“Oh, I see.” Amy gave the unfortunate Ray an apologetic glance. Then she caught sight of the new painting hanging behind the bar. “A new one, Ray? It’s beautiful,” she said enthusiastically. “A tropical fantasy, hmm?”
“It looks like a fantasy,” Ray agreed, pleased by her interest, “but it really does exist. It’s a grotto-like area at the other end of the island. Jase would probably love to show it to you sometime,” he added slyly.
“Yeah,” Jase growled. “Sometime.” Then his brows drew together in a quick frown as he leaned closer to Amy for a moment. “You’ve been drinking!”
Amy bristled. “I didn’t know there was a law against it!”
“Who the hell bought you a beer?” he muttered as Ray moved back behind the bar with a commiserating smile for Amy.
“Don’t shoot, I’ll confess,” she retorted sardonically. “Your friend Maggie poured a can of beer down my throat while we discussed the general cowardice of your sex. Only one tiny beer. See? I can walk a perfectly straight line.” She stalked dramatically across the wooden floor and spun around to confront him. “And for the record, Mr. Lassiter, I am not accountable to you for such things.”
Jase bit back a retort as he studied her challenging expression. “What time will you be serving dinner?” he asked very politely.
Satisfied that she had made her point, Amy relented. She stepped across to the bar and picked up her sack of groceries. “Your presence will be required around five o’clock,” she told him haughtily.
Jase looked blank. “My presence? Dinner is at five?”
“No, five is when I’ll need you to behead the fish. Fresh or not, I can’t bear the thought of cooking the poor thing with its head on. Those little beady eyes are so reproachful!” She marched out the door.
“Amy, wait, where are you going?”
“To put the food away!”
“I’ll be home in a few minutes,” Jase said quickly. “Then we can go swimming or something.”
Amy didn’t respond. She was already moving rapidly down the street toward Jase’s home. He stood, one hand braced against the bamboo that framed the entrance to The Serpent, and watched her until she turned up the lane that led to the house. Slender and supple, he thought, remembering how she had felt underneath him the previous night. Strong-willed and intelligent. Deeply female. And she needed him
Or was it he who needed her?
God help him if that were the case. He didn’t need anything else on his list of things he wanted but couldn’t have. Men had been known to go insane out here when their lists of such items got too long.
“She’s gettin’ to you, boss,” Ray murmured behind him, not without sympathy.
“I know.”
“That’s asking for trouble.”
“Damn it! I know!” Jase gritted softly. “Take care of things for me here, Ray. I’m going home.” Without glancing back, he started down the steps.
Ray shook his head in rueful acceptance of the vagaries of fate. For a man like Jase Lassiter a woman like Amy could ultimately prove more disastrous than the rum. Why couldn’t she have been just another souvenir hunter? Jase handled that type without any trouble at all. Tonight’s home-cooked meal might cost a hell of a lot more than his boss could afford.
In Jase’s kitchen Amy began unpacking the sack of groceries, anxious to get everything into the refrigerator as soon as possible. The humidity and the heat would spoil food quickly. She was hauling out the paper-wrapped length of fish when the crumpled piece of paper that had been so rudely tossed into the sack by the passing stranger flopped out.
Amy was about to toss it into the garbage with disgust when she noticed the scrawled writing. Slowly, with a sensation of anxious dismay and excitement, she carefully unfolded the note. It was short, to the point, and there was no question about the fact that it had been meant for her.
No. 53. North end of the dock. Bring the mask. Come alone or no deal. Dawn tomorrow.
D.H.
Amy’s hands were trembling so badly that the note nearly slipped from her fingers. Grimly she clutched it more tightly and tried to think. This was the contact. This was what she had been waiting for. Now what?
Her mind refused to clear. The only thought that stood out was that she had better hide the note. If Jase saw it he would start making all the decisions about what to do next. Amy knew him well enough to be absolutely certain that he would take charge completely.
And that might ruin everything.
Hastily she hurried down the hall to her bedroom and stuffed the note into a corner of her suitcase under a pair of Italian-designed bikini briefs. There, she thought, dusting her hands symbolically, now she could have time to think about it before deciding what to do next. She heard Jase at the front door just as she slammed the suitcase closed.
“Amy?”
“In the bedroom. I’ll be right out, Jase.” Damn, she thought explosively as her foot accidentally caught on the edge of the sisal matting and nearly sent her sprawling. She was going to have to be extra careful. Her nerves had suddenly shifted into high gear. The specter of her anxiety-induced clumsiness was hovering near. Amy took several deep breaths as she made her way back down the hall. She thought she had herself under control as she rounded the corner and stepped into the kitchen.
But the look she caught in Jase’s eyes as she swung through the doorway was enough to halt her in her tracks. It only lasted a few seconds, but there was an aching hunger in that turquoise gaze that pierced her soul.
The realization that this man’s vulnerability upset her far more than the scrawled note in her suitcase hit Amy like a tidal wave. What was happening to her out here at the end of the world?
Chapter Six
“Jase,” Amy said firmly a few hours later as she watched him savor a bite of succulent poached fish, “everyone on this island seems to know where I slept last night.”
“On Saint Clair we keep secrets about our pasts, not about the present. This fish is fantastic, Amy. Did you poach it in wine?”
“Are you trying to tell me you bragged about what happened last night?” she demanded, bristling.
“What do you think’?” He reached for another helping of salad—his third.
“I... I’d like to think you wouldn’t be that juvenile about the whole thing,” she got out irately. Her temper had been somewhat uncertain since she had received the note that afternoon, and she knew it. Amy decided she had just cause. Events were starting to get out of hand.
“All men are boys at heart.” Jase grinned easily, but the teasing expression vanished in a split second as he saw the color leave Amy’s cheeks. “Honey, don’t look at me like that. I’m only joking. Of course I didn’t discuss last night with the rest of the island. For God’s sake, calm down. I’ve told you, Saint Clair is a small place.”
Amy didn’t feel mollified. “Jase, the situation is very uncomfortable for me. I appreciate the fact that you were only trying to help last night...”
“You’re woman enough to know I wasn’t exactly being altruistic,” he contradicted bluntly, eyes narrowing as he studied her. “What’s the matter, Amy? You’ve been getting more and more high-strung all evening. In another few minutes I’ll be rescuing falling wineglasses again.”
“It isn’t amusing!’’
“I know, I’m sorry. Honey, tell me what’s wrong. Are you worrying about making contact with Haley? Afraid he won’t show up after all and you’ll have made the trip out here for nothing?”
Amy swallowed and reached for her glass of wine as she thought of the crumpled note in her suitcase. “I suppose that’s part of it,” she mumbled.
He nodded as if that explained her unstable mood. “How long will you wait for him to show?” he asked in a too-casual tone.
“I’m not sure.” Damn it, why should she feel guilty about lying to Jase? Afte
r all, the meeting with Dirk Haley was entirely her own concern. It was the business that had brought her to Saint Clair. The relationship with Jase was strictly a secondary matter. Wasn’t it? She owed him nothing, not even explanations.
“A week? Two weeks?”
“I told you, I don’t know! Why, Jase? Does it matter?”
He stared at her. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“What do you mean, ‘unfortunately’? Have you got another tourist scheduled to arrive soon? Will I be in the way in a few days?” she demanded bitterly.
“You’re really upset about what happened last night, aren’t you?” he shot back wonderingly.
“Yes!” That much was the truth. Every time she rethought last night, she got upset. “I didn’t come to Saint Clair to have an affair.”
Jase looked down at the food on his plate. “I realize that. You didn’t come here to fix me a home-cooked meal either, did you?”
“No,” she sighed.
He looked up, smiling tentatively. “Amy, this is the best food I’ve had in so long I can’t remember. If I promise not to assault you tonight, would you please stop scolding me and let me enjoy it in peace?”
Amy’s mouth fell open at the outrageous request. And then, out of nowhere, the laughter bubbled up inside. It gleamed in her sea-gray eyes and curved her expressive mouth. “When it comes to the crunch, the man chooses food over sex! I have the feeling I should be insulted!”
“It was a tough choice,” Jase allowed, grinning back at her.
“Thanks!”
But the mood of the evening had been lightened. And in spite of the mess in which she had found herself, Amy was glad to have the downward spiral temporarily halted. She did want Jase to enjoy the meal, she realized. She took a strange satisfaction in watching him savor the good home-cooked food. When dinner was over, he thanked her as if she had just furnished him with a priceless treasure.
“Think of it as a souvenir of the States,” she instructed dryly as they washed the dishes and prepared to wander over to The Serpent.
His mouth crooked wryly. “Yeah, I will.”
Amy scowled briefly as she rinsed the last dish. “It needn’t be a once-a-decade experience,” she told him briskly. “If you moved back to the States, I’m sure you could eat like this regularly.”
He hesitated and then said quietly, “I decided a long time ago that there’s nothing for me back there. Come on, honey, let’s go. Ray will be wondering what happened to us.”
“I’ll take him a slice of the coconut cream pie.”
“He’ll be your slave forever,” Jase complained.
“Sounds useful,” she retorted brightly, trying not to think about his very final-sounding pronouncement on the subject of returning to the US. Why should it matter to her?
“You don’t need another slave,” Jase told her whimsically, reaching out to catch her face between his palms. “You’ve got me.”
“There’s something very unservile about you,” she whispered, standing quite still. The physical awareness that seemed to be always there between them pulled at her more strongly, and Amy knew she should be fighting it.
“I’m trying,” he promised in a husky whisper, bending his head slowly to brush her mouth with his own.
“You... you said you wouldn’t assault me tonight.” Amy’s eyelashes flickered down as she watched his intent features through them. What did she really want from him tonight?
“A man will make a lot of rash promises when he’s hungry.” Jase dropped a small, warm kiss on the tip of her nose. “Amy...?”
“I think we’d better be going, Jase,” she managed with an effort. She could hardly tell him there was little point in going to The Serpent this evening, that the contact she sought had been made already earlier that day. Right now The Serpent seemed a kind of haven, a place where she could put off making the crucial decision of how she would spend the night.
With a stifled groan of reluctance Jase released her. “Okay, honey. Let’s go. Ray’s going to be more excited about that slice of pie than he was about the stack of Victorian erotica!”
The evening passed uneventfully as Amy knew it would. She did watch for the rangy, blond-haired man’s appearance, but no one resembling the stranger on the quay showed up at The Serpent. Why the secrecy? she wondered. What in the world was so special about the mask? And what was she going to do at dawn tomorrow morning?
Long before dawn, however, another situation had to be confronted.
“Let’s go home, honey,” Jase said shortly after midnight, reaching for her hand with the comfortable expectation of a man who intends to go home to bed with his woman and doesn’t really anticipate any problem, “It’s getting late and it’s obvious Haley won’t show tonight.”
He pushed aside his glass of rum without finishing it, and it occurred to Amy that he hadn’t had as much of the potent alcohol tonight as he’d had the night before. A part of her insisted on approving the voluntary cutback. She didn’t want to see Jase Lassiter fall victim to the heat and the rum of Saint Clair. On the other hand, it was highly unlikely that Jase would be a victim of anything or anyone, she told herself as she got to her feet. He didn’t need her concern!
“Jase,” she began with determination, “I’ve been thinking that there’s really no reason I can’t go back to the Marina Inn tonight. Whoever ransacked the place isn’t likely to return. Probably just a drunk fisherman looking for some cash.”
“Hush, Amy.” Jase cradled her against his side, his arm snugly around her shoulders.
“Damn it, Jase, don’t tell me to hush! I’m trying to explain that there’s no need for me to go home with you!” Amy felt trapped and her nerves, which had quieted during the evening, came awake with that sense of restless anxiety she knew so well.
“Amy, I want you,” he told her, the sherry of his voice flowing over her as he came to a halt and cupped her shoulders with his hands. His harsh, rugged face was deeply serious as he looked down at her. In the shadowy light emanating from the bar, Amy could see the need and the desire in his brilliant turquoise eyes. “I need you,” he whispered simply. “Please don’t fight me tonight.”
“Jase, needing someone isn’t enough,” she tried to say, feeling helpless herself beneath the pull of that need. “Everything happened too fast for me last night. I couldn’t think.”
“But today you’ve had a chance to think, is that it? Honey, I meant what I said earlier this evening. I won’t force you into my bed. I have a hunger for you that won’t let up, but I won’t force you.”
“Oh, Jase,” she groaned, feeling wretched at the evidence of his honest desire. “A relationship has to amount to more than sheer physical attraction.”
“If ours did amount to more than that, we’d both be in a hell of a lot of trouble, wouldn’t we?” he countered grimly. “We’re from two different worlds, you and I. The best we can hope to have is a relationship based on mutual desire.”
The blunt words chilled her. Amy stepped back, feeling shaky and appalled at the savage truth of what he was saying. Desperately she sought for something rational and sophisticated to say. “Yes, yes, I suppose you’re quite right. All I can say is that the kind of relationship possible for us is not one I want” She turned on her heel and started down the lane that led to his house. “I’ll get my suitcase and go back to the Marina Inn tonight.”
“Amy, no!” The words were ground out behind her, and an instant later Jase had caught up with her, his hand reaching out to manacle her wrist. She sensed the effort he was making to control himself before he spoke again. “All right, Amy. You win. I would give everything I owned if you would come to my bed willingly tonight, but I won’t push it. But I have to insist that you stay in my home. Please understand how nervous I would be about sending you back to the inn. If you can’t accept the fact that I need you and want you tonight, at least ac
cept the fact that I’d be damned worried about you if you went back there.”
She realized that it was all she could do to deny his desire; she didn’t have the strength to deny the lesser request, too. “All right, Jase. I’ll stay.”
An hour later, as she lay alone in her own bed, listening to the rustle of the palm fronds outside her window, Amy acknowledged the depths of the quicksand in which she was getting mired.
What in the world had led her to insist on cooking Jase a decent meal tonight? She could have survived quite well on another couple of days of greasy food. The urge to feed a man properly was as strange to her as the ease with which she’d wound up in Jase’s bed the previous evening. There was something uncomfortably primitive and essentially female about the action that disturbed her now on a very fundamental level.
But the two primitive reactions were only part of a growing list of inexplicable emotions, and they were all highly dangerous. Amy stirred restlessly in bed and finally tossed back the covers to pad across the floor and stand in front of the window. She wouldn’t go out on the veranda tonight. Jase might still be awake, and if he sensed her presence out there, he would be sure to join her. And Amy knew exactly where that would lead.
The breeze off the ocean tasted and smelled good, she decided, as it lightly tousled the skirts of the burgundy nightgown she wore. Some aspects of paradise were very attractive, and therein lay the danger. It could be so attractive that it would sap a man’s ambition and spirit. Even a man like Jase couldn’t hold out forever against the enervating lure of it.
She thought about Maggie’s philosophy of men and women. What would have happened to Jase if ten years ago a woman had tried to domesticate him? If his ex-wife had realized that a home without children might be quite satisfying with a man like Jase?
Amy knew she was an idiot to torture herself with such thoughts. Jase no longer seemed to be concerned with his own future. He lived in the moment, taking what became available here on Saint Clair and not asking for more. Asking for more, he had implied, would be asking for hell.
Serpent in Paradise Page 10
