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Chapter One: Heather

The man had been shamelessly staring at my tits for the past ten minutes. He was standing on the other side of the baggage carousel as we waited for our luggage to appear, and I was trying my best to ignore him.

At least we were surrounded by other people. This airport was tiny, but the plane that brought us to this tropical island carried around fifty passengers, and many of them were also waiting for their luggage. So, I kept my eyes on the carousel and gave the thin man in the Hawaiian shirt as little attention as possible. As long as he kept his distance, I could pretend he wasn’t there.

When I spotted my suitcase, easily identifiable from the others with its bright pink color, I grabbed it and navigated my way through the crowd. The electronic board on the wall displayed the shuttle schedule from the airport to the resort on this little island, and I pulled out my phone to check the time. It looked like a couple of shuttles were leaving in ten minutes.

Shoving my phone back into my purse, I looked up and flinched as I saw Hawaiian-shirt-guy standing right in front of me. He now had an overstuffed duffle bag hanging off his shoulder and a sleazy smirk on his face.

“Hey, there.” His voice was almost as oily as his wispy brown hair. “You traveling alone?”

Wow.

I needed a moment to process just how creepy that opening question was, and the guy took that opportunity to move even closer. There was less than a foot of space between us, and I stepped back, a frown on my face.

“I’m Lance,” he said, his eyes once again flicking down to my chest.

Lance clearly hasn’t mastered the art of subtlety.

“Heather,” I said even as I sidestepped him. “I need to get to a shuttle. If you’ll excuse me.”

“Wait.” His hand shot out, as if he were going to grasp my arm, but I shifted my weight to my back foot and gave him my best don’t fuck with me glare. He dropped his arm to his side, but his smirk stayed in place. “I’m staying at the resort with some friends until the end of the week. If you’re alone, maybe we could keep each other company?”

There was something almost predatory about the tone of his voice now, and it sent a shiver down my spine.

“No thanks,” I said firmly. “I’ve got plenty of people to spend my time with at the resort.”

It was true. I was only traveling alone because I had to work yesterday when my sister arrived on the island, along with several others involved in the wedding that would take place on Saturday. They were all at the beach resort, and I was eager to join them.

Turning away from Lance, I quickly got back to making my way through the airport. The crowd had thinned out a bit, so I didn’t have any trouble reaching the exit. Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw that Lance was blocked by a large group of people who stopped in the middle of the airport to take a selfie. Generally annoying and self-centered behavior that I utterly appreciated at this moment.

The shuttles were small white buses parked at the curb in front of the airport, and they seemed to be filling up fast. Choosing one at random, I dragged my suitcase over and shoved it into the storage area below. Stepping onto the bus, I saw that most of the twenty seats—two on each side of a narrow aisle—were occupied already, but three of them were empty. One was next to an older woman eating what looked like an egg salad sandwich. Cringing, I hurried by that one and went to the back of the shuttle, where two empty seats sat side-by-side.

I’d just settled into the one by the window when I glanced up and saw him.

Brown hair and beard. Dark eyes. Tanned skin over bulging arm muscles and a white T-shirt that clung to his upper body in a way that made me jealous. I watched him walk down the aisle, his head only inches from the ceiling and his broad shoulders and chest taking up so much space that he looked almost too big to belong. Heat pooled low in my gut, and I shifted in my seat as my entire body seemed to come to life.

Then, movement just behind the bearded man caught my eye.

Lance had gotten on the shuttle too, and his leering gaze was once again locked on me. Damn it.

I glanced at the empty seat beside me and made a split-second decision.

Lifting a hand, I gestured to the bearded man just as he reached the seat beside the old woman.

“Hey, babe!” I called out, my voice squeaky with nerves and a little desperation. “I’m back here. I saved you a seat right beside me.”

The man’s eyes met mine, and I silently begged him to go along with this. I didn’t know how to convey why I needed him to sit beside me without giving away that I was lying, and Lance was still staring at me, his smirk gone.

The bearded man stood still for a moment before looking around, as if he wasn’t sure that I was talking to him. That was when he noticed Lance behind him. Looking between the two of us for a moment, he frowned, and I could practically see his mind working, putting the pieces together.

Then, he continued to walk toward me. He wasn’t smiling like you would expect from a man approaching his girlfriend, but I could work with anything but Lance next to me for the twenty-minute drive to the resort.

The man sat in the seat beside me, and we both watched as Lance took the last empty seat beside the old woman. I let out a long breath I didn’t realize I was holding, and the tension bled out of my body. Collapsing back against my seat, I let out a relieved chuckle as I turned to my savior.

He was even more attractive up close. And so big. This man had the body of an athlete. Or a warrior.

And those deep brown eyes bored into mine.