Temptation Bay (A Windfall Island Novel)

by Anna Sullivan

  “Really?” Jessi sat forward. “Why does Dex need a genealogist?”

  “Well, now, maybe you should ask him.”

  Jessi sat back again, crossed her arms. “Maybe I should ask Maggie.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  About time you showed up.”

  Maggie crossed the Horizon’s lobby, saying nothing because she was nearly an hour late, and she’d be damned if she told him it was because she’d changed her clothes three times before she’d settled on a pair of slim jeans and a white, man-cut shirt, open with a white stretchy tank beneath. Blue jeans and a t-shirt ought to be good enough for Dex Keegan—hell, her flight suit would have done, but she’d felt an urge to primp, and while she didn’t practice self-delusion on a regular basis, it didn’t pay to examine her reasons too closely.

  “It was worth the wait,” he said, but without the flattering up and down that would have been her rightful payoff for taking an hour to dress for him. “Where’s my genealogist?”

  Maggie absorbed a little sting, told herself he was doing her a favor, establishing the emotional distance she needed. And if she didn’t quite buy it, she sure as hell wasn’t going to let him see he’d hurt her feelings. “I wasn’t sure you wanted everyone to know you ordered one.”

  “They’ll hear about him sooner or later. I found that out the hard way this morning.”

  “Took some heat over the Jag, huh?”

  “You knew I would.”

  Maggie couldn’t quite hide her grin. Not that she tried very hard. “You want everyone to think we’re dating.”

  “And you don’t.”

  She shrugged. “If people stick their nose into my private business and get the wrong impression, why should I care?”

  It was Dex’s turn to smile. “So you have a personal objection to being my girlfriend. I wonder why?”

  “Maybe it’s the way you call me your girlfriend.”

  “Would you prefer lady friend? Private flight attendant? Friend with benefits?”

  “Don’t flatter yourself; we’re not all that friendly.” Especially at the moment. But she forced herself to keep the smile on her face—even if it galled her to put on a show. “Abbot is at my house.”

  “With Mort and Jessi? And if he tells them why he’s here?”

  “He’s your genealogist. I don’t know what he was told to say or not say, but I can tell you he was pretty forthcoming with me.”

  Dex shoved his hands through his hair, and while his upset might have entertained her any other time she knew what was at stake. “I left him in the office with Jess, but I don’t imagine he’s had any interaction with Mort.”

  “But Mort knows you brought another outsider to Windfall. Sooner or later he’ll tell someone.”

  “Better plan on sooner. He’s not much of a talker, but he’s been pretty popular lately, seeing as he’s on the front line, so to speak.”

  Dex chewed on that a moment, seeming more resigned than angry. “Mort coming into the village tonight?”

  “He lives in the village,” Maggie said, waging only a brief war with herself before she gave Dex as much of Mort’s story as she was comfortable with.

  “His mother hasn’t been well for a long time. She’s supposed to be having surgery. Cancer.” Or so Mort had been telling her for a while, she thought, kicking herself for getting so wound up in her own life she forgot to check in with a friend who was going through something so terrible. “He spends most of his time either at the airport or at home taking care of her.”

  “I’ve seen him in here before.”

  “He gets away for a meal or a beer now and again.” And that was all Maggie was willing to say about anyone else’s affairs. “I could use both myself.”

  Dex reached for her arm, and when she shifted away, turned it smoothly into a gesture toward the inn’s dining room. His eyes, hot and narrowed, told a different story, even if he managed to keep his tone casual. “Weather was dicey for flying today.”

  “Which is why I didn’t take time out for lunch,” Maggie said with the same tense undercurrent beneath the same casual tone, “so I could get back before things turned ugly.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have gone up in the first place.”

  “I’ve flown in worse.”

  “Stupid.”

  Her gaze shifted to his. “If this was a date, I’d be leaving about now.”

  Dex blew out his breath.

  Maggie could see him pulling back on his temper and did the same with her own. “We both have well-established lives, Dex. I’m not about to consult you before I fly, and you’re not going to check in with me before you decide how you spend your day.”

  He gave her a slight smile and said, “Neither of us are used to making concessions.”

  And both of them were steering clear of any emotional attachment. “So where’s your friend?” Maggie asked as they entered the Horizon’s big dining room. “The one with the answers.”

  “Alec couldn’t clear his schedule. Said he’d do the next best thing to coming himself, and I’m glad he did. I should have thought about bringing Hold in,” he added, choosing his words carefully in the room crowded with big ears. “He’s thorough, even if his way takes more time.”

  Dex stopped at a table for four, pulled out a chair, and left her no choice but to take it.

  “Do we have to sit in the middle of the damn room?”

  “Yes.” Dex took the chair next to hers.

  “I feel like I’m on display.”

  “You’re not the outsider.”

  “No, I’m the one who has to live here after you drop your bomb and leave the island.” And sniping at him all night would only make them both unhappy. Best not to think about the day Dex left Windfall for good, not to wonder how much it was going to hurt. “Look, Dex, we both want the same thing, right? Why don’t we call a truce?”

  “I didn’t realize we were at war. Especially after last night.”

  And wasn’t it telling, Maggie thought, that she was the only one admitting they weren’t comfortable with one another on this so-called date, in this very public setting.

  She spotted AJ heading for their table and said, “Here we go,” smiling easily for the first time since she’d walked in the door. “Hey, Alphonse.”

  “Maggie. Dex, are you settled in your new room?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “No, Maggie, I didn’t mean he was moving in with you. Not that Dex wouldn’t want to, but we all know your place is off limits. Not that you aren’t… friendly sometimes, but—”

  “Men are okay to sleep with, but I don’t exactly welcome them into my life.”

  AJ’s eyes shot to hers, red creeping up from his neck.

  Maggie was more than a little embarrassed herself, even if she refused to show it. “Since I won’t let you move in with me,” she said to Dex, “I’ll assume you’re getting a new room here. Having the old one steam-cleaned?” she said sweetly to AJ. “We all know what a clean freak you are.”

  “Somebody tore up my room,” Dex said, his expression carefully blank. “I’m in the mood for a burger, Maggie, how about you?”

  “You’ll have my chicken and dumplings,” AJ said, and fled into the kitchen.

  Maggie sat back in her chair, shifted a little so she could watch Dex’s face. “Still keeping secrets?”

  “It was no big deal, probably someone trying to find out why I’m here.” He shrugged, keeping the nagging worry he felt to himself. No need to alarm anyone just because it set off warning bells for him. “Just got a little carried away.”

  “Oh, well, sure, it must have been one of Windfall Island’s crazies on a quest for gossip.”

  Dex shot her a look, but he let the insult pass. “Nobody knows why I’m here, except you and Hold. He doesn’t know anyone on the island, and you haven’t talked. What else could it be?”

  “What else?” She sat back, huffed out a breath, admitting that for all her grand speeches about
the two of them being independent adults, she still would have liked a phone call. “I guess I should apologize.”

  Dex grinned, slapped a hand over his heart. “I don’t think I could survive it.”

  “If we didn’t kill each other last night, I think we can make it through a couple of I’m sorrys.”

  “A couple?”

  “If I’m going to apologize, I think it’s only fair you do the same. I’d say you owe me at least one apology by now.”

  “Why don’t I buy you dinner and call it even?”

  “You ought to buy me dinner anyway, seeing as you ate me out of house and home the last two days.”

  He grinned. “You’re the reason I worked up such an appetite.”

  She smiled back before she could stop herself, but her smile faded at the way his eyes darkened, heated, the way he leaned toward her. The way her breath caught in the back of her throat as everything in her yearned. “Be careful,” she murmured, as much a warning to herself as to Dex, “or everyone will think we’re sleeping together.”

  “We are sleeping together.”

  She arched her brows, looked around the room.

  So did Dex. More than one of the faces turned their way looked pissed. “I see what you mean,” he said, “but it’s not all bad. Knowing you’re doing something… illegal adds an extra thrill.”

  Maggie leaned toward him. “Didn’t seem like you needed an extra thrill last night.”

  Dex met her halfway, ran a finger across the back of her hand and sent shivers racing through her. “I don’t know. I’d probably need to try it again to be sure.”

  “Am I interrupting?”

  They jerked apart, looked up, and there stood Maisie Cutshaw, very much hoping she was right. After all, she’d timed it that way, the better to have something to gossip about.

  “So,” Maisie said to Dex, wasting no time. “Did you ever find out who broke into your room?”

  He shifted his eyes to Maggie. “I’ve been busy, but I’ll make a point to stop in and ask the sheriff.”

  “George is so close-mouthed. Nobody’s been able to get a word out of him.”

  “Maybe you’re using the wrong inducement,” Dex said. “He’s single, you’re single.”

  Maisie giggled—until Helen hip checked her out of the way. “It was our break-in,” she told Maisie as she set down wide bowls filled with light-as-air dumplings swimming in a thick stew chock full of chicken and vegetables. “If anyone gets the scoop, it’s going to be me.”

  Maggie closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the steam wafting off her bowl.

  Dex reached over and tapped her wrist. “You might want to do something about that,” he said, indicating Helen and Maisie on the verge of coming to blows.

  Maggie picked up her spoon and took a bite, sucking in air because it was piping hot. Dex got to his feet while she was taking her second cautious bite.

  “Um…” she began, then simply watched as he waded in between Helen and Maisie, who both turned on him.

  Helen wagged a finger in his face; Maisie poked him in the shoulder. Maggie sat back, grinning, and watched as AJ loomed up behind the two women, took them each by the collar with one huge hand, and towed them away from the table.

  Dex dropped back into his chair, and Maggie burst into laughter, along with nearly everyone else in the place.

  “You look like somebody threw a grenade into your foxhole and it blew up right next to you.”

  Dex scrubbed a hand over his face. “Why the hell didn’t you stop me?”

  “I said ‘um.’ ”

  “Yeah, that was a lot of help.”

  “Maybe I should have tripped you instead, or tackled you.”

  “Ha, ha.” But his lips curved into the slightest of smiles. “Maybe you could tackle me later, make up for nearly getting me killed.”

  “You nearly got yourself killed. It was very entertaining.”

  “You should be safe now,” AJ said, having dispatched Helen to the kitchen and Maisie back to her table. “I hope you learned a lesson from this.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” Dex said.

  “Eat up, kid. If you’re dumb enough to put yourself in the middle of a Windfall catfight, you’ll need your strength.”

  The Horizon was hopping, Dex noted. It hopped near every night, as he’d seen firsthand since he’d spent most of his evenings since he’d come to Windfall in the big, homely dining room/bar. Unfortunately, it wasn’t hopping in his direction.

  For the first time in nearly two weeks, the downright nosy citizens of Windfall Island were giving him a wide berth, and he was torn between enjoying the chance to have a quiet conversation with Maggie and missing an opportunity to further his mission. Then again, Maggie wasn’t exactly giving his ears a workout.

  “It’s no wonder nobody else in this place will talk to me with you giving me the cold shoulder.”

  “I didn’t have lunch.” She glanced up from her meal, her brilliant blue eyes skimming over his before she looked past him.

  “Working around the perimeter of the room from the door, counter-clockwise,” she said between bites. “First booth is the Napleton family, Steve, Mary, Kelly and Nick, in order of age—last set of tourists I’m flying out on the weekend, so they won’t be helpful.

  “Next booth, Jed and Martha Morgenstern, still channeling ancient Romans. Martha’s a Hallett, her family is from the island, but she met Jed on the mainland. The Halletts were upstanding citizens, notwithstanding Martha’s penchant for kinky sex. I doubt her grandfather was involved in running booze, aside from buying a bottle now and then for personal use.

  “Then you have Maureen Lipshutz, or Madam Magda, as she likes to be known.” Maggie’s laughing eyes met his. “She might actually be of some help, since she claims she can channel the spirits. Of course, she’s never come up with any convincing proof of that, but the tourists eat it up.

  “Morris Hancock is at the table next to Magda’s. Conspiracy theorist, blames everything on the government, thinks there are aliens living among us. Next…”

  She kept going, listing off the occupants of each booth or table and adding a touch of their background as an indicator of potential usefulness to the kidnapping. Although Dex admired her ability to size up her surroundings with just a glance, the names were meaningless to him. And he found her ability to ignore him for a plate of chicken and dumplings lowering. “We don’t have to talk about the case.”

  That brought her head up, her gaze streaking to clash with his. “That’s why we’re here.”

  “We could talk about last night. And this morning, and yesterday afternoon.”

  “Why?”

  She looked so baffled he had to grin. “I’m a guy.”

  “I’ve had firsthand proof,” Maggie said, still serious, but with a devilish glint in her eyes. “And if you keep looking at me like that, the whole place is going to know it.”

  “Does it embarrass you?”

  “It’s not embarrassing, it’s private.”

  “Maybe my huge ego needs feeding again.”

  “Well, then, your ego will be the only thing getting anywhere near me.”

  His grin widened. “Are you using sex as a weapon?”

  “I’m putting it on the back burner.”

  Where it belongs, Dex reminded himself and vowed not to forget it.

  “The table in the back, at the edge of the dance floor,” Maggie said, picking up the tour where she’d left off.

  “Dance floor?”

  “What passes for one in here.”

  Dex made a casual and leisurely survey of the tiny rectangle of parquet flooring, filled to capacity by three middle-aged men playing darts.

  “Those three guys you’re staring at are Sam Norris, Han Finley, and Zeke Gifford.”

  “Giff.” Dex’s gaze shifted to Maggie’s face, but she’d gone back to her meal, so he turned his attention to the trio of men winging darts at the board on the wall that edged one side of the dance floor. �
�They look like they know their way around a shady situation.”

  “They wouldn’t be Windfallers if they didn’t.”

  “And I’ll bet they take after their fathers. And their grandfathers.”

  “Worth a conversation,” Maggie said, pushing her empty plate away. “How about a game of darts?”

  “My thought exactly.”

  “I could take you,” she said, grinning.

  “Want to put money on it?”

  Maggie popped up an eyebrow, got to her feet. “You’re already paying for dinner. I don’t want to take any more of your money.”

  “Big words,” Dex said, following her as she threaded her way through tables, returning greetings as she went.

  “Hey, Maggie,” one of the men called out as she stopped beside them. “Wanna dance?”

  “Made that mistake at the New Year’s Eve party, Zeke. My feet haven’t recovered yet.”

  “What are you doing with the mainlander?” Zeke yelled out over the laughter.

  “A girl’s gotta eat. I’m not above taking a free meal when I can get it.” She slanted Dex a look. “Even from a mainlander.”

  “Keep it up,” Dex said under his breath. “If you gentlemen are finished, Maggie is going to stand me to a game.”

  There was more laughter, longer and louder, and Zeke yelled out, “She’ll wipe the floor with you.”

  Dex held his eyes. “Winner buys a round.”

  “Clever, Keegan,” she said for his benefit only. “Win or lose, they have a drink with you.”

  He smiled. “Side bet?”

  She shrugged.

  “Afraid, huh?”

  “Of you?” She picked up a dart, glanced at the board like she had at the room earlier, then let it wing as her gaze shifted back to his. Not a bull’s eye, but not far off.

  “Maybe we should keep it to a drink.”

  “Afraid?” she asked with a laughing toss of her head.

  “Terrified.”

  That stopped her, that drawl in his voice, the quiet confidence in his dark eyes. She didn’t know why it made her pause; she could beat him at darts, right? But there was just enough doubt mixed in with what she knew about Dex and his tendency to hold back when it suited his purposes.