Free Blame It on Paradise by Crystal Hubbard Page A

and the edge of the lagoon—forced reason to prevail.
    She had to get to work early, and starting anew with Jack would knock her entire day off schedule.
    After setting a chaste kiss on his forehead, she slipped out of bed. She eased open the patio doors, stepped over the remains of the screen door, and looked back over her shoulder to see Jack shifting onto his stomach. Affection surged through her as her eyes devoured the sight of his bare shoulders, back, buttocks and legs. Even his feet were sexy enough to make her take a tiny step back toward the bedroom.
    Jack’s right arm went under his pillow while his left slowly swept the fresh vacancy beside him. His head was rising from the pillow when Lina scurried away on tiptoe, pausing only to snatch her discarded skirt from the patio table.
    His vision bleary with sleep, Jack turned his head in time to see a multicolored flutter of silk disappearing from his line of sight. With a heavy sigh, he nestled his head deeper into the pillow. He inhaled and breathed deeply of Lina’s scent, but then had to roll slightly onto his left hip to accommodate the lengthening ridge of flesh between his legs.
    Dear God , he thought. If her scent can do this to me, what’s going to happen the next time I see her? And touch her…
    He groaned into the pillow bunched at his face. “There must be something in the water that’s making me act this way. Or maybe it’s in the tea,” he chuckled dryly. Nothing else could explain his wholehearted attraction and interest in a simple island girl he’d only just met.
    Once his body calmed, he pulled himself out of bed, spent a few minutes giving himself a good long stretch, and then collected the condom wrappers as he made his way to the bathroom. Even after his exertions with Lina and after only a few hours of sleep, he stepped into the hot shower feeling fully rested and relaxed. Among the many things Lina had given him was a renewed sense of confidence as he turned his mind from his night with her to his morning with J.T. Marchand.
    * * *
    “I know why you’re here, fella, and I’m telling you right now that you’re gonna leave empty-handed.” Levora punctuated her words with sharp pokes of her finger to Jack’s chest.
    He stole an anxious peek at his watch. He had ten minutes to get to the Marchand Building, which meant that he had no time at all for whatever had Levora’s finger locked and loaded. “Could we talk about this in an hour or so? I really can’t miss my appointment this morning.” He would have hurried on down the street if Levora hadn’t practically bodytackled him into a bright white mailbox. Curious passersby paused on the congested sidewalk to watch the spectacle the pair made.
    “I know what your appointment is about, you low-down dirty schemer!” Levora, her small frame swallowed by an oversized red T-shirt, jutted her chin at Jack. “This isn’t the first time that a slick salamander has come from the States to steal what I’m not willing to sell. I should have known what you were here for the minute I saw you. I must be getting dumb in my old age!”
    “Listen.” Jack forced himself to remain patient. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Can it wait? Please?”
    “Who sent you, Jack? Is that even your real name?”
    He threw a glance down the road. The Marchand Building was less than a hundred yards away, and Jack’s patience evaporated. “What the hell are you accusing me of, Levora?”
    She blinked, stunned by his fierce tone and the way his upper body seemed to swell. She took a small step back, but stubbornly clenched her hands into fists as she said, “You came to Darwin to get my muffins!”
    Jack’s face screwed itself into an expression of confusion and indignation that would have been comical, had he not been so exasperated.
    “I just assumed that you were here for the Darwin mint tea, like the rest of those suited knuckleheads, but I haven’t seen you with a single box of the