Modern Girl's Guide To Vacation Flings (7 page)

He looked up at her, green eyes molten now, and blew the wet nipple until it formed a hardened peak. Her whole body shivered under that look, and he rewarded her with a wicked grin. Maybe her body had the right idea. Beth yanked the shirt completely off and pushed him back toward the bed.

And then the universe poured a cold bucket of water on the whole party.

"Ms. Beth." Candido knocked on the door. "Ms. Beth, they said you had an issue with the bathroom. I can take care of that now."

The warmth in Matt's eyes was gone, and he took several steps back from Beth. "I shouldn't be here," he said and retrieved her shirt from the floor. He somehow managed to hand it back to her without touching her or making eye contact.

They'd been just a few seconds away from being naked on her bed, and now there was a cold distance between them. His sudden withdrawal hurt more than it should. "Matt…"

"I'm sorry. I overstepped. This won't happen again," he said and pushed past her to the door.

The knock came again, and Beth pulled on her shirt. "Matt," she called after him, but he was out the door before she could say anything.

Candido stuck his head in through the now open door. "Ms. Beth, I'm sorry to disturb you," he said, looking guilt-stricken.

Beth let out an exasperated sigh. Fuck. Fuck. And Double Fuck. "Come on in, Candido. I've made a mess of things." And she meant that in more ways than one.

Chapter 4

Modern Girl Tip #12: Family Matters—After a connection has been made, you might be tempted to meet the people traveling with your fling. Don't. Nothing says "serious" like meeting the folks. Playful, not proper, is the name of the game.

Beth, more specifically the memory of her body, had haunted him all night. The situation was already a nightmare. The last thing he needed was to add sex to the mix. And it wouldn't take much to stray into dangerously personal territory, last night just proved that.

She'd just been trying to taunt him, trying to push him into staying, and he'd wanted to teach her a lesson. He thought if he called her bluff and kissed her, it would prove that getting physical was a bad idea. Unfortunately, the plan backfired. The second he tasted her again and she responded to his touch, it was all over. His rational mind left and his only goal had been to get her naked. Thank God they'd been interrupted or he would have done something that he couldn't take back.

He had tried to call her this morning; to apologize and let her know that he was calling the whole thing off, but she didn't answer. Not that he blamed her for avoiding him after the way he'd acted last night. And especially the way he'd left without a word.

There was something about Beth that made him forget himself. She had an unusual mixture of boldness and vulnerability, and when you added to that mix her passion, she was irresistible.

His head ached from lack of sleep and he wasn't up for a trip to the gym this morning, so he decided to head down to breakfast with his family. But that was a mistake. As soon as he sat down, his mom started in.

"So Matt, Kitty seems like such a nice girl."

Since he had no other option now, Matt decided to follow Beth's advice and just tell his mother to back off.

"Mom, I don't need help finding a date. And even if I did, Kitty wouldn't—"

"You two run in the same social circles and she's single. You never know. You should spend some more time getting to know her." She turned to Bridget and asked, "Is Kitty joining us this morning, dear?"

"She had a headache," Bridget said flatly. "She's sleeping in."

Well, at least that was something going his way this morning.

"I'll take one of those Danishes," he said, deciding to drop the Kitty talk for now. He could always ask his mom to lay off when they had more privacy. For now, he just wanted to eat. Then try to catch Beth, so he could return her key and they could talk.

"That's too bad. I hope she makes the tour," Mom said as she picked up the basket of pastries to pass them to Matt, but yanked them back before he had a chance to grab one. Turning to Bridget, she frowned, worry wrinkling her brow. "You don't think it's serious, do you? It's easy to catch a bug on a cruise ship. Maybe she should go down to the clinic."

"I don't think it's bad, Martha." Bridget surveyed the table. Her cool, even expression slipping a bit. The morning meal had been just this side of pandemonium. Between Holly arguing with Dad about some investment and the twins attempting their normal escape act, Matt had a good idea what triggered Bridget's ire this morning. "I think a quiet morning in her suite is all she needed."

As if on cue Mike returned with a struggling Rebecca who'd wiggled out of the chair earlier. The little girl managed to kick off one of her shiny black Mary Janes in the struggle, and the shoe went flying past Bridget, missing her by inches. Matt sighed and retrieved the shoe from the floor, handing it back to a harried looking Mike.

"You know, I think Jason and I might sleep in a few mornings ourselves. We're on vacation after all," Bridget added.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it's not serious." Mom picked up a spilled water glass and mopped up the mess, then retrieved the pastry basket with the seamless skill only a mother developed. "Matt, why don't you check on her later. I was thinking that you could help with the reception on St. Maarten. I know everything is set, but there's always those last minute details."

"That's a terrible idea," Matt said.

"That's a great idea," Bridget said at the same time. But as usual, both the women ignored him and continued planning his day. "I don't know why I didn't think about that before now. Matt has his laptop, and I desperately need help fixing a problem my husband caused." Bridget frowned and gave Jason a disapproving look. "The only thing he had to do was call and confirm the guitarist, but he didn't. Now, I need to find a replacement or there won't be any music. How can we have a reception without music?"

"I left that douche bag three messages," Jason said, trying to defend himself. "How the fuck was I supposed to know that he only gets business calls on his fucking cell. If he didn't want me to call his home number why the fuck did he list it on his website?"

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck," Stephen parroted back banging the spoon on the table happily.

"God damn—darn it, Jason! Watch your language," Holly said, and slapped her hands over Stephen's ears.

"Jason, how could you not confirm the guitarist?" their mom asked. "The girls have put a lot into planning this event. Making a few calls isn't too much to ask of you."

"I could have told you not to trust Jason with anything important," Holly added. "Like that time I asked you to feed Princess Penelope while I was at camp."

"Oh my God, Holly. I was eight. How was I supposed to know that guacamole would kill your stupid gerbil?"

"All you had to do was fill up her water and feed her the food I gave you. But you couldn't even follow those basic instructions."

"I was eight. You're lucky I remembered to feed him anything at all."

Matt sat back, relieved the attention was off him for a change and prepared to eat the rest of his breakfast in peace while the family ganged up on Jason. It had been like that most of his life. Matt was either the center of the discussion, or he was completely ignored. And to be honest, he preferred the latter.

"But you're not eight anymore, and you could have followed through," Holly said. "It's not like you have that many responsibilities. Christ, you work for Dad in the loan department. I bet you don't even put in forty hours a week."

Just when Matt thought their focus would be on Jason for the rest of the meal, the little backstabber threw him under the bus.

"Matt has a girlfriend," Jason blurted out. "And he smuggled her on the cruise with him."

The table went still, and everyone turned to stare at him. And from the look on everyone's faces, you would have thought Jason had screamed there was a bomb strapped to Matt's chair. It kind of felt a little like that. There was a few seconds of eerie silence before the table exploded in a cacophony of questions.

"What is Jason talking about?" Mom asked.

"Matt's girlfriend?" Holly asked almost laughing. "I'll believe that when I see it."

"I hope it's the redhead from Christmas," Terry added, elbowing him in the ribs. "She was hot."

"You didn't say you were bringing a guest. We didn't plan on an extra guest for the reception. Holly, I can't redo the seating chart. It took me days to finally fix it. This is a disaster," Bridget said, and looked as if she might burst into tears.

Jason looked at him from across the table, a shit eating grin on his face. And Matt had the sudden urge to pound that look off his face.

"Matthew Patrick Carver. What does Jason mean you brought your girlfriend? Why didn't you say something? I didn't even know you were seeing anyone." His mother pointed her fork at him, her
I mean business
voice in full effect. "I don't know what's going on with you, but I want answers. This girl must think we're terrible people not inviting her. How could you let her think she'd not welcome?"

Well, fuck. There was no getting out of it now. Matt just hoped Beth was still on board after his behavior last night.

When Beth returned from her morning workout she had three messages from Matt, each one more desperate. The poor guy thought she was avoiding him. It would have been cute, except for the fact that he was wavering again.

Maybe that was for the best. Despite his reasons, she didn't relish the idea of lying to his family. But that was his choice. If a harmless lie would have helped Matt keep the peace with his family, it wasn't her job to be his moral compass. Heck, wasn't that was the reason she was on this ship after all?

She could certainly relate to having a parent who constantly tried to meddle in your life. After all, it was Beth's mother who'd encouraged her relationship with Robert. And after the relationship failed, she hoped her mom would have given up. But no, it was just another thing she used to point out Beth's flaws.

Mom was convinced her globetrotting lifestyle and job was the reason things didn't work out with Robert. She was getting really tired of hearing,
"If you had stayed in Chicago, this might have been your wedding."

The problem was, her mother's words had a thread of truth. Robert had asked her to stay in Chicago once, but she didn't see the point. He was busy with medical school and they hardly had time when she did come home. Besides, Beth shouldn't have to change just for a man.

When she tried pointing out to her mom that moving to the states hadn't stopped her from leaving Dad, things got ugly. Keeping the peace and avoiding her mom were just a few more reasons she was on this trip.

So why was she was getting involved with another man's family drama? Still, maybe she could use this time to her advantage. A fun fling was just what she needed to take her mind off things. After the taste she had last night, Beth was seriously considering spending more time with Matt with a whole lot less clothing. And from his response to her, Beth didn't think he'd object.

She looked at the clock. It was almost ten and Matt still hadn't called again. She didn't know what room he was in and outside of leaving a message with guest services, she had no way of getting in touch. But she wasn't about to wait all day sitting by the phone either. She needed out of the room, so Beth made her way to one of the lounges to find a drink and a quiet corner to read.