CHAPTER 4
TONY SPRAWLEDon one of the lounge chairs under an versize beach umbrella that had been rigged to provide some shade near the pool. He’d hardly slept at all last night—his damsel in distress had haunted his dreams—and now he let the gentle sound of folks splashing in the pool and ordering drinks from the bar work on him like a lullaby.
Still, though, he couldn’t sleep. Thoughts of Kyra teased and taunted him.
That morning, he’d awakened fully aroused, her scent on his clothes. A cold shower had relieved some of the pressure, but it hadn’t changed one basic fact—he wanted her.
In a way, the feeling was welcome. He hadn’t wanted a woman—hadn’t let himself want a woman—since the accident. Certainly he had never let one get so close to him.
But it was a false closeness. She didn’t really know him. She’d been attracted to the chivalrous green-eyed stranger with midnight black hair.
Only none of it was real.
Tony’s own hair was near-black, but the gel made itdarker. His own face was scarred, and he’d hidden it under a patch, a cap, and an evening beard that he’d happily shaved off this morning. His own eyes were a bland shade of brown, one of which changed with the help of a vivid green contact lens. He even pitched his voice differently at night.
True, he’d helped her out of a bind. But his back could only take so much more of that, and he was paying the price this morning. Besides, they were in the middle of an island fantasy. Out in the real world, he was no heroic knight—not anymore. And all the good he did on this island was nothing but cotton candy—sweet enough, but ready to dissolve in an instant. The bottom line? Michael was nothing more than an illusion.
“Hey, Tony!”
He kept his eyes closed, feigning sleep.
“Yo! Moretti!” This time the shout was accompanied by the sound of splashing water, followed by a splattering of droplets all over him.
He sat up, then looked over the rim of his sunglasses into Stuart’s smiling face.
“We’re getting up a group to play some water volleyball. Want to join in?”
“No thanks.”
Stuart hauled himself up and out of the pool, the sun gleaming on his golden hair. Unlike Tony, Stuart wasn’t ever going to have a problem with women looking the other way.
He marched over, leaving a trail of wet footprints on the slate poolside. “You’re just gonna sit here in the shade?”
Tony nodded, shifting so Stuart saw only the good side of his face. “Yup.” Stuart had already seen the scars, and to his credit, he hadn’t flinched. Tony didn’t want to give him the chance to cringe now. “I’m just going to sit here in the shade.”
Stuart plopped down in a chair opposite Tony. “Come on, guy? What fun is that? We’re supposed to get another storm tonight that might even last into tomorrow. You should get out and get some sun while you can.”
“I appreciate your concern for my tan, but I’m perfectly happy in the shade.”
“Well, it’s not just your tan, guy. We need one more person on our team.”
Tony shook his head. No way was he dragging out the scar for all to see. No way was he going to reach up to slam-dunk a volleyball only to have his back blow out in front of everybody. Just wasn’t happening. Not in this lifetime.
“You sure? We could really use—”
“Stuart,” a deep voice interrupted, “the boy said no.”
Tony tilted his head back to see C.J., the resort’s pilot, striding over.
“Hey, C.J.,” Stuart said, a little morosely. “But we need another player. How about you?”
“I don’t think so.” C.J. said, then laughed. He ducked under the umbrella and took the chair on Tony’s bad side. Tony shifted, but there wasn’t anywhere to go. In the end, he settled for pushing his sunglasses more firmly up his nose.
Now settled, C.J. peeled off his aviator glasses, revealing vivid blue eyes. Slight crow’s-feet made C.J. seem constantly happy, even though the lines probably meant nothing more than that the man had spent too much time in the sun.
“Well, heck,” Stuart said. He knew when he was defeated, though. His eyes immediately started searching the area around the pool for another victim.
Tony had just turned to C.J., when Stuart’s hand flew up. “Kyra! Hey! Over here.”
