As a writer my mind is always busy with new story ideas even while I’m currently working on a concept. So, as I work to finish and release the sequel to Heroes and Hearts in May, here is an excerpt from a contemporary island romance I’ll be working on very soon. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Keira and Rafael!
*****
Beams of sunlight softly fell across Keira face waking her gently. She sat up and stretched, her body groaning about the awkward position in which she had fallen asleep. The breeze carried the scent of the sea into the room and beckoned her out on to the balcony. From her room she had a terrific view of the sun rising up out of the water. It was so big and bright she felt like she could touch it. She looked down on the beach and noticed the silhouette of a man moving on the sand, his movements were slow and deliberate, like a dance and Keira surmised he must be doing Tai Chi. As the sun rose higher and her eyes adjusted to the light she was able to get a better look at him. His jet black hair whipped about his head and face. His broad shoulders were bare and muscular. The muscles in his arms flexed as they moved back and forth. His brawny chest and stomach glistened with mist from the sea and his powerful legs were clad in a pair of white loose fitting pants that flapped in the breeze. Keira suddenly felt very hot and her throat parched. She threw the man once last admiring glance before leaving him to meditate in peace. She peeled off her suit, now wrinkled and damp, and headed into the bathroom. She pulled back the shower curtain and leaned forward to turn on the water when a gigantic spider swung down before her from the ceiling. Keira let out a bloodcurdling shriek as she stumbled back and fell against the wall. She shivered as the thing hovered in the air, grabbed a towel and stumbled out of the bathroom. She wasn’t exactly squeamish about creepy crawlies but the thing in her bathroom looked like something from a horror movie and she wasn’t about to stick around. Suddenly the door to her room banged open and she turned to find the man from the beach standing in her room, his eyes wild and his chest heaving. Keira screamed again and pulled the towel around her cursing herself for leaving the switchblade she always carried in her luggage since she couldn’t carry it on to the plane.
“What the hell are you doing?” she screamed, “Get the hell out of here!”
“I-I’m sorry,” he replied, seeming as started as she, “I heard screaming, I thought someone was in trouble.”
Catching her breath Keira went flush with embarrassment.
“Yeah, that was me, sorry. I found a VW bus impersonating a spider in my bathroom.”
She could see the man relax a little and thought she caught a smile curl a corner of his lip before he grunted, picked up the poker standing by the fireplace and headed into the bathroom. Edwina rushed into the room as a quick succession of loud thumps and clangs rang out.
“Are you alright Miss Payton?” she gasped.
“Yes, Edwina, just had a few frights this morning. I’m sorry for screaming,” she replied sheepishly.
Edwina got a shock of her own when the man emerged from the bathroom victorious against the eight-legged beast.
“Rafael, what are you doing in Miss Payton’s room?”
“It seems I am rescuing a damsel in distress,” he smirked.
“You’re Rafael?” Keira asked.
“And you are Senorita Payton, my new boss.” He did not sound happy.
Rafael swore as he tore through the weeds in the gardens. Once upon a time Sandy Shores had had a bed of flowers that had been arranged to spell out the initials of the resort before it had been neglected and overgrown. Rafael had discovered years ago that weeding was an excellent way to vent his frustrations. He was already in a ratty mood from having his meditation interrupted by a vision of loveliness standing on a balcony in the distance. The sunlight caught glimpses of gold in her shimmering red hair as it danced on the breeze and caressed her alabaster skin. She had disappeared as quickly as she had arrived so Rafael was sure it was just a hallucination. Then as he made his way back to the hotel to start the day came a scream that nearly stopped his heart. Instinctively he bolted for the source of the sound and burst through the door only to have his heart stop again. Before she had the sense to cover herself, his chestnut eyes took in the details of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her eyes sparkled like emeralds, her sensuous lips parted in surprise, her breasts were perfect mounds with pink peaks begging to be licked and teased. His eyes followed her lithe curves with a hunger he had not felt in years and the feeling greatly disturbed him. He had to keep hold of his emotions because when his passion got the better of him, trouble ensued.
Dammit, why did he have to work for a woman? When Don Manuel, a long time friend of the family and his only friend left in the world, recommended the job in San Sebastian, it sounded like the perfect escape. Of course he couldn’t fault Don Manuel, how would he know his friend would drop dead over the course of time it took Rafael to get on and off an airplane?
Noemi Betancourt 