The Trouble With Paradise Read online

  “Like?”

  “Things.”

  His arm shifted, just barely pressing into the side of her breast. And more than just her nipples got happy. Bad. Bad body. “I’m tired.”

  “Here’s something to wake you up.” Instead of taking the hint and leaving, he rolled to his side, facing her. “Our bet.”

  Oh, no. “We are not going to talk about the bet.” No way.

  “That’s because you lost.”

  “You cheated.”

  He was silent, letting that lie live a life of its own as she remembered the details . . .

  As if she could forget.

  “You could just pay up,” he suggested.

  That thought shot tingles of excitement directly into certain areas of her anatomy that had no business getting excited. She closed her eyes, a bad idea because her other senses took over. How did he manage to smell like heaven on earth while on a deserted island? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He just laughed softly.

  Bastard.

  “You didn’t hit your head that hard,” he said. “You know.”

  “You’re not going away. Why aren’t you going away?” she asked desperately, knowing exactly what he was talking about, exactly what bet she’d made, and what she now owed him, which involved her.

  Dancing.

  Naked.

  Beneath this very starlit sky. “If you were nice, you’d go.”

  He lifted a broad shoulder. “Never claimed to be nice.”

  Also true. Damn it.

  “Plus we’re stuck on an island,” he pointed out. “Just how far away do you think I can go?”

  Keeping her eyes closed, she sighed again. She really hated it when he was right.

  The next time she opened her eyes, the sky was just beginning to lighten in the east, and she was left to wonder. Had his visit been a dream?

  “You okay?” Brandy asked, looking at her from her pad.

  “You mean other than we’re shipwrecked and I have sand in parts where no sand should ever be?”

  “It’s good for your skin.”

  “You said sex was good for the skin.”

  “Sex is great for the skin.” Brandy looked Dorie over from head to toe. “And if we had a mirror, I could show you your reflection and prove it.”

  She felt her face heat. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  Yes, you do. A tall, earthy, passionate, amazing man came over you.

  And beneath her . . . “Brandy?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I have to ask.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Well . . . Cadence’s worried about her job. Andy’s worried about getting hurt and losing his contract. I can’t stop thinking about the life I should have lived instead of the one I am living, but you . . .”

  Brandy’s smile turned serene. “Yeah?”

  “You don’t seem worried about much.”

  Brandy looked away, and something within Dorie tightened. She hadn’t forgotten, not for one minute, that one of them had hurt Bobby, and that it could be any one of them.

  Including this woman.

  “You’re going to think I’m crazy,” Brandy finally said.

  “Try me.”

  “My life in Vegas? Not quite my dream life. I mean I make plenty of money, don’t get me wrong, but I turned twenty-nine this year.” She grimaced. “Okay, thirty. I turned thirty. Three years ago.” She sighed. “And I’m not going to look this hot forever, you know.”

  “Are you sure? Because you’re pretty hot.”

  “Ah, thanks, hon, but it’s all downhill from here for me. And I’m tired of trying to keep up. Out here, I don’t have to try at all.”

  Dorie stared at her. “Are you telling me you like being here?”

  Brandy lifted a shoulder.

  “You do,” she marveled. “You like being here.”

  “What’s not to like? It’s warm and very beautiful . . .”

  “And deserted.”

  “Right. And because it is, money doesn’t matter.”

  “Deserted. Did I mention deserted?”

  “I know you think I’m crazy, but trust me, in Vegas, I’m on borrowed time. I don’t want to dwell on regrets here, but on an island like this, who cares about lengthening mascara, or how high I can kick on stage?”

  Dorie thought about working for Mr. Stryowski for the rest of her life. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

  They were both quiet a moment, and Dorie lay there listening to the surf, her thoughts drifting.

  “I think someone pushed Bobby,” Brandy whispered.

  Dorie’s heart stopped. “What makes you think that?”

  “I went to his room to find him, and I saw—”

  “What?”

  “Blood.” Brandy closed her eyes. “Lots of it.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “Same reason you didn’t. I was afraid. Still am.” Brandy’s gaze was steady when Dorie looked at her. “You saw. I can tell you saw.”

  “Are you looking at everyone,” Dorie asked quietly, “wondering who did it? Who hurt him?”

  “Yeah.”

  “For whole moments at a time I can actually convince myself I imagined this whole nightmare.”

  Brandy let out a low laugh.

  “I know. I blame my upbringing. My whole family is this together, organized, successful unit. I’m the black sheep, the romantic. The illogical one.”

  “The dreamer,” Brandy said quietly. “Nothing wrong with that.” She shook her head. “I guess I was born cynical.”

  “No one’s born cynical.”

  Brandy’s smile was somber and just a little sad. “I’ve decided it’s not you, you know.”

  Dorie appreciated that, she really did. And she knew Brandy’s expectant silence said she was waiting for Dorie to repeat the favor to her. But she couldn’t help but remember how comfortable Brandy had looked brandishing the knife that no one had even known she carried.

  Extremely comfortable. Almost as comfortable as she’d looked while recalling how she’d wanted to cut off her ex-husband’s family jewels. “You really thought I hurt Bobby?”

  Brandy lifted a shoulder. “If it makes you feel better, I considered Cadence, too. But she jumps at her own shadow, so I can’t see it being her. Christian takes his doctor duties far too seriously to ever break the physician’s oath, and then there’s Andy.”

  “Who can’t handle the sight of blood,” Dorie said quietly. “Yeah, I noticed that today.”

  “Sort of shrinks our options, you know? Because there just aren’t that many of us left now, are there?”

  “No.” She hated this. She sat up, then held her head while it swam for a moment. “Not many options at all, except for the remaining crew. The very people Bobby trusted the most.”

  “Trusted?” Brandy shook her head. “I don’t think they trusted each other at all. They work together, that’s it.”

  Dorie looked over at Cadence’s empty pad. “And right now, Cadence is with one of them. Probably alone.”

  “Yeah.” Brandy stood up, then offered Dorie a hand.

  Dorie let her pull her up, then stood very still waiting for her world to stop spinning. “We’re going to check on her.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Even though she’s undoubtedly busy. Very busy.”

  “Honey, she’s undoubtedly naked. We’re still going to check on her. It’s what friends do.”

  Friends. Dorie wanted that to be true. They walked to the beach, and got yet another unwelcome surprise.

  The Sun Song? Gone.

  TWENTY-ONE

  Third day of no chocolate.

  (72 hours, or 4,320 minutes...)

  The sun rose over the craggy cliffs, bringing a new day, and what should have been renewed hope. Instead, the morale in camp had sunk to a new low.

  The boat had vanished, and no one knew how, or why.

  Dorie looked around at the glum faces. Et