Free Private Paradise by Jami Alden Page A

parted. He lifted his hand and cupped her neck, brushed his
thumb along the delicate line of her jaw. “And a lot of what I
want,” he whispered as he bent his head to hers, “hasn't changed a
whole lot in the past eleven years.”
    Her dark lashes fluttered closed and he heard
her sharp inhale as he bent his lips to hers. Shockwaves sizzled
through him at the first brush.
    “ Carla, are you in here?”
    She jumped about three feet at the sound of
Bryce's voice echoing through the gym. Sam stifled a groan and
fought not to grab her by her ponytail and drag her back to his
apartment to finish this.

Chapter 6
     
    “ I'm over here, by the weights,” Carla
called out as she turned and practically ran in the direction of
Bryce's voice. The fitness center was laid out in an L design with
the free weights section in the back corner between the walls
shared by the yoga and pilates studios, and thank the universe it
wasn't visible from the main entry.
    That's all she needed, was for Bryce, who had
already been giving her a hard time about what he saw as the
undeniable chemistry between her and Sam, to see her in a liplock
with the man she'd sworn up and down she had absolutely no
lingering feelings for despite what she had described as a brief
and meaningless teenage fling.
    Not to mention, Sam was her employee. Even if
they hadn't shared a tumultuous past, there was no way in hell
she'd make the mistake of getting involved with a co-worker at
Holley Cay. She still bore the scars from the last time around.
    By the time she got to Bryce she was only
slightly out of breath her heart still pounding and radiating
heat.
    “ Thank God you're here,” Bryce said.
His frosted hair was spiked and today he accessorized his Holley
Cay Polo with a teal blue ascot.
    His gaze flicked past her shoulder. Carla
heard Sam's heavy footsteps behind her, but she didn't dare turn to
look. Every nerve ending was tingling, and the heavy pulse between
her thighs made it difficult to think. “What's so important you
couldn't wait for me to get to the office?”
    Instead of answering, Bryce gave her an
assessing look. “You're all flushed.”
    Carla felt her already hot face get hotter.
“I've been working out.”
    Bryce's gaze flicked from her, to Sam, and
back, his eyes narrowing in a way that said he didn't believe her
for a second. “Have you looked at the weather reports this
morning?”
    Carla shook her head. She'd had a cup of
coffee to jolt her awake and come straight here, only taking the
time to check the clock to make sure she didn't intersect with Sam,
who usually finished up by six fifteen or so.
    But not this morning, she thought as another
wave of heat coursed through her.
    “ Why? What's going on?” Sam's voice was
so close behind her she could feel the heat radiating off his skin.
It should have turned her off. Instead it made her want to throw
him down to the floor and crawl all over him, see how sweaty they
could get before they hit the shower and helped each other get
squeaky clean.
    Bryce wasn't immune to Sam's masculine beauty
under the best of circumstances, and his eyes got a glazed look as
he took in Sam's sweat slick form as he moved beside Carla.
    “ Bryce, focus,” Carla
snapped.
    Bryce's frosted head jerked and he refocused
on her with an expression so grave and unlike him Carla felt the
bottom drop out of her stomach.
    “ You know tropical storm Edina? The one
that's been brewing off the coast of Venezuela?”
    The knot in Carla's stomach pulled tighter.
This being September and the height of hurricane season, they'd
been monitoring several storms over the last few weeks. In the
entire time she'd worked at Holley Cay they'd only been hit with a
severe storm once, four years ago.
    Since then, they'd been lucky enough to avoid
the worst hurricane seasons in decades.
    “ They've upgraded it to a hurricane, at
least category four. And unless there's a sudden change in
direction, it's headed right for us.”
    Their