by Bria Quinlan
The mysteries of the sea, the battle to keep things for your people, the harsh landing shores that would have been here before the town softened up the Inner Harbor. All those things went along with the adventure and danger of smuggling.
Like she said, it was easy to romanticize.
She thought she was ready for any of the questions he might have, to be able to answer them in a way that would appeal to the journalist in him.
Until Spence finally dragged his attention back to her and asked, "Is that why that lady was dressed like a tavern wench?"
Okay. Maybe not that one.
14
This was turning out to be more than a tour.
Today may not have started out perfect, what with the driving since the middle of the night to get here, being attacked by a small contingency of Lyra-supporters, having to go through whatever that was in the bakery and was now living with some ex-military guy who went from threatening his life in very subtle, nonverbal ways to letting him crash at his place.
But the second half, this part right now?
Now he was sitting on one of the most picturesque coasts he'd seen not just in this country, but in the world, with one of the most beautiful women. Maybe being threatened with a lawsuit wasn't the worst thing that ever happened to him.
“So.” Lyra nudged his shoulder before she stood and offered him a hand. “Want to go in?”
“For real?” He’d been in ancient temples and sacred grounds, old prisons and lost graveyards, and yet for some reason the idea of sneaking into the lighthouse with Lyra sounded like one of the most exciting things he’d done in forever.
The idea of doing something off-limits with her had added a certain level of excitement to it.
“I saw Mr. Ross heading to the pub when I was walking to Noah’s. Even if he just went to get a burger, he still has to go out and around to get back to his house. Get a move on.”
Spence took her hand, feeling the small tug as if she could lift him off the ground by the power of her mighty little hands and willpower alone. Once up, he wrapped his hand around hers more tightly. He wasn’t giving up that little treasure just because he’d gotten to his feet.
Together, they made their way to the side of the lighthouse, and Lyra let go to move a rock off where a small, lined box hid a key.
“Wait here.” She ran around and unlocked the door, then returned to stash the key back in its spot.
Spence wanted to take her hand again, but she turned and flounced off to the front of the lighthouse before he could make the move.
“The lighthouse was built in 1792. It’s had its share of repairs and one out-and-out rebuild, but it’s remarkable what the shape and strong building material and workmanship can do. It took four years to build, and we didn’t even have any federal money then. Portland got all that.” As they stepped in, she propped the door open with a piece of driftwood, letting the sunshine stream past and light their way. “This first level is the original. It’s been used for storage and as the jail.”
“The jail? Really?” Spence glanced around thinking about what it would be like to be locked in here.
“Right? The keeper’s quarters are the level below the lantern room. The original town used to spread out behind the lighthouse and up toward the road you probably wound around on if you took the highway in.”
“Did you guys lock up anyone famous?” Because his readers would love this stuff.
“Local famous, absolutely. There was a pirate who kept running blockades on the smugglers, stealing their stuff, then selling it at a ridiculous price on the black market.”
“Sweet.”
She grinned up at him, catching the fever of her own tale. “They ran her aground and tossed her in here with a small amount of supplies for a week before allowing a trial. Basically, the lantern room ran out of wood and the lighthouse keeper was running out of food, so they finally let her out.”
“Her, huh?”
“We have a long history of butt-kicking women.”
“So I’ve learned.”
“And then, when they thought—”
A tiny shadow came across the doorway and Lyra spun around.
“No!” Lyra rushed to the door as the little dog looked up at them, one eye hidden by a pirate’s eye patch, and then gave the driftwood a nudge. “Captain Jack, don’t you even—”
With another tiny shove of the paws, the driftwood collapsed and the heavy door pushed it into the room, cutting off all the light with a loud, echoing boom!
The echo died out and Spence listened for Lyra on the other side of the darkness.
“Lyra?” Spence was pretty sure he had the room mapped in his head. Most of the supplies were stacked against the wall to his left where the spiral staircase was that climbed the outer wall.
Lyra, if she made it to the door, was roughly six feet in front of him.
“I’m over here,” she called.
“At the door?”
“Hold on.” Feet shuffling on cement sounded and he knew she was scooting herself the rest of the way to the door. “Yup, found it.”
He followed her voice.
“Great! See, nothing to worry about. Do you need a hand?”
He reached out for her, finding her shoulder first, a small slip of hair sliding through his fingers as he did. She gave a shudder and what sounded like it might be the swallowing of a little sob.
And then, because it was the most natural thing in the world, he pulled her into his arms and ran his hand down her back.
"It's okay. You found the door." He gave her a squeeze. "My hero."
Her head hit his chest and she laughed out a frustrated sound.
"Not so much." Lyra sighed again, and he tightened his grip, wanting her to know that she was safe. "Remember how this used to be a jail? That means you need the key to get out, too."
It took Spence a minute to realize what she was saying. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"You mean the key that we just rehid outside?"
"Yup. Outside. With Captain Jack, the most troublemaking dog in the world."
Spence's brain kicked into overdrive. He’d been in far worse situations than being trapped in a lighthouse with a beautiful woman.
“We’re okay and we’re safe, so there’s no reason to panic.”
“I’m not panicked.” Her voice went up on the end and he tried to figure out exactly how panicked she was.
“We’ll just call the sheriff—” He stopped and changed gears when she squeaked. “Noah, then. He seems like a guy who will give us a rough time but keep this to himself if you asked.”
Which definitely brought him back to what would Noah not do for her.
“Probably,” she allowed.
“So, you guys…” He assumed they weren’t dating now, because he knew a woman like Lyra wouldn’t be so friendly with him if they were. But maybe kind of dancing around dating. Or maybe dated in the past and one of them regretted the breakup?
Maybe her?
“What?”
“We should call Noah. He’ll come let us out before anyone even knows we were in here." No need to get into that stuff now while they were locked together. She nodded against him again before slipping out of his arms. "You have your phone on you, right?"
"Yes. And Noah on speed dial, so easy peasy."
Spence tried not to growl at the idea of her and Noah, but it was looking more and more likely.
That's probably why Noah offered him a room, so he could keep an eye on the person his hopefully-girlfriend was threatening to sue. And who could blame him? It was exactly what Spence would do. If he had someone like Lyra to care for, he'd make sure no one messed with her, too.
Not that he was messing with her, he reminded himself. That had been a perfect storm of situational junk.
And he was absolutely going to straighten it out.
After a moment, the pale glow of Lyra’s phone lit up her face. As soon as it did, a bright smile burst through li
ke a flash of sunrise before it dropped.
"No service." She held the phone right up to his face so he had to back away to see it. “Zero bars. How can there be zero bars?"
"Is it because we're out on the point or trapped in the lighthouse?"
“I'm hoping it's because we're in the lighthouse. But honestly, I don't use my phone when I'm out here. This is my place to not use my phone." She flashed the light around, making a quick, glancing check of the base room. "Since the lighthouse is locked, maybe we can get to the top? Maybe the rooms above aren't locked?"
"You never went up?” Spence was completely surprised by that. The little daredevil wouldn't check out the highest part of the lighthouse? He couldn’t imagine her just opening the door coming inside and saying, Okay! That's enough.
"When I was younger I did. Before it was locked because we had fewer tourists then and people worried less. I haven't been up in years, because, well…" A pale blush painted her freckled nose as she glanced away. "This is, or at least used to be, someone's house. Once I started thinking about that, it felt kind of… "
She shrugged.
This girl was adorable.
But, adorable wasn’t going to get them out of the lighthouse without the entire town knowing.
"We don't really have an option now. It's not like we're snooping. We just need to get out." In the dim light, Spence could just barely make out a shadow where the circular staircase started up on the other side of the wall. "Why don't we head up? We'll skip the innkeeper’s rooms as much as possible, go right to the top, and call Noah. I'm sure he'll be here as quickly as he can."
Spence tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice on that last part. Because of course he would.
She gave a nod and set her hand against the wall to follow it around the edge. "Found them. “They started up the stairs together, his hand on her lower back as she kept the cell phone screen off to save the battery.
They climbed past a couple small floors and then a latched door that cut into the steep, narrow staircase.
"So how do they make the light come on and off now? Like, why doesn't anyone live here?"
Lyra laughed. "Well, I was going to leave that out of the story because all of the romanticizing. But, computers."
Spence laughed at the ridiculousness of it. Of course, computers. It wasn't like the lighthouse was out in the water or miles away from anything and couldn’t be reached if something happened. The keeper’s cottage was probably sixty feet from it, and he could check whatever he needed without even leaving his living room.
Lyra climbed up and out of the stairwell at the top, the mesmerizing swish-swish of her skirt keeping his gaze following her.
He was about to tell her to give Noah a call, when he broke the top of the staircase to the lantern room.
"Wow." Spence's heart nearly dropped at the view. It went on forever, just like Lyra said. The water got darker and darker as it blended with the sky on a point so remote he couldn't guess how far away it was.
"Right?” Lyra turned around and pointed west. "Totally different view, but just as amazing."
He heard people describe the Maine coast as majestic, and now he’d never be able to deny it. This was a view that caught in his brain and tugged at his heart as well.
Lyra’s voice grabbed his attention. "Hey, Noah. How are you?" She sounded way too perky. Any sane man would know she was up to something. "No, no of course I'm okay.” Yup. “We just ran into a small snag in our tour. What? No, he's been perfectly nice."
She blushed and glanced up at Spence to give him a smile. He avoided rolling his eyes, but it was a darn near thing.
"Well, see the thing is," she continued, "we kind of got ourselves locked in the lighthouse... Right? Who knew you could get in the lighthouse? Shocker."
She was the worst liar on the face of the planet.
“Great, yeah, so if you could just come up to the point, there's a key… Ha ha ha." She forced a laugh at who knows what Noah said. "Anyway, the key is on the north side under a rock in a box. You kind of can't miss it because we moved it around. So, we'll see you when you get here. Drive safe!” She hung up before he could respond.
“So, Noah?”
“On his way. We should be out of here in, like, twenty minutes.”
She gave one more sweep of the horizon, a small smile on her face as she turned and headed downstairs. Ignoring the torn feeling he had to stay there, drinking in the horizon, he hurried after her with the quick thought that he’d follow her anywhere.
15
If a girl could die of embarrassment, Lyra was pretty sure she was walking that line right now.
Lyra wasn't sure when the last time she felt this stupid was.
She couldn't even figure out why she thought it was a good idea to bring him here, let alone bust into the lighthouse and… Do what?
She knew part of it had to do with proving to him that Starlight Harbor was a town worth honoring, not mocking. But seeing how quickly he'd accepted the town’s history and traditions had gone a long way in making her like him.
Also, the whole Clark Kent thing.
The Brandon Routh Clark Kent with the floppy hair and searing dark eyes.
She didn't know what would happen if this exposé didn't work to repair the damage he’d done. Noah had had a good point that just telling his people to stop wouldn't make it happen. She knew Noah was right and there would need to be more to it than Hey, guys, don't be mean to the baker girl.
Between the two of them they would have to make an article that walked the balance between getting the harassment to stop and not creating havoc for the rest of the town.
If they had an influx of gawkers ruining the peace they offered their guests, they’d never forgive her.
She started down the stairs, listening to him close the door behind him and checking the latch. She liked the thought of that too, not just the closing but the checking.
She always had a thing for considerate people. Probably because she hadn’t grown up with any in her house.
She shook her head. What kind of idiot is attracted to consideration? Especially from someone who was here because he’d shown none.
She had to get her head back in the game.
They passed the next landing with the windows, the innkeeper’s rooms. As they started past the next floor, the bright lights turned to shadows and then darkness.
"Does your cell have enough battery to light the rest of the way?"
She'd wanted to save the battery, but Noah wouldn't let them down. That guy was so solid, he was granite.
Since making sure they didn't fall down the stairs and die seemed more important than making a phone call, she flipped the screen back to on. At the bottom of the stairs, she and Spence made their way back to the door. It'd only been a few minutes, but they might as well be ready to bolt when Noah got there.
Spence had a broad smile on his face, like a little kid in a candy shop.
Or a cupcake shop if you were her.
"This place is amazing.” He ran his hand along the wall and then gave it a quick knock knock. "I can't believe I've never been in a lighthouse. How is that possible?"
Here they were trapped in a former jail, and he was having the time of his life.
Lyra, not so much.
“I just wanted you to see how great Starlight Harbor is." She could hear the frustration in her voice. “I wanted you to see it through my eyes.”
"And so you brought me to your favorite secret place.” Spence gave her a smile she could just barely make out in the cell phone light. "You're willing to risk sharing your favorite place to get your town’s reputation back."
“It wasn't all that altruistic. I wanted to stop the attacks on my business. That's not exactly selfless."
"You could've done that with the review of your store. But you wanted more than that. You wanted to defend the honor of Starlight Harbor against the evil overlord of the Internet. Also known as the mob boss." He laughed, even
though the joke was clearly on him.
"I am sorry about that." She looked down at her feet. "I don't know what came over me. I'm usually the mellow one."
Spence laughed at that. "The mellow one? Oh no, you don't, Miss Starlight Cupcake. There's nothing about you that's mellow. That's far, far too bland a word for you. You're brave and sassy and strong. You’re the daredevil."
"You’ve gotten the completely wrong idea about me. My best friends are brave, strong women who run their own businesses and don't take anything from anyone. My family? You haven't met my mother yet—"
"Yet?" The right side of Spence's mouth kicked up in a little grin and Lyra realized what she just said.
"Not that you have to meet my mother.” Nervous chatter rushed out of her. “I'm not saying, you know, come home and meet my mom. Like the family. Not that this is a date. This is not a date. It's a tour. And I'm just, you know, showing you the town.”
Spence took a step closer, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. “Why couldn’t it be a tour and a date?”
“Oh, because…” Lyra glanced away, completely unsure what to do with that.
Was he asking or suggesting or saying or just letting her off the hook because she had become a rambling mess?
Sugar.
Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar.
He leaned in, his gaze never leaving hers.
Her heart was going to jump out of her chest and ping around the inside of the base room like a mushy pinball leaving little flying doves and hearts in its wake if he kissed her.
“Because…”
There had to be a reason. He was her arch enemy yesterday.
“It’s just that…”
“Hmmm?” he asked, smiling down at her.
“Oh, um, Noah?” She wasn’t sure if the fact Noah was on his way was a real reason or a panic button.
He froze. Inches from letting his lips graze hers.
“Noah?” It sounded like a question, but she couldn’t be sure.
“He—”
The door behind her flew open with a heavy thud and the man himself stood there looking back and forth at them, a suspicious look on his face.
