IslandAffair

himself wanting blue eyes, not brown, and a Scottish accent instead
of the lyrical Spanish the bartender was emphasizing for him.
    He had told Robin that there was a beach party tonight and
most of the hotel’s guests were attending it. Robin should have been there too
but he’d missed the announcement and he ignored the server’s subtle hints that
said he would be happy to take him. Truth was, Robin probably wouldn’t have
gone anyway. As beautiful as the resort was, he was a little uncomfortable.
He’d thought that being in an environment where everyone was batting for the
same side would be liberating but instead he felt even more isolated. All the
guys here seemed entirely at ease with their sexuality and Rob hadn’t reached
that point yet. So he’d spent the day perusing the island’s gift shops trying
to decide whether to meet an enigmatic Scotsman and hoping the man’s headache
wasn’t too bad.
    What on earth possessed him to come at all?
    Yes, John was attractive, even with his jaw unshaven and
eyes blurry with pain. His long, leanly muscled frame had been clearly defined
by his soaked clothes. And Rob had run his hands over most of it to check where
he was injured. But this island was full of attractive men and he hadn’t
accepted any of their offers. Perhaps it was just gratitude. He
shuddered to think how different things could have turned out. Why had the damn
fool tried to grab him? It was only water, he wouldn’t have melted. And only
four feet deep too, so Robin wouldn’t have drowned even if he couldn’t swim
like a fish.
    John nearly had, though. His heart gave a foolish little
flutter at the thought. It was a dumb thing to do in retrospect, but to be fair
he probably hadn’t expected Robin to actually pull him in with him. I at
least owe him for his misplaced chivalry , he told himself. It had very
little to do with how Rob’s cock had begun to get hard in his shorts as he’d
run his hands over that firm, hair-roughened body.
    So, instead of attending the party he was sitting in a bar
waiting for a man who probably wouldn’t show up. He caught the barman’s eye and
pointed to his drink. The man raised a brow in an “are you sure?” gesture.
Great, even the barman felt the need to baby-sit him. It was apparently obvious
to every man here that he was all but a virgin. The fact that it was true made
him want to squirm in his seat like a teenage girl on a first date.
    Except John. He hadn’t looked as if he wanted to baby-sit
him today. The look he had given Rob had made heat sweep through his body. That
was the reason he was here, he admitted. This vacation was supposed to be all
about leaving the smothering cocoon of the small town where he was a swimming
coach and experiencing things he never had before. Things Robin couldn’t do
under the watchful eyes of the town. He just wasn’t sure he was ready for all
of Barretts Cross to know he was gay. And every single one of them would know
within half an hour of his first glance at another man. That was the beauty of
living in a small town. As much as he loved his home he knew they weren’t ready
to accept a gay swimming coach. The minute they learned about his sexual
preferences he could kiss his job goodbye. Just like Dominic York, an English
tutor, had last year. He had made the mistake of coming out and gradually lost
almost every one of his students until he had been forced to look elsewhere for
work.
    No.
    Coming out was not a good idea.
    But here, here he was free to look all he wanted. John
appeared as though he could show him all sorts of things and not one of them
could be described as “nice”. Delicious, hot, maybe even forbidden. That’s what
he wanted. He gulped down the last of his ice-cold drink in a vain attempt to
cool the fire the thoughts raised in his body. How was he going to tell John
that he wanted to do all the wicked things his eyes hinted at?
    “ Feashar math , Robin.”
    He turned quickly toward the gravelly masculine voice behind
him and had to grab the edge of the bar to steady himself. He shivered. John
could have been reciting a menu to him in that voice and it would still turn
him on.
    “Wha—” he cleared his throat and started again. “What did
you just say to me?”
    The eyes he had been dreaming about a few moments ago smiled
at him, warming from a winter to a summer sky as they swept over him.
    “I said good evenin’ but I should have added that you look eireachdail