Stroke of Love (Love in Bloom: The Remingtons, Book 2) Contemporary Romance

by Melissa Foster

an excerpt from

STROKE OF LOVE
(Love in Bloom, The Remingtons, 2)
by Melissa Foster

Chapter One

THICK BRANCHES SCRAPED the sides of the all-wheel-drive passenger van as it ambled along the narrow dirt road that divided the dense, unforgiving jungle. Sage Remington startled as a mass of giant leaves slapped against the grit-covered window. Plumes of dust billowed in their wake, swallowing the road, and Sage wondered if they were really heading toward civilization or away from it. The van keeled to the left, sending Sage and the other passengers flying across their seats until the bus rocked back to center and found its balance. Sage had never experienced anything like the trek to the remote village of Punta Palacia, and as he listened to the other passengers bitch and moan, he turned a deaf ear—and focused his artist’s eyes on the verdant jungle boasting some of the most vibrant and interesting hues he’d ever set his eyes on. He’d been living in the concrete jungle of New York City for the past five years and rarely had a chance to venture beyond the streets, offices, and subways. When he’d heard about Artists for International Aid (AIA), a nonprofit organization that brought educational, medical, and environmental programs to newly developing nations, he’d immediately volunteered to be a part of one of their two-week projects.

“This is such bullshit. Belize, my agent said to me.” Actress Penelope Price gathered her long blond hair in her hand and pulled it over her shoulder, fanning her face with an exhausted sigh. “Think beautiful beaches and sunshine, she said.” After some fancy twisting and poking of a long, gold needlelike thing, she looked as if she was ready for the red carpet—or at least her hair was. The rest of her body—and her legs, which were long enough to wrap around any man’s waist twice—glistened with sweat. “My Chanel is ruined!”

Sage shook his head at her Oscar-worthy performance. AIA worked with artists and celebrity volunteers, and as he listened to Penelope bitch, he wondered why she’d even volunteered for the project. He pulled a bandana from the pocket of his cargo shorts and wiped his forehead, which had long ago stopped beading with sweat and succumbed to the drenching wetness caused by the heat and humidity of southern Belize. Despite the sweat-soaked tank top clinging to his body like a second skin and the bitchy prima donnas he was traveling with, he didn’t regret his decision.

“Stop your bitching,” Clayton Ray snapped. Clayton was a country music star and—from what Sage had witnessed at the airport and during the long flight over—an asshole extraordinaire. “You’ll have air-conditioning when we get there.”

Sage hid his laugh behind a cough. AC, my ass. At least he knew what he was getting into. Apparently, the others hadn’t been clued in to the realities of Punta Palacia. Sage was looking forward to the simplistic lifestyle, braving the heat and humidity of the jungle, and maybe, just maybe, figuring out why the hell a man who had enough money to buy half of New York and a career doing what he loved most felt so damn empty inside.

“All I can say is that if there’s no air-conditioning, I’m heading back to Belize City. Pronto.” Cassidy Bay, a B-list actress, dabbed at her streaked eyeliner. “I can’t sleep in this weather, and without sleep, my eyes will be puffy.”

Penelope whipped her head around to commiserate. “We can do that? Then why didn’t we just stay there?”

Sage had been distracted and rushed when they’d boarded the van at the landing strip, and he had caught only a glimpse of Kate Paletto, the program director for AIA. He was six four and guessed she was about five two and weighed a buck ten soaking wet. He hadn’t gotten a good look at her face, but as she led them through to the van, he couldn’t help but notice her slim hips and sleek, feminine arms. From his seat in the second row, he could make out her long, silky dark hair, and he had a clear shot of her hand as it gripped the armrest so tightly her knuckles turned white. He wondered if it was from the banter or the bumpy ride.

“No, Penelope. We talked about this, remember?” Luce Palmer, Penelope’s public relations specialist, sat in the back of the van. She was known in entertainment circles for being a hard-nosed negotiator and, most notably, for being able to turn around any celebrity’s bad reputation. “You’re here to rectify the damage you caused to your image. This is two weeks of…hardship to show you care about people other than yourself.”

Hardship? Hell, Sage would relish being away from the stress and distraction of New York City. He worked late into most nights on his artwork and rarely even heard the phone when it rang. Maybe being away would help him to pay attention to other, more important things, too, and help him to not get so lost in his work. Spending two weeks in Punta Palacia seemed like the opposite of a hardship to him.

Kate turned in her seat, flashing her vibrant blue eyes. She had dark lashes and the softest-looking skin he’d ever seen. The face of an angel. Jesus, where did that cliché come from?

“I still don’t see why I couldn’t have gone on a vacation someplace else and gotten the same publicity,” Penelope said to Luce.

“Because you’re here for humanitarian purposes, not a vacation.” Kate spoke with the confidence of a seasoned drill sergeant. Her harsh tone contrasted sharply with her soft features, giving her a good-girl, bad-girl vibe that she appeared to be completely oblivious to—and that Sage could not ignore.

Sage had come to Belize with a plan. His artwork commanded six figures, earning him a fine living and drowning him in feelings of unease. He’d always felt a desire to give back to the community, but no matter how much money he gave to charities, or how many hours he volunteered in New York City, he still felt hollow, as if, in the grand scheme of life, nothing he did made a difference. He hoped that experiencing a different type of giving back, in a country that wasn’t so gluttonous, might spark a deeper level of fulfillment. And now that he’d smelled the humid jungle air and drank in the passing beauty of the jungle, an idea was coming to him—and a woman wasn’t part of the plan. Not even a woman as beautiful and as intriguing as Kate.

A whisper of a thought floated to the forefront of his mind while the others bitched and plotted about their predicament. Instead of just donating money, he could paint the local landscape and the people and send those paintings back to New York to be sold. The profits could come back to Punta Palacia. Surely they could use the money, and he couldn’t imagine anything being more fulfilling than doing what he loved for a bigger purpose. A few pieces each year could bring significant funds for areas that needed it much more than he did. His pulse kicked up as the idea took hold.

 “Well, this is not what I signed up for, so we’ll just see about this,” Penelope snapped.

Cassidy made a tsk sound and turned away.

The vehicle was taller and wider than a typical passenger van with a narrow aisle dividing two rows of seats. Kate rose to her feet, clutching a clipboard against her small but perfect breasts. “This is exactly what you signed up for,” she said to Penelope.

Clayton’s leg stretched across the aisle like he owned it, and he made no attempt to mask his leering. His eyes took a slow, hungry stroll down Kate’s body. Sage’s muscles twitched. The guy was the epitome of the status-driven celebrities Sage sorely disliked—entitled. Motivated by money and fame, he used people like pawns and stepped on anyone who got in his way with no regard for their feelings.

Kate narrowed her eyes in his direction. “Problem, Mr. Ray?”

Sage was drawn to her confidence, the way she wasn’t afraid to challenge Clayton, and he was powerless to turn away. And her sexy little cutoffs weren’t helping him any. With his artist’s eye, he did a quick sweep of her features, hiding his glance behind his hand as he wiped his brow again. Her deep-set, slightly upturned, smoky blue eyes stopped him cold.

“You too, Mr. Remington?” Kate arched a brow.

Shit. Now he looked as bad as Clayton. Am I? He opened his mouth to explain—I was just checking you out from an artistic standpoint. One quick glance. Jesus, you have the sexiest eyes I’ve ever seen. Fuck. Never mind. Luckily, before he could put his foot in his mouth, she spoke.

“Let’s get one thing straight. I’m sure this is very different from the harem-filled exotic resorts you’re used to, but here at Punta Palacia we have one goal. To help the community. And that does not include any sort of sexual action from me or any other AIA volunteer.” She eyed Penelope, whose gaze was burning a path directly to Sage, and Cassidy, who was sizing up Clayton. “What you do among yourselves is your business, but we expect you to carry out your humanitarian efforts with respect for our staff and the community. Got it?”

The silence was deafening. Kate’s lips held tight in a don’t-mess-with-me line.

“Got it.” The words were out of Sage’s mouth before he had time to think.

She gave a curt nod.

“Alrighty, then. We’ll see where we end up,” Clayton said with a heavy Southern drawl.

Kate exchanged a half smile with Luce, as if they were sharing an inside joke. “When we get to the compound, you’ll be assigned a cabin. Once situated, we’ll meet at the community rec area. The path behind the cabins will lead you to the rec area. Please try to be there within thirty minutes so we can get everyone up to speed as quickly as possible.” Kate turned and lowered herself into her seat as the bus took a bumpy turn to the right and came to an abrupt stop.

Despite himself, Sage wondered what Kate would be like if she weren’t wrangling self-centered celebrities. As he stole a peek at her profile, he realized that she’d lumped him in with Clayton, and he cringed. They hadn’t even arrived yet and already he was on some celebrity shit list in her mind. Or on that damn clipboard.

KATE WAITED IMPATIENTLY while the prima donnas made their way down the dusty steps of the van. She’d been with AIA for almost five years and this was her second assignment out of the country. Each assignment lasted for two years, with an additional three months of training. In a few short weeks it would be over and she’d be flying back home to see her parents. She had misgivings about this assignment coming to an end. Punta Palacia had been her home for just over two years. She’d become close with the children at the school and the community, and she’d been lobbying for the installation of a well in the village. Just thinking about leaving everyone, especially before the decision on the well was made, caused her chest to constrict. Kate was good at a lot of things, but saying goodbye was not one of them.

She held Clayton’s stare as he exited the bus. She’d learned early on that holding her ground with entitled celebrities was the only way to keep them in line. They were all the same: cocky, surly when she turned down their sexual advances, and goddamn needy. It would take less than five minutes after they checked out their small cabins for them to stomp back with a demand to leave. Kate had never given too much thought to what it must be like going from a world of having everything at their fingertips to a developing nation such as Belize. She’d grown up traveling with her parents on Peace Corps missions and had been surrounded by families who worked with the Peace Corps her whole life. Once she’d graduated college, she couldn’t wait to leave the United States and get on with helping people who really needed it. Lately, though, she’d also longed for something more, although she hadn’t been able to put her finger on just what that more might be.

“Where to, darlin’?” Clayton flashed his perfectly capped teeth with a wide smile.

“You’re in cabin one. The first cabin you come to.” She pointed to the cabin, and when his smile widened, she knew she was in for trouble.

Sweat dripped from beneath Clayton’s Stetson. He swiped at it with his forearm. “You don’t need to worry about us. We’re harmless.” He took a step closer.

Kate was hyperaware of Sage standing behind him, his dark eyes narrowed, his jaw clenching.

“Unless, of course, you’d like to try ridin’ a stallion.” Clayton’s smile morphed into a smirk, the left side of his mouth tilting up.

Kate had been propositioned by celebrities before, but that didn’t stop her hand from fisting around her pen as she pulled her clipboard to her chest like a shield. As she opened her mouth to tell him what he could do with his offer, Sage stepped from the bus in his sweaty tank top and cargo shorts and cleared his throat loudly.

“Cabin one, Ray.” It was clearly a command.

His tattooed arms were solid muscle and so well defined that she had the urge to let her fingers travel their hard ridges. He was built for power, a protector, or…No. She wasn’t going there. She’d seen too many temporary romances during these assignments to allow herself to be drawn in only to be forgotten after the guy went back home.

Clayton walked away with a swagger, turning back once and tilting his hat at Kate.

She groaned.

“Listen, I’m really sorry for the way I looked at you on the bus.”

The command in Sage’s voice was gone, replaced with sweet richness, as smooth as melted butter. Kate felt her cheeks flush. Damn it. What is wrong with me? She lowered her eyes, steeling herself against the warmth that had found her belly and was slowly traveling lower. She dared a glance at his handsome face. He had a strong chin, and his eyes hovered somewhere between gunmetal blue and indigo. Shit. Really? At least he wasn’t perfectly manicured like the others. His eyebrows were a little bushy, a peppering of whiskers covered his cheeks, and his clothes looked like they came right off the rack at anyplace but a high-end store. Unfortunately, that only made him more appealing.

Focus.

Kate drew in a deep breath and ran her finger down her clipboard. Now she was stuck trying to figure out if he was just playing her—standing up to Clayton and apologizing like he was her savior—or if he was really a nice guy. She decided to ignore the conundrum altogether and focus on her job instead. Focusing on her job didn’t require evaluating the motives of celebrities. Her job was safe.

“Remington. Let’s see…You’re in cabin three.” She pointed to a small cabin at the end of the complex.

He nodded silently and walked away with a dejected look on his way-too-handsome face.

Luce stood on the steps of the bus with her arms crossed. “Well, look at you, staring after him like he’s a piece of meat. Maybe I’ll start calling you Clayton.” She stepped from the bus. This was Luce’s third trip to Belize. Kate couldn’t keep track of all of the celebs she handled PR for, but she was always glad to see her friend.

Kate realized she was not only staring at Sage as he walked away, but more specifically, staring at his perfect ass. She spun around. “What? Just making sure he figured out which cabin was his. They all look the same.” No. They sure as hell don’t all look the same. And she wasn’t thinking about the cabins.

“Uh-huh. You stickin’ with that story?” Luce’s blond hair was clipped at the base of her neck in a low ponytail, and she reeked of bug spray. Luce was always prepared. It was one of the things Kate admired most about her.

Kate smacked Luce’s arm with the clipboard. “Why didn’t you warn me about those women? You said they were a little highbrow; that’s different from—”

“No. No, no, no.” Penelope traipsed across the yard, waving her arms and lifting her legs high to avoid the thick grass and the flourish of dust that clung to her legs. “Luce, there is no way I’m staying in that bug-infested sauna.” She crossed her lanky arms, rolled her eyes, and huffed a sigh.

Luce glanced at Kate and lifted her palms to the sky. “Sorry, Pen. This is what we’ve got. It’s only two weeks, and—”

“Did you see the screened-in sleeping area?” Kate mustered a peppy voice even though what she really wanted to say was, The cabins are fine. There are people who have real needs and you’re here to help them. Suck it up and let’s get going. “The screen will allow the air in and it’ll keep you cooler at night,” Kate suggested. “There’s a nice shower and bathroom that’s all yours. I know it’s not what you’re used to, but remember, this was once a mahogany logging camp, so think of it like you’re reliving a time in history.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better? The bathroom is awful.” Penelope let out a loud breath.

Luce put her arm around Penelope and guided her back to the cabin, saying something Kate couldn’t hear. Kate checked her watch. In another twenty minutes she’d hold orientation and then hand out the assignments. She’d been looking forward to working with Sage the most. She loved his artwork and she knew how much the children loved art as well, but whatever the hell was going on in her lady parts when he was around had her on high alert. She’d have to build a little higher fence than she was used to.

Who was she kidding? She needed ten feet of barbed wire—to keep herself in.