At times she found it difficult to digest that even after all the hurt and pain he’d caused her, there was still sexual chemistry between them. And she’d discovered just how potent it was the night of his party, when he’d caught her from falling off that ladder. She’d hoped the incident had been a fluke but had been proved wrong the night of the charity dance. That night when he’d held her in his arms, she’d realized he was no longer the boy she’d danced with at the prom, but a full-grown muscular man. And she’d allowed herself to get caught up in the moment.

It had taken Vashti telling her a few days later just how caught up she’d gotten. According to her best friend, she and Kaegan had danced together like the dance floor had belonged to only them. Vashti further claimed that people had stared at how in sync their bodies had moved to the slow music, and how wrapped up in each other’s arms they’d been.

“You okay?” he asked her in that deep, throaty voice that could be drugging to any woman’s senses.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked, looking up at him.

“No reason, other than the obvious.”

She wondered what he thought was the obvious. “Which is?”

He just shook his head and said, “Nothing.”

He lifted her up in his arms like she was weightless and placed her on solid ground. Being in his arms caused all kinds of sensations to rush through her. At that moment, she knew she’d made a mistake in coming here.

* * *

KAEGAN DIDN’T SAY anything as he watched Bryce take in the island. He knew what she was doing, which was the same thing he was doing—using that time to compose themselves. She had responded to his touch. He’d felt it. He’d also felt the way his stomach had tightened when he’d responded to her touch. He wondered if she was now regretting asking him to bring her here.

While she was trying to make up her mind on her next move, he couldn’t help but stand there and study her. Her jeans were slightly damp from being out of the ship, mainly caused by the spray of the waves. He’d tried to persuade her to put on rain gear but she’d refused, saying she liked the feel of the misty waters touching her. That might have been good for her, but now seeing her in a pair of damp jeans wasn’t good for him. Especially how those jeans now clung to her perfectly shaped ass.

Kaegan felt sizzling heat shimmer all through him as he remembered that part of her anatomy well. Too well. He recalled how much he liked to touch it, mold his hands all over it when they would dance privately, and press the front of his body to it whenever he’d come up behind her...and those times whenever he had it naked and kissed it all over.

In his mind, that perfectly shaped ass had always belonged to him. It even had his name on it. The initial K. She’d had the tattoo done in New Orleans her senior year of high school. He wondered if it was still there, or if she’d hated him so much she’d since had it removed.