The Sometime Bride

wink that did terrific things for the tingles that had been lying dormant in her spine. “You quite sure of that?”
    “Of course, I’m sure. You went to all the trouble to dig it out of the pool, didn’t you? The ring obviously still means something to you, even if the woman you intended to wear it doesn’t.”
    Yeah, Mike thought, that ring still meant a lot. Like about three thousand dollars, an amount he honestly couldn’t afford to throw away, not with his renewed plans to move to the Caymans. If he was to make that long-lost dream a reality, he’d have to start counting every dime.
    Mike stretched a reluctant hand in Carrie’s direction and took back the ring.
    “Quite a game of ring toss we’re playing here, eh, Mike?” Carrie asked with the most compelling smile he’d seen on her face yet. Boy, wouldn’t his old high school buddies just die if Mike showed up with someone like that on his arm. Classy but genuine, with an unguarded warmth that seemed to be getting hotter by the minute.
    Mike wiped an arm across his moistened brow. “Got that right,” he said, giving her a smile. “And it’s getting a little warm out for ring toss…” Her dark eyes widened, expecting who knew what kind of proposition. “But perfect for a swim,” he finished as he watched the color rush back into her face.
    Yessiree, she was quite a looker. Would knock every one of that high school gang out cold! If only Mike could think up a way to take her.
    “Oh no,” Carrie said, scrambling to her feet. “I’m not much for swimming.”
    “No?” Mike asked, standing beside her. “But why in heaven’s name not? It’s hot as blazes out—”
    Yes, damn it, Carrie could quite appropriately feel the heat. It was sticking to every inch of her with gummy fingers that prickled her skin with perspiration and sent a cascade of droplets sliding down her cleavage. But no way in Hades was she going to let a man as perfectly formed as Mike Davis see her practically naked in a swimsuit—even her modest, one-piece kind. Carrie wore her dresses ankle-length for a reason, a reason that centered mostly around her buttocks and thighs.
    “Besides,” Carrie added hastily, “I’ve got some packing to do.”
    “Packing?” Mike asked, looking crestfallen. “But I thought for sure you were staying. Isn’t there some sort of two-night weekend minimum at this place?”
    “Why yes, but—”
    “Well, then, what’s your hurry?”
    And why, Carrie wondered, scrunching up her lips, was he trying so hard to convince her to stay? “I’ve got things to do,” she informed him. “Arrangements to—cancel.”
    “And tomorrow will be too late?”
    “Might be,” she told him, meaning it absolutely. Too late for a lot of things. Particularly her heart. This man, Mike Davis, had an unsettling effect on her. His whole wounded-puppy-dog ploy had worked wonders at disarming her emotion. Emotion she’d sworn only last night, as she stood weeping by this same pool, she would indefinitely keep under wraps.
    “Aw, come on,” he coaxed with a crooked grin. “I’ll bet your room’s already paid for.”
    She looked at him and blinked. The fact was, Wilson had already footed the bill.
    “Hey, I’m not proposing anything indecent here.” For some reason, that admission did not make Carrie happy. “Only a little attempt at sweet revenge.”
    Carrie eyed him suspiciously. “Revenge how?”
    “Revenge in our not letting them ruin our weekend.”
    Big, fat chance of that one, Carrie thought. More than her weekend had been ruined. How about her life? “Listen, Mike, it’s a sweet idea, your wanting to keep me company and all…”
    Now that was putting it mildly, Mike thought, feeling the rising sun beat down through his stuffy cotton shirt. Disturbingly, he was finding himself wanting to more than “keep her company.” He wanted the opportunity to not even let her out of his sight—for the next twenty-four hours, at least.
    The guy who’d tossed Carrie away just as cavalierly as Alexia had thrown his ring in the pool had been a total imbecile. The sweat dribbled down Mike’s open shirt collar and pooled, damn it, somewhere near his navel. Without even trying, the woman set him virtually on fire. And here she was saying she was about to leave?
    Carrie tapped her toe against the pool deck and considered his disappointingly not-so-indecent proposal. Forgetting the drop-dead gorgeous part, he did appear to be a very nice guy. Maybe even