ee the town from there." He paused then added, Behave. " Kate looked back at him, startled. "Everyone will know who you are. Don't say any- :hing we'll regret." "I've already said enough that I regret, starting with " I do"," Kate told him. The, too. " Their gazes locked for a moment in silent battle. Then Damon turned and strode into the bedroom without another word. So he didn't like their marriage any better than she did. She was annoyed that the thought disturbed her. [t shouldn't, she told heJ-self. She should be glad and he certainly shouldn't be surprised. But damn it, it still hurt. Because of Bryce, she told herself. It was because she was still smarting over her failure with Bryce. It certainly couldn't have anything to do with Damon himself. That would be the height of folly. Deliberately she put Damon Alexakis out of her mind and forced herself to concentrate on the island she was about to explore. They had arrived rather late yesterday, so she'd only caught a glimpse of the town as they'd passed through, and after dinner last night there'd been little chance to explore. Still Damon had taken her down to the beach briefly and she was enchanted by what she'd seen so far. It was every bit the tropical paradise she'd often dreamed of. But if she hoped to lose herself in it, forgetting Damon and her marriage to him, she soon realised that she was out of luck. Damon was right--everyone knew about her. "Mornin', Miz Damon," the plump lady at the basket shop greeted her. "How you doin' today, Mrs Damon?" said the old man feeding the chickens. "Hot 'enough, ain't it, Miz Damon?" said the teenage boy working on the outboard motor by the dock. And when she tried ducking inside a tiny establishment called Rebecca's Pineapple Shop to buy a soda and recover from the smiling, knowing eyes, the proprietor, a jovial young mother whose toddlers were playing underfoot, asked, "How long you and Mr Damon stayin'?" Kate gave up trying to pretend it was coincidence that everyone knew her name. "A week." "A week? Only a week?" the woman looked dismayed. "We have work to get back to," Kate said apologetically, and was surprised to note that she really felt that way. She liked the islanders' friendliness. She would have liked to get to know them better. Rebecca finished shelving some cans of vegetables. he made a tsking sound. "Mr Damon, he work too nuch. Always takin' care of everybody else. Don't ver take time for himself." She shook her head. "Hey, ^ilas," she called out to the men playing dominoes on the porch. "You hear that? Mrs Damon say they only be stayin' a week!" Two elderly faces, both with grizzled beards, peered in the screen. One of them gave Kate a sly grin before turning his gaze to meet Rebecca's. "She a pretty lady. [ reckon maybe Mr Damon figure he gonna get the job done in a week!" "Silas!" Rebecca looked scandalised. Kate looked at first one then the other, confused, until the man called Silas cackled and explained, "Only son, ain't he? Son of his own. Stands to reason. . ." He winked at her. Kate felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She looked about hopefully for another exit, knowing even as she did so that there wasn't one. "Don't mind Silas," Rebecca told her. "He be a dirty of man with a one-track mind. But he right. You sure pretty. Family don't be comin' for the holiday this year?" "Family? Oh, you mean Damon's. I think they are, but--' " Then you be here. " Rebecca smiled and handed Kate her soda. "Alexakises always are." Kate could hardly say she wasn't going to be an Uexakis for long. She thanked the lady, smiled weakly and went out onto the porch. "You an' Mr Damon wanta go fishin'?" Silas said as she passed. "You tell 'im Silas'll take you. Be my pleasure. He not workin' now, is he?" "He's sleeping." Silas chuckled. "Wore out, is he? Can't say I'm surprised. Always was a hard worker, that un." Blushing furiously, Kate bounded down the steps and set off up the street in a hurry. Silas's cheerful laughter echoed after her as she went. She didn't go in any more shops. She didn't even finish her trek along the street that skirted the harbour. Instead she headed back across the island towards the beach. It had been almost deserted when she'd walked to town earlier. She was relieved to find it was the same now. She took her time walking back, scuffing through the fine coral sand, composing her thoughts or trying to doing her best to come up with a plan of behaviour. You must act, not simply react, she always told her fledgling nannies. Children can sense when you're losing control. Kate knew she was losing control. And she was afraid that the whole world especially Rebecca and Silas knew it. She felt guilty for trying to deceive them and at the same time knew that, even if she was, she wasn't deceiving herself. There was more to this incipient panic she was feeling than simple deception and the resultant guilt it entailed. There was the way she was reacting to Damon. The awareness. The tension. The desire. All day no, all week she had tried to ignore it, hoping it would go away. She had thought herself immune to such reactions after Bryce. Heaven knew she ought to be! But she wasn't. It was foolishness what she was feeling for Damon Alexakis. It could only cause trouble. He wasn't interested in her. And even if he was staying married to her when he no longer had to in order to keep Marina at bay, he wasn't staying married to her because he loved her! It was simply that he'd look like an idiot if he admitted it was all a sham now. He certainly wouldn't want to get involved with her. And for that matter, Kate McKee, she told herself firmly, kicking the sand, you don't want to get involved with him! Alexakis. What7 She stopped dead, the word echoing in her mind. Alexakis, the tiny voice repeated insistently. You're not Kate McKee any more. You're Kate Alexakis now. Damon Alexakis's wife. Kate shut her eyes and shook her head. She didn't want to think about that. Still, within minutes she would be upon him again. She would have to decide how to act. Sinking down in the sand, she drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them and tried to come to terms with things. But it was no use. The afternoon was not made for thinking. In New York she could have done it. In New York she was remarkably clear-headed and sensible. There she could have shut everything else out of her mind-- the horns and sirens, the suffocating heat reflecting off the buildings, the diesel fumes and car exhaust--and sorted out her relationship with Damon easily. Not here. Here the island breeze teased her hair, like a lover's fingers loosening it from the knot she'd fixed at the back of her head. Here the sun kissed her back and she shut her eyes. She leaned back, lifting tier face towards the warmth" imagining how it would be if this really were a honeymoon, if she had really come here with a man who loved her. She remembered Bryce. Always she remembered Bryce. But somehow here the disaster that had been her marriage seemed remote and ineffectual. It had hurt her once; it had nearly destroyed her. But now its power over her seemed oddly lessened. Here in this island paradise that, until a few days ago, Kate had never known existed, she felt the pain fading. She closed her eyes and saw, not Bryce's fair good looks and handsome sneering face, but another face this one darker, not quite so classically hand- some and she remembered the touch of Damon's lips, their hint of promise, of magic, of hope. She felt tired. So very tired. She had worked so hard for so long. She hadn't really taken a day off since Bryce had walked out on her. There hadn't been time to. She'd fought to develop her business, to make her contacts, to hold off her father. She put in hours and days and months and, now that she thought about it, years. And never once had she flagged. Not even for a weekend. The only times she'd left the city had been to see to home situations. There'd never been a lazy Sunday in the Hamptons or a weekend antiquing with friends in Bucks County. There'd never been a Christmas ski trip or a jaunt to Vermont in the autumn to see the leaves. There'd always been work to do. So very much work. And anyway, it had helped keep the memories of Bryce and her foolishness at bay. It had been so long since she'd relaxed like this. So long since she'd stretched but on the sand and let the earth and the sun warm her body. So very, very long since she'd felt as settled and comfortable. The sound of the surf soothed her, lulled her, made her smile. Of course she would have to sort out what to do about Damon Alexakis soon. But first if only for a few minutes she had to close her eyes.
THE ALEXAKIS BRIDE by Anne McAllister Page 6
