Escape to Paradise Read online

  “Great. You can tell me more about your ideas for the anniversary party while we eat.”

  “I never discuss business after seven—” he pushed up his shirt sleeve and tapped the face of his watch with his index finger “—and it’s nine o’clock.”

  “Duly noted. I won’t mention it again!”

  “Sounds like music to my ears.”

  “Where’s Chaz?” Claudia glanced around the restaurant, searching for the quirky chef with the thick accent and wandering eyes. “Let me guess. He ran out of fresh seasonal spices and went to pick some from the garden.”

  “He’s quite the character, isn’t he?”

  “You can say that again. I’ve never seen anyone so excited about cooking with gingerroot. Chaz claims they’re rich in antioxidants, but I think he gets high off the smell!”

  Santiago chuckled. “Something came up and our esteemed chef had to leave.”

  “Is he coming back?”

  “Not if he knows what’s good for him.”

  Claudia gave a shaky laugh and rubbed her palms along her apron. She was nervous about being alone with Santiago—terrified, actually. There was something about him that did it for her. Something about him that made her hot, wet, hornier than a sex rehab patient. And when he blessed her with his smile, her head spun faster than the blades on the ceiling fan. The heat from the oven, coupled with his piercing gaze and playful smile, made Claudia’s body temperature soar to a thousand degrees. Desire pounded in her ears and rushed through her body faster than the speed of light. Nothing’s going to happen, she told herself, tearing her eyes away from his chest. I just wish he didn’t look so damn sexy in his chef hat and apron.

  “It’s time for us to sample some of this food you made.”

  “I didn’t do it all by myself. You helped.”

  “All I did was mince the vegetables. That’s hardly cooking.”

  “You’re right. I was the star of the class.” Claudia tried to keep a straight face, but a grin was tugging at the corner of her lips. “I always knew I had it in me to be a great cook, but I never had an opportunity to showcase my skills.”

  “Have you been drinking?”

  Claudia erupted in laughter. “You’re just jealous. Chaz said that I was a natural, not you.”

  He narrowed his eyes, but his smile was broad. “An hour ago you were terrified of being near the stove, and now you think you’re the world’s best cook. Let me be the judge of that.”

  Santiago took Claudia’s hand and led her through the sliding glass door. Persian-style cabanas draped in red silk curtains stood beside lean, soaring palm trees. In awe of the view, Claudia stared out into the horizon, feeling as free as the orange-winged birds soaring in the night sky. “It’s beautiful out here—so quiet and peaceful.”

  “I suspect it’s been a while since you had any downtime,” he said, stopping in front of the largest cabana, “and thought you’d enjoy relaxing tonight oceanside.”

  Claudia stepped inside the cabana and appraised the simple but sleek decor. Scented candles warmed the space with soft light, jumbo sofa cushions dressed the couch, and the round glass table was covered with a half-dozen plates of food.

  “Let’s dig in before the lobster gets cold.”

  After filling their glasses with Paradise Punch, Santiago planted himself beside Claudia and took her hand in his own. “Do you mind if I bless the food?”

  Claudia sat there, tongue-tied, but managed a nod of acquiescence.

  Santiago bowed his head and began a blessing.

  Bitterness infected her, making her eyes tear with anguish and her mouth painfully dry. Claudia didn’t want to remember the last time she prayed, didn’t want to remember the disappointment she felt that night in the hospital when her prayers went ignored. And as she listened to Santiago she wondered if this was all an act. He wouldn’t be the first man she’d met masquerading as an angel but with the heart of a devil, and he probably wouldn’t be the last.

  “Amen.”

  Claudia blinked, saw Santiago staring at her, and averted her gaze.

  “I’m glad we met,” he said, giving her hand a light squeeze. “I think you could have been nicer when I introduced myself and offered lunch, but I won’t hold it against you.”

  “I didn’t have the energy to make conversation, and I was in a bad mood.”

  “And how do you feel now?”

  Hot and bothered. “This is really nice,” she admitted, spooning salsa onto her plate. “I’ll probably never cook another meal like this again, but at least I’m not scared of being inside the kitchen.”

  “I told you there was nothing to worry about.” Santiago tasted his food. Flashing a thumbs-up sign, he nodded his head vigorously. “Claudia, you nailed the enchiladas. They’re flavorful and spicy, just the way I like them.”

  “They are good, aren’t they? The next time I see Chaz I’m giving him a great big hug.”

  Santiago gripped his butter knife. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”

  “Yes. He’s more than just a chef, he’s a miracle worker!”

  Claudia picked up her glass and took a long sip of her drink. The gentle whoosh of the ocean’s waves had a calming effect on her. Being outside, surrounded by the stars and lights, made her feel better than she had in weeks and put her in a playful mood. “So tell me, Santiago, what do you like to do besides managing the resort and propositioning women at the Dulles International Airport?”

  Santiago chuckled. “Typical guy stuff, I guess. I golf, surf, play cards with my friends. I just started a new project, though, and it’s taking up a lot of my free time.” A grin played on the corners of his lips, then slid smoothly across his mouth. “I’m trying to make headway with a lovely young Southern woman staying at my resort, but she isn’t making it easy.”

  “Best of luck,” Claudia quipped without missing a beat. “But don’t let the accent fool you. Southern women are notorious for playing hard to get and don’t impress easily.”

  “Then, I better hit it out of the park tonight, huh?”

  “I hope you have an arm like Sammy Sosa!”

  Jokes flew back and forth during the course of dinner. Santiago leaned back and stretched his arms along the side of the sofa. It was after midnight, but he was wide awake, alert, ready to drink and talk and laugh with Claudia for hours more.

  “That was some dinner,” Claudia said, ditching her utensils and patting back a yawn. “Thanks for arranging the cooking lesson, Santiago. I had a blast.”

  He pointed at her ceramic dessert bowl. “But you haven’t tried the churros, and I made them especially for you.”

  “I can’t. I’m scared I’ll split the zipper on this dress if I keep eating!”

  “That doesn’t sound like a bad thing.”

  “I’m a lot of things, Mr. Medina, but an exhibitionist isn’t one of them.”

  Another tear-producing yawn.

  “I better take you home before you fall asleep in your ice cream,” he joked, affectionately clasping her hand. “Can you walk on your own or would you like me to carry you?”

  “I can walk.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, but…” amusement lit her eyes and a smirk caressed her lips “…when we return to my suite I need you to tuck me in.”

  Chapter 12

  Santiago laughed off Claudia’s request as nothing more than alcohol-induced flirting. Claudia slid toward him on the couch until their legs were touching. Her body was pressed so close to his he could smell the fruity notes in her perfume. To conceal the erection growing in his pants, he rested his hands on his lap. There, now she’d never have to know that his body and his mind were at odds. “I think you’ve had too much wine.”

 
Claudia wore an innocent smile. “I haven’t had anything to drink but fruit punch.”

  “That’s true, but Chaz added some red wine to the punch.”

  “I still want to tuck you in.” Claudia giggled, then cupped a hand over her mouth to conceal the high-pitched sound. “I mean, I still want you to tuck me in.”

  Santiago’s eyes widened. That wasn’t her voice. Her Southern twang had taken on a low, throaty texture, one that set his body ablaze. He tried to look normal, unfazed by her thick, sensuous tone, but the closer Claudia got the harder it was to withstand the heat.

  “Our time together doesn’t have to end, Santiago.”

  Santiago grabbed his glass and guzzled down his water.

  “Let’s have dessert in my suite.” Claudia put a finger to her mouth. “Nobody has to know you were in my room after dark. It’ll be our little secret.”

  “I never knew you had such a mischievous streak. What other secrets are you keeping?”

  “Come upstairs and find out.”

  For one action-packed second, he considered taking Claudia up on her offer. He wanted to kiss her, caress her, give in to the passion he’d felt the moment he’d laid eyes on her, but Santiago knew better than to act on his feelings. Not now. Not like this. Claudia was offering herself up as dessert, but he knew her interest in him had nothing to do with their attraction, and everything to do with what she’d drank at dinner. “I’m taking you home.”

  Her lips flared into a pout. “You’re no fun.”

  “And you’re full of surprises. I pegged you as a shy, reserved type, but I was wrong. You have a wicked sense of humor and deliver punch lines better than a seasoned comic!”

  “I usually don’t talk this much,” she confessed with a nervous laugh, “but I feel so comfortable with you. Like I’ve known you forever. I know that sounds crazy but—”

  “It doesn’t, Claudia. I feel the same way.”

  Their gazes locked, moved over each other with deliberate slowness.

  “Why is a woman as desirable and captivating as you still on the market?”

  “You make it sound like that’s a bad thing.”

  “It is,” he said. “You deserve to be loved and cherished every minute of every day.”

  Claudia melted into the plush, oversize cushions. His gaze felt warm, hot on her face, and it caused tingles to erupt from her ears to her toes. There was a gravity about him, an energy so profound her body purred with need.

  “You’re everything a man could want in a woman.”

  Claudia touched her chest. “I am?”

  “I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.”

  Desire slammed into her, stealing her speech and turning her thoughts into mush. Claudia couldn’t wait to get her hands on him, couldn’t wait to kiss and caress and stroke his rock-hard physique. Being with Santiago made her forget everything—her past, her problems back home, the SEC investigation. He had a body made for Playgirl, was as charismatic as a movie star and was probably a beast between the sheets. The quiet ones always are, she thought, giggling to herself. At least that’s what Max says!

  “How long have you been divorced?”

  “Why does it matter?”

  He shrugged a shoulder. “It doesn’t. I’m just curious.”

  “I’m starting to hate that word.”

  “Do you still love him?”

  “Yeah,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes, “about as much as I love paper cuts, rush-hour traffic and black widow spiders.”

  Santiago let out a deep, rumbling laugh.

  “Since you like playing twenty questions, it’s your turn in the hot seat,” she announced, propping her elbow up on the back of the couch. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

  “No, but I’m working on it.”

  “Sure you are,” she quipped, her tone thick with sarcasm. “Guys like you love playing the field, and I bet that you have an old college sweetheart on standby somewhere.”

  “I didn’t date much in college. I was such a troublemaker my graduating class voted me most likely to end up on Mexico’s Most Wanted!”

  Claudia winced. “Ouch. That’s brutal.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “I bet you don’t have a problem getting dates now,” Claudia said, marveling at the smoothness of his skin, the fullness of his lips and his ripped forearms. “I see the way the female guests around here flock to you. You’re definitely the most popular guy on staff.”

  “I don’t need a harem, Claudia. Just someone I share a meaningful connection with.”

  His eyes never left her face.

  “Our meeting wasn’t by chance or a coincidence. It was fate. A moment orchestrated by a force bigger than ourselves.” He spoke with great passion, sharing his feelings freely. “I feel blessed to have met you,” he confessed. “Honored, actually.”

  “You feel honored to know me?” The words felt strange on her tongue and foreign to her ears. “No one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”

  “A woman of your intelligence and beauty should not only be appreciated for her aesthetic qualities, but for the depth of her mind as well.”

  Sighing inwardly, she fought against the smile tickling the corners of her lips. Santiago was more eloquent than an eighteenth-century poet, and his words were filled with such tender warmth that they resonated in her soul. It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her, and to her surprise, she believed every word. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Then don’t say anything.” His eyes smiled, swept over her like the gentle breeze ruffling the curtains. “Call me whenever you need to talk or vent about how unfair life is. I’ve been there, and I know how important it is to have someone in your corner.”

  Sparks flew when he clasped her hand.

  “Thank you, Santiago. I just might take you up on your offer.”

  “I hope you do…”

  His mouth was less than an inch away—poised, ready, waiting.

  Their lips crushed together. Moved hungrily over each other with the same urgency as their roving hands.

  The kiss was ferocious.

  Explosive.

  So devastating she’d need weeks to recover from it.

  Claudia didn’t know who initiated the kiss, but she suspected she’d lost the battle with her conscience and shamelessly pounced on him. The ecstasy of kissing Santiago—finally, after all this time—was just too much. Desire ripped through her, and her lust for him burned out of control. Claudia was aware of the risks of having sex in a public place, but damn the risks! She hadn’t had sex for months, and never with a man whose smile was enough to make her wet.

  She was breathing in short, quick puffs, like someone on the verge of collapse, but Claudia would rather faint than end the kiss. Not when Santiago was whispering in her ear, caressing her skin, and using his tongue to kindle her body’s fire. Her defenses melted away and flittered out the cabana along with her common sense and proper Southern upbringing.

  The kiss was urgent, filled with so much heat Claudia collapsed against his chest. Their tongues met, swirled around each other in a sensuous, erotic dance. She loved what Santiago was doing with his lips, loved how moist and tender they felt against her mouth.

  What happened to keeping your distance? To keeping your heart under lock and key?

  Her conscience troubled her, reminded her of the pitfalls of indulging in a vacation fling. The sensible thing to do was to leave. But Claudia wasn’t feeling sensible; she was feeling sexy and daring and adventurous. Tonight, she was going to fulfill her fantasies, and do all of the naughty, erotic things that respectable Southern girls just didn’t do.

  “I’ve been dreaming of kissing you from the moment I saw you enter the
luxury lounge,” he confessed, using his thumbs to caress her face from her ear to her cheeks. “You’re exquisite, lovely, as delicate as the petals on a freshly bloomed rose.”

  Claudia was lost. Lost in the rapture of his kiss, the perfume of his words and the pleasure of his caress. Overtaken like a ship in the path of a storm, she felt herself being swept up in a sensual, sexual whirlwind. His lips teased her, stroked her, made everything in her messed-up world deliciously right. Santiago’s kiss was the best thing that had ever happened to her, and his mouth was so sweet she felt a giddy rush of excitement.

  Her passion snowballed into something fierce, and the more Santiago gave, the more she took. Claudia had never known such pleasure, such hunger. Turned on and excited about the prospect of making love, she lifted her dress and slid onto his lap. Straddling him, she stuck a hand inside his polo shirt and shamelessly stroked his bulging biceps. She kissed him deeply, intensely, with total abandon. Claudia wanted Santiago, here, now, under the curtain of bright, twinkling stars, and she was going to have him.

  Chest to chest, their lips teasing, their hands stroking, they moved in sync to the tranquil music of the ocean waves beyond the cabana walls. Aroused by the feel of his body so close to hers, she rubbed her hips against his erection. A flame ignited between her legs, causing her to moan and groan. Claudia was scared couples strolling along the beach or teens playing Frisbee would hear them, but that only added to the excitement.

  “The strangest thing happens whenever I’m around you.” He drew his fingers along her neck, then buried them in her hair. An impish grin was playing on his lips. “My palms sweat and my heart beats so fast I feel like I’m having a heart attack!”

  “Then, I better take it easy on you tonight, huh?”

  Santiago slipped a hand under her dress and cupped her butt. And when he rubbed his thumb along the front of her panties she shivered like a surfer lost at sea. He parted her lips, massaging her clit with his fingers. He probed her treasure, stroking her with such agonizing slowness Claudia had to take matters into her own hands. She rocked against him, forcing him deeper inside her tight, slick walls. Savage moans streamed from her mouth, shattering the quiet moonlit night. Her heart was hammering so loud in her chest she couldn’t breathe. Santiago alternated between tender strokes and quick, urgent ones. She fondled him through his clothes, used her lips and tongue and mouth to devour him.