“You should have seen the way he was looking at you.”
“You were reading it wrong, I guarantee you.”
Laurie frowned. “I thought the divorce went smoothly.”
“Very smoothly. I don’t think he even noticed,” Alex told her ruefully. She lifted a hand in vague explanation. “He was in the Caribbean on a boat somewhere when I filed the papers. He didn’t call, didn’t protest…just sent his attorney with the clear message to let me do whatever I wanted, have whatever I wanted…I was married, then I wasn’t, and it was all so fast, my head was spinning.”
“Well, that certainly didn’t mean he hated you.”
“I never said he hated me.”
“Well…want my advice?”
“No.”
Laurie grinned. “That’s because you’ve never been to a place like Date Tournament.”
“What?”
“I told you I was going the other day,” Laurie said impatiently. “It’s that new club in Key Largo. They’ve been doing it all over the country. You go, and you keep changing tables, chatting with different people for about ten minutes each. The idea isn’t bad. I mean, there are nice guys out there, not just jerks. Some are heart-broken—like me. And some are just looking. Imagine, the perfect person for me could walk by me in a mall, but we’d never talk. We never see someone and just walk up and say, ‘Hey, you’re good-looking, the right age, are you straight? Attached? Do you have kids? Do you like the water? We wouldn’t last a day if you didn’t.’ So at Date Tournament, you at least get to meet people who are looking for people. Sexual preference and marital status are all straightened out before you start. You’re not stuck believing some jerk in a bar who says he’s single, gets more out of the night than a girl set out to give, then apologizes because he has to get home before his wife catches him.”
Alex stared at her blankly for a minute. Laurie was beautiful, a natural platinum blonde with a gorgeous smile, charm and spontaneity. It had never really occurred to Alex that her friend had the least difficulty dating. Living at Moon Bay seemed perfect for Alex. She had her own small but atmospheric little cottage, surrounded by subtropical growth—and daily maid service. There was the Tiki Hut off the lagoons for laid-back evenings, buffets in the main house for every meal, a small but well-run bookstore and every cable channel known to man. She thought ruefully that just because she had been nursing a wounded heart all this time, she’d had no reason to think the others were all as happy with celibacy as she was.
She arched an eyebrow, wishing she hadn’t spent so much time being nearly oblivious to the feelings of others.
“So…how was your evening at Date Tournament?”
“Scary. Sad,” Laurie said dryly. “Want to hear about it?”
“Yes, but I want to get away from here first,” Alex said. She could see across the lagoon, and the Tiki Hut was beginning to fill up for cocktail hour. Fishing parties returning, those who’d been out on scuba and snorkeling trips coming in, and those who had lazed the day away at the beach or the pool. She could see that Hank Adamson was talking to her boss, Jay Galway, head of operations at Moon Bay, and he was pointing toward the dolphin lagoons.
She didn’t want to smile anymore, or suck up to Adamson—or defend herself. They were also standing with a man named Seth Granger, a frequent visitor, a very rich retired businessman who had decided he wanted to become a salvage expert. He signed up for dives and swims, then complained that they weren’t adventurous enough. Alex had wished for a very long time that she could tell him not to go on the dives when he didn’t enjoy the beauty of the reefs. Their dives were planned to show off the incredible color and beauty to be found on the only continental reef in the United States, not for a possible clash with modern-day pirates. Nor were they seeking treasure.
Well, if he wanted to talk about salvage or adventure, he could pin David down one night. They deserved each other.
Jay Galway seemed to be trying to get her attention. She pretended she didn’t notice.
“Let’s go to the beach on the other side of the island, huh? Then you can tell me all about dating hell,” she said to Laurie.
“Mr. Galway is waving at you,” Laurie said, running to catch up as Alex took off down the beach. “I think he wants you.”
“Then move faster,” Alex told her.
She turned, pretended she thought that James was just waving, waved back and took off at a walk so brisk it was nearly a run.
The dolphin lagoons were just around the bend, putting them on the westward side of the island rather than on the strip that faced the Atlantic. There were no roads out here from what wasn’t even really the mainland, since they sat eastward of the Middle Keys. A motorboat regularly made the trip from the island to several of the Keys in about twenty minutes, and a small ferry traveled between several of the Keys, then stopped at the island, five times a day. Moon Bay had only existed for a few years; before it’s purchase by a large German-American firm, it had been nothing more than a small strip of sand and trees where locals had come to picnic and find solitude.
The western side was still magnificently barren. White-sand beaches were edged by unbelievably clear water on one side, and palms and foliage on the other. Alex loved to escape the actual lodge area, especially at night. While their visitors were certainly free to roam in this direction, mercifully, not many did once it turned to the later portion of the afternoon. Sunbathers loved the area, but by now they were baked, red and in pain.
It was close to six, but the sun was still bright and warm. Nothing like the earlier hours, but nowhere near darkness. The water was calm and lazy; little nothing waves were creating a delicate foam against the shoreline that disappeared in seconds. The palms rustled behind them as they walked, and the delightful sea breeze kept the heat at bay.
Alex glanced up at the sky. It was a beautiful day, glorious. All kinds of tempests might be brewing out in the Atlantic or down in the Gulf somewhere, but here, all was calm and perfect. The sky was a rich, powdery blue, barely touched by the clouds, with that little bit of breeze deflecting the ninety-degree temperature that had slowly begun to drop.
Alex came to a halt and sat down on the wet sand. Laurie followed suit. The identical tank tops they wore—the words Moon Bay etched across black polyester in a soft off-white were light enough that Alex almost shivered when the breeze touched her damp arms. She had little concern for her matching shorts—they were made to take the sand, sun and heat with ease. It was comfortable clothing, perfect for the job, and not suggestive in the least. This was a family establishment.
A great place to run after a bad marriage, with everything she needed: a good job doing what she loved, water, boats, sand, sun, privacy.
Too much privacy.
And now…David was here. Damn him. She wasn’t going to change a thing. She was going to do exactly what she had planned. Shower, dress nicely, blow-dry her hair, wear makeup…sip piña coladas and dance at the Tiki Hut. Flirt like hell with John Seymore. And ignore the fact that every single woman in the place would be eyeing David.
Over. It was over. They had gone their separate ways…
“Well?” Laurie said.
“I’m
