Lori Foster - UP In Flames

Frowning, Adam asked, “You need to find work?”

Her eyes widened. “Oh! I don’t mean that I’m broke or anything like that. But you see, Jerry is a lawyer, and I was his secretary. After I broke my engagement, it didn’t seem right to work for him. And I wanted to do something new, anyway. Besides, work shouldn’t only be about money.”

Adam shook his head in disbelief. “Only the rich could have such an attitude.”

“That’s not true.” She frowned at him. “Don’t you want to enjoy your work? To have goals to reach for and take pride in? Don’t you want to make a difference somehow?”

“I wanted to make a difference to my mother. She deserves some peace now, some time to take it easy. And I wanted to give my brother a chance, lots of chances, to do the things I didn’t get to do.”

Very tentatively, she asked, “You say all that as if it’s impossible now.”

“No. I’ll get to that point eventually. But it should have been today.” He released her hand to run his fingers through his hair, only to encounter the makeshift bandage. His fist dropped to thump against his bare thigh. “If I hadn’t gone overboard, I’d be on Marco Island right now, buying a small resort. My mother and Kyle are probably sitting by the phone, waiting for my call this very minute.”

“Adam...”

He heard her concern but couldn’t bear it if she felt sorry for him. He shook his head, dredging up lost control. “Forget it, Mel.”

“But if you have the money to buy one resort, then surely you could just get another.”

He laughed at her, more aware than ever of the differences in their outlooks. “This particular resort was dirt cheap because it needs a lot of work that Kyle and I could have done after it was ours. Unlike you or your family, I’m well used to working up a sweat. I could have turned the resort around. But the agent, Mr. Danvers, was clear that if I missed the deadline, it would be sold to the next bidder, who was only slightly below me. I scrambled around for two weeks getting things in order—only to fall off the goddamned boat.”

Adam abruptly shut his mouth, disgusted with the situation and with himself. Why had he opened up to her like that? The details of his real estate deal were none of her business. Hell, he’d wanted to impress her, not drive home how shaky his financial position still was.

“Tell me about your family, Adam.”

He scrubbed at his face, then twisted to see her. She knelt in the sand beside him, her expression sincere, curious. Adam shrugged. “Kyle is totally different from me, more like my mother. He smiles all the time, and nothing gets him down. When we were younger, and things got rough at home, I’d always end up in trouble, fighting with someone or mouthing off at school. Not Kyle. Everyone likes him.”

“And your mother?”

“She’s the strongest person I know.” His eyes narrowed and he looked out at the endless expanse of sea. “Even when Dad died, she held up, doing what had to be done, getting through each day. As soon as I could make enough money, I moved them away from Brockton, so we could all have a new start. We didn’t go far, even stayed in Ohio, but now they were looking forward to Florida.” His jaw tightened and he threw a fistful of sand. “Damn, I hate to let them down.”

Mel’s hand touched his, and she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Her soft apology made him realize what a heel he’d been. It wasn’t her fault he’d lost his balance, but he let her believe he’d jumped in to rescue her. Oh, hell.

“I fell in, Mel.”

She touched his shoulder. “I know. Trying to save me.”

He glared at her over his shoulder. “Didn’t you hear me? I fell in. Yes, I made a grab for you, but no, I did not leap in to rescue you. Hell, that would have been an idiotic thing to do. If I hadn’t lost my balance I would have just told the captain to turn the stupid boat around.”

She looked confused. “You lied to me?”

“No, I didn’t lie. You just assumed.”

“And you didn’t correct me!”

Shrugging, he said, “You were so anxious to...comfort me. I didn’t want to miss the experience.”

She fumed in impotent silence for three seconds, then kicked sand at him and stalked off.

“A repeat performance, Mel!” he shouted to her retreating back. “You keep playing the same scene—get mad and walk away. Only here, there’s no place to walk to.”

“Go to hell,” she yelled without turning.

She took off at a furious trot, and she was nearly out of sight around a cove heavy with mangrove trees when Adam decided he’d have to apologize “Mel? Come on, Mel, wait up.”

No answer. Grabbing his bag, he headed after her, calling her name. “Mel!”

The sun hung low in the sky, a heavy red ball turning the water in the cove crimson with its reflection.

He picked up his pace, his injured head pounding with every step, then almost ran into her when he rounded the bend she’d taken. “Damn it, you could have...”

His words dropped off. Ahead of them, some hundred yards up the beach, was a house. Well, sort of a house, more like a ratty shack. It was almost in the ocean because of the eroded shoreline. Exposed pilings beneath the structure showed how precariously it stood, and to Adam’s mind exemplified the seriousness of their situation. If folks were anywhere about, they would have knocked such a dangerous eyesore down. Oh, they were stranded, all right. He wondered how often, if ever, people visited this damn island.

He took a step forward just as Mel took one back, closer to his side. “Do you think anyone is around?” she asked in a whisper, and he realized she was nervous. And in being nervous, she’d automatically come to him. The man.

He felt like Tarzan, ready to defend her against all predators. He wasn’t rich, but for now, he was all she had. He grinned with the image. “Come on. Let’s go exploring.”

He led her to the front door of the house, but the steps were broken and separated from the main structure by the shift of the land. He set his bag on the sand and said in his best macho voice, “You probably should wait here.”

“Adam, be careful.” She fretted behind him, twisting her hands. “You don’t know what could be inside there.”

Wild boars? He grinned and glanced at her while shoving the door open—and got bombarded by a flurry of large flying insects.

Startled, Adam yelled, then fell backward into the sand, hitting his head once again.

CHAPTER FOUR

Melanie ran halfway down the beach before she realized what a coward she’d been. The bugs, giant roaches of some kind, were gone, their dark cloud moving far away.

Adam still lay where he’d landed, and she grew immediately concerned. She sprinted toward him. “Adam!” She came to a rushing halt beside his prone body, accidentally kicking sand over his chest and shoulders. He looked like a downed warrior in his headband and dark, snug underwear, with the rest of his magnificent, tanned body bare. She took a moment to observe him unaware, grew even more breathless, then shook herself.

Her pulse racing at Mach speed, she knelt gingerly beside him. “Adam?”

He groaned.

Her heart seemed to drop to the pit of her stomach. “Oh, thank God. Are you all right?” She cradled his head on her lap and touched his jaw. “Adam, can you answer me?”

He cocked one eye open, stared at her breast near to his face and closed his eye again. “Nice, Mel, real nice.”

“Adam,” she warned.

“No, don’t slug me. There’s already a rusty marching band playing on my brain.” He sighed, then added, “Oh, hell, I feel like a fool.”

Stroking his jaw and chin, she asked, “Why?”

“It was just a few bugs, Mel.”