Stranded(19)

Rafe turned on him then, his amber eyes blazing with anger. “Don’t you think I realize what I’ve done? I didn’t set out to seduce her. It just happened. She was helping me shake coconuts from the tree. I was holding her up and she fell on top of me. The next thing I knew…”

“You were all over each other?” Grant shouldn’t have been jealous. This was his best friend, after all, but all those old insecurities came rearing their head once again. “I guess she prefers you then.”

Rafe raked his fingers through his hair with an exasperated sigh. “It wasn’t like that. I had no intention of touching her, but when our bodies touched, I lost control. I should have ignored my impulses, but I couldn’t. But don’t let her fool you. She wanted it just as bad as I did.”

Grant snorted. “Just like Angie wanted you?”

“Let’s not go down that road again. If it makes you feel any better, I won’t touch her again.”

Grant raised a brow in surprise. “Really?”

“It would be difficult, but I’ll leave her alone.”

Grant shook his head, realizing he was overreacting. How could he blame Rafe for something he himself wanted to do? “Forget it. I’m being a jackass. I saw the two of you together and got jealous.”

“Because you wanted her too?”

“Of course. What hot-blooded man wouldn’t want a gorgeous lady like India? It’s no secret I find her attractive. No, that’s an understatement. She’s one of the sexiest damn women I’ve met in a long time. I felt a connection with her when we talked.” Grant shrugged. “Guess it was wishful thinking on my part.”

“Don’t second-guess yourself. There could have been.”

“I’m not sure. Not that it really matters. I’m sure a search team will be sent out to rescue us, so the point is moot.”

“But in the eventuality we’re not?”

The last thing Grant wanted to think about was being on this island longer than a day or two, but the possibility was too real to ignore. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, we’ll focus on staying alive.”

Rafe grabbed his arm when he would have walked on. “And what about India? We can’t continue this charade that there’s nothing happening between us, and I’m not just talking about me and her. I mean all of us.”

“The decision will have to be hers. Come on. Let me show you the fresh water source I found.” Grant was eager to end this conversation, because a far worse possibility than staying on the island, was discovering India wasn’t as interested in him as she was Rafe.





Stranded





Chapter Six


Three more restless days and sleepless nights had passed with no sign of a rescue team in sight. It was starting to sink in with them all that maybe they wouldn’t be getting off the island anytime soon. The very thought terrified her. All they’d had to eat so far were coconuts and a crab that had washed up on the shore. The water source was swarming with insects, but it was either drink or die of thirst.

Rafe and Grant were unable to get a fire started, sleeping on the cold hard ground made her muscles stiff, and the bugs were eating her alive. The weather went from one extreme to the next. When it wasn’t scorching hot, it was raining, and the nights were freezing. She had no choice but to sleep huddled between Rafe and Grant for body heat.

Being on this island was tantamount to Hell.

None of them spoke of the incident between her and Rafe, but it was obvious from the way they were so painfully polite to each other that it still preyed on their minds. She could also tell by the fact they were going out of their way to put her at ease. No matter how they chose to ignore the tension, it remained beneath the surface, simmering, waiting to boil over.

India wasn’t sure if she would be able to take it anymore. She’d had three days to come to terms with what she’d done, and it was silly to act as if it didn’t happen. Besides, for all she knew they could be on this island forever. It made no sense to tiptoe around anyone’s sensibilities this long. India shivered under the icy curtain of the water raining over her head and gliding down her body.

She would have given anything to be home standing under a nice steamy shower, but this had to do for now. Anyway, it was pretty lucky that Grant had found this waterfall. Were they not in such a dire situation, she would have appreciated the surroundings of this tropical paradise a little more, from the wild vegetation, to the exotic birds of all colors of the rainbow, to the crystal water hitting white sand. It could have been on a postcard. Too bad she didn’t want to be here.