IslandAffair

could still smell John, his musky male essence
and the lingering trace of his aftershave. Robin was sore in places he hadn’t
been sore in for a long time but the thought of seeing John again this morning
still had his body tingling in anticipation.
    With a happy sigh he rose from the bed and pulled on his
cotton robe. In the kitchen his heart gave a foolish little bump when he saw
the vivid pink flower next to the coffeepot. Robin brought the bloom to his
nose and smiled at the unexpected romance of it, then forced himself to place
it to one side. He still knew very little about the man. Except that his voice
made him shiver and his hands made him burn. This could be nothing more than an
affair but he couldn’t help but wish they had more than a week to spend
together. The fact that they wouldn’t caused an ache in his heart that he could
not afford to feel. Quickly Rob placed the flower in a glass of water, put on
the coffee and went to shower.
     
    By the time he was dressed in a pair of shorts and a white
T-shirt, the cottage was filled with the scent of freshly brewed coffee. Rob
poured himself a cup and took it out to sit on the shaded deck. His gaze
drifted over the calm, flat expanse of blue ocean and was drawn inexorably to
the cottage a hundred yards or so down the sand. The shutters were closed and
there was no sign of life. He had noticed the group of men staying there the
day he arrived but had assumed they were a group of friends vacationing
together and put it out of his mind. Who would have guessed that a few days
later he would be intimately acquainted with one of them? But why did John need
the men he had dismissed so casually as bodyguards?
    Before he could analyze any further, movement on the path
caught his eye and John stepped out onto the white sand. He wore another
hideous Hawaiian-style shirt, this one green with white and pink flowers on it
and a pair of cut-off jeans. His hair was damp, turning it a darker shade of
red, and looked as though he’d done little more than run his hands through it.
He had shaved again, the smooth line of his jaw making him appear younger. A
small part of Robin had worried that he might feel awkward when he saw John
again but as Robin watched him walk up the steps toward him he realized he was
more than glad.
    “Hi.”
    John bent and kissed him, a brief press of his smiling lips
and Rob breathed in the clean masculine scent of him. No aftershave today, just
soap and his own skin.
    “Hi, yourself. You look great.” He perched on a chair,
picked up Robin’s coffee and drank.
    Rob looked around at the empty beach. “Where are your
shadows?”
    “They’re around. So are you ready to explore?”
    He frowned at John’s easy dismissal and glanced at the trees
again. They hadn’t been far from him yesterday so he suspected they must be
there, out of sight. “John, why do you need bodyguards?”
    John’s eyes found the tree line and hesitated briefly before
returning to his face. His easy expression sobered. “They’re no’ going to be
happy I told you this but to hell with them, I don’t want to lie to you.” His
gaze flicked again toward the trees then met Rob’s. “This is too important for
that.”
    Robin opened his mouth to protest that it couldn’t be that
important, they’d just met. But John was right. There was something bigger than
just a hot attraction between them. Something Robin wasn’t ready to put a name
to yet.
    “They really are here to protect me.” John rolled his eyes.
“My parents insisted.” He told Robin about the events in the stairwell and what
had followed. Skimming matter-of-factly over the fact that he had saved a man’s
life. Again Robin saw the determined, strong man beneath the beach bum image
John had adopted. He knew that whatever John did, he was successful at it,
probably very successful. And he had been forced to leave it all and come here.
    “I knew there was more to you than bad Hawaiian shirts.”
    He gave him a mock wounded expression. “You don’t like ma
shirts?”
    Rob smiled and attempted to imitate the Scots burr, “I think
probably you don’t like your shirts.”
    John grinned, “Then you’d be wrong. I’ve actually got quite
attached to them. I’m thinkin’ of wearing them to work when I get back but it
might give my secretary heart failure.” His smile faded. “If I get back to
work.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Armstrong is a very well-connected man
and he knows who I am.