Up In Flames by Lori Foster Page A

realize the truth—that he was just a man, still working to get ahead and often failing.
    He scrubbed at his face and silently accepted that the dream had ended.
    Two seconds later Melanie let out a small screech and snatched up her shorts and halter. She darted behind a mangrove tree and frantically began to dress.
    Alarmed, Adam jumped to his feet, expecting to see the wild boar he’d relentlessly teased her about.
    What he saw instead was almost worse: a small fishing boat headed their way. At the helm, a hard-looking man who seemed impervious to the rain, stared toward them in disbelief. Though he was too far out to see them clearly, possessive rage washed through Adam. If the boat had shown up minutes earlier, its captain might have seen Mel naked.
    The boat slowed and began idling toward the beach. Adam pulled on his sand-covered shorts and walked into the ocean to meet their rescuer.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    “So you haven’t spoken to her since this Flynn Ryder guy showed up, right?”
    Adam gave a sigh of disgust as he and his younger brother, Kyle, rounded the corner of a heavily flowered courtyard and headed around the quaint building to the beach behind it. Tourists abounded at the newly opened resort, making Adam’s temper burn. The resort should have been his. But the little witch had bought it back. For him.
    Damn her.
    He’d gone over the whole story a dozen times, but Kyle still hadn’t run out of questions. “There was nothing to say after that. We both felt damn foolish for getting stranded in the first place. The shoaling around the island makes it dangerous for boats to get too close, so people don’t visit it often. If it hadn’t been for Flynn, who knows how long we might have been there? The idiots that lost us didn’t even know we were missing, so nothing had been reported.”
    “Eventually I’d have figured things out and sent the cavalry,” Kyle assured him. “But you never did say what Flynn was doing there.”
    No, he hadn’t. Flynn Ryder evidently owned his own resort on a neighboring island, but it was Aladdin leaving a trail of clothing around the area—specifically Melanie’s panties—that had caused Flynn to investigate the smaller island. The minute Adam had explained they were both from Ohio, Flynn had nodded understanding and taken them to civilization.
    Adam had felt like a complete fool over the whole thing, especially when Melanie told Flynn that Adam had saved her. Flynn had given him a skeptical look but hadn’t bothered to comment. In fact, he’d said very little to Adam. But he’d talked up a storm with Melanie. Not that he had much choice. Melanie, deliberately provoking Adam, he was sure, had asked Flynn dozens of questions on the daily operations of owning a resort. Adam had considered throwing her overboard again. In the end, he’d simply ignored her.
    Adam and Kyle stopped in a crowd of bikini-clad guests and looked around for a familiar dark head. The desk clerk had claimed she was out here—waiting.
    “You’re leaving something out, Adam.”
    Damn, sometimes his brother was too astute. Hedging, he asked, “Why do you think so?”
    Kyle tapped the papers Adam clutched in one fist. “She bought you a resort. You’re pissed off about it. She insisted on seeing you in person, and you’re giving in. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.”
    “Does it take a genius to figure out it’s none of your business?”
    “Why did you drag me along, then?”
    Because he hadn’t wanted to tempt fate by seeing her alone again. He felt terrible for the things he’d said, the way he’d treated her that last day. Once they’d reached a hotel and been given separate rooms, Adam had tried to contact her, to apologize and do the old see-ya-later routine. He hadn’t wanted to part with hurt feelings, not when she meant so much to him. And he’d wanted her to know how to reach him, just in case his forgetfulness with the condom became an issue. But she’d already