by Helen Conrad
“What have you got against people who work hard enough to get themselves nice things?” he asked her.
She hesitated. Complaining about the rich had become a natural reaction with her, one that she didn’t really think through all the time.
“Some of them do work hard,” she admitted slowly. “And others just cheat.”
He gave her a skeptical look. “How do you know which are which?”
“I don’t.” She grinned at him. “So I just throw them all into the same boat. It’s easier to hate them that way.”
He looked out over the ocean. “I know you were married to a rich guy…” he began.
“And that might have a lot to do with my opinions,” she agreed. “But there is more to it than that.” She frowned, thinking back. “There was this rich man who lived in our town in Nebraska. He used his money to influence everything that happened in our town, mostly to his own advantage. He pushed the banks to foreclose on some of my friends during the housing bust. Then he bought all the houses up and made a killing.”
Tanner nodded. “There are always people like that. But I’ve known a lot of rich people who did an awful lot of good.”
She shrugged and made a face. “Maybe.”
He looked at her sideways. “Some might consider your mother a rich lady now. With the lottery and all.”
Kat groaned. “You see, that is just another example. Do you know what happens to people who win the lottery? Half the time they end up completely broke or dead in a couple of years. I’m telling you, too much money does bad things to people.”
Tanner looked at her and laughed. “Okay,” he said. “You win.” He pulled her closer. “For now, anyway.”
They had dinner at an ocean-side restaurant and watched the sun go down over the sea. It was dark by the time they drove into Destiny Bay. Tanner gave her a short tour of the marina and the embarcadero area, then turned into the development where Rafe had his condo. They parked close, then gathered their things and made their way into the atrium that led to the front door. As they moved over the pathway, a movement caught Tanner’s eye.
He stopped and stared into the shadows off the front entry.
“Who’s there?” he demanded.
Kat stopped and stared as well, watching a shadowy figure come out of the darkness.
“Hi.”
It was a slender woman. A second glance showed that she was pregnant.
“I’m Amity Crane,” she said, staring at Tanner. “Are you Rafe Carrington?”
They stared right back for a moment before speaking. She was beautiful in an ethereal way, like a fantasy princess who might part clouds of mist to cut her path through the world. Her dark hair was parted in the middle and hung down on either side, giving her a native American look.
“No,” Tanner said at last. “No, I’m not Rafe. I’m his cousin, Tanner. But I think I’ve heard of you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. My cousin Shelley told me about you. You’re working at Mickey’s on the Bay, aren’t you? I heard that Mickey had taken you under her wing.”
Her smile was tremulous. “Sort of. She’s given me work and a place to stay, at any rate. But what I need….”
She moved closer, holding out a picture for Tanner to see. “What I need is to find Rafe. Do you know where I can find him?”
“I think he’s in Japan right now.” He looked at the photograph. It was blurry but it certainly looked like Rafe. On the other hand, it might have been either of his brothers, Darren or Eddie. They all had that same rock-hewn look to their profiles.
“You don’t have his hotel?”
Tanner shook his head, frowning. He wanted to help her, but he had to be careful. After all, his first allegiance was to his cousin, not to this stranger.
“What are you doing here?” he asked her, suddenly realizing it was a bit weird for her to be hanging out in Rafe’s atrium.
She shrugged. “I come here often,” she said candidly. “I keep hoping Rafe will show up.”
Tanner shook his head, puzzled. “Why?” he asked her.
She lifted her chin. “Because I think he’s the father of my baby,” she said. “And I want to talk to him about it.”
Tanner reared back, shocked. He turned to Kat, but she shook her head. “I… .”
Amity raised her hand. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to make a big production out of this. Just tell him, please, that I want to speak to him. I’m at Mickey’s. He can find me there any time. Just let him know that I need…”
Her voice broke and tears began to fill her eyes.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, turning away. “Just tell him. Please.” And she started toward the street.
“Wait.” Tanner didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t let her go like this. “Why don’t you come in? We just drove up from Nueva Bahia and we’re sort of…”
“No,” she said firmly. “I don’t want to bother you. I’ve got a car out on the street. I’ll just go.”
And before he could do anything about it, she was gone.
The encounter with Amity Crane filled the rest of their evening with speculation. That was all they could talk about for hours. Kat didn’t know much about the Carrington family when she began her visit to California, but by now, she was getting a lot of background filled in.
The one thing that disturbed her—they seemed to have a lot of money and influence in Destiny Bay. But so far, the ones she’d met had been pretty nice people. She only hoped she could count on that.
Rafe’s condo was great, with sweeping stairways and a view of the ocean. It also had two bedrooms, which made it comfortable to keep Tanner in line about that ‘funny business’ stuff.
Actually, he was super good. So good it was downright annoying. He curled her into his embrace a few times, and even kissed her just before they retired to the separate bedrooms to sleep. But every action showed respect for her and she had to give him credit for that.
Still, as she lay in bed and listened to the surf on the nearby rocks, she longed to have his arms around her. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe.
The next day they had breakfast at Mickey’s on the Bay, where Kat met even more Carringtons, and then went looking for Tanner’s sister Marlena. They found her in the employment agency she managed and persuaded her to come out for a coffee so that could tell her about Amity Crane and how she was haunting the atrium where Rafe lived.
“What do you think?” Tanner asked her. “Should we warn Rafe about this?”
Marlena frowned, shaking her head. “I don’t know. I guess so. I feel so sorry for her, but you know, just because she has a picture doesn’t make it so. I mean, we all know Rafe. He’s about as good as a guy can get. I can’t believe he would have done anything to….well, you know.”
They knew, and they agreed.
“I’ll let Rafe know,” she said at last. “He deserves that much I think.”
Leaving Marlena, they headed for the house Shelley and Michael shared. Tanner had the keys and they filled the little sports car with baby things, bringing along anything they could think of that might be useful to a newborn, all the things that Shelley had stockpiled for the event.
And then they were on the road again, heading south, hitting the small cities they’d missed by coming up the beach route. They had lunch in San Luis Obispo and stopped for dinner in Santa Barbara. They talked and laughed and got to know each other in ways Kat couldn’t have imagined just hours before. By the time they got back the Nueva Bahia, she felt like they knew each other inside and out.
“They should be back,” he said as they walked toward the ferry. A late evening fog had come in and they seemed to be moving through a mist.
“They’re probably asleep. It’s almost midnight. Again.”
They stopped at the landing. Kat turned and raised her arms, taking him close, presenting her face for his kiss. He kissed her slowly, then leaned back and looked at her. She was so adorable. If he wasn’t careful….
; “Well?” she said, looking hopeful.
He frowned, not sure what she was asking. “It’s late,” he said, unnecessarily.
“Oh.” She was disappointed.
He could see that. But hadn’t she been the one to insist on ‘no funny business’?
“That was last night,” she said, waiting to see his response. Didn’t he know how far she’d come from that? Didn’t he feel how she was drifting into love with him, no matter what?
“It’s pretty late,” he said again.
So the answer was ‘no’. She sagged with the realization that he wasn’t going to come with her, wasn’t going to ask her up to his room, didn’t want to make love with her.
Funny. She’d finally had to face the fact that making love was exactly what she wanted with him. She knew they were never going to be forever sweethearts. But at least they could have this. Couldn’t they?
“I’ll take you to your cabin,” he said, coming with her to the ferry. “I want to make sure you get home okay.”
She turned so that he couldn’t see her face. She wanted more. Was she being unreasonable?
This might be their last chance. This might be it. If not now, when?
She hugged her arms close to her chest and looked out at what she could see of the moon through the mist as the ferry came to a stop at her mother’s little island. Despite the fog, the air was balmy. The night was soft and silent. She turned back and grinned at him as they walked in from the landing.
“Come on,” she said, tossing her head. And then she turned and started toward the beach at a trot, heading away from the cabins toward a secluded cove.
“Wait.” He caught her as she reached the sand, swinging her around to face him. “What are you doing?”
“Going swimming. Want to come?”
“What? Are you nuts?”
She nodded. “Very nuts,” she murmured and, reaching down, she took hold of the sweater she’d worn and pulled it over her head, emboldened by the darkness.
He caught her hand in his own. “Kat, I don’t think we should do this....”
She pulled away from him. “Then don’t do it, Tanner. Go on back to your hotel room. I’m going swimming.” She kicked off her shoes and began to tug down her jeans.
He stood indecisively, watching what he could see of her—shapes, curves, her luminous hair, the clothes that were piling up on the sand. A pulse was beating painfully at his temple. This was dangerous. He knew what was going to happen if he stayed,
“Last one in is a rotten egg,” she sang out, and then she was streaking toward the water.
He hesitated only a moment more, knowing there was no way he could leave her to swim alone in the dark. Quickly, he stripped off his shirt, followed by his slacks and briefs, and then he walked down to the shore, following the sound of her splashing.
“Are you coming in?”
“Someone’s got to make sure you don’t drown here.”
“Hey, what a martyr.” She laughed, and then she waited for long, tantalizing seconds, heart beating wildly, as he came toward her, tall and dark against the shiny water.
The first goal had been reached. He’d come in. Now if she could just get him to stay and play.
He’d almost reached her when she dived away, hoping against hope that he would follow. And he did, swimming after her, chasing her through the warm water, tagging her and then heading off with her giggling and swimming behind him. They cavorted like a pair of dolphins until they were both out of breath.
And then he caught her. It was a moment he would hold in his memory forever. She slid around him like a seal and he reached out and let his hand caress her as she moved, starting at her cheek and stroking down to cup a slick naked breast, flattening across her stomach, grazing the mystery below, winding around her thigh, her calf, threading his fingers between her toes. She felt strange and slippery, like an alien, a creature from a dream, and at the same time, she felt sexier than any woman he’d ever seen or imagined.
“Kat,” he groaned in agony. “I can’t...”
“Hush.” She turned in the water and reached up to press a finger to his lips, then she slid her body against his hardness. “Don’t talk.”
“But, Kat...” He grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her so that she would have to face him, even if she couldn’t see what was in his eyes in the dark. “This isn’t right. You deserve better. You know I can’t promise you any of that forever sort of thing.”
“I know.” Her smile was bittersweet, but her hands embraced him. “Did I ask for any promises?”
“But, Kat...”
“Just hold me, Tanner. Just hold me.”
He held her and she opened her mouth for his kiss, showing him this way what she couldn’t put into words, and he gave up on trying to be a gentleman. A man was all he could be right now, pure male, filled with a need that shook him to the core, a need that seemed to be coming from somewhere deeper inside than had ever been tapped before.
He took her into his arms and carried her, dripping, to the shore. She clung to his neck and pressed her face against him. This was wild, this was crazy, this was a man she hardly knew.
And yet, in some ways, this was a man she knew better than any other man in her life. Something in her heart knew him. Something in her heart accepted him, needed him, as she’d never done before.
He gently lowered her onto the soft plants between the trees, behind the hibiscus shrubs, kissing her when she murmured to him. She felt as though she were moving in a dream, in slow motion, savoring every second, every touch. She reached up to draw him down on top of her, but he pulled away.
“I’ve got protection,” he told her. “Hold on....”
He turned away, stumbling in the dark, searching for his clothes, his fingers trembling when he found what he was looking for.
The light of the moon was hardly a factor. The fog and the darkness were a comfort, really, soft as velvet, sheltering them from prying eyes, but he wished he could see her better. He could make out form and movement, but it was hard to see her breasts, her long, lovely legs, her beautiful face. He longed to see her expression as he touched her, to watch her eyes widen when his fingers caressed her nipple, to see desire fill her eyes when his hand slid down between her legs. But he couldn’t see those things, so he concentrated on the feel of her, the heat of her mouth, the slippery wetness of her skin, the melt-away softness of her breast, the thrill as her nipple hardened against his tongue. Need to be inside her was a throbbing pain in him now, beating, pressing, urging him on. He felt her hands close around him, heard her gasp of awareness, and he almost cried out himself.
Her legs were wrapping around him and her hips were arching, inviting him, and he couldn’t wait any longer. He plunged inside her with a groan that shook him, moving, coaxing, urging, waiting for a sense of where she was, and then, when she was over the edge, releasing himself as he had never done before, holding her with his hands and his body.
She was with him, never missing a beat. Her breath came hot and ragged in his ear, and she cried out, urging him harder, deeper, enveloping him in her sweet warmth, riding with him to ecstasy. Their bodies came together in a surge of glory that seemed for a moment as though it would never stop, and then receded slowly, lingeringly, as they clung to one another and whispered tiny nonsense words of awe at the delicious joy of it all.
He lay back, panting, feeling a sense of triumph like nothing he’d ever experienced, as though he’d found paradise at last, and no one else had the key. His body was whole again, his mind set free, his senses attuned to the symphony of the universe. And all because of her, this woman, this beautiful lover who was lying here beside him, sweet and pure and sexy.,. and laughing. He raised his head, squinting into the darkness.
“Kat?”
There was no mistake. She was laughing. He rolled over and propped himself up on his elbow.
“What’s so funny?”
“You. Me. Us,”
He found her chee
k in the darkness. He could barely see the outline of her face, but her skin felt as smooth as cream. “What’s so funny about us?” he demanded.
She laughed again, more in bemusement than mirth. “Why did we do this?” she asked him softly, reaching to run the flat of her hand across his chest “We hardly know each other.”
His fingers curled around her chin. “People do things like this all the time,” he said.
“No.” She shook her head. “People might. I don’t.”
And he didn’t, either. Who was he trying to kid? He was careful these days. You had to be careful. But she was so special, so different.
“What do we really know about each other?” she continued. “All I know about you is that you’re nice to your cousin and protective toward your uncle and seem to be some sort of businessman.” She poked him. “What do you think you know about me?”
He leaned down and kissed her. “That you make love like a goddess,” he murmured huskily, dropping tiny kisses around her mouth. “And that you talk too damn much.”
She put up a hand to stop him. “No, Tanner, I mean it. You don’t know much of anything about me, except that I’m as protective toward my mother as you are toward your uncle, and that I work for a small-town newspaper.”
“And were once married to Jeffrey Collingham.” A fact he had originally doubted, but now took at face value. Kat was the real thing. She wouldn’t make something like that up.
“Oh.” That was right. She had told him about that, hadn’t she? And suddenly she remembered what he had said it lunch. “Do you really know his cousin?”
“Randolf? Sure. We went to school together.”
She frowned. Any cousin of Jeffrey’s would probably have gone to a pretty exclusive school. Did that mean that Tanner... ?
But before she had time to think that through, he nibbled on her ear and she lost her train of thought as she shivered with delight.
“Tanner, stop. We’re trying to have a serious discussion here.’’
“No, we’re not,” he countered, lowering his body so that it barely grazed hers, skin to skin, tantalizing her senses and making her writhe. “We’re trying to get something going again before you ruin everything by analyzing it to death.”