“Well, I do—and it’s obvious that the description still fits you. You’re still condescending, you’re still self-righteous and you’re still a jerk!”
“How would you know? This is the first time we’ve spoken since—”
“A tiger never changes its stripes,” she said. “Or is it a leopard who doesn’t change its spots? Oh, who cares! I know I can—”
She abruptly stopped speaking when he advanced toward her.
“You can what?” He stood directly in front of her, towering over her.
The aroma of saltwater and sunscreen, mixed with an alluring scent all her own, filled his nostrils. “You can what?” he repeated huskily.
She swallowed. “I…I forget.”
“How about this, then? You can prove you’re not a little girl anymore?”
Her eyes widened as he slowly lowered his head toward her. His hands were at his sides and he made no attempt to hold her in place or restrain her in any way.
She could easily have stepped aside or pushed him away; she could’ve ordered him to go back from her or made a threat that would have sent him on his way.
But she did none of those things. Slowly Shannen raised her arms to encircle his neck. Their gazes locked and held for a long moment. He watched her eyelids flutter shut as he touched his mouth to hers.
What began as a light, tentative caress of his lips against hers quickly turned into something else entirely. There was nothing light or tentative about the hot, hungry coupling of their mouths.
Ty murmured something unintelligible as her lips parted to welcome his tongue inside.
Shannen pressed closer, twisting restlessly against him, opening her mouth wider in sensual invitation. He accepted, deepening the kiss, thrusting his knee between her thighs and molding her to him, his hands smoothing over her, possessively, eagerly learning every curve.
The kiss went on and on, desire building, passion burning. Ty slowly lowered her to the ground, pulling her on top of him. His fingers nimbly opened the clasp of her halter top, freeing her breasts. His hand cupped one soft milky-white breast, and he groaned with pleasure.
A split second later, he was lying on the sand alone. Shannen had pulled away from him and jumped to her feet with disorienting speed.
“No!” she exclaimed, fumbling to close the clasp he had so effortlessly undone. Her dexterity didn’t equal his and she gave up, holding the halter together with one hand.
Ty rose slowly, almost painfully, to his feet. “Let me help you with that.”
She backed away from him as if he were radioactive. “Go away! I…I told you to keep away from me.”
“Yes, you did.” His lips twisted into a wry smile. “But your message was—hmm, how can I put this tactfully?—mixed.”
She flushed scarlet, the bright moonlight highlighting her color. “You’re a snake!”
“I’ve been called worse.” He ran his hand through his dark hair. “Anything else?”
“I don’t know what you’re doing here or who you’re pretending to be or why, but I don’t trust you!”
“Thanks.” Ty chuckled softly. “And let me return the compliment. I don’t trust you, either.”
Shannen turned and stomped away from him, still clutching her top with one hand, using her other hand to smack away the hanging vines and lush foliage that dared get in her way.
Ty stood watching until she disappeared from view.
Two
“Do you think we’ll get mail-in-the-tree today? Or a visit from Slick Bobby with some kind of instructions?” Cortnee asked during her rigorous aerobic workout, which she performed daily on the beach. Today she wore her tiniest bikini, the neon-pink one. “We haven’t had a victory contest or a food contest this week.”
Konrad, Rico and Jed gathered on the beach in various positions of repose, watching Cortnee. The twins were there, too, Lauren braiding her hair into a thick plait, Shannen tying strings to three makeshift bamboo fishing poles.
“I checked the tree for mail earlier and there wasn’t anything,” Shannen reported. “Why don’t one of you guys go check it now?”
“Later,” said Jed.
“And we’re almost out of bait,” continued Shannen. “Somebody should go to that place farther down the beach and see if more clams have washed up. That’s the best bait on the island.”
“Later,” murmured Rico.
“We can check for tree mail and then swing down for clams after we fish, Shannen,” Lauren suggested.
“I just thought maybe someone else would like a chance to do the daily errands around here,” murmured Shannen, adding tersely, “for a change.”
“Remember how those idiots in the other tribe ate some bad raw clams instead of cutting them up for bait?” Konrad sniggered. “Man, were they sick! When they tried to hang on to the rope in that tug-of-war between the tribes, they fell flat on their faces.” Clearly, it was a fond memory for him.
“Our tribe won every single contest, forcing the other tribe to keep voting off their own till they were all gone,” observed Jed. He began idly doodling in the sand with a stick.
“We won all the contests, so our tribe was able to stay intact a long time, and it’s mainly thanks to you, Jed,” Lauren said, her voice filled with admiration.
Jed nodded his head. “True.”
“Partially true,” corrected Shannen. “You forgot to add that you couldn’t have done it alone, Jed. I didn’t hear you say that all of us did our part to win, either. Did you forget that we’re a team?”
“Jed isn’t a team player—he doesn’t want to share credit for anything,” Cortnee called between deep breaths. “He really believes he does everything better than anybody else.”
Jed opened his mouth to speak, but Rico beat him to it by sighing heavily, gaining the attention of the cameramen. “I just want to say that I don’t miss the other tribe because I barely knew them, but I do miss Keri and Lucy from our tribe.” Rico sighed again. “I really bonded with them. They were probably some of the best friends I ever had in my life.”
“You voted them off the island without blinking an eye, Rico,” Shannen pointed out.
“Untrue!” protested Rico. “Maybe it looked that way because I hid my pain so well, but I’ve been torturing myself for getting involved in this unholy alliance with you guys. You made me turn against my friends!”
His face a portrait of agony, Rico stared soulfully into the camera that had been turned on him the moment he began to speak. He pouted when the camera abruptly shifted to Shannen, who was now baiting the hooks, frowning in concentration.
