made her force herself not to turn to him and accidently almost-but-not-quite kiss him again. One woman watched him carefully as they approached, and instantly Nate pulled Liza even closer, pressing his lips against her ear.

  “This one’s going to be trouble.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Experience. Do not make eye contact. That’s like an invitation.”

  Liza sneaked a look at her, taking in the dark hair and bangs, khaki shorts and bright yellow T-shirt. “Nothing about her says trouble,” she whispered, but just as they passed her, the woman turned, staring openly.

  “Excuse me? Excuse me? Aren’t you—”

  Nate held up a hand. “Not now.”

  “But, please, you’re Nate—”

  “Not now,” he said more forcefully, rushing them forward.

  “I have to get your picture, oh my God.” She spun around, looking behind her. “Karen! Karen, get over here.” Her voice rose over the crowd, getting the attention of the closest people.

  “Please,” Nate ground out. “I’m on vacation.”

  “So am I!” she replied as if he were making small talk. “Oh my sweet fancy Moses, it is you!”

  A few more people turned, and Liza could actually feel her own blood start to boil.