All she had to do was scream. People would come running. But as she looked at the shadow of the man who had just left the light of the patio area, he was joined by a young woman. She caught his hand, and, laughing, they headed down toward the dock together. She let out a sigh of relief and turned.
She froze. And saw another shadow. It wasn’t coming from the patio but from the parking lot. It shouldn’t have been there. She stared, trying to figure out whether she was imagining it, maybe seeing the shadow of a large hibiscus. Her breath caught as the shadow grew. She stayed calm. All she had to do was turn around and head back for the patio.
She did so, walking quickly, to her dismay discovering that everyone had left. The serving staff couldn’t all be gone, she told herself. Nick himself was in there somewhere.
She started to hurry after one of the waitresses, who was disappearing inside. The door closed as she reached it. She grabbed the handle and found it locked.
Panic was rising inside her. She lifted a hand to pound on the door.
Then she heard her name.
She turned.
Keith.
She gasped softly.
“What on earth are you doing, wandering around out here?” he demanded.
She couldn’t breathe for a moment. “I was having a beer,” she said finally. “What are you doing, wandering around out here?”
“I was going to have a beer—I guess they’ve closed,” he said. She stared at him. She still felt so distrustful.
And so hungry, even though she loathed herself for it.
“Beth,” he said.
She took a step backward. “I really don’t know you,” she said.
“Actually, you really do. And I know you.”
He lowered his head for a minute. The light caught the sun-bleached blond of his hair. He seemed very tall, a striking presence. She suddenly ached to be held, to feel as if she hadn’t somehow made a disaster of her world.
To feel as if something was real and solid…
He looked at her again. “Let me just walk you back to the door.”
She shrugged. “Tell me, Keith, what do you think you know about me?”
He looked at her, frowning. “I know I care,” he said simply. “And I know you are who I want to care about.”
He took her arms, turning her toward him. He appeared perplexed. “Please try to understand.”
“There are things I can understand, and things I can’t,” she said.
“And exactly what does that mean?”
She shook her head, turned and walked to the door, then unlocked it. The damn hibiscus still made her uneasy. Or was that really it? “There’s beer in the house,” she heard herself say.
“Are you inviting me in?”
“Apparently you have as much right to be here as I do,” she said, leaving the door open as she entered.
He stepped in behind her. She stopped walking, knowing that his hands would fall on her shoulders, that he would sweep her hair aside, that she would feel his lips and his whisper against her neck.
He didn’t disappoint her.
But then he shocked her.
“I know that I’m falling in love with you,” he said.
The door closed behind them. She turned in his arms, then wound her own arms around him as his lips found hers. But as the fusion of their mouths grew heated, she forced herself to pull away slightly.
“The…guest…room,” she murmured. “They…have…”
“Kids. Guest room,” he agreed.
He swept her up. For the moment she forgot that she still didn’t know or trust everything about him. In the darkness, in the privacy that lay behind closed doors, she thought only of his naked flesh, the heated explorations of his tongue, the eroticism of his touch.
Miraculously, he had appeared, vital, like a fire, pulsing with life. She knew he would disappear by morning.
At the moment, all she longed for was the night.
HE STEPPED AWAY FROM the shadows at the side of the house and into the light, staring at the door. He had watched it close. Watched the two of them come together…
And it enraged him.
He’d been so close….
And what?
Dare he make a move tonight? No, no sense in it.
He stretched his fingers, knotted them back into fists. This was insane. Just too tempting. He’d had a beer at Nick’s. If anyone had seen him, so what?
Then, just when he had seen her really beginning to fear the shadows, to trust that niggling sensation at her nape, the one that sent chills down her spine and gave him such pleasure…
Keith Henson.
He swore softly.
Then he disappeared back into the shadows.
16
THE CLUB LOOKED EXQUISITE. The florists had arrived at the crack of dawn. The dining-room staff began at the same time, and soon after, electricians were out stringing the special lights. The theme was hot and tropical, and by afternoon, the place had been transformed.
Beth came at ten. She’d slept late, knowing she would wake alone. As she left the house, she glanced at the hibiscus bush.
She was tempted to ask Ashley to rip the damn thing out!
Nick’s was already buzzing. Cheerful waiters and waitresses called a good-morning to her as she hurried around to her car.
She felt silly for letting herself get so spooked the night before. And elated because she’d been with him. Because he’d said he was falling in love with her. Angry…
Because even though she’d been with him, so little had really been said.
She told herself to forget him for now and try again for a little bit of dignity and distance when she saw him again.
Beth spent the day in an uneasy fog. She ran around as she was supposed to, ensuring that the flowers were right, the tables set and the dais specially arranged for the commodore. Champagne was chilled; the correct wines arrived.
At three she went up to her office, ready to lock her door for a few minutes and collapse into her
