He turned to Sophie. “How the hell did I become the bad guy?” He’d only requested they maintain the status quo, something her brother had put into place.
She touched his arm. “Hey. Everyone involved here understands the idea of protecting family. Look how Darla just protected Spencer. She won’t hold this against you.”
“I don’t care if she does.” The words slipped out before he could censor them.
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you. Still, you did what you had to do,” she said with complete understanding.
“And now we can leave. I’ll see about a flight home.”
“I already did. There’s nothing until tomorrow. I booked us an early flight in the morning.” She shrugged. “It’s the best I could do.”
He paced the kitchen, uncomfortable in this house and in his own skin. “I can’t spend the day here wondering if any of the family is going to show up,” he said, more to himself than to Sophie.
“If it helps, Spencer’s already left. He went standby and was able to take the earliest flight to New York.”
He exhaled hard. At least he wouldn’t have to run into his father.
“I could be persuaded to walk Worth Avenue,” Sophie said of the ritzy street in Palm Beach lined with exclusive shops.
He laughed. “I’d rather play strip poker with Darla and Rose.” The pathetic thing was, they’d probably be more than willing. “As long as we’re in Florida, let’s go to the beach.”
“Buy me a piña colada and I could be persuaded-after I check in at the office.” Sophie grinned, a sinful smile full of sex and promise.
After last night, he knew she would make good. “Darlin’, I’ll buy you anything you want.” Because with Sophie, he knew he could put this entire father mess out of his head while she drove him out of his mind.
WAVES RUSHED against the shore and water lapped at his feet. They’d driven to Fort Lauderdale, to a beach by one of the bigger hotels. Abandoning their shoes, they walked along the edge of the water, hand in hand.
“I am loving this,” Sophie murmured.
Curling his toes into the damp sand, he had to agree. “Which part of this?” he asked, curious about what made Sophie tick.
“The relaxing part.” She closed her eyes and bent down, feeling the cool water between her fingers.
Her lips lifted in a smile, the euphoria on her face nearly orgasmic and Riley’s body tightened with the knowledge that he’d had her. And he needed to have her again.
She stood, hands on her hips, her jeans rolled up above her calves. “Spencer’s home and holding down the fort at the agency, and Cindy’s assured me things on the PR side are under control. I have twenty-four hours to do absolutely nothing. I suddenly feel free.” Arms out at her sides, she spun around, much like a child in a playground.
He stood back and watched, enjoying the moment.
She stopped spinning and stood in front of him, out of breath and laughing. “As much as I hate to admit you were right, the beach was an excellent idea.”
He grinned. “I’m always right.” Thanks to her, Riley had put the confrontation with Spencer behind him and was also beginning to unwind.
A speedboat passed by them, the motion of the boat causing large waves in its wake.
“Look.” Riley pointed up into the sky where people were floating in the air above the water. “Parasailing. There’s nothing like it.”
Sophie shaded her eyes from the sun and studied the person nearly in the clouds.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Just that I’ve never done anything so daring.”
Riley glanced from the sandy beach up to the clear blue sky. “No time like the present to start.” They’d passed the rental area when they’d entered the beach.
“Oh no.” She shook her head, the curls she’d let go natural today blowing around her. “It’s one thing to want to do it. It’s another to actually go up there.” She shuddered at the thought.
But he could see the temptation in her eyes, the desire to try and the building determination in her expression. He stepped around her and pulled her into his arms the way he’d been dying to all day.
He snuggled his face in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply, the scent of beach and her fruity shampoo assaulting his senses. “They have tandem parasailing. You wouldn’t have to be alone.”
The thought of rising above the clouds with Sophie snuggled close to his body had other parts of him rising as well. “What do you say?”
“Well…”
He sensed her hesitation came from the fear of being out of control. “I’ll keep my arms tight around you, like this.” As he drew her even closer, his groin pressed up against her and he swallowed a groan. “I promise to keep you safe.”
She let out a soft laugh. “If safe feels anything like this, I’m not sure I can trust you,” she murmured. “But what the hell. Take me on an adventure.”
He hadn’t thought she’d take him up on his suggestion. She wasn’t anything like the uptight woman he’d originally pegged her to be, her ability to surprise without bounds.
He glanced at her cuffed jeans. She wore a swimsuit underneath, but for now she was wading without a care. A far cry from the conservative woman in The Hot Zone offices. And one he liked a whole lot more.
An hour and a half later, they were on a boat in the ocean, being buckled and harnessed, Riley strapped in behind Sophie for parasailing. Sophie had taken up over half an hour questioning the owner of the company about his safety record, licenses and asking for details about the water sport and what kept them in the air.
He’d folded his arms across his chest and let her go at it. His only contribution was to shoot the poor man a pitying look.
Riley was coming to understand that for Sophie to give up control, she needed to compensate with complete understanding.
A few clouds had filled the sky, but the weather was still picture perfect for liftoff. “Now remember to bend your knees when you come in for a landing,” the instructor said, and pulled on the straps to double-check the security. Then he stepped back.
Riley held on to the support rope as the big man released the pulley and raised them into the air. With each passing second, they left safety and terra firma farther and farther behind.
His heart raced, much as it did after throwing a successful touchdown pass in the Super Bowl. “Isn’t this freaking awesome?”
Sophie laughed, and he heard the sheer terror shaking her voice.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against him. “Relax and enjoy,” he whispered in her ear.
“Easy for you to say.”
He stroked the side of her head, caressing the throbbing pulse point in her temple. “I’m proud of you,” he told her. Proud of her determination, spirit and courage, even if it was wavering now.
“My parents died in a plane crash.”
He took the words like a punch in the gut. Though he knew she’d been orphaned, he hadn’t known the details.
Though Spencer had abandoned him, Riley had always possessed the knowledge that his father was alive. For a while he’d lived for the opportunity to make Spencer proud. Even when he’d given up on ever having a relationship with the man, he’d known Spencer was living somewhere in this world. Until now, he would never have believed the thought would bring any sort of comfort. He realized now, it had.
He wanted to be the one to help Sophie work through some of the effects of her tragic loss. “So what’s it feel like to let go?”
“Good question.” Sophie looked over the vast ocean, the smattering of tiny-looking homes and the Southern landscape, so different from home.
Up in the air, away from the land, her life and her problems seemed very far away. Riley was her only anchor and she leaned into him, giving him her trust as completely as she’d given him her body last night.