of a body on the beach?
John had escorted her up the two wooden steps to her little back porch, with its charming, gingerbread railing. They were standing by her back door.
He was probably waiting to be invited in.
And just this morning, she had thought that if this moment came, she would invite him in.
She mentally damned her ex-husband again. Her almost-ex-husband.
She smiled up at John Seymore. His dimple was showing as he offered her a rueful smile.
“You’re really something,” he said.
“So are you,” she murmured. Blond hair, handsome face, shoulders to die for, arms that were wonderfully secure…
She slipped into them. He lowered his mouth to hers, and she allowed herself the kiss, but she couldn’t stop herself from analyzing it. Firm mouth, coercive, not demanding, fingers gently suggestive in her hair, tongueteasing at her lips, slipping into her mouth, warm, very warm, definitely seductive…
On a physical level, he was incredible.
So if she could just forget about David…
She couldn’t. Not when he was here, on the island, so irritatingly in-her-face.
She stepped back, stroking John’s cheek.
“You’re around for a little while longer, right?” she inquired softly, hoping he understood her signals. I’m interested, but it’s been a very long and strange day….
“I can arrange to be around for a very, very long time,” he told her. Then he grinned. “I’d like to come in. But I understand perfectly. Okay, well, not perfectly, and I am disappointed, wishing I could be sleeping with you tonight.”
She felt a flush touch her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to…lead you on, to suggest…”
“You didn’t. You’re just the most fascinating woman I’ve met in aeons, and…hell, good night. I’ll be around.”
“I—well, I know you’ve been talking to David. We are divorced. There’s just some ridiculous technicality.”
“I’m not worried about a technicality,” he told her.
“Neither am I.”
“But I will step back if the technicality isn’t just on paper, if it’s something a lot deeper.”
His words made her like him all the more. He wasn’t about to step into the middle of a triangle, or be second-string to any other man.
“It’s only a technicality—really.” She meant to sound sincere. She wasn’t sure if she really was or not. And she wasn’t sure what he heard in her denial.
“Well…” he murmured.
He drew her to him, kissed her forehead. Then he walked down the steps, and started back along the foliage-bordered path.
She watched him disappear, realized she hadn’t opened her door, and felt the pressure of the night and the shadows again. She quickly slid her key into the bolt for the glass doors, then stepped inside, feeling a rise of anger. She had never felt afraid here before, ever.
And now…
Though the image had faded for a moment due to skepticism and doubt, she could now vividly recall the corpse on the beach. A corpse that had disappeared.
She locked the door, making certain it was secure; then, still feeling an almost panicky unease, she walked through the little Florida room, kitchen and living room, assuring herself that windows were tightly closed and the front door was locked.
Damn David a million times over for both the trials haunting her tonight. If it hadn’t been for him, John Seymore would be inside with her. Then she wouldn’t be afraid of the shadows, or the memories stirring in her mind.
She slipped through the hallway to the first of the two bedrooms in the cottage, the one she used for an office area. She checked the window there and even opened the closet door.
David’s suggestion that she might be in danger seemed to be invading her every nerve. But the office was empty and secure.
Finally she went to her own room, found it safe, then prepared for bed and slipped under the covers. The night-light she kept on in the bathroom had alwaysprovided her with more than enough illumination, but tonight it only added
John had escorted her up the two wooden steps to her little back porch, with its charming, gingerbread railing. They were standing by her back door.
He was probably waiting to be invited in.
And just this morning, she had thought that if this moment came, she would invite him in.
She mentally damned her ex-husband again. Her almost-ex-husband.
She smiled up at John Seymore. His dimple was showing as he offered her a rueful smile.
“You’re really something,” he said.
“So are you,” she murmured. Blond hair, handsome face, shoulders to die for, arms that were wonderfully secure…
She slipped into them. He lowered his mouth to hers, and she allowed herself the kiss, but she couldn’t stop herself from analyzing it. Firm mouth, coercive, not demanding, fingers gently suggestive in her hair, tongueteasing at her lips, slipping into her mouth, warm, very warm, definitely seductive…
On a physical level, he was incredible.
So if she could just forget about David…
She couldn’t. Not when he was here, on the island, so irritatingly in-her-face.
She stepped back, stroking John’s cheek.
“You’re around for a little while longer, right?” she inquired softly, hoping he understood her signals. I’m interested, but it’s been a very long and strange day….
“I can arrange to be around for a very, very long time,” he told her. Then he grinned. “I’d like to come in. But I understand perfectly. Okay, well, not perfectly, and I am disappointed, wishing I could be sleeping with you tonight.”
She felt a flush touch her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to…lead you on, to suggest…”
“You didn’t. You’re just the most fascinating woman I’ve met in aeons, and…hell, good night. I’ll be around.”
“I—well, I know you’ve been talking to David. We are divorced. There’s just some ridiculous technicality.”
“I’m not worried about a technicality,” he told her.
“Neither am I.”
“But I will step back if the technicality isn’t just on paper, if it’s something a lot deeper.”
His words made her like him all the more. He wasn’t about to step into the middle of a triangle, or be second-string to any other man.
“It’s only a technicality—really.” She meant to sound sincere. She wasn’t sure if she really was or not. And she wasn’t sure what he heard in her denial.
“Well…” he murmured.
He drew her to him, kissed her forehead. Then he walked down the steps, and started back along the foliage-bordered path.
She watched him disappear, realized she hadn’t opened her door, and felt the pressure of the night and the shadows again. She quickly slid her key into the bolt for the glass doors, then stepped inside, feeling a rise of anger. She had never felt afraid here before, ever.
And now…
Though the image had faded for a moment due to skepticism and doubt, she could now vividly recall the corpse on the beach. A corpse that had disappeared.
She locked the door, making certain it was secure; then, still feeling an almost panicky unease, she walked through the little Florida room, kitchen and living room, assuring herself that windows were tightly closed and the front door was locked.
Damn David a million times over for both the trials haunting her tonight. If it hadn’t been for him, John Seymore would be inside with her. Then she wouldn’t be afraid of the shadows, or the memories stirring in her mind.
She slipped through the hallway to the first of the two bedrooms in the cottage, the one she used for an office area. She checked the window there and even opened the closet door.
David’s suggestion that she might be in danger seemed to be invading her every nerve. But the office was empty and secure.
Finally she went to her own room, found it safe, then prepared for bed and slipped under the covers. The night-light she kept on in the bathroom had alwaysprovided her with more than enough illumination, but tonight it only added
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