“Sounds good to me.” He winked, and the floor shifted underneath her feet.
Melene scolded herself. Aiden was off limits. She had to stop being so affected by every little smile or gesture he innocently directed her way. He seemed to have no idea how appealing he was, but staying immune to him was tougher than working fourteen-hour days in the hot sun to dig wells for villages.
“Let’s do it.” Since she was already in her swimming suit, she grabbed a water bottle from the fridge then went and brushed her teeth, reapplied tinted sunscreen moisturizer to her face, put on some cinnamon lip gloss, and refastened her hair in a ponytail. She was tempted to put on a little mascara, but not only would that give the wrong impression, it would probably just end up smudged and looking awful under her eyes. She slipped one of the lacy white swimsuit coverups over her head and walked through the main area.
Aiden was on the phone. He glanced at her and his gaze immediately stuck and turned searing. A spark lit in her chest, and she smiled at him.
His lips turned up in an appealing and heart-stopping smile, but then whoever he was on the phone with must’ve connected. He tilted his chin to her and started speaking rapidly into the phone. Someone must’ve interrupted him because he gave a soft laugh and repeated everything much slower. She smiled to herself. Jamaicans were very laid back, and though English was their national language, they had their own accent and slipped in Patois often. They probably had as hard of a time understanding Americans or British people as she did understanding them at times.
She walked back out to the patio, sat on a soft chair, and took in the gorgeous view of the infinity pool surrounded by flowers and greenery and the ocean below. The clear, blue sky was revealed through the leaves of the palm, mahogany, cedar, and lime trees. It smelled incredible here with the flowers, lime, and cedar scents combining with a salty twang from the ocean.
She waited for Aiden and mulled over the way he’d just looked at her. It frustrated her. He was the one who’d pulled her hands away from his chest and reminded her in no uncertain terms that they were temporary and would never work. Why did he keep giving her looks like that then? His friend Jace, back on the ship that first day, had referenced how women always went for him. Aiden either wasn’t as innocent as she thought and he was messing with her head, or he was too innocent and women just pursued him because of how appealing and unassuming he was. She was pretty certain it was the latter, but she needed to keep her guard up if it was the former. She’d always trusted and liked the Deltas, but Aiden had been gone from Summit Valley for a long time and had probably been hardened by his time in the SEALs. Maybe he wasn’t innocent at all, but playing her for all he was worth. Maybe it was entertainment or a distraction for him.
The door opened, and she shook off her worries and put a smile on her face.Keep it temporary, keep it casual, she reminded herself. Aiden was here on assignment and obviously wasn’t willing to try for anything beyond hanging out together until the assignment was done.
She stood. “The beach?” she asked brightly.
“Yes, ma’am. The staff will deliver all the equipment with our lunch, so right now it’s just relaxing and a swim race or two with yours truly.”
She laughed at that. “You think I can win a swim race against Aquaman?”
He grinned and shrugged those beautiful shoulders of his. She wondered if he’d take his shirt off when they got to the water. She could finally glimpse that tattoo. “You can sure try.”
“If only it could be a foot race,” she said.
He lifted his eyebrows. “Maybe with all the years of training in the military, I could run as fast as the famed Melene Collier. How many state records do you still hold?”
“I don’t know.” She was flattered he’d remembered as he was a year older than her and already gone to the military her senior year when she’d really shattered records.
“I bet it’s a lot. You still run?”
“As much as I can.”
He nodded. “No wonder your legs are so perfect … I mean …” He trailed off as his eyes widened.
She appreciated the compliment, but they were back to the fact that he shouldn’t have given it. She shook her head and started toward the beach path. Aiden grabbed a couple beach towels and caught up to her. Neither of them said anything as they walked down the trail to their own private paradise. If only … nope, she couldn’t think like that. Temporary. Good friends. Aquaman as her protector. It was all fine, and she was grateful for the safety of this beautiful spot and that Aiden was here for her.
ChapterEight
Melene squished through the sand. She didn’t have shoes on, and the soft squishiness felt great between her toes. Aiden dropped the towels on one of the beach chairs. She hadn’t even noticed the two chairs in the dark last night. She looked around at their little sandy cove, marveling at the beautiful spot. There was a sheer rock ledge about a hundred feet to the left that made a natural border with the sand. A layer of thick trees and undergrowth obscured whatever was to the right. It looked like their own private jungle in that direction. She imagined as they swam out they’d be able to see the other villas’ small beaches, if they all had them, the larger beach they’d landed on last night, and maybe even some of the rest of the resort. Was another resort to their left? She needed to get directions down. The sun was coming up above their villa, so that way was east. That meant the ocean was west and the rest of their resort was north of her. Okay. That helped settle her.
She turned to slip off her coverup and drop it on a chair. Aiden slid his shirt over his head. Suddenly, she wasn’t settled at all. She was the furthest thing from settled. Stirred up, intrigued, drawn to, filled with a desire to look at and touch him.
They were close, close enough she could gape at the nicely formed muscles of his chest, abdomen, shoulders and arms, and even more importantly, she could clearly see the tattoo over his heart.
Aiden watched her with those penetrating blue eyes as she met his gaze, then dropped hers to study the tattoo in depth. It was two military dog tags crossed over each other with a trident behind them.
She stepped closer and read the names on the dog tags. Admiral Davidson Delta and SEAL Aiden Delta. Thankfully, not a woman.
She shouldn’t have, but she softly touched his warm, taut skin and then let her fingers trail over the tattoo. Aiden sucked in a breath, but he didn’t pull away and he didn’t grab her hand and remove it from his chest like he had earlier.
“I like this,” she said softly. “Papa Delta is amazing.”
He smiled. “He is.”
She flattened her palm against the muscle of his chest, covering the tattoo. His breath quickened as she eased her hand along his chest until the tattoo was revealed again. She loved touching him and if the fast thrumming of his heart and the warm look in his blue gaze was any indicator, he must have liked it too.
“You really are Aquaman. This is the second tattoo with a trident in it.”