He kissed her with a stark hunger, a dark need, and she wanted to rip the clothes from his body. They were on the beach. The waves were pounding, and she wondered what would happen if they just slid into the water…went out deep enough that they were covered by the waves…
And they fucked right there. The Gulf would conceal them. He could make love to her. They could drive each other insane…
Right there.
Her hands rose to press to his shoulders. Her nails bit into his skin. She was going to tell him to come into the water with her. They were just going to forget—
His mouth lifted from hers. “Who the hell is Cyrus?”
Cyrus.
The heat that had burned in her body chilled instantly. Dazed, she could only blink up at him.
“And do you still love the bastard?”
Ali tore free of his embrace. She stumbled and nearly fell in the sand.
Cyrus. The name pounded at her. It was a name she hadn’t heard in years. “Who told you about him?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes. It matters very, very much.” She wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Who told you?”
His gaze jumped away from her.
“That’s where you were today, wasn’t it?” The certainty gnawed at her. “When you left and had me stay behind, you were getting briefed on me. On him.” She wasn’t an idiot. She could put these pieces together—
“Only you didn’t stay behind, did you?” He turned to face the water. Drove his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “You ran to Ramsey and nearly got your sexy ass hauled to jail with him.”
Shock pulsed through her. “You knew about the FBI raid before I told you.” Her head was spinning. “How?”
“I learned about it the same way I learned about Cyrus.”
Her toes dug into the sand. “Landon came to you.”
A hard jerk of his head that she took to be agreement.
“He ordered you not to bring me to the meeting because he wanted to tell you all the dirty parts of my past without doing it in front of my face.” Sneaky Landon.
“Is it so dirty?” Jinx’s voice was low.
What did he know? How much? “Dirty enough.” She wasn’t the same person any longer. That girl—that confused kid who’d thought she had the world at her feet—she was dead. “I paid for my mistakes. I moved on.”
“You made a deal to stay out of jail.”
The waves were crashing. Pounding so hard. She stared at them and wanted nothing more than to just go out there and get lost in the water. To lose herself for just a little while.
“But the deal wasn’t just for you, was it?” Jinx’s voice was too flat. Too unlike him. “You wanted to protect your boyfriend, too. You got pulled into his mess. Whatever damn laws he was breaking, whatever crimes he was committing—that Cyrus bastard pulled you in until you were desperate. Then you had to take a deal and you still wanted to protect him—”
She moved closer to the water. “You have it wrong.” The beach was still deserted. Just her. Just him. No one else for miles.
“I don’t think so. I think you fell in love with some twisted SOB when you were a kid, and he used you. And maybe—just maybe—he’s the one who is after you now.”
“Is that what Landon thinks? That Cy is the one doing all of this to me?” She shook her head. “I don’t believe it.”
Jinx spun toward her and locked his hands around her shoulders. His grip was fierce, but it didn’t hurt. Jinx had never hurt her. “Why?” Not so flat. Ragged. “Because some part of you still loves the bastard?”
“Cy isn’t a bastard.”
His eyes glittered. “You do still love him.”
“You have this so wrong—”
“Do you love him?”
The waves pounded.
“Are you still hooked on the freaking jerk who turned you into a criminal?”
She shoved aside his hands. Stumbled back. “I told you, Jinx. You have this wrong.” Tears burned her eyes, but Ali refused to let them fall. “Cy didn’t turn me into a criminal. I turned him into one. He was my best friend. He always had my back. He was sweet and shy and good, and he was also brilliant. I am the one who pulled him into my mess. He didn’t lead me down any dark path. He didn’t do anything to hurt me. I’m the one who destroyed his life. Me.” The same way that she feared she was destroying Jinx’s life. She was bringing her madness and danger to him…
And would it wreck him, the same way that Cy’s world had been wrecked?
“I was promised that Cy would get a normal life.” Her hands slashed at her cheeks. Stupid tears. “Promised that if I did everything they wanted, he’d be okay. They’d let him go.” Liar, liar. She’d learned that truth too late.
She didn’t want Jinx seeing her tears. She didn’t want to stand on the beach and have to look into Jinx’s eyes and see that his illusion of her had shattered.
The water was beautiful. A bright, brilliant blue that was nearly the same color as Jinx’s eyes. Her hands went to the hem of her shirt.
“Uh, Ali?”
“I’m going for a swim.” She tossed the shirt to the sand. Shimmied out of her shorts.
“Ali…oh, damn. Wait. You’re in your underwear—”
“Good of you to notice. Your observational skills are on point.” She was also already knee deep in the water and moving fast. The tears were coming harder, and she wanted to wash them away. She wanted to wash everything away.
Ali leaned forward and dove into the next wave.
Chapter Fourteen
He’d screwed up. Jinx watched as Ali swam gracefully through the waves like some kind of freaking mermaid, and he knew that he should have handled things differently. Way, way differently.
But he’d been battling a very unfamiliar emotion as he squared off with her on the beach.
Jealousy.
He’d been jealous of the faceless Cyrus. Jealous that a young Ali had loved him so much that she’d been willing to make any deal necessary with the government. Loved him so much that she’d broken the law for the jerk—
And then Ali said she’d been the one to turn Cyrus into a criminal.
Her head broke the surface of the waves. She pushed back her hair and turned toward him. She was about twenty feet from the shore.
“Are you just going to stand there?” Ali called out. “Or do you want to join me?”
He looked around. Saw no one. The main height of the tourist season had passed, and this stretch of beach—no one ever came there even when it was the busy time. They should have privacy.
Provided, of course, that they didn’t get any unexpected company.
Like Ali’s stalker…
Or War. Or Ramsey. Or—
“Didn’t expect you to be a prude,” Ali taunted. Her hands drifted in the water before her. A wave gently lifted her up. Lowered her back down.
She’d just called him a prude. Him? Oh, hell, no.
“Or maybe you just don’t want to swim with me.” Her voice was lower. Less taunting. Almost…sad. “Maybe you don’t want to do anything with me, now that you know who I really am.”