by Joanna Neil
‘I’d like to spend time with you, Alyssa, and get to know you better.’
‘Like I said, I don’t think that would be a very good idea.’ Her voice was husky, drowned out by the thunder of the blood in her veins as his fingers travelled along her wrist in a subtle caress. ‘I…uh…I’m not looking for any kind of involvement right now.’
‘That’s all right. Neither am I. Things don’t have to get serious. I’m not looking for commitment.’ His mouth made a wry curve. ‘After the mess my parents made of things, that’s the last thing I’m looking for.’ His gaze meshed with hers. ‘But we could have a good time all the same, you and I…no strings.’
She made a faint smile. ‘That sounds…interesting,’ she murmured, the breath catching in her throat. Her heart had switched into overdrive now, the beat building up to a crescendo as his fingers gently massaged the back of her hand and his thumb made tantalising circles over her wrist. ‘Only…’ She pulled in a deep breath. ‘Only I have the feeling you’re not being quite straight with me. I did mean what I said. I’m not looking for any kind of attachment right now, strings or no strings.’
She carefully extracted her hand from his. ‘I’m sorry if that messes with your plans.’
He frowned. ‘Not at all. It was just a suggestion, and I don’t want to upset you in any way.’ His glance drifted over her. ‘Can you blame me for trying? You’re a beautiful young woman, and I’d surely need to have ice water in my veins if I wasn’t interested in you.’
She swallowed hard. ‘I’m flattered, I think, but my answer’s still the same, I’m afraid. I’d sooner keep things the way they are.’
‘As you please, of course.’ He smiled. ‘Though that’s not to say I won’t keep trying.’
He signalled to the waiter to bring coffee, and for the rest of their time at the restaurant he was charm itself, talking to her about the island, the people and places that made up its exotic appeal. He backed off from making any more overtures and she tried to relax a little.
She didn’t believe for one minute that he was interested in her for her own sake. No matter what he said, he was acting purely in his brother’s interests. He thought she was involved with him in some way, and he wanted to break it up, even if it meant taking her on himself. If Ross were to be hurt in the process, then so be it, because in his mind she was the dangerous one here.
He believed she had the power to ruin his brother’s happiness, and he meant to put a stop to that by any means possible. She would be as wary of Connor as she would be of a stalking tiger.
CHAPTER THREE
‘I CAN’T believe we’ve had such a difficult day.’ Ross waited while Alyssa stopped to pick up the local newspaper that lay on the porch, tossed there by the delivery boy earlier in the afternoon.
Ross followed her along the hallway and into the spacious living room. ‘Do you mind if I open the doors onto the veranda?’
‘Please do. Open every one you come across.’ She shrugged off her light cotton jacket and kicked off her shoes. It was early evening and she was looking forward to sitting out on the deck for a while. ‘I’ll fix us a drink. Would you like hot or cold?’
‘Cold, definitely. All I want to do is to sprawl in a chair and wind down for half an hour or so.’ He ran a hand through his dark hair, leaving it dishevelled and giving him a distinctly youthful appearance.
Alyssa looked at the newspaper, scanning the headlines, and winced. ‘It says here there was an accident on the highway this morning. I wonder if Connor had to deal with that? I expect he must have, unless the casualties were flown to the mainland.’
The standard of driving out here could be atrocious, she’d discovered, with people speeding and driving recklessly, or overloading their vehicles to the point where they were dangerous. According to the news report, this latest crash was as the result of a motorcyclist weaving through lanes of moving traffic.
‘He most probably did,’ Ross said. ‘In fact, he might have been called out to go to the scene—he does regular stints as an on-call first attender. The emergency services want him there if the injuries are very serious and it’s something the paramedics can’t deal with on their own.’ He frowned. ‘I’ll give him a ring,’ Ross said, ‘if that’s all right with you? I think I heard him moving about upstairs. I want to speak to him, anyway, to see how things are going, so I expect he’ll want to come down here for a while.’
She nodded. ‘That’s okay. I’d better set out three glasses and some sandwiches.’ She didn’t feel that she had much choice but to see Connor, given that she was living in his house rent-free for the duration of her contract. To object would simply be churlish, wouldn’t it? Her head was aching already, though, and the last thing she needed was to be on her guard around Connor.
He walked out on to the veranda a few minutes later, bringing with him a basket of fruit. ‘For you,’ he told Alyssa. ‘I thought you might like to sample some of the fruits of our island.’
‘Wow, that’s quite an assortment,’ she said in an appreciative tone, gazing down at the beautifully arranged wicker basket. ‘There must be almost a dozen different types of fruit in here. Thank you for this.’ She was impressed. Among them there were mangoes, papaya and green sugar apples, along with pears and a large, golden pineapple. ‘I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this.’
‘You didn’t have to do anything at all. Think of it as a delayed welcome-to-the-island present, if you like.’
‘I will. Thanks.’ She was thoughtful for a moment or two. ‘Perhaps I ought to take something like this along to the hospital when I go to see Alex.’
‘He already has one.’ Connor’s expression became sombre. ‘I had one made up for him and took it in to him this morning. He’s not really very interested in anything, though, at the moment. He’s very depressed.’
‘I suppose it doesn’t help that he’s not able to move much at the moment, but at least the operation went well,’ Alyssa murmured. ‘It’s just a question of taking time to heal now, isn’t it? And he’ll have physiotherapy, of course, once he’s up to it.’ She sent Connor a fleeting glance. ‘I’m surprised you found the time to look in on him if the evening paper is anything to go by. It looks as though you had to deal with a nasty traffic accident.’
He pulled a face. ‘Yes, it was pretty bad. There were a few people involved, with some severe fractures, and the motorcyclist is in a very worrying condition. He went into cardiac arrest at the scene, but we managed to pull him through and get his heart started again. It’s touch and go for him at the moment.’
‘I’m sorry.’ She frowned. ‘It’s a difficult job. You do what you can to patch people up, but the downside is that some of them don’t make it.’ Working in the emergency unit back in the UK, she had seen more than her fair share of traumatic injuries. Dealing with them day in and day out had become more than she could handle, especially when things hadn’t gone well for the patient. She’d tried her utmost to help them, but occasionally fate had been against her, and that had been really hard to take.
She put down the basket of fruit in the kitchen and carried a tray out onto the deck, where they sat around on wicker chairs by a glass-topped table. She’d made up a jug of iced fruit juice and put out plates alongside a selection of sandwiches.
‘Help yourselves,’ she said, coming to sit down in one of the chairs. She reached for one of the filled glasses, then leaned back and stretched out her long, bare legs. Her cool, cotton skirt draped itself just above her knees. ‘Mmm…this is good,’ she murmured, taking a long swallow. She held the glass against her hot forehead, letting the coolness soothe her aching head.
‘It looks as though you’ve had a difficult day, too,’ Connor remarked, pulling up a chair beside her. He wore light-coloured trousers that moulded themselves to his strong thighs, and a short-sleeved shirt that was open at the neck to reveal an expanse of lightly tanned throat. His arms were strong, well muscled, the forearms covered with a light sprinkling of dark hair.
For some inexplicable reason his overwhelmingly masculine presence disturbed her, and she quickly looked away.
‘You name it, everything went wrong today,’ she murmured wearily. ‘First of all part of the prefabricated set collapsed, causing some minor injuries, and then there was a problem with some of the actors getting sick. They’d been out to breakfast early this morning and were violently ill a few hours later—gastroenteritis, I think. I gave them rehydration salts and sent them home.’
‘So now we’re going to be even further behind schedule,’ Ross put in. ‘Tempers were fraying and everyone was in a bad mood…all except Alyssa, that is.’ He smiled as he looked at her. ‘Somehow she managed to stay serene and patient through it all. She’s a very calming influence all round.’
He sat down in a chair opposite them, by the rail on the veranda, close to the shrubbery where bougainvillea bloomed, its glorious, deep pink, paper-thin flowers bright in the sunshine. They had been planted all around the property, between showy hibiscus and the pretty, trumpet-like yellow allamanda flowers.
‘We managed to keep most of the film footage where Alex did the stunt scene, which was a relief.’ He frowned. ‘That sounds awful, me talking like that, doesn’t it, seeing how ill he is, but it could have set us back really badly. As it is, that’s one worry at least off our minds.’
‘Are you having problems, then?’ Connor asked. ‘Apart from the scenery collapsing, I mean.’ He made a wry smile.
‘Like Alyssa said…you name it. Nothing’s going right. It’s as though the whole thing is jinxed. Everything that can go wrong is going wrong. Next thing you know, we’ll not be able to shoot tomorrow because there’ll be a hitch with the outdoor schedule we’ve set up.’
‘Hmm…’ Connor appeared to be turning things over in his head. ‘That reminds me, I had a call from Dan a short time ago. He’s been trying to get hold of you but your mobile was switched off, or something.’
Ross frowned, and checked his phone. ‘Wouldn’t you credit it?’ he said with a grimace. ‘Battery’s flat.’
Connor acknowledged that with a slight inclination of his head. ‘Actually, he said he wanted to meet up with you at the studio. He just got in today from Florida and he wants to talk to you about the filming. He said he’ll be at the studio for another couple of hours.’
Ross sighed. ‘I guess that puts paid to my evening of relaxation.’ He took a couple of sandwiches from the plate and stood up. ‘Thanks for these, Alyssa,’ he said. ‘It looks as though I’ll have to eat them on the move.’
Alyssa watched him go, and then looked at Connor with narrowed eyes. ‘Was it really essential that he had to go over there right now? Surely a phone call would have done?’
Connor lifted his shoulders in a negligent fashion. ‘I’m just the messenger,’ he said. ‘Far be it from me to interfere with the day-to-day work of the producer and the director.’
She looked at him from under her dark lashes. There was a smile hovering around his mouth and she didn’t trust him an inch. She had the strongest feeling that he had manoeuvred the situation so Ross didn’t get to spend the evening with her.
Her own phone rang just then, and she excused herself for a while, going into the living room to answer it. ‘It’s Carys,’ she told Connor, as she glanced at the name displayed on the screen. ‘Help yourself to sandwiches and salad, and there are cheese and biscuits in the kitchen if you want them.’
‘Thanks.’
She handed him the evening paper, and left him to look over the headlines while she went to speak to Carys.
Some ten minutes later she went back out onto the deck, the headache considerably worse, and her mood decidedly fractious.
Connor sent her a sideways glance. ‘It doesn’t look as though your cousin managed to cheer you up,’ he commented. ‘Just the opposite, I’d say.’
She gave him a tight-lipped smile. ‘She was just giving me the news from back home. She’s in touch with friends over there, and they help her keep up with the latest gossip.’
‘It wasn’t good news, though, judging from your expression.’
‘Nothing bad. My parents are as busy as ever. Apparently my father is thinking of expanding the business, and my mother has a fashion show coming up in the next couple of weeks, where she’ll be able to parade some of the latest styles she has on sale.’
‘That’s good, isn’t it?’
‘I guess so.’ It would perhaps explain why they hadn’t had time to return her calls or answer her emails.
‘Is there something more? You seem tense.’
‘Nothing important,’ she said. She wasn’t going to tell him about James, her ex. He’d been asking after her, apparently, wanting to know how he might get in touch. That was the last thing she wanted.
She sat down and drank more of the fruit juice. ‘It’s another niggling headache,’ she told him when he continued to subject her to a brooding stare. ‘I suppose I need to learn to relax a bit more and not let things get to me so easily.’
‘That would be sensible, if you could take your own advice.’ He gave her a faint smile, adding on a thoughtful note, ‘You could try some of the local bush medicine. That might do the trick. Do you know about the tamarind tree?’
She shook her head.
He looked around. ‘See that tree over there…?’ He pointed to a tree a short distance away. It had attractive leaves that billowed in the slight breeze, and there were large, reddish-coloured seedpods hanging in clusters from the branches. She nodded.
‘The natives call it the jumbie plant,’ he said. ‘It’s another name for the tamarind. You collect the leaves and boil them up in water, and then let the mixture infuse for a while. When it’s cool, you drink the brew. It’s supposed to make you feel much better.’
‘Hmm. That sounds interesting.’ She frowned. ‘I wonder if it works.’
He chuckled. ‘Then again, you could save yourself all that bother and just take a couple of aspirin.’
She laughed with him, and he said quietly, ‘Why don’t we take a stroll on the beach for a while? It might help to make you feel better. You’re probably just wound up after a stressful day.’
‘Yes, you could be right about that.’ A walk on the beach sounded inviting, and before she gave the matter any more thought she found herself nodding. ‘Okay. I think I’d enjoy a walk in the fresh air.’
She went to fetch her sandals from the sitting room, but draped the straps over her fingers as she walked barefoot along the white sand. The sun was beginning to set, casting a golden glow over the horizon, and the wading birds had come down to the shore, getting in a last meal before they retired for the night. Close by, humming birds flitted among the yellow elder flowers, sipping the nectar, and the sweet smell of frangipani filled the air. It was a magical time and Alyssa began to relax, watching the waves break on the shore, leaving behind small ribbons of white foam.
‘I love this time of the day,’ Connor said softly. ‘Everything seems so peaceful and I find all the cares of the day begin to seep away. There’s something very calming about coming down here to watch the ocean roll over the sand.’
‘Mmm…that’s true. I think it’s because it’s so steadfast. We’re busy running around chasing our tails, but the forces of nature stay the same throughout, the ocean ebbs and flows and day follows night, come what may.’
They walked along the shoreline, and Alyssa felt the warm wash of water bathe her feet. Connor joined her, going barefoot by her side, so that their feet left prints in the damp sand.
As they moved further along the beach, he reached for her hand, enclosing her fingers in his palm, and at the same time he put a finger to his mouth, indicating that they should fall silent. Then he pointed ahead and she saw what he was focusing on. It was a bird, standing almost two feet high, black with a white underbelly and a large, orange bill.
‘What is he?’ she whispered. ‘I wish I knew more about the wildlife out here.’
‘He’s an American
oystercatcher,’ he said softly, ‘looking for clams or mussels, I expect. The birds migrate here in the late summer, but I’ve not seen any around here for a while. I think this one’s a juvenile, judging from the black tip of his bill.’
‘It’s fascinating to see it,’ she whispered back, standing still so as not to cause any disturbance that would make the bird fly off. ‘I’ve seen so many gorgeous tropical species since I’ve been here.’
He smiled, drawing her close and sliding his arm around her. ‘I guessed you were interested in nature from that first day. That’s why I wanted to bring you down here. I know you’ve been busy of an evening, with one thing and another, and you haven’t had time to venture very far.’ His hand rested on the curve of her hip, warm, coaxing, inviting her to lean into him, to nestle into the shelter of his long body.
She was sorely tempted to do that. Here on the balmy Caribbean shore, with the sun low in the sky and nothing but the intermittent call of birds to fill the air, anything was possible. And yet it was strange that she should feel this way, considering that she was cautious now about getting close to any man. With Connor, though, everything seemed different. He confused her and set her at war within herself.
Now, as he held her with gentle, natural intimacy, she felt mesmerised by him, as though it would be the simplest thing in the world to turn in his arms and give herself up to the sheer joy of his caresses. It was what she wanted, and that was bewildering because it was as though her mind and her body were totally unconnected, her body responding to his embrace with a will of its own.
His touch was smooth, gentle, gliding over her body with infinite care. His hand trailed a path over the swell of her hip, along her waist, enticing her to him with persuasive, hypnotic ease.
She looked up into his eyes. They were dark, engrossed in her, his smile reflected in the shimmering depths. Slowly, his head bent towards her and she knew what he was about to do and for the life of her she had no will to stop it. He was going to kiss her, and it would be everything she dreamed it would be, and a whole new world would open up for her…a world with Connor at its centre.