is Josh,” Kelly said as she introduced them.
“Rafe,” he said as he stuck out his hand.
“Ah. You’re the soldier Kelly was telling the Seymours about. Been in Afghanistan, I heard, and you were shot up pretty bad.”
Rafe glanced at her to find her cheeks were pink.
“Gracie is a doctor,” Kelly said. “I...had heard about how you’d been wounded and I wanted to make sure we had the right therapies for you, and that we didn’t push you too hard. I promise we weren’t gossiping.”
“You don’t need to worry about me,” Rafe said. “As long as there’s a gym, I can follow up with what my trainers started in Germany.”
“Best facility on the island,” Josh told him, and slapped him on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. Rafe struggled not to wince as a shot of pain raced down his back and into his aching hip. He reminded himself he was lucky to be alive. Unfortunately, there were few places on his body that hadn’t felt the effect of his time in the military.
“Yep, they’ll get you fixed up, all right. Came here a couple weeks ago to recover from a bruised hamstring and lower back troubles, and boom!” The man clapped his hands together eliciting a few startled glances. “All better now. This little chicken knows what she’s up to. Got me back to fighting form months before the docs thought it would be possible,” Josh announced to the group, squeezing Kelly into the crook of his arm.
Rafe took pleasure in the fact that she didn’t seem too happy about being smashed up against the guy.
“Josh, can you check that the doors to the kitchen are closed? I want to make sure we don’t get sand in there and it looks like the wind is picking up.”
“On it.” The Aussie lumbered through the main room over to the dining area.
“Are you okay?” Kelly asked softly. The light caress of her hand on Rafe’s forearm was enough to send him over the edge. “He has no idea how strong he is.”
“No worries,” Rafe told her, his voice deeper than usual because her hand was still gently stroking his arm. “Do you always order your guests around like that?”
It was a subtle way to find out if she and the Australian were close.
“Yes,” she replied with a laugh. “I’m bossy that way. Just ask my sister.”
At the mention of her sister, she lifted her hand from his arm and frowned. “Sorry. What were we talking about before that?”
“About you being bossy,” he said as he studied her carefully. Was there something bothering her about Mimi?
“Oh, yes. And with Josh, well, he was supposed to be here for a week and it’s turned into several. That happens a lot. Almost everyone who visits says they feel like family, so I guess it doesn’t hurt to treat them that way. We have a fairly exclusive clientele who are used to plenty of perks, but they like it here because they get all that and they get to be surf bums at the same time. There’s no paparazzi or helicopters flying over to see what kind of bikini they’re wearing or what they’re drinking, or who they are with for that matter.” She shrugged.
“I thought I recognized some faces on the beach today.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure you did. They keep coming back, since no one bugs them here. It’s always been my sanctuary when life got to be too much on the circuit, and I wanted to create that for other people as well.”
Sanctuary. If it weren’t for his dilemma with the sisters, this place would definitely be that. The waves had put him to sleep in seconds after his head hit the pillow. The bungalow was warm, but the sea breeze kept it from being miserably so.
Rafe wasn’t overly impressed with the boxer, but he understood why he was drawn to the place. It was the kind of environment a person could get used to easily. As Rafe sat down at the table across from Kelly, she gave him another smile.
Yep. He could definitely see why people never wanted to leave.
* * *
KELLY CROSSED HER legs on the special platform Nari’s father, Duke, had made for her.
Meditation was part of Kelly’s regular routine and, no matter what was happening around her, she did it twice a day. Settling on the raised part of the deck outside her bedroom, she took a deep, calming breath and tried to clear her mind.
Adrien would kill her for not finishing her dinner tonight, but Kelly’s nerves were like taut guitar strings ready to break. She’d have to speak to Josh about his being a little too handsy. Every chance he had, he put his arm around her shoulders or bent into her as if they were sharing a secret. He’d been overly friendly before, but Rafe’s presence must have caused him to turn territorial. She and Josh had known each other a long time, but that didn’t mean he could take advantage of their friendship.
His behavior probably gave Rafe the idea that they might be a couple, which was the last thing she wanted. She’d caught Rafe’s eyes on them more than once during the meal and he had the strangest look on his face. She was adept at reading people, but she didn’t have a clue what was happening in the marine’s head. He’d been polite throughout dinner even though she’d seen him wince more than once when he twisted the wrong way.
He’d caught the soup tureen when it slipped from Nari’s hands, keeping it from crashing to the floor. But his jaw had tightened and his hand shook as he placed the heavy bowl on the table.
In spite of his pain, he’d assured the young girl that all was well. His kindness toward the fumbling Nari had solidified his hold on Kelly’s heart. And, as if that wasn’t enough, she’d admitted she was infatuated with him before he’d even arrived.
What had begun as an act of kindness on her part for one of America’s heroes had now morphed into a complicated situation that confused her. What should she do? He was an honorable man who appreciated the truth. After seeing that up close and personal, she felt certain he would leave if he knew she’d lied to get him here.
She truly cared about him. And if he left before he really got to know who she was, she’d regret it for the rest of her life. Maybe he would, too.
Helping him heal was the one way she could clear her conscience and set her karma straight. He’d been through so much, the least she could do was support him as he tried to put the pieces of his life back together again. She’d recognized the signs of post-traumatic stress syndrome in his letters. His trouble sleeping, the nightmares, his erratic moods. He’d shared a lot with her, and now she knew what she had to do to repay that trust.
Taking another calming breath, she shut her eyes, but just before her mind went blank, a vision of Rafe on the beach overtook her thoughts. Water dripped from his dark hair, his swim trunks riding low on his hips, his chiseled jaw and toned abs some of the best she’d ever seen on a man.
She sighed.
Well, no one ever said karmic justice was easy.
4
RAFE LIMPED INTO the yoga studio, ready to tell Kelly he wasn’t up for her class. Like the cabana where he was staying, the studio and adjoining
