that—I was rattled. You see, I got some bad news tonight.”
If he’d asked her what the news was, she probably would have clammed up. But he didn’t. He just waited. Serious. Attentive.
“I found out my mother is going to marry a guy I can’t stand. A very bad guy. I’ve told her about him, but she doesn’t believe me. She doesn’t want to believe me.”
David frowned slightly, but he still had the sense not to speak.
“The hard part is…just tonight I’d been thinking maybe I could go home soon. I’ve been here—or somewhere—for eight years now. I’ve started to get homesick. But now…now that he’s going to be there permanently, I can’t go home. Not ever.”
He was silent for a minute longer.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally. “That must be hard.”
She nodded, wondering why she was unburdening herself like this. He couldn’t care. He didn’t even know her last name, which they never printed on the name tags, for “security” purposes.
But maybe that was why it was possible to speak the truth. He didn’t know her. He couldn’t judge her. And he didn’t seem the judgmental type, anyhow. He actually seemed surprisingly kind.
“It’s even more painful than I thought it would be,” she went on. “I don’t know why. I knew my mother didn’t believe me about Jim. I knew he was still in her life. Logically, this engagement thing shouldn’t be such a big deal.”
He shrugged. “I don’t think pain responds very well to logic. I—” He smiled over at her, a strangely sad smile. “It hasn’t been the best day in my world, either.”
Now it was her turn to wait. She wondered whether this was it…the answer to the question the staff had all been asking. Why did such a hunky, gorgeous guy always look so haunted and alone?
He turned his glass, watching the light glimmer on the water. “A woman I used to be in love with married another man today. We broke up a long time ago, and it’s far from a shock. He’s a great guy, actually. We’re all friends now, and I’m actually even happy for her. I thought I could go, but at the last minute I couldn’t. I just…couldn’t.”
He let the explanation taper off. Their gazes held, though, and something invisible arced between them.
Then she knew he felt it, too. In spite of her green hair and her tough-girl attitude, in spite of the fact that someone this gorgeous clearly should spend all his time with beauty queens, he wanted her.
Correction. He wanted someone. For the first time since he’d arrived at the resort, the loneliness had overpowered him. His voice was calm, his body at ease, and yet she heard the undercurrent of confusion, of betrayal, of loss. It spoke to her, even more than his gentle hands or his bedroom eyes.
She considered the situation, well aware it was foolish to risk a one-night stand with a guest. And yet…it would be such a comfort, not to be alone for a while. Not to think about home, of Jim Oliphant, or where she would go next in this nomadic exile she’d chosen as a life.
This David Gerard was a good man. She could feel it. He was sensual, but gentle. And he was as haunted as she was.
Her father had a French phrase for someone like this, too. Âme perdue. A lost soul.
She hadn’t ever been able to master French, though she’d tried ever since her father’s death, hoping it would bring his memory closer. She wished her accent weren’t so awful. She might say that to David Gerard now.
Deux âmes perdues. Two lost souls.
Did it have to be more complicated than that? Just this once, couldn’t something be simple and sweet? He wanted her, and she wanted him, too. She wanted to make love to him. Right now. Tonight.
He was leaving tomorrow, she remembered suddenly.
A man who was leaving tomorrow was perfect. A night in his bed wouldn’t complicate anything, really. She would break this cycle of loneliness by sleeping with this lovely man, and maybe she’d wake up tomorrow lighter, easier in her own skin.
She felt the anger and bewilderment lift from her, like the sky lifting as the sun came up. Maybe her subconscious mind had guided her feet tonight, as she ran away from the bar. Maybe destiny had directed her here. Maybe it was fate.
The word startled her. Ordinarily, she didn’t believe in fate. Her mother did, and used that convenient imaginary entity to rationalize all kinds of self-destructive behavior. But, even though Kitty was a committed cynic, she couldn’t ignore this powerful feeling.
Look at the two of them, sitting on the sofa with sparks of lust going off like invisible fireworks. Two lonely people, two sets of painful memories that had reached an unbearable climax today. Each facing a long, miserable night of trying to forget.
She touched his upturned palm with her fingertips. His eyes darkened slightly, and a flash of electricity shimmered under her fingers, but otherwise he didn’t react.
“I’m sorry,” he said politely. “I didn’t mean to whine on about my problems. I must sound like an idiot.”
“No, you don’t.” She held his gaze and kept her fingers against his palm. “You sound like someone who doesn’t want to be alone tonight.”
He started to say something, then stopped. He closed his fingers around hers and shook his head. “No, don’t. This isn’t right. I didn’t… I promise you, I wasn’t looking for this. I didn’t follow you onto the beach hoping that—”
“I know you didn’t.” With her other hand, she reached out and touched his cheek. She had to lean over to do it. “Does that mean you don’t want it? Because I do. A lot.”
“I—” He frowned. “Wanting is…I don’t want to take advantage… It would be—”
“It would be lovely,” she said.
“Yes.” He closed his eyes, still frowning. “But—”
“Isn’t that enough? It doesn’t have to be complicated. You’re just a man, and I’m just a woman, and we’re hurting. But we can help each other tonight.”
“Listen.” His eyes fell to her name tag. “Kitty. You’re right. It’s a bad time for me, and I came to the Bahamas thinking maybe I could just—” He broke off and ran his free hand through his hair. “But now, with the way you’re feeling tonight, if I take—”
“You’re not taking from me any more than I would be taking from you. I want you, and I think you want me. There’s…something. You feel it, don’t you?” She took his hand and guided it to her breast, where her heart thudded with hunger. “Don’t you?”
She felt the heat of his palm through the cheap polyester of her uniform. He scanned her face with somber eyes. He took a long breath that seemed to catch on something as it entered his lungs.
“Of course I do,” he said. He grazed her cheek with one knuckle, and then, slowly, he bent his head down and whispered against her neck, “Yes. Of course I do.”
His
