Page 28

“I’ll give it a shot.” He shook a generous amount onto the bollo. After a bite, he coughed, then guzzled the liter of water she’d set out for him.

“The cheese dip helps if the sauce is too hot,” she said. “Dairy breaks down the spice.”

“Thanks.” He used a tortilla chip to scoop up a generous portion of the creamy, tangy cheese blend. “That’s better.”

Julia popped a sea grape, the sweetness bright against her tongue. Everything about this moment felt right. The place, the meal, the company.

“I can’t believe I avoided coming back here after my dad’s… Anyway, I shouldn’t have stayed away. Being here, in Belize… The good outweighs the sad.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re less twitchy than when we were in LA. Every day, you seem more yourself. Less worried about other people.” Carson hurled a grape off the side of the mountain. “Why don’t you live here?”

“Because it would be weird not to work with Alex.” Julia popped another grape. “From a distance, I can ignore the weirdness. Pretend like us working in similar fields isn’t a big deal. But I might resent her if I’m here. I don’t want to feel like I’m not enough.”

Then again, she might not feel that way.

No way to know unless she actually lived here. Something to consider. As the mountain breeze cooled the sweat that slicked her, she sipped her wine. The rest of the meal passed in comfortable chitchat, the kind two people enjoyed when they knew each other well.

She rubbed her calf along her shin. They could head back to the car. Or… As long as they were here, she might do something wild.

Julia swung her gaze toward Carson. He leaned back onto his elbows, with his face tilted toward the sun, wavy hair brushing the collar of his T-shirt.

She licked her lips.

Hell. Yes. She was definitely doing something wild.

“Do you have a short hike in you?” She stood and dusted her hands together. “There’s a special place up the hill. After forcing you through the Decapitator, I feel like I owe you.”

“I’ll follow you anywhere.” He folded the pocket blanket, then slung the backpack on his shoulders.

“It’s this way.” She hiked a few yards, then eased between trees camouflaging the path.

The green swallowed her up. “Julia? Where’d you go?”

“I’m here.” She stepped back through the trees and caught his hand, like when they’d been underground. “There’s a tight squeeze up ahead, but it’s nothing like the Decapitator.”

He grunted as he followed her through the rocks. “Disagree. This is exactly like the Decapitator, except it’s scraping my junk.”

“It’s worth it,” she said.

The rushing water intensified, and the path opened to a turquoise mountain lake. This was her favorite place on the planet. As gorgeous as the swimming hole was, the star of the show was the twenty-foot high waterfall coursing through the lush green forest.

Carson whistled. “What’s this place called?”

“It’s not on any map, but we call it Secret Falls.”

He pulled out his phone to take pictures.

“There’s no cell service,” she said. “So you can’t post it.”

“It’s for the memory, not the clout. Take one with me?” He slung his arm around her neck and held the phone out. Their grinning faces smiled back from his phone with the waterfall in the background. She could swear his gaze fixed on her lips.

“There.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Perfect.”

His low voice rumbled into her ear, and heat crept up her body. An excellent way to cool off was right there.

So she tugged the elastic from her ponytail. “Let’s swim.”

* * *

Carson’s heart stoppered his throat as Julia whipped off her top.

Their day in the sun yesterday had turned up the gold in her skin, a rich contrast to the cream-colored barely-there string bikini under her clothes.

He swallowed, hard. The gentle slope of her breasts, her slightly rounded belly flaring to her hips, and, oh, her perfect peach of an ass stole his ability to think.

Julia was such a surprise. Among the ways he’d imagined undressing her, this scenario had never come up. His fingers buzzed with anticipation, ready to tweak her stiff nipples, to tug at the strings at her hips and explore her ripe flesh. His cock stirred under his trunks.

He could almost cry that he wasn’t already with her, on her, in her.

At the pool’s edge, with her hands on her hips, she dipped her toes to gauge the temperature. Against the water’s intense turquoise and the dark slate of the rock formations, Julia stood out like an angel.

An angel he’d like to devour.

She jumped into the water.

He shucked his shirt and slipped into the pool.

Unlike the cold cave river, this water was cool, refreshing.

Julia broke through the surface, circling until she found him and graced him with an inviting smile.

He sliced through it toward her. This far in the lagoon, his feet found no rocks on which to stand.

“You came here when you were a teenager?” he asked.

The water lapped at her chin. “And in college.”

“What did you do here?”

Her mischievous grin was kissable. “Lots of things. Watch.”

Wherever this was going, he was a hundred percent along for the ride. She swam closer to the falls’ churn. At its base, she hoisted herself from the pool.

The water’s downspout licked her the way he’d like to.

In nature, she was a different person—carefree, wild, hair loose, clothes tight. Her water-darkened curls were squiggles against her back, and her muscles shifted as she climbed the rocks next to the falls.

Um… Wait.

She might stop at the ledge, but… Nope, she kept climbing. Surely not all the way… Shit. His suspicions were right. She climbed to the top of the falls.

Fear gripped his throat. “Julia, don’t—”

She disappeared into the lush ferns. Please let her return via a safe path. As he searched the brink, a whooping blur hurtled from the green.

His heart plummeted with Julia as she cannonballed.

Her splash was swallowed by the frothing water. He didn’t breathe. Where was she? He swiveled his head, searching, searching, searching as he swam to where she disappeared.

“Julia!” Her name was raw in his throat.

The image of her bashed and broken stole his breath. Focus. Panic wouldn’t help. He might have to perform CPR, carry her on his back. What were emergency services in Belize? 911, like in the States? Or 112, like in England and France?

“Julia!” he shouted again.

She popped up two feet away. “Hi.”

He tipped his head skyward. Thank God she was safe.

“Your face .” She giggled.

Anger shoved the fear aside. “Why the hell did you do that? That was so dangerous.”

“Jumping from the falls?” She raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been doing it for years. The waterfall’s carved out a deep plunge pool. You should try it. It’s exhilarating.”

Exhilarating? Risky was more like it.

He wanted to hug and yell at her, which meant he should take a breath and swim away.

“Carson,” she shouted after him. “Wait.”

He should. Even if he didn’t get lost on his way back to the minivan, she’d zipped the keys into her cargo shorts. But he was too angry to stay still. She casually dangled herself in harm’s way, tempted fate to break her beautiful self. For what? A three-second thrill?

He scrambled up the rocks.

“Carson.” She grabbed his biceps. “Why are you pissed?”

His chest burned, like someone scrubbed a fistful of jagged rocks inside his ribcage. The bright Belize sun caught the golden flecks in her big brown eyes, eyes that could have been extinguished by one misstep as she leapt from the cliff.

“The last fucking thing I want to do is explain to our parents that you broke your neck.”

As she closed the distance, the water dripping off of them formed a single puddle.

“I’m okay, Carson.” She rested her hand against his chest. “This is me—wild. I’ve done that a thousand times.”

“It only takes once.” Every cell in his body paid attention to her simple, calming, intimate touch. “I lost you for a second, and it terrified me. I like you, Julia, so much, and in ways I shouldn’t since we’re family.”

“We’re not.” A deep breath expanded her chest. “Family. Not yet.”

Liquid heat pooled between his hips. But she’d drawn this line. As much as he wanted to clutch her to him, he couldn’t cross it for her. The next move had to be hers.

He clenched his fists at his sides. “What do you want, Julia?”

“You.” She bit her bottom lip. He’d like to, too. “These last few days with you… I feel like myself again. Lighter. A person you seem to like. Here, we’re isolated, and I…”

“You what?” His body vibrated with tension.

She caught his hand, then traced the network of fine white lines, a memento from the accident. “I was wrong in California. People can change, me included. I’m done denying how I feel, Carson. I want you, in all the ways I shouldn’t.”

The combination of her gentle touch and words lit a fire in him.

“You do?” He tipped her chin up to meet his gaze.

“Yes.” She slipped her hands behind his neck, then tugged his head toward hers.

The waterfall, the cool rocks under his feet, the chirping birds…

it all faded until all he knew was her velvet mouth’s heat, her inquisitive tongue, her strong grip on his head, and her breasts against his chest. The dance they’d done since their parents’ engagement party—gentle collisions, stolen kisses, baring their soft spots to each other—there was only one place in his mind it was headed.

As she took a surprisingly firm grasp of his ass, he cupped her face.

“Are you sure about this?” he breathed.

Her lips quirked into a smile. “I’ve never been more sure in my life.”