Stranded(18)

“I said I didn’t want to talk! Please respect my wish to be alone and go away. I think I’ve humiliated myself enough for one day as it is. Did you come in here to see if you could get a little something of what I gave Rafe? Because if you did, you can just forget about it!”

He didn’t respond for a moment and after a while she wondered if he’d left her as she’d requested, but when she lifted her head and saw him still standing there, her anger grew. “Are you deaf? I said go!” The scream reverberated through the cave creating an echo that bounced off the dank walls.

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll leave, but I only wanted to make sure you’re okay and to let you know I’ve found a fresh water source. Rafe and I will probably attempt a fire later, but because there’s some nasty looking clouds forming, it makes sense if we do it in here. When you’re ready, I’ll show you where the water is. It’s about a quarter mile inland.”

India looked away from Grant, not liking how the sun cast his body in a powerful silhouette. She didn’t want to notice how tall or toned his physique was, and that’s exactly why he had to go. What was wrong with her? India didn’t consider herself promiscuous; hell, her relationship with Steven had practically been celibate. Heavy petting and deep kissing had been as far as her ex-fiancé allowed things to go—the rat.

Before him, she’d had two lovers. One in college who’d initiated her in the carnal act. It was nice, but there had been no fireworks or sparks. Overall, it hadn’t been anything to write home about. The next was Kevin, her first love. She’d met him in law school. He was suave, charming, sweet and considerate, and had taught her what the hype about sex was. Kevin was the epitome of the total package, or so she thought, until she brought him home to meet her parents.

Instead of focusing on his accomplishments and where he was going, they had zeroed in on where Kevin had been. They’d smiled in his face and pretended he was welcome in their home, but the minute he was gone, they were on her case.

“You have some nerve to bring that ‘homeboy’ into our house,” Trevor Powers had barked.

India was floored. “I thought you liked him. You even complimented him on the brand of wine he brought. You seemed happy enough to drink it,” she argued.

“Don’t you dare take that tone with me, young lady! That boy is from the projects. Bed-Sty? Really, India, you might as well have brought a convict here.”

“But he isn’t a convict. He’s a law student and he graduated summa cum laude in his class at Georgetown. If anything, he should be commended for pulling himself up by the bootstraps.” India knew her parents were incurable snobs, but she couldn’t believe she was hearing this.

“India.” Her mother had patted India on the shoulder and spoke in that condescending tone that made her shudder. “You can take the boy out of the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto out of the boy. I won’t see you married to some ‘around the way’ boy.”

From there, her parents went on to dissect the way Kevin spoke to the way he cut his meat. By the end of the conversation, it was made plain Kevin was not welcome in their home nor would she be as long as she dated him against their wishes. Years of trying to please them had conditioned India to do exactly what they wanted.

India had ended her relationship with a bewildered Kevin and had broken her own heart in the process. She’d never forgiven herself for caving like that. She saw Kevin years later. He was just starting his own law practice and was engaged to be married. Seeing him so happy was like a punch in the stomach, not that she bore him any ill will. He deserved only the best. She’d been the one who’d behaved badly. It was her just desserts. It took some time, and she finally got over losing him, but it still nagged her when she reminded herself of all the big butthead decisions she’d made in life.

Making out with Rafe was one of them.

India realized she’d have to leave the cave eventually and deal with the repercussion of her actions, but not yet. Getting involved with either man was going to be a colossal mistake.





“What the hell happened with you two?” Grant demanded when he made his way back to his friend.

Rafe uncurled himself from the coconut tree he’d been leaning against. “I already feel like an oversized prison asshole. I don’t need any more shit from you.”

Grant wouldn’t be dismissed so easily. “I know we talked about getting to know her a little better when we were at the airport, but I didn’t think you’d end up mauling her the moment my back was turned. Shit, man, the poor woman was mortified with what she’d done.”