Private 02 - Private Paradise

point of pulling her away from the books a couple times a year or so, when he came back over school breaks.
    On those infrequent occasions, she always saw Sam. It was impossible not to notice him. He was tall, broad-shouldered, larger than life. With his thick dark hair and striking blue eyes glittering with humor and a little something extra as he held court, surrounded by the crowd of popular kids, the guys all laughing at his jokes and the girls practically panting at his feet, each one hoping she would be the one offered a ride home only to have him take a long detour on the way.
    Each time, she'd felt that nervous tightening in her lower belly the second she laid eyes on him. He'd never spared her more than a grin and a nod over the heads of his adoring throngs, and Carla wasn't convinced he knew her as anyone other than Chris's cousin.
    So when she'd seen him that first day at new employee orientation―Carla had been hired as a waitress in the main dining room while Sam worked at the resort's marina―even though she'd felt that same tight flutter in her core, she knew that with all of the leggy blonds and brunettes with the bright smiles and easy going attitudes would capture his attention far before she did.
    Why go for dark, dumpy, and studious when you could have cocktail waitress Barbie over here?
    Besides, Carla had told herself sternly at the time, on the snowball's chance in hell that Sam did give her a second look, with what she knew about Sam and the way he operated, there was no way she'd ever fall for his charm.
    She'd never be stupid enough to go for a player like him.
    God had she been wrong. He'd singled her out the night after their first shift. Even though all of the seasonal employees―especially those under twenty-one like her―were supposed to be in their respective same sex rooms, doors locked with absolutely no intermingling of the sexes later than eleven, no one really followed the rules.
    Carla had tried. Afraid of getting caught and fired when she really needed the tips from this job to cover her first semester expenses, she'd told her roommate she was going to turn in early. Her roommate, a leggy blonde who was going into her sophomore year at ASU had shrugged and rolled her eyes as she left, giggling with another girl from down the hall.
    Not ten minutes had passed and there was a knock on her door. She opened the door, startled when she saw Sam O'Connell on the other side.
    Leaning against the door jamb, he towered a good foot over her. His tanned, muscled arms were exposed by a t-shirt grown soft from too many washings. His blue eyes glittered against his tan skin and his teeth flashed white as his full lips pulled into a grin. “Aren't you coming out to play?”
    Even now Carla's face got hot with embarrassment at the way she'd stammered something incomprehensible, unable to articulate a single thought under the force of that blue-eyed gaze.
    With a knowing smile he pushed past her, grabbed her room key off the table and the sweater she'd tossed on the foot of the bed. “Grab your shoes.”
    It was like an alien force had taken over her body and she had no choice but to obey. She'd shoved her feet into flip flops, unable to focus on anything but the heat and feel of his hand that had grabbed hers. Big, so big it swallowed hers up, with long, thick fingers whose calluses rasped against her skin and started up a tight, tickling sensation low in her belly.
    As they darted down the stairs that led to the lake shore Carla could see the glow of a small bonfire and hear a group of people a few hundred yards down the shore. Carla started toward them but Sam tugged her hand in the opposite direction.
    “ Aren't we going to the party?” Carla said, breathless both from trying to keep up and from the feel of his firm grip and the scent of him carried to her on the cool night air. It was indescribable, the scent of soap on leather, a warm, masculine smell that made her want to bury her face in the place where his neck met his shoulder and take a deep inhale.
    “ I want to show you something,” Sam said, tugging her further up the rocky bluff.
    Carla scrambled to keep her feet on the loose gravel that covered the rocks as they climbed. Finally, Sam stopped on a plateau that sat above the resort and in the daytime would offer a gorgeous view of the lake. There was an outcropping of boulders in the center and Sam tugged her around to the far side, away from the lake.
    He let go of her