Not a has-been magician who’s been trying to rewrite himself for the past few years.
A light tap on the door was followed by Tammy’s frosted blonde head. “I brought you coffee.”
“Thanks.” He accepted the mug.
“Anything I can help you with?” She assumed an attentive pose but he sensed anxiety in her voice.
He smiled. “Everything’s fine, Tammy.”
“Did I ask? Of course everything’s fine.” She shrugged. “A little unusual, but fine. I have to admit I’m wondering what circumstance has forced you to take refuge in your office, though.”
He leaned back in his chair, considering. Finally he made up his mind. “Rachel’s here.”
“Rachel?” She blinked, obviously not comprehending.
He made an impatient movement, scattering a few papers on his desk, then sank into the chair. “Rachel. Rachel. Nora’s Rachel.”
“Oh.” Her face cleared, then she frowned. “Why?”
“Exactly.” He sighed. “I haven’t exactly kept up with her since Nora…” He trailed off, letting the last word expire in the silence even though it echoed in his heart. Died. He shook it off. “The last time I saw her was a few years ago. She’d come down to visit Jasmine at the same time I did. She was happy, I think, not much different from the last time I’d seen her with Nora. She and Jasmine had a great time. Blowing bubbles. Jazz loved it.” He tried to imagine the sexy goddess he’d seen by the pool blowing bubbles with a toddler and found it impossible.
“This is not good.” Tammy sounded almost angry. “What did she do? Come in here accusing you of something after all this time? You’re not responsible for what happened to Nora, Logan.”
Logan shook his head. “No, that’s not it. Look, can you make a couple calls? Find out how she paid for the room? And how long she’s staying.”
Her frown deepened, but she nodded. “Fine.”
After she left, Logan picked up the phone and dialed the poolside bar. Ramon answered. “S’up, man?”
“I want you to keep an eye on someone for me.”
“Sure thing, boss.” Ramon sounded as easy as if Logan had just asked him to make a Mai Tai.
“The woman I had you deliver the mimosa to. Rachel, a guest in suite 214.”
“Will do my best, boss. Can barely see her through the crowd, though.”
“Crowd?” Logan frowned.
“Yeah. Bunch of young studs.” Ramon whistled softly. “Woman like that could eat any one of them alive, you ask me.”
“Yeah. Thanks.” Logan hung up as the door opened and Tammy came back in, a quizzical look on her face.
“Well, that was odd.”
“What was odd?” Logan shook off the image of Rachel surrounded by attractive young men.
“Her name is Rachel Duvall, right? I did a little research and found she was using a credit card with a different name. Rachel Prescott. So I called the phone number she registered with and a woman answered. When I told her I just wanted to check on the validity of the card, she demanded to know where I was calling from. I told her, of course, thinking maybe the card was stolen. She said the card was fine, Rachel is her sister and she just got divorced so the credit card’s under her married name.”
“Okay. So?” Logan shrugged.
“Don’t you think it’s odd that her sister answered the number of the card’s billing address?” Tammy raised her eyebrows.
Logan remembered Rachel’s remark about her cheating husband getting her sister in the divorce. At first he’d thought she meant her sister had taken his side of the divorce, but maybe the betrayal had gone deeper than that. He decided it would be best not to mention his theory to Tammy, however. “Maybe they live together.”
“And she didn’t know where her sister was?” Tammy shook her head. “It just doesn’t add up.”
“Well, maybe someone else is worried about her.” He said it almost to himself, wondering why it didn’t make him feel better.
Tammy folded her arms over her chest and fixed him with an openly curious stare. “Which brings us to the million dollar question. Why are you so worried about her?”
The question made Logan pause. Tammy knew him better than almost anyone. They’d gone to high school together, had flirted but never dated. Logan had given her away at her wedding and was her son’s godfather. Tammy, for her part, had been the one person Logan always knew he could count on. She’d been there when his life fell apart. She’d seen him through the worst and helped him achieve his best. When he moved to the Caribbean and asked her to go with him, she’d convinced her husband to uproot their family. Trent was no freeloader, and he hadn’t been totally certain about giving up his life as an architect to take Logan up on his offer of designing and maintaining the resort’s many buildings, walkways and outdoor venues.
He owed her an honest answer, but he wasn’t sure…yet…if he had one, so he opted for the only reply he could offer. “I don’t know.”
She opened her mouth to say something else but before she could, a dark-haired man appeared in the doorway. “Hey, Logan. You busy?”
“Tony!” Glad for the distraction as well as the sight of his friend, Logan stood, a pleased grin on his face. “This is a surprise. Where’s your lovely bride-to-be?”
“Downstairs with Andre and Stacey checking out the pool. The place has grown since I was last here.” Tony’s grasp was firm and he looked strong. Logan was sincerely happy for his friend, who’d fought addiction most of his life. Of course, keeping hold of Lady Lydia, Las Vegas’s favorite escape artist, was enough of an addiction for any man.
“It’ll be good to see Andre and Stacey again. They haven’t been here since their honeymoon.” Logan smiled at the memory. “I have never seen a couple more in love than those two. Not that I saw them much then. They kept room service very busy.”
“They’re just as sickening now as they were then.” Tony’s grin belied his words. “Especially now Stacey’s expecting. Andre won’t leave her side for a second.”
Logan chuckled. “And I’m sure you and Lydia aren’t ‘sickening’ at all, huh?” He stopped his friend’s protest with a raised hand and a laugh. “Don’t worry, I’ll stand it somehow or other. But let’s go see the others. I want to catch up on the news.”
“Logan, we hadn’t finished—” Tammy stepped in front of him.
“It can wait.” He walked around her.
“Logan, if this is about Nora, I really think—”
“Tammy!” He paused, glancing over his shoulder at her. He had to remind himself that if anyone had a right to mention Nora’s name, it was Tammy, but not in front of Tony, for God’s sake. He took a deep breath and turned, taking her hands. “Thank you. For worrying about me. But it’s not about Nora.” Even though everything’s about Nora. Damn her. “I’m fine, and I promise not to get into any trouble. Now, can I please go out and play, Mom?”
Tammy’s brow crinkled with worry. He knew she saw through him. She knew his deep-seated need to rescue women in trouble, and she knew it all stemmed from Nora. His wife. The one woman he couldn’t save. But she just shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned away. She didn’t approve but she wasn’t going to stop him. Logan turned back to Tony only to find his friend’s expression now echoed Tammy’s. “Jesus.” Logan rolled his eyes and started for the office door.
Tony caught up to him outside. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Logan glanced at his friend and stopped at the look of disbelief on Tony’s face. “Okay. Yeah, there’s something. Someone. Her name’s Rachel and she was Nora’s best friend. She’s here, but she’s—different from the way I remember her, and I don’t know why.”
“Different how?”
Logan hesitated, searching for a way to put it into words. “She’s always been attractive, but she sort of faded into the background before. She wasn’t like this. Now she’s sort of…primal. I’ve seen women like her before. Sexy, but with a hard edge. That’
s not Rachel. She’s changed.”
“Are you sure it’s not just your perception of her?” Tony held up his hands in self-defense when Logan swung around on him. “Just sayin’. You know, she was your wife’s best friend. Maybe you’re just seeing a different side to her. Maybe she seemed different before because she was off limits.”
Gritting his teeth, Logan forced himself to consider the possibility, but it didn’t feel right. “No. No, that’s not right. She’s still off limits.” He wondered if it was true and found himself compelled to confess. “I’ll admit she took my breath away. You don’t see women like that often. But there’s something else, too. Like she’s broken or something.”
“Broken how?” Tony motioned at a golf cart and Logan obediently got in.
He sighed, shaking his head as Tony climbed into the driver’s seat and put the cart into reverse, starting toward the pool area. “I don’t exactly know. She’s not what you’d expect. Beautiful, intelligent.” He shot his friend a look and waited for the shock his next words were sure to elicit. “Last night, I did a magic trick for her.”
Tony’s eyebrows shot up, but he didn’t look judgmental. “Really? You haven’t done magic in a while. Not in public, anyway.”
“I know, but… She made me want to.” He shrugged. “Not that it was all that appreciated.”
Tony pretended to look outraged. “You’re kidding. You were being all magical and she resisted you? Something’s obviously wrong there.”
Logan couldn’t help smiling. “Well, at any rate, she left. She thanked me for the trick and left. Probably to go pick up some other guy. Ramon says she’s surrounded by college kids now.” He glared at his own hands, as if they were what had failed to impress Rachel.
“College kids?” Tony glanced at him. “She doesn’t sound like your speed, man.”
“That’s just it. She’s not the type who should be playing this game. Even if I didn’t know her, I’ve been reading the women who come here long enough so I can tell you exactly who’s looking for sex, who’s looking for money, who’s looking for life-long love. And she’s not any of those.”
“Then what’s she looking for?”
“Destruction.” The moment he said it, he knew it was true. “Hers. I think she’s looking to hate herself.”
“Jeez.” Tony pulled the golf cart into a spot near the pool and turned to Logan. “Tammy was right, wasn’t she? This is about Nora?”
He winced at the name, a heart-deep pain piercing his chest. “It’s not about Nora.”
“It’s always about Nora, man. You’ve got to stop blaming yourself. It wasn’t your fault, and there was nothing you could do about it.”
“Yeah. I know that. It’s not about that.” Except it was, and he knew it. He hadn’t been there to save Nora, but Rachel was something different entirely. He could still be there when she needed him. He could still save her.
****
I’m older than I thought I was. Rachel had grown tired of the boys clustered around her. Their posturing and her former paramour’s possessive attitude both bored and exhausted her. She still couldn’t remember his name, either.
I remember Logan’s name. And the way his lips felt on her wrist. Sweat dribbled down her neck. The Spanish kid eyed a droplet hovering near her cleavage. He raised his eyes to hers and she knew exactly what he was thinking. If he were only ten years older she might have been thinking the same thing. She just wasn’t drunk enough to think it now, and she was disgusted with herself that she had ever allowed herself to think it.
It was only mid afternoon, so the pool deck was crowded. Excusing herself, she made her way first to the restrooms and then slipped out on the other side. She’d left her bag behind, but she could get it later. She paused in front of the bar, scanning the other happy sunbathers. God, was everyone happy except her? Bitterness threatened to encroach on her, but she shoved it away. Bitterness did nothing but leave an aftertaste. She had no use for it.
As she thought this, her gaze was caught by Logan dressed in a white shirt and khaki shorts. He stood on the other side of the pool, shaking hands with a tall, good-looking, dark-haired man. As Rachel watched, he bent to kiss the cheek of a lovely woman in red with brown hair and another flame-haired woman dressed in a black sundress. Rachel wondered who these people were, but there was no way she was going to go ask. They belonged to a happier world, far away from where she existed. She watched for a moment as they chatted animatedly and laughed and another dark-haired man joined them.
It’s a family. Rachel swallowed a bit of bile at the thought, but when the slight brown-haired woman turned and Rachel saw the beginnings of a pregnant belly, she swayed, her heart thudding in her throat.
“Are you all right?” A woman’s startled voice beside her caught her off guard. She shot the unsuspecting blonde a glare dark enough to make her step back, but the next second others gathered around. Rachel tried to fend them off, but her defenses were too weak. Flashes of red and black overwhelmed her and she crumpled, her last thought that maybe—just maybe—she’d fall into the pool and the aching emptiness in her would fill with pool water and it would finally be over…
Her senses returned slowly. She felt strong arms around her, a stern voice giving orders. She knew who held her instinctively, without even opening her eyes. Logan. As if it had always been him. As if she’d never feel another man’s arms around her again.
Maybe I won’t. Her heart felt heavy and she let her head rest against his chest. At some point he put her down and covered her gently. She didn’t open her eyes before the darkness enveloped her.
Chapter 3
Logan watched her wake slowly. In his semi-dark, cool office she blinked and rolled onto her side, sitting up. The blackness of her hair covered her face for a moment, but he sensed she knew where she was…or at least who she was with. He brushed her hair back from her face. “You have quite a fan club.”
Rachel straightened, shaking her hair the rest of the way off her face, and the soft blanket he’d covered her with slid from her shoulders. “Do I?”
“Some kid keeps calling you his queen, if my Spanish doesn’t fail me.” He leaned forward, eyes on her face. “What happened?”
She shrugged. “Too much sun, I guess. Sorry, didn’t mean to cause a fuss.” Her eyes scanned the room curiously. “Where are we?”
“My office.” He stood, crossing to the bar and pouring a glass of water from the crystal decanter. He returned to her, holding it out.
She accepted it, one eyebrow raised. “I knew you’d made good use of your time here, but now I’m beginning to see life has been very good to you.”
“We both know that’s not entirely true.” He kept his voice bland. If she was trying to get a rise out of him, it was probably a defensive mechanism. He nodded to the glass in her hand. “Drink it.”
She made a face. “Don’t you have anything better to offer?”
He folded his arms over his chest. “You need to understand that if I hadn’t already had a doctor in here to check your vitals, you’d be on a helicopter heading for the closest thing I could find to civilization. But he assured me you were all right…except for a slightly elevated level of alcohol in your system.” He paused, his eyes on hers. “But I’m beginning to suspect the doctor isn’t right at all about that.”
She looked away, and he knew he’d hit a nerve. For whatever reason, this woman was far from all right, and the self-destructive path she’d chosen would consume her. And if it didn’t do it fast enough for her, she’d finish the job. He couldn’t let that happen. For her sake. For Nora’s. For mine.
She cleared her throat, taking an obedient sip of the water. “I’m sorry. For what I said before. I know why you’re here. I wish I knew why I am. I just…I got here and found you masquerading as a bartender and—”
“I’m not masquerading as anything.” As he spoke, he realized it was the deepest lie he’d ever told. He’d been pretending to be something else since Nora’s death
. First he’d pretended he could carry on and then he’d pretended he wasn’t a magician and now, in his own hotel, he was the biggest imposter of all. A man whose heart wasn’t broken, a father who never missed his daughter, a widower who didn’t grieve. And a magician with no real magic. He shook it off, redirecting the rising anger in his heart at her. “Who’s the Spanish kid?”
“Some guy I picked up last night. Pretty good in the sack. “ She gave him an arch look. “I guess at nineteen you were pretty inexhaustible, too.”
An impossible urge to wipe that look off her face with a kiss almost overwhelmed him. He fought it off. If what she said was true, she needed his help more than he’d believed. “Did you forget we have a date tonight? You said it might be worth waiting for.”
She stood, letting the blanket fall completely from her body, revealing tanned skin so perfect it took his breath away. Dear God, from the amount of sun-worshipping she did, she must have amazing genes. She stretched, cat-like, and turned back to him. “I’ve never been good at waiting.”
For a moment he stood frozen. She’s still off limits. He didn’t want to give in to the desire, but he couldn’t let her walk away. And she would. If he didn’t make a move, she’d leave. The room, the island, probably his life. And she needed him, maybe as much as he needed her. He put his arm around her waist and snaked her close to him in a single movement, pausing to brush her hair back from her face. “Maybe it’s time to stop waiting, then.”
****
Her breath left her body the moment he pulled her into his arms. Had she wanted this from the start? Possibly. Seducing Nora’s husband. The ultimate betrayal of herself and her old friend. It certainly would help further her self-hatred along its course. Dear God, he felt good. If only he didn’t make her feel so alive. She hadn’t counted on that.
Since Kevin’s desertion, she’d reserved herself exclusively for the men who wanted nothing more than to use her to achieve something for themselves. Even the Spanish kid with his talk of “mi reina” was no better than most of them, although his youth at least gave him some excuse. But Logan. God, he was different. Had she ever felt like this? His gentle exploration of her mouth, the feel of his hand at the nape of her neck, his fingers in her hair. It was shared sensation, as if she could feel her own lips beneath his, capture his pleasure in the texture of her hair, breathe the very breath he did as he drew away.
Island Magic Page 3