Body Heat Part 9

Kyle laughed, earning a glare from Adam. "Now, Adam, come on. I still don't understand why you're being so pigheaded about this."

Adam turned on his brother, deciding he was a safer target than Mel. He didn't have to fight the urge to kiss his brother. Through clenched teeth, he muttered, "We make our own way now, Kyle."

"No, you make our way. I haven't had a h.e.l.l of a lot to do with it."

Adam drew back a step, scowling fiercely. "That's ridiculous. I'm your brother. Besides, you've been going to college."

Kyle turned to smile at Melanie. "Did you know he mostly paid my way through college? With what I made working part-time, it would have taken me years to pay back student loans. He also bought my mother a house. That's part of the reason he had to do some fancy financing to get the money together for this resort. If he didn't feel so responsible for us, he'd be rolling in dough."

"Kyle..."

Adam's warning went unheeded. "We're d.a.m.n proud of him and all he's done. Even before Dad died, Adam's always been my hero."

There was that word again, making him edgy. He scowled at Kyle. "We're family. You've done plenty for me, too."

Kyle clapped Adam on the back. "He's always been one h.e.l.l of a big brother. I was really looking forward to settling down here, soaking up some sun, using my degree in business to help get things going. But if he won't accept it..."

Mel's smile turned gentle and sweet. "I didn't know all that about Adam. But it doesn't surprise me. I think of him as a hero, too. After he rescued me from drowning, I knew he could do anything he set his mind to-which is why I didn't want him to miss this opportunity just because he likes to wallow in stubborn, misplaced pride."

Adam felt smothered in their collective praise. "For the last d.a.m.n time, Mel, I fell in. I did not jump in after you!"

Very quietly, and with supreme confidence, she whispered, "But you would have."

How the h.e.l.l was he supposed to argue with that? It was the truth, and he could see there was no point in denying it. They stared at each other, both oblivious to the tourists milling around them. Kyle cleared his throat and said, "I think I'll just go look around a little."

Adam hadn't wanted to be left alone with Mel. Not that standing on a crowded beach was alone, but he felt totally apart from the others, as if only the two of them existed. He touched her cheek. "I'm sorry, babe. I know you mean well, but I can't accept."

"You gave me so much, Adam."

He smiled. "What? I let you use my shampoo and shared my toothbrush. It's hardly the same as a costly resort."

Melanie shook her head, and sunlight glinted off her dark hair. "No, don't you understand? You gave me your strength and self-confidence. All my life I've been sheltered and pampered, and men treated me like a gla.s.s doll. But you...you treat me like a woman." She nervously licked her lips. "You make me feel s.e.xy."

"Aw, babe..."

"I might have shared my money, Adam, but that money hadn't made me happy. Knowing you wanted me, making love with you, even arguing with you, makes me happier than I thought possible. The best time I've ever had was being stranded with you."

"Honey, you were always s.e.xy. Almost too much so."

She treated him to a crooked grin. "Since I walked out here this morning to wait for you, I've been hit on a dozen times."

Adam scowled, his gaze scanning the crowds. "Who hit on you?"

"It's not important. My point is-"

"The point is that you need more clothes on!"

"Adam, I'm covered far more than the women in their bathing suits. And besides, I like the way you looked at me when you saw me in this outfit."

Adam stepped closer and gave in to the urge to hold her, bringing her against his chest. "It's not the outfit, Mel, it's you. Even when you wore schoolgirl jumpers and penny loafers back in high school, you made me hard."

She blushed, but she also smiled. "You see? That's the most precious compliment I've ever gotten."

Adam rolled his eyes. "Your fiance was an idiot."

"No." She licked her lips, and the vulnerability that sometimes clouded her eyes bit into his soul. "He wasn't an idiot, Adam. He just wasn't you."

It felt like she'd ripped his heart out. "Mel."

"And he didn't...love me."

The question was there in her beautiful blue eyes. Adam knew he owed it to her to tell her. What difference did her money make if he'd be miserable without her? In fact, he'd never felt so d.a.m.n poor, so lacking in true wealth as he did when she'd left him without saying goodbye. He'd been an unhappy b.a.s.t.a.r.d ever since.

Before he could say anything, Kyle showed up, and he was grinning from ear to ear. "Adam, the place is perfect. Almost everything we would have done, she's taken care of. But there's still some things-"

Melanie spoke quickly. "-that could be improved on, only I've used up my savings. I need a partner to help me finish fixing things up." She drew a deep breath and clutched her hands together in front of her. "I know about buying property and what a good investment is. But I don't know much beyond that. I've got faith in this place, and I've done some cosmetic work, but there's still so much that has to be done. I can't...don't want to do it alone. So if you truly don't want to be partners with me, I'll sell you my shares of the resort. You can reimburse me over a period of time. I'll even make the interest rates fair, but I'd much rather-"

Very softly, Adam said, "I'd much rather marry you."

She let out her breath in a whoosh. "Marry me?"

Kyle grinned. "I knew it! She's the one you've always talked about. I could tell the minute you looked at her."

Adam nodded slowly, his gaze still locked with Melanie's. Melanie looked uncertain.

"Mom would hara.s.s him," Kyle explained, "about settling down, about giving her grandkids, but Adam always said he couldn't because he'd already met the most incredible woman, an icon that other women couldn't possibly measure up to."

"He said that...about me?"

Adam just smiled, watching his brother work. Kyle was smooth, much more so than Adam ever hoped to be. He could charm the socks off anyone, and though their mother didn't realize it, he was the real hound dog in the family. But Kyle was subtle, so the ladies usually didn't realize it until it was too late.

"Yeah. Adam always said you were an aristocrat and a little stuck up-"

"Hey!" Adam considered throwing his brother out to sea.

"But he made it sound real s.e.xy." Kyle's eyes were bright with laughter.

"He did, huh?" Melanie looked unconvinced but open to suggestion.

"You betcha. So what do you think? You going to marry him so we can get this business settled?"

Melanie stared at Adam's chest. "Do you love me, Adam?"

He cupped her chin and tilted her face up. "Since I've been old enough to know what love is, you've been the one for me."

Tears welled in her eyes. "Me, too, though I didn't realize it. I just knew I watched for you and felt alive around you and that-"

"What?"

Mindful of Kyle's rapt attention, she tiptoed to whisper in his ear. "That I wanted you." She kissed his throat and wrapped her arms around him. "I knew I couldn't marry anyone else, not when all I could think of was you."

Adam dropped the deed so he could fill his hands with her. "I love you, Mel. I always have." He kissed her and vaguely heard the stirring of interest from the crowds watching them. His brother made the announcement that they were newly engaged, which earned a round of applause.

It was difficult, but Adam finally managed to pull his mouth away from hers. "Are there empty rooms inside?"

"Too many to count. I expect we need to work on that."

"I know one room we can fill right now."

She smiled at his deep, suggestive tone, and her cheeks turned pink. "I have one reserved just for us."

Adam felt like shouting, he was so happy. "So you'll marry me and put up with Kyle and welcome my mother?"

She grinned, trying for a look of indecision when her expressive eyes already showed how happy she felt. "Well, I suppose so, as long as you know my parents are rather curious about you, too. They'll want a big wedding, but they love me, so it shouldn't be too bad."

"I won't take money from them, sweetheart," he felt compelled to warn her.

She merely shrugged. "I told you I make my own money, and they've already accepted that, even if they're not happy about it. But you can plan on them pampering our babies. I figure with your strength of will, you'll be able to keep things balanced."

Adam nearly swallowed his tongue. "Are you...?"

"Not yet." She lifted her nose into the air. "But I want to be. And soon."

"I just love a bossy woman." Without warning he scooped her into his arms and swung her in a circle. Kyle laughed when he said, "You heard the lady. I have work to do."

Kyle picked up the deed and shoved it into his pocket. "So we're keeping the place?" he shouted after his brother.

"h.e.l.l, yes." Adam grinned at Melanie. "I'm the richest man in the world. I can do anything."

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CHAPTER ONE.

LEESE PHELPS STOOD in the cold early evening air, his breath frosting in front of him. Lights at the nearby bus station blinked in an annoying mismatched pattern. A cascade of foil Valentine's Day hearts hung loose, almost touching the ground. Not exactly romantic, but then, he wasn't in a romantic mood.

Behind him, completely hidden in the shadows, his friend Justice complained, "My b.a.l.l.s are freezing."

Still watching the surrounding area, Leese said, "You should try wearing underwear."

"The ladies would complain. They like me commando."

Leese started to smile, until a shadow s.h.i.+fted from the right side of an alley that bisected the station from a cheap hotel. He said, "Shh."

"This is it?" Justice whispered. "You see her?"

"Quiet." Leese pressed farther back into the darkness, his gaze alert, his senses zinging.

A woman, small in stature, emerged dragging an enormous suitcase with a broken wheel. As it tried to pull her sideways, she relentlessly forced it through slush and blackened snow. Her narrowed gaze scanned the area with nervous awareness.

Leese didn't move, but still her attention shot back in his direction. She stared, watchful and wary, until he stepped out.

Trying not to look threatening, Leese propped a shoulder on the brick facade of the vacated building. He glanced at her, then away, as if dismissing her.

She continued to stare.

Now what to do?

"What's happening?" Justice whispered.

"Nothing. Be quiet."

The girl wore jeans with snow boots, a puffy coat that covered her to her knees and a black stocking cap pulled down to her eyebrows. Straight brown hair stuck out from the bottom.

When she finally looked away, it was to drop the suitcase and whip around, facing the way she'd come.