Vacation with a Vampire & Other Immortals by Maureen Child, MAGGIE SHAYNE

sweetness in her, when she smiled at him like that.
    “I can’t believe I fell asleep.” She pushed her hands through her auburn curls, that were more beautiful tousled than neat, he thought.
    “How long have you been out here?”
    She blinked, her gaze sliding from his to the sea, the horizon, the night sky. “All day,” she said, sounding only slightly surprised. “I watched the sunrise.”
    “You’re lucky you didn’t burn to a crisp,” he told her. Then he tipped his head up, noticing the thick fronds of the palm above her. “This tree must like you as much as Charlie did. She protected you.”
    “She?” Her eyes followed his, and she examined the graceful tree, the way its trunk bent over and its fronds draped low, giving her shade for almost the entire day. “It does look rather feminine at that.”
    “You must be starving.”
    “I am.” She extended a hand. “Help me up?”
    Diego clasped her hand and pulled her onto her feet with him; then, turning, he began walking her back along the footpath toward the house. “Aside from hunger, how do you feel?”
    She shot him a quick look. “I’m very sore. Way more than I realized. I hurt all over.” She slowed her pace, added a pronounced limp. “I thought I was strong enough to walk down to the beach and back, but…you were right. I think my body took a far worse beating out there on the rocks than I knew.”
    He sensed that she was being less than perfectly honest and delved into her mind, just a little. He felt her pain, the stiffness, the aches. They were bad, yes. But she was pouring it on a bit more than she would normally do, and he heard, clearly, her rationale. Don’t act like you’re doing too well, dummy, or he’ll be hauling you back to the mainland before the night is out. Besides, you’re not doing all that well.
    Just as he’d suspected. She was playing it up so she could stay here longer. And that certainly lent credence to his suspicion that she had come out here knowing already what he was and what he could do for her. She had come out here to trick him into sharing the Dark Gift with her.
    When all she had to do was ask.
    Or maybe…maybe he was wrong. Hell, how could he know for sure?
    “Did you enjoy the sunrise, at least?” he asked, to keep her talking. Because the more he conversed with her, the more of herself she revealed. Soon he would see all her secrets.
    She stopped walking to beam up at him. “It was most beautiful one I’ve ever seen, Diego.” She met his eyes as she said it, then looked beyond him, shaking her head. “This entire place—it’s like your own personal Eden.”
    “That’s exactly how I think of it.”
    She smiled. “I’m very grateful to you for putting up with my presence for a little while. It’s awfully generous of you to share this special place with a stranger. Although…” She stopped there, gnawing her lower lip in a way that made him want to taste it.
    “Although?” he prompted.
    Tipping her head up, she stared into his eyes. “You don’t feel like a stranger to me at all.”
    Like a magnet, she pulled him nearer. Not physically, but with those eyes. They tugged, and he felt his head begin to lower, his eyelids begin to fall. But he caught himself, blinking free of the spell she’d cast and straightening up again.
    She lowered her head quickly, almost as if embarrassed. “I don’t suppose that makes any sense to you, does it?”
    “It doesn’t matter if it makes sense to me. And it’s not as if this is the first time you’ve mentioned it. It’s your feeling, and you have a right to it.” He set off toward the house again, step by step, though she seemed to want to take it very slowly.
    “It’s just that…well, it goes back to the worst day of my life, or what I thought at the time was the worst. About two months ago.” She looked over at him as they walked.
    He wasn’t touching her anymore, but it was all he could do not to. He wanted to slide an arm around her