feel the warmth emanating from his long, lithe body as he moved alongside her, and her pulse had notched up a beat. She felt as though she ought to take a step away from him in a kind of desperate attempt at self-preservation.
‘Thanks for the invitation,’ she murmured, ‘only I’m afraid I’ll have to turn you down. I start my new job tomorrow, and I’ll be working the late shift…for the whole of the week, as it happens. I doubt I’ll be home until an hour or so before midnight.’
‘You could still come along.’ His voice took on a husky, coaxing note. ‘The night is still young at that time on the Keys.’
‘Perhaps it is for some.’ She smiled. ‘You get full marks for trying, anyway.’
‘Hmm…’ His gaze was quizzical. ‘You can’t blame a man for doing his best, but if it’s a competition we’re in, you have the highest score for caginess.’
He frowned, looking around briefly, and Lacey wondered if he was finding it a new experience, being thwarted this way. She doubted women often turned him down. He had a compelling, persuasive manner about him, and as for looks, he definitely had the wow factor. It was a pity she was immune…or should that be allergic? She had given everything to her relationship with Nick and it had turned sour. Why would she want to risk putting herself in the danger zone all over again?
She stopped walking. They had reached a clump of mangrove trees, jostling for room at the water’s edge. Their gnarled, tangled roots were a reddish colour, partly submerged in the salt water so that it seemed as though the trees were walking on its surface. Small birds hovered at the water’s edge, searching for morsels of food among the crustaceans. Looking up, Lacey caught a glimpse of brown pelicans nesting in the branches. As she watched, one of them flew down, splashed into the water and emerged a moment later, soaring upwards, triumphant, with a fish in its beak.
‘I think we must have come as far as we can along this path,’ she said, giving her attention back to Jake. ‘It’s time I started for home, anyway. I have to go into town for some provisions or I shall be living on stale bread and water for the rest of the week.’
He nodded, turning with her, and together they retraced their steps. ‘I expect the supplies Rob left you must be running low by now.’ He sent her a thoughtful glance, and then said, ‘He’s been away for some time, hasn’t he? Are you expecting him back any day soon?’
She shook her head, frowning a little. ‘I’m not sure. Actually, I’m a bit concerned about him. He went off to film a documentary for a local TV company, but when he finished there he was going to drop by my place and pick up some belongings before visiting his family. He should have been back a few days ago.’
‘So you think something might have happened to him?’
‘I really don’t know what to think. I know he hasn’t been too well of late—nothing serious, he said, but I know he’s been seeing a doctor regularly over these past few months.’ She frowned. ‘Even so, it isn’t like him not to get in touch.’ She made an awkward shrug of her shoulders. ‘I’mp robably worrying unnecessarily. He knows how to look after himself but, there again, the Everglades can be tricky if things go wrong.’
‘It could be that he had a change of plan and went straight on to his family.’
‘Yes, that’s most likely the answer…but I still think he would have given me a call to let me know. I haven’t been able to contact him.’ Perhaps she was distracted by thoughts of Rob and wasn’t paying attention to where she was going, because she missed her footing just then, and stumbled over a patch of rough ground. Instantly, Jake’s hand shot out, grasping her arm in a light, but firm, grip.
‘Are you okay?’
She nodded. ‘I’m fine, thanks.’ She wished her voice sounded more certain, but quite unexpectedly his touch was beginning to play havoc with her defences. The warmth of his fingers seared her tender skin, and her whole body flamed in reaction to his nearness as he drew her close to steady her. Her mouth was suddenly dry, her heart hammering against her rib cage as his thigh brushed hers and her nervous system went into meltdown. She couldn’t think straight with him holding her that way, with the flat of his hand resting on her waist, burning through the thin cotton of her top. She struggled to compose herself. ‘I’ll be all right now…Thanks,’ she mumbled. ‘I can manage.’
‘Are you sure? The ground is difficult underfoot here where the coral has been left exposed by the sea.’
‘I’m sure.’ She straightened, as though to emphasise the point, and he released her readily enough, so that at last her head began to clear.
‘You said Rob was supposed to pick up some belongings—does that mean he was going to move on from your place?’
She nodded. ‘Yes, although I dare say he will come back to the Keys from time to time because he still has contacts here. He found himself an apartment in Miami, close to where the film company is based and within a short distance of his parents’ and his brothers’ homes, so, all in all, I imagine things have turned out quite well for him.’
‘I expect so.’ He was thoughtful for a moment or two. ‘You told me that you’d been friends for some time…How did you two meet?’
‘We met when I was doing my medical training. He was doing a completely different course—media studies—but we had both joined the camera club on campus, and we became friends. I think he decided to come back to the States because there were good opportunities here for him in the television and film industry…and of course his family were here. He was homesick, I suppose, and having spent holidays here in Florida I could talk to him about familiar places, so that’s probably what drew us together in the first place.’
By now they had reached Lacey’s house, and after a few more minutes of chat they parted company, with Jake heading off once more for the boathouse. ‘Going by boat is the best way to explore the Keys,’ he told her. ‘You should let me take you out on the water some day. It’ll open up a new world for you.’ His look was mischievous, inviting her to take him up on the offer there and then.
‘Maybe some other time. I’ll think about it,’ she said, taking the easy way out.
He threw her a wry smile, and she guessed he was well aware that she was prevaricating once more.
Lacey wasn’t at all concerned about what he might be thinking. He would most likely forget about the offer, or at the very least he would give up trying when faced with constant rejection. That suited her fine. Jake was a complication she could do without.
Next day, she decided to eat her breakfast out on the deck. There was something utterly relaxing about sitting here first thing in the morning, she reflected, sipping freshly squeezed orange juice as she gazed out over the straits. Behind her, the glass doors to the dining room were opened wide to let the fresh, warm air sweep through the house, but here on the deck she had laid a table with a rack of toast, butter and apricot preserve. It was a perfect way to start the day.
In the far distance, boats dipped on the blue sea, moving gently with the rise and fall of the waves. Closer to home, if she looked carefully, she could make out the sand and sea grass through the clear water.
It was a view she would always delight in. In fact, with every day that passed she found something new to persuade her that this was where she belonged. She was growing used to the leisurely pace of life out here. It suited her frame of mind and in time might help to restore order out of the confusion that had preoccupied
