Tall, Tanned & Texan

“I can’t do it,” he’d told her.

Unfortunately, rumor said he’d done it with every cheerleader who’d shaken a pair of pompoms his way and so Deanie knew that it wasn’t so much the fact that he couldn’t do it, but that he couldn’t do it with her.

Or rather, he wouldn’t.

Because Deanie hadn’t been a cheerleader. Or a twirler. Or even a pep squad member. Heck, she hadn’t been a member of anything except the auto shop club and she’d only joined that because her brother, Clay, had served as president to earn extra credit in shop class. He’d promised to rally for the club and boost its membership, and so he’d recruited his best friend, Rance, to help him. That had been enough incentive for Deanie and she’d gladly forked over two dollars in dues and worked her buns off to help Clay pass his senior elective.

Clay.

The name stuck in her head and Rance’s sudden appearance started to make sense. Her brother had a wife who was nine months pregnant. He couldn’t come running after her. So he’d asked his oldest friend to do it for him.

“Clay put you up to this, didn’t he?” she asked with tight lips.

“Up to what?”

“This.” She gestured around. “You’re following me.”

“You’re the one who came to me, Teeny. I don’t recall jumping out of my seat to walk over to you.”

“You know what I mean.”

He gave her a wide-eyed look that might have hinted at innocence if the Devil himself hadn’t danced in the bright gold depths of his eyes. “I don’t have a clue.”

“Okay, if you’re not following me, then what are you doing?”

He held up a bag of pretzels. “Just having a damned fine snack, darlin’.”

She ignored the shiver that rippled through her at the endearment. “I mean, what are you doing on this plane? On this flight?”

He winked. “I’m on my way to camp.”

“ You’re going to Camp E.D.E.N.?”

“Sure am.”

“But why? It’s a…” The word sex stalled on the tip of her tongue and her mouth went dry. She swallowed. “It’s not the sort of place you would want to go.”

“Actually, I think it’s exactly the sort of place I’d want to go.”

“Why? Because you need sex lessons?”

“I was thinking I could give a few.”

“You’re going as an instructor?”

He must have read the disbelief in her voice because his grin faltered just a little. “I’m truly hurt, Teeny, that you don’t think I have anything to offer by way of sexual expertise.” He stared up at her, into her, and his gaze added, I seem to recall a time when you felt completely different.

“You already have a job,” she said, eager to ignore the sudden memory that rushed at her. Of a moonlit creek bank and a desperately hopeful girl and… Uh, uh. She wasn’t going there.

Not now. Not ever again.

“This is just a little side project to break the monotony. I need some variety in my life.”

“You’re an extreme sports fanatic. Your life is nothing but variety.”

“Too much of anything can become routine.” He winked. “Say, maybe you’ll end up in one of my classes.”

It took everything she had not to give in to the sudden shiver that raced through her at the prospect.

First off, if he were an actual instructor, she wouldn’t get lucky enough to wind up in his class. Second, she knew full well that Camp E.D.E.N. only employed educated professionals. While Rance had the experience and know-how, he didn’t have a Ph.D. in sex education. Which meant he’d cooked up the story to cover the real reason for his presence.

Clay.

She planted her hands on her hips. “If Clay thinks I’m going to change my mind just because you’re here, he can think again. I’m going to Eden.”

“Then so am I.” He grinned. “After all, duty calls.”

SHE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN better than to leave a note.

Deanie spent the entire trip to Miami mentally kicking her own ass for being so stupid. But she hadn’t wanted Clay to worry. Unfortunately, she hadn’t wanted to lie to him, either, and so she was stuck with Rance for the entire flight.

It was bad enough that he sat just a few rows behind and she had to hear his voice. But what made things worse was that she could feel him. Her nerves tingled, her hands shook and her heart pounded with awareness. She tried to talk to Savannah, but the woman was more interested in taking a nap before they arrived. Likewise, Mavoreen was snoring away in the row in front. Deanie was left with her magazines.

Unfortunately, makeup and clothes and Fifty Ways to Make Your Man Say Wow wasn’t enough to distract her from the knowledge that he was there.

Behind her.

Watching her.

Even more, Rance himself reminded her every hour or so by heading to the men’s restroom near the cockpit. On his way back to his seat, he made it a point to meet and hold her gaze. And he grinned at her. And forced her heartbeat faster with the twinkle in his eyes. She couldn’t help but feel like the last barbecue rib at an Elks luncheon, and Rance was one hungry Elk.

Right.

No way did Rance actually hunger for her.

She told herself that as they flew the hundreds of miles to Miami, and she actually believed it by the time the plane touched down to pick up more passengers. But then they took off again and he made another bathroom trip, and the way he looked at her sparked the thought all over again.

Maybe he was telling the truth.

Maybe fate had orchestrated this chance meeting. Maybe they’d been thrown together so that their unspent lust for one another could be rekindled. At least her own would be rekindled. He hadn’t carried a torch for her back then, so his lusty fire would have just ignited at the sight of her. Maybe he’d realized what he’d been missing all these years and he would do any and everything to make it up to her.

Forget Mavoreen. Deanie was the seriously delusional one.

He was following her, checking up on her, plain and simple. Reason told her as much.

If only Rance didn’t keep stirring her doubt with his sexy-enough-to-be-a-sex-instructor grin.

Thankfully, the trip from Miami to Escapades Island was short. The Fasten Seat Belt light stayed on the entire time so Rance stayed in his seat. And Deanie managed to shake the whole attraction/fate theory.