“Not Sunny and R.J. What about you and me? Are you staying in Twilight?”
“Let’s not talk about this tonight, okay?”
“You’ve decided to leave?”
“Ty—”
“You’re leaving when Jake gets back.”
“I’ve got a business to run.”
“You’re running, period. You see something between R.J. and Sunny, but you don’t see that we’re good together—that we belong together!”
“You’re yelling, Ty.” She tried to let go of his hand but he held on and pulled her close.
Then he whispered against her lips, “Let me show you how great things are between us.”
“You think sex is what successful relationships are made of?”
“I think the last few weeks have proved that we have a lot more going for us than sex. We enjoy the same things, old movies, pizza, being outdoors, jogging, fishing. I love being with you, Kat. There it is, plain and simple. I love having you in my life. Hell, I love—”
She pressed her fingertips to his lips. “Don’t say it.”
Frustrated, afraid of pushing her too far, he shoved his hand through his hair and watched in silent frustration as she reached into her purse and dug out her car keys.
He took her in his arms, expecting resistance, but there was none. He kissed her, hoping to communicate more than physical need, to let her know how much she meant to him.
When he drew back, he noticed that her eyes were bright with unshed tears. “What is it?”
“I’m leaving tomorrow, Ty.”
“Jake’s not back yet.”
“I’m going to ask one of his neighbors to water the plants and pick up the mail.”
“Your mind’s all made up, isn’t it? Are you ever coming back?”
“Of course.”
He didn’t know whether to believe her or not. The bottom line was that she was leaving Twilight. She was walking out on what they had.
“Are you coming back, or is this just an excuse to call it quits for good?”
“It’s about taking a step back. About taking time to think without . . . without . . .”
He dragged her into his arms. This time she tried to hold back. Her protest was weak, a soft sigh that was lost when he covered her mouth with his. She might think she could walk away, but he wasn’t going to let her go without giving her something to think about.
He kissed her until he felt her let go and flatten herself against him, until he heard her purse hit the ground and felt her arms slip around his neck. He kissed her until she was kissing him back with everything she had and more.
Then he let her go. Abruptly he stepped back and shoved his hands in his pockets because he was afraid he couldn’t keep them off of her.
Breathing hard, he felt as if he was fighting a life-and-death struggle, and in a sense he was. He was fighting to save what they had as much as to save himself—for he was convinced he needed her as much as life itself.
“Think about that on the way to Long Beach. Think about that while you’re running home.”
“I’m not running,” she whispered, her eyes huge in the glow of the streetlight, her lips swollen from their kiss.
“It sure as hell looks like it to me.”
Chapter 26
THE NEXT MORNING, Ty woke up pissed.
Kat was leaving Twilight. If she wanted to cool things off, fine. Let her see if she could walk away that easily. If so, then maybe they had no business being together in the first place.
Kat’s leaving wasn’t the only reason he was still upset. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to Sunny yet. Last night when he got in, both she and Alice were sound asleep. Rather than wait for her to get up, he left a note saying that he had errands to run and that he’d be back shortly.
He drove straight to Gull Harbor.
R.J. was aboard the Stargazer, just as Ty expected, but he hadn’t anticipated finding his friend conducting an early-morning tour for a half-dozen preteen, inner-city kids all wearing green and white D.A.R.E. T-shirts.
R.J. waved him aboard and introduced him to the boys, who were acting like any other kids that age—fidgety as hell. They couldn’t keep from poking and swatting one another, but they settled down as soon as R.J. asked them a question.
“I’ll walk down to the restaurant and wait until you’re through,” Ty offered.
“The tour is about over. Stay put. There’s coffee in the galley.”
Ty stayed on deck until the boys followed their group leader off the ship, then he let R.J. lead the way into the cabin.
He thought a shot of tequila might go down better given the circumstances, but accepted the coffee, added a spoonful of sugar, and settled back.
“How did you get hooked up with the D.A.R.E. program?”
R.J. sat down across from him after shoving a pile of mail and magazines out of the way. “Glenn Potter from A-1 Realty is president of the Twilight Chamber of Commerce this year. He hooked me up with the head of the summer program in San Luis Obispo. That’s the third group through so far. We’re looking to get a commercial charter boat to donate the time to take all of them out fishing before school starts.”
Feeling about as low as a bottom-feeder, Ty decided to jump in and get the whole thing over with. He’d rehearsed what he was going to say, but he was convinced R.J. would assure him that he was way off the mark, then they’d laugh about it and move on.
He took a swig of coffee, set his mug down, and looked across the table at R.J. It was impossible to count all the hours and experiences they’d shared in their lifetime.
“Last night on the cruise, Kat and I couldn’t help but notice that Sunny might have a crush on you.” He let the statement hang there, waiting for R.J. to deny it. When R.J. didn’t say anything, Ty prodded, “Does she?”
R.J. leaned back, stretched his arm along the back of the seat, and met Ty’s gaze dead-on.
“I think so.”
Ty almost choked on a mouthful of coffee. He sputtered and finally swallowed. “You mean it’s true?”
“It hasn’t gone anywhere, if that’s what’s worrying you.” R.J. fell silent, leaving way too much unsaid.
“What are you saying?”
“There’s something there, that’s all.”
“Something on her part, or yours?”
Ron leveled his stare, shrugged. “I guess both. She’s beautiful. She’s a smart kid, but she’s just a kid.”
“Exactly.”
“Is that why you’re here so bright and early?”
Shaken to the quick, Ty couldn’t believe they were even having this conversation. “This is going nowhere, understand? I’m heading home to set her straight.”
“About what? Nothing’s happened. You’re completely overreacting.”
“Suddenly you know more about this than I do?”
“I’d say right up until Sunny came to town, we were dead even on who knew less about raising a kid. Now you think you’ve got the edge because you’ve got two of them living under your roof? If you go storming home and make something out of nothing, you’ll be asking for trouble.”
The acid from the strong coffee was eating its way through the lining of Ty’s stomach. Reminded of what Kat said about R.J. being good for Sunny, he tried to calm down. He set the coffee mug aside.
“What about you, R.J.?”
“What about me?”
“You going to act on this attraction?”
“Give me a break. She’s your kid, Ty. You’re my best friend. I’m not about to jeopardize our friendship.”
“Let’s just say, if she weren’t my kid, what would you do?”
“Hypothetical question. I have no idea.”
“Is that supposed to reassure me?�
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“Look, I’m trying to be straight with you. She’s noticed me. I’ve noticed her. Maybe she’s flirted, or maybe that’s just the way she is. I’ve ignored it. She’ll get bored. I’m too old for her anyway.”
“Do I have your word you won’t let this go anywhere?”
“Do you need it?”
R.J. WATCHED TY’S car clear the parking lot before he pulled his mail out of one of the metal mailboxes lined up beside the marina entrance gate. He shuffled through the stack before he walked back to the slip.
In a couple of hours on the cruise, Ty and Kat had noticed what he himself had spent the last couple of weeks trying to ignore. He pictured Ty seated in the cabin a few minutes ago, his eyes shadowed with deep concern. It still smarted the man actually believed he would ever take advantage of Sunny.
Not that he blamed Ty for being uptight. He’d feel the same way if their positions were reversed. Not only was Sunny stunning, but her every move was downright seductive. A wardrobe that usually left little to the imagination didn’t help, either.
Ty’s question about how he would handle the flirtation if Sunny were just any other girl haunted him. He’d definitely never been attracted to anyone as young as Sunny, but the first time he looked into her eyes, he’d felt an instantaneous connection, one that was both deep and inexplicable. One that had nothing to do with age.
Sunny wasn’t just another employee. She was Ty’s daughter and Ty was his best friend. They’d been closer than brothers most of their lives. There was too much history, too many good years between them to throw it all away.
He hadn’t lied when he said he hadn’t acted on his feelings. Up to now, the only thing he’d offered Sunny was friendship. He listened to her, answered her questions, tried to disregard the looks she gave him.
But she was getting harder and harder to ignore.
THAT MORNING KAT packed up her things, intent on returning to Long Beach right away. She jogged up the hill to ask Jake’s nearest neighbor if he would keep an eye on the place until the Montgomerys returned, and found him more than cooperative.
She tried to convince herself that she wasn’t secretly hoping Ty would call while she tidied up, loaded the dishwasher, and put things in order so the maid would be able to clean when she came in.
She was almost out the door when Fred Westberg, her contact at the L.A.P.D., finally returned her call.
Phone in hand, she went into the office when he said that he had information on Jamie Hatcher. She started scribbling down notes as he talked.
“Hatcher’s part of a street-racing gang. At the very least, we suspect he’s into insurance scams, reporting auto parts as stolen, but we’ve never actually been able to make anything stick. We’ve been trying to nail them on grand theft auto.”
She glanced down at the notes on the desk. “He’s had a few ‘exhibition of speed’ tickets. Were those from street racing?”
“Yes. The cars these kids are into are so customized and modified that it takes quite a bankroll to fund them. They’re into high-performance engines and racing tires, not to mention top-of-the-line car cosmetics and customizing. If Daddy doesn’t have money, they fund their habits in a number of illegal ways.”
“How?”
“Insurance fraud. Disreputable parts shops fill out bogus receipts for parts that haven’t really been stolen at all. The phony claims are substantiated by the car owners and everybody makes money. Or they report their cars stolen. The cars are left stripped by the side of the road; receipts are padded way over what the car parts are actually worth.
“They put the cars back together with the new parts, sell the old ones. The sum of the parts is worth more than the whole.” Fred always laughed at his own jokes. Kat waited until he got a grip and continued.
“Some gangs film porno videos. They also tape the races and show them, for a price, of course, on the Net. Some are into guns. Selling dope. Illegal betting. There are all kinds of ways to make fast money. These racers will do anything to support their habits.”
Kat’s heart sank. She thought of Ty and wondered what he’d do if Sunny had been caught up in any of the things Fred had described.
“You close to nabbing him?” She prayed the trail of evidence would never lead back to Sunny.
“I’d love to, but we’re nowhere near yet. These kids are slick, but eventually we’ll get them.”
“Is he still driving the neon-yellow Civic?”
“Right. Why the interest, Vargas?”
“Just doing some follow-up work for a client. You have a name for Hatcher’s crew?”
“Nothing. We’ve been planting bait vehicles around the Valley and Hollywood, but somehow they’re able to sniff them out and steer clear. You stay out of trouble, you hear?”
“Thanks, Fred. By the way, how’s your sister’s kid doing?”
“Clean as a whistle.”
“Good. Keep him that way.”
“Right. Call anytime, Kat. I’ll owe you forever for getting him out of that jam.”
“That’s what I like to hear. I love it when guys like you owe me. Bye, Fred.”
SUNNY NOTICED THAT Chandler returned from running his errands upset and silent. He acted strange all day, but she figured something was up between him and Kat—that maybe he hadn’t gotten laid in a while or something.
Rather than stir up trouble, she steered clear of him after lunch and took Alice to the park before she left for work.
When she got to Gull Harbor and found R.J. in a shitty mood, too, she decided there must be something in the air.
The cruise that afternoon was at capacity, so R.J. should have been pleased, but he didn’t act like it. He was nice enough to the customers—all teachers from various parts of Nebraska. They’d come to San Luis Obispo to attend a behavioral modification seminar.
They asked all kinds of questions and heaped lots of cheery, positive reinforcement on her; how great that she had such a thrilling summer job; how nice that she could work outdoors. One woman wanted to know where she was going to attend college in the fall. Another volunteered to set her up with her son, a freshman at Stanford.
It was all she could do not to recoil. As if. It wasn’t likely that any frat-house, beer-guzzling, Joe College type could ever really turn her on.
As the teachers disembarked and headed toward the parking lot, stopping now and again to pose for photos in front of the bright Stargazer Sunset Cruises sign, she automatically started collecting the upholstered cushions to store them out of the damp night air.
Making a sudden turn with her arms full of bulky seat cushions, she collided with R.J. and lost her footing. As she dropped the cushions and fought for balance, he grabbed her. Though she did go down on one knee, he kept her from sprawling on the deck.
She threw her head back to swing her tangled hair off her face. Their eyes met. Their gazes locked. Suddenly, there it was again. Hot white lightning crackled between them. She tried to deny it. Closed her eyes and called to mind Dodge’s face. She forced herself to remember her plan, to focus on what really mattered, not this crazy, unwanted reaction to R.J.
His hand tightened on her arm as he brought her swiftly to her feet.
Her knees were shaking, her mouth suddenly dry. She opened it to say something, anything, but nothing came out.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Finding her voice at last, she said, “Yes. Thank you.”
“No problem.” He looked pained, as if talking to her was a chore. As if he couldn’t stand touching her, even slightly.
They were standing closer together than ever. His eyes were sky blue. He had a dimple in one cheek and a faint scar near the corner of his mouth she’d never noticed until now.
“You’ve been acting weird all night. Did I do something wrong?” she asked.
“No. Not at all.”
“Good. I thought you were upset with me.”
“Listen, Sunny . . .”
There was too much at stake for her to blow a good thing, but as she stared into his eyes, she found herself wondering if he was about to kiss her and what she would do if he did.
As if reading her mind, he slowly leaned closer. Innocently, their lips brushed. Her body began to hum, charged by a current of electricity. Then, as quickly as it had begun, R.J. ended it.
The same shock she was reeling from registered on his face.
“We can’t do this, Sunny.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“I definitely can’t do this.” It was exactly what she’d been telling herself, over and over, with every erratic beat of her heart.
“It was just a kiss.” She tried to shrug it off, pretending there hadn’t been more to it. She didn’t want more. Couldn’t have more.
“You’re just a kid.” He said the one thing that always pushed the wrong button.
“I’m nineteen. I’m somebody’s mother, for God’s sake.”
“Your Ty’s daughter.”
“What does that have to do with it?”
“He’s not just your dad. He’s my best friend.”
“And if he wasn’t?”
Ron laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“That’s exactly what he asked me this morning.”
“What are you talking about?” she whispered.
He let out a long, slow sigh and shook his head. “I walked into that one. Ty drove over this morning. He wanted to know if there was something going on between us. He and Kat both noticed last night.”
“Oh, that’s just freaking great. What else did he say?”
“Go home, Sunny. You shouldn’t get back late tonight.”
“This isn’t just about Chandler, is it?”
“No. It’s about you. You’re only a kid.”
“You’ve never treated me that way before, like I was a kid.”
“I don’t intend to start now. But you and Ty are just getting to know each other. You’ve still got a lot to sort out.”
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