One Night in Paradise by Maisey Yates Page B

should make sure Zack never met her sister.
    The sound of running water grew louder and they rounded a curve in the path and came into a clearing that curved around a still, jade pool. At least twenty fine steams were trickling down moss-covered rocks, meeting at the center and falling into the pool as one heavy rush of water.
    Anong the elephant stopped at the edge of the pool, dropping slowly down to her knees, the ground rising up a bit faster than Clara would have like. She leaned into Zack, clinging to the sleeve of his T-shirt as Anong settled.
    “All right?” he asked.
    She looked at where her hand was, and slowly uncurled her fingers, releasing her hold on him. “Sorry,” she said.
    He smiled, that simple expression enough to melt her insides. He was so sexy. Time and exposure, familiarity, didn’t change it. Didn’t lessen it.
    Just another reason for her to leave Roasted. If exposure didn’t do it, distance might.
    Zack moved away from her, dismounting their ride first and waited for her at the side of their living chariot, his hand outstretched. She leaned forward and took it, letting his muscles propel her gently to the ground. Her feet hit just in front of his, her breasts close to touching his chest, the heat from him enticing her, taunting her.
    “Do you want me to wait for you?” their guide asked.
    Zack shook his head. “We’ll walk back. Thank you for the ride. It was an experience.”
    He nodded and whistled a signal to Anong, who rose slowly and turned, going back with her owner and friend. She watched them round the corner, a smile on her lips. Yesterday, she was at a beachside hotel in San Francisco, expecting to lose half of her heart as Zack married another woman.
    Today she was with him on his honeymoon. Riding elephants.
    “An experience,” Zack said, turning to face the water.
    “It was fun,” she said.
    “Not relaxing exactly.”
    “No,” she said, laughing. “Not in the least.”
    “Mr. Amudee informed me by phone this morning that this is a safe place to swim. Clean. They don’t let the elephants up here and the waterfall keeps it all moving.”
    She made a face. “Good to know. I liked the elephants, don’t really want to share a swimming hole with them. It looks pristine,” she said, moving to the edge, looking down into the clear pool. She could see rocks covered in moss along the bottom, small fish darting around, only leaving the cover of their hidingplaces for a few moments before swimming behind something else. “Perfect.”
    Zack tugged his black shirt over his head, leaving him in nothing more than a pair of very low-cut white board shorts that, when wet, she had no doubt would cling to some very interesting places.
    Her mind was a filthy place lately. And the sad thing was, it was hard to regret. Because it was so enjoyable.
    “Swimming?”
    “No.” She shook her head and gripped her sarong.
    “Why?”
    “It looks cold.”
    He put his hands on his lean hips and sighed, the motion making his ab muscles ripple in a very enticing fashion. “It’s so hot and muggy out here it could be snowmelt and it would feel good. And I guarantee you it’s not snowmelt.”
    “It just looks … cold.” Lame. So lame. But she didn’t really want to strip down to her swimsuit in front of him, not when he looked so amazing in his. She was. There was too much of her for a start. She was so very conscious of that. Of the fact that she had hips and breasts, and that she could pinch fat on her stomach.
    Zack’s girlfriends had hip bones and abs that were just as cut as his.
    “Ridiculous.” He walked over to her and scooped her up in his arms, her heart climbing up into her throat as he did. His arms were tight and strong around her, masculine. Lifting her seemed effortless. His large hands cupped her thigh and her shoulder, his heat spreading through her like warm, sticky honey, thick and sweet.
    She realized what was happening a little bit too late, because sexual