The Trouble With Paradise Read online

  “What can I do?” she whispered.

  “Stay safe. That’s your only job.”

  “I want to help, Christian.”

  “You can help by keeping a low profile.”

  “You don’t want me to say anything about Bobby.” Her eyes telegraphed her emotions on that very clearly. She was wondering why he didn’t want her to tell.

  “I didn’t hurt him, Dorie. You know that.”

  “Actually, all I know is that I didn’t hurt him. And that you don’t want me to tell anyone that we suspect he’s overboard.”

  “That’s right. Because the very last thing we need right now is something new to panic about, when there’s nothing, nothing we can do for him right now.” He reached for her, but she backed up a step.

  “Stay away,” she said very quietly, though her voice quivered.

  He stared at her, shaken to the core. “Jesus, Dorie. You can’t really think I’d—”

  “I’m going to save what I think for the police.” Hugging herself, she lifted her chin to nosebleed heights. “Who I plan to call as soon as we touch land. If he fell on his own, then hopefully he’s still out there, alive, waiting for rescue.”

  But if he hadn’t fallen on his own . . . Neither voiced the thought that surely he was long dead by now. Christian glanced at the island, which was looming large now that they were close. Tall mountains jutted up into the shifting, changing sky. The mountains were covered in lush green jungle, and rocks.

  Lots of rocks.

  And unfortunately for all of them, not a single dwelling in sight, much less a five-star hotel. In fact, there was nothing at all.

  The place looked completely deserted.

  THIRTEEN

  Still in shock, Dorie stood in the salon, flanked on either side by Brandy and Cadence. They were holding hands as they watched the crew take them toward a shadow of an island that kept rising and falling through the misty waves.

  A crew minus Bobby, though Dorie seemed to be the only one to notice, which disturbed her. So did the way she kept looking at everyone, wondering if they’d been the one up on deck with Bobby.

  “I don’t see any hotels,” Brandy noted, staring at the vertical mountainsides so steep they looked like they were exploding directly out of the sea.

  “It looks pretty lush,” Cadence said. “Maybe the hotels are hidden behind all that tropical rain forest.”

  She’d always wanted to see the rain forests, Dorie reminded herself. Now seemed like as good a time as any . . . except for, oh yeah, the missing crew member!

  She glanced out the window—glassless now—to where Christian worked in silence next to Ethan. He might have hurt Bobby, but she didn’t think so. Even only knowing him for a few days, she felt the temper and grief pouring off him in waves.

  No one was that good of an actor. But was she willing to bet her life on it? Because really, all she knew about him was that he was a doctor. Oh, and that he kissed like heaven on earth. Let’s not forget that part.

  But little else.

  Only . . . that wasn’t actually true either. She’d watched him treat each of the guests with care and great attention, no matter his personal feelings. Plus, frustrated or not over whatever debt he owed, he seemed to take his oath as a doctor, to heal, to save lives, very seriously.

  Which meant she could trust him. It also meant that until there was more information, he was the only one she could trust. She wished that came with some comfort, but it didn’t.

  Cadence and Brandy decided to sit, and pulled her down next to them. But sitting had her sucking in a breath because of the splinter. It was beginning to seriously hurt, maybe even getting infected as she’d been warned.

  “Hon?” Brandy leaned in close and frowned in her face. “You okay? You getting seasick? You look green.”

  “Oh boy, you really do,” Cadence agreed.

  Brandy pulled out her flask. “The handy-dandy fix-all.”

  “It’s barely morning.”

  “Yes, but somewhere in the world it’s Happy Hour.”

  Dorie managed to smile. “I’m good.” And good was relative, right? After all, compared to Bobby, wherever he was, she was exceptionally good.

  Don’t think about it now.

  “Hold on to your seats, ladies,” Brandy said just as a wave hit them, and everyone gasped as they rose and fell, momentarily losing sight of the island.

  “Whew,” Brandy said, somehow managing to still look gorgeous despite all they’d been through. Her short blonde hair was no longer perfectly spiky around her head, and she’d lost her gel or whatever magical hair product she’d been using, but it didn’t matter, the short strands framed her face, making her look softer, sweeter. “Maybe there’ll be some hot natives,” she said, ever hopeful.

  Okay, maybe not sweet exactly.

  “I’d be fine with a hot shower,” Cadence said. “This sea salt spray is hell on my fair skin.”

  Dorie would be happy just to see Bobby’s scowl again. But because that thought nearly choked her, she forced another. The island got bigger as they drifted closer, but as the dawn lightened, she could see that her fears were true, that the island was indeed one big, craggy, rough, inhospitable rock. A volcano, hopefully a very, very dormant volcano, draped by that lush rain forest.

  She glanced behind her to see if anyone else had noticed this unwelcome turn of events and found her gaze locked on Christian’s.

  He stood on the deck next to Denny, working hard to aim the boat into the channel, but he locked his stormy eyes on hers and didn’t look away.

  The boat hit another swell and next to her, Cadence gasped. Dorie tightened her grip on her hand. Only yesterday such a swell would have terrified her, too, but now she knew there were other things to fear.

  Lots of other things.

  Such as Christian, and the odd hold he seemed to have over her emotions.

  He hadn’t replaced his shirt, and still wore only those black board shorts, long to his knees and loose, hanging dangerously low on his hips. He wasn’t muscle-bound like Andy, but long and lean and hard in a way that suggested food had never been all that important to him.

  Lucky bastard.

  She had the feeling that maybe nothing was all that important to him, and hadn’t been for a long time.

  “So where do you think Bobby is?” Brandy asked in a low voice. “I haven’t seen him since he brought me a nightcap last night.”

  Dorie tore her gaze off Christian. “Bobby brought you a nightcap?”

  “Sure did. And let’s just say, the boy isn’t quite the underachiever we thought.”

  Dorie stared at her as this sank in. “You mean, you two . . . hooked up?”

  “Well, not quite. Denny interrupted us, needing the extra hands on deck. Damn greedy man. Just a few minutes more, and—”

  “The captain,” Dorie said, thoughts racing. “Denny called for Bobby during the night?”

  “I don’t remember that,” Cadence said.

  Brandy paused. “Why would you? You weren’t there.”

  “No, but I was with Denny.”

  Now Dorie stared at Cadence. “You were with Denny? Doing what?”

  Cadence blushed. “Uh . . . stuff.”

  “You slept with him?”

  “Not slept with.” Cadence squirmed. “Not yet...”

  Dorie blinked. “So did everyone have some sort of Love Boat connection last night?”

  “Not me.” Andy plopped down next to her, sounding just a little bit baffled at the situation. “I didn’t.”

  A loud crash interrupted this conversation, accompanied by a shuddering scraping sound as Christian and Ethan drove the bow of the boat onto the island’s shore.

  They’d arrived.

  However, exactly where they’d arrived was another question entirely.

  The water was only a couple of inches deep for what seemed like half a mile out. As the sun made an appearance, the palm trees cast mini islands of shade on the wind-rippled sand-sea