Read Online Tempted in the Tropics by Tracy March - Free Book Online Page B

Thanks for the cookie.”
    “Cheers,” they said, nearly in unison, and lifted their glasses to him. He had a sneaking suspicion they’d done that plenty of times before, and not necessarily with orange juice.
    He debated whether to sneak by Paige and leave, or grab another cookie and sit for a few minutes as he knew he should after donating blood. The last thing he was in the mood for was a rehashing of the dinner at Hawthorne Manor or an argument about freakin’ magic. He’d gotten his travel information from the agent handling the wedding arrangements, so maybe that was something they could talk about that wouldn’t be contentious.
    Paige was restocking some of the cookie varieties when he walked over, so she hadn’t seemed to see him coming. “Would you like a cookie?” she asked pleasantly without looking up, then she lifted her head. “Oh.” She gazed at him flatly, all signs of the carefree, happy girl he’d seen a minute ago gone.
    Lane swallowed hard. “The Red Hat ladies gave me an oatmeal-chocolate-cinnamon-pecan-awesome one.”
    Paige glanced over at the group of women who appeared more than casually curious about their conversation. She shook her head and flashed them a genuine there’s-nothing-to-see-here smile. By the time she faced him again, her smile was gone.
    Suddenly Lane felt a little light-headed. Had giving blood made him feel faint, or was he dizzy from trying to keep up with her changing expressions?
    “Have another one if you want,” she said. “Or a different kind.” She shrugged. “Whatever.”
    For some masochistic reason, he was determined to have a conversation with her. “Did you get your travel information for St. Lucia?”
    “Sure did.”
    “I’ve got an early flight out of BWI.” He picked up a half-chocolate, half-vanilla cookie. “You?”
    She treated him to a slow, sexy grin. “I’ve got an early one, too…out of Dulles.”
    Hearing she didn’t have to travel with him had finally made her smile.

Chapter Seven
    Lane had made it all the way through customs in the Hewanorra airport in St. Lucia, and he hadn’t seen anyone he recognized. Not that he’d recognize too many people who were coming to the wedding. But he expected he might run into someone he knew, especially once he arrived, although his parents weren’t getting in until late that night. He reached into his backpack and pulled out the e-mail he’d printed from the travel agent. The next thing he needed to figure out was how he was actually getting from here to the resort.
    “I think I’ve got what you’re looking for,” a woman said from behind him.
    He turned to see Paige standing there with a smart-ass smile on her face and a suitcase nearly as big as she was. His heart threatened arrhythmia as he checked out her incredibly sexy legs that seemed to go on forever even though she wasn’t tall. Nice. She wore short shorts and a snug tie-dyed T-shirt that had him nearly dizzy with all the colorful swirls rising over the swell of her breasts. Her hair—minus the pink stripe—was swept back in a sleek ponytail with a few stray strands framing her face. Lane hoped she didn’t notice the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed hard. Things were starting to feel pretty tropical already. He flashed her a genuine smile. She definitely had what he was looking for, but they were too different and too pissed off at each other to do anything about it.
    She tugged her bottom lip between her teeth, riveting his attention. “I think we’re heading to the resort together.”
    At least she was speaking to him in full sentences now, but he could tell this wasn’t the setup she preferred. “You’ve got the transportation details?”
    She reached into the back pocket of her blessedly short shorts and came out with a set of keys dangling from her delicate fingers. “ We have an SUV.”
    Lane’s stomach clenched. “You’re driving? Everything’s opposite here, you know. Driver on the right side of