Private 02 - Private Paradise

the risk of knocking some one up.”
    He pressed another kiss to the side of her neck. “Anyway, I don't want you to worry about anything. Along with always using a raincoat, I've gotten a full system check every year since I joined the Army and my last physical was six months ago.” He watched as she did the math, and saw the moment she remembered he'd admitted to being ten months celibate.
    “ Well,” she said as she tucked the towel tighter around her, “thank God you had the presence of mind to pull out. Can you imagine if I'd gotten...” she trailed off as if unable to utter the word. “Can you imagine what a disaster that would have been?”
    “ Yeah, a disaster,” Sam said, trying to infusing his voice with fake relief. Frankly, his mind was full of images that were anything but disastrous. A typical guy, he'd politely acknowledged his friends' offspring but he was never one to gush and coo over a baby, for Christ's sake.
    But it was scary how easy it was to imagine a baby, he thought. Not just a baby, but his and Carla's baby. Part of him and part of her pulled together into a chubby little being with a mop of dark curls that she would cradle to her breast.
    Connecting them together forever, no matter what.
    He met her eyes in the mirror, and he thought he saw something in the candlelight, a soft dreaminess, and for a split second he wondered if maybe her thoughts were wandering in the same direction as his.
    Then it was gone, leaving nothing but relief at the knowledge that she'd just dodged what could have been a very complicated bullet.
    Sam backed away, inwardly shaking his head as he marveled at his own insanity. Like tying her to him with a baby would somehow lead them to happily ever after. He'd seen enough of his friends go through that on both sides to know that shit never worked.
    As he padded down the hallway, he accepted that if he wanted to win Carla, he'd have to do it by continuing to chip away at her defenses and continue to prove that he wasn't the same weak-willed man child who'd hurt her in the past. Only when she believed that would she really open up and give him another chance.
    In the meantime, he thought as she walked in the room all smooth bare skin covered by nothing but a towel, he'd use every weapon in his arsenal to get her to come around.
    Under his towel, his cock twitched as though expressing interest in the thought. He followed her into the kitchen and started to reach for her. As she reached for a loaf of bread and some more cold cuts he thought better of it.
    They had a long night ahead of them, and Carla was definitely going to need her strength.

Chapter Eleven

    After their snack, they radioed Chris again to let him know they were okay and had made it through the worst of the storm. Carla risked cracking open the sliding glass doors that led out to the beach.
    The normally turquoise waters were choppy and gray, and rain still fell in a heavy patter, but the deadly wind had lessened significantly. Carla, who had once again donned her robe, stepped out onto the wet sand, noting the branches and other debris that littered the normally pristine sugar sand beach.
    Her stomach went tight as she thought about the rest of the resort. How bad was it? Sam had said there was some flooding in the fitness center and roof damage to the main buildings. How much damage had the second half of the storm done?
    She didn't hear Sam walk up beside her, but even in the rain she could feel his warmth, smell the rich masculine scent of him over the salt of the sea. “I hope we don't have to close for long,” Carla said, her brain already kicking into gear, running the numbers, calculating the losses if they had to close for more than a few weeks.
    “ No use worrying until we know how bad it is,” Sam said, and Carla was oddly gratified that he didn't try to placate her with meaningless assurances. “Let's go back inside. You're getting soaked out here.”
    Carla didn't move, her eyes locked on the beach. “Maybe we should take a walk, assess the damage,” she said.
    Sam moved behind her and put his big hands on her shoulders and kneaded at the tension already forming there. “There's plenty of time for that. It's still raining and getting close to sunset,” he said. “After twenty minutes, half an hour tops, we won't be able to see anything.”
    There was no hint of sun through the thick cloud cover, but a glance at her watch told Carla he was right. Though her mind was