Heat of the Night (Island Fire Book 2)

by Amy Knupp

  Selena looked at him sharply. Studied his profile and felt the punch to her gut yet again at how good-looking he was. What surprised her even more was his heart. His looks and charm had suckered her in that first night they’d met, and she’d never suspected he would turn out to be such a decent, good-hearted guy deep down. She wished like crazy he wasn’t so good, didn’t thrive on helping people day in and day out. Maybe if he wasn’t, she could handle loving him.

  Not that she did. Love him. She couldn’t. Would not.

  “I know you’re practically sleepwalking, but would you mind if we made one stop on the way home?”

  “The good news woke me up. I’m fine. Just tell me where.”

  Selena directed him to a strip mall on the island’s main street. He pulled up in front of Abuela’s Consignments and stopped the engine. He looked at her suspiciously.

  “Not a shopper?” she said, trying to stifle a grin.

  “You’re supposed to be taking it easy.”

  “This will take ten minutes at the most.”

  He checked his watch. “You’ve got ten. Let’s go.”

  Selena didn’t waste any time. They walked inside and she looked around for the section she needed.

  “Hola,” an elderly woman said from a few feet away. “Can I help you?”

  Selena saw what she wanted, smiled, and said, “Not yet.”

  She took Evan’s hand and dragged him to the back of the store, where there were several racks and shelves of baby clothes.

  “Selena,” he said when he realized her intention. “Are you sure about this?”

  “I’m not sure about anything, but … I want to do this. We’re going to celebrate by buying the baby’s first outfit.”

  Evan gradually smiled as he stared at her, then nodded.

  Selena browsed through the rack closest, which happened to be full of pink and lavender, ruffles, dresses, bows, kitties, and bunnies.

  “He’ll be scarred for life,” Evan said.

  “He?”

  “You think it’s a girl?”

  “No idea. I haven’t thought that far.” She moved on to the next rack, which had sleepers in all colors. She pulled one of the mini-hangers off the rack and held up a tiny long-sleeved, footed pajama in light green.

  Evan tilted his head. “Too hot for June?”

  “Maybe,” Selena said. “It’s so little.” She checked for a size. “Three to six months. They start smaller than this?”

  “And grow big fast. At least Henry has.”

  “That was big?” She stuck the green sleeper back on the rack. “I don’t know about this. Maybe it’s a bad idea.”

  Evan wandered to the next rack, and Selena searched for a lighter sleeper, trying to ignore her fear.

  “Three minutes left,” Evan said, but she noticed he was still searching through baby clothes himself.

  “I’ve got it.” Selena pulled out a fuzzy yellow sleeper with an all-over panda-bear print.

  “Got mine,” Evan said.

  Intrigued, and touched that he was picking something out too, she took her choice to the rack where he stood.

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “What? No way! This is it. Works for either gender.”

  Selena eyed the onesie, shaking her head. It was pure white with a fire truck embroidered across the chest. Around the graphic, it said, “My daddy’s truck is bigger than your daddy’s truck.”

  “It’s perfect. Let’s go.” Evan led her by the hand and to the checkout counter near the door before she could voice her misgivings.

  “What did you select?” the shopkeeper asked as they laid their choices on the counter. “Ooh, so cute.” She moved them toward the cash register to ring them up. “Cash or credit?”

  “Plastic,” Evan said.

  “Cash,” Selena said at the same time.

  “I’ve got it.” Evan took his wallet out of his back pocket.

  “This was my idea. I’ll get them.”

  “Oh,” Evan said, suddenly looking annoyed. “How could I forget? You’re rich enough to buy the entire strip mall.”

  “They’re five dollars apiece, Evan. Don’t be like that.”

  “Like what?” He took a card out of his wallet. “We’ll pay for them separately,” he told the woman, who watched them with undisguised interest.

  They purchased each outfit — separately — in silence and returned to the truck.

  “Clearly, we have something we need to discuss,” Selena said after they were in.

  Evan leaned his elbow on his door. “Were you ever planning to tell me you’re a high-society princess? What do they call them? Debutantes?”

  “Why are you so angry? You never asked about my family’s finances.”

  “It didn’t cross my mind that you might be richer than God.”

  “I, personally, have been flat broke.”

  “So you said.”

  “You heard my mom. She cut me off to get me back to Boston. I left home with two thousand dollars cash, never dreaming I wouldn’t be able to get more.”

  “Are you listening to yourself? Two grand? In cash?”

  Selena narrowed her eyes. “What’s this about, Evan? Get to the point.”

  “The point is that I’ve been concerned about taking care of this child financially. I gave up plans to buy the boat of my dreams because I was worried about paying for a crib and a rocking chair and the million other expenses a child brings.”

  “This is about a boat?”

  “No, it’s not about a goddamn boat, Selena. It’s about me not knowing a thing about you.”

  “Well, there you go. Best reason yet to stop trying to get me to marry you. Go buy your boat.”

  Evan started the truck and drove to the beach house without another word.

  “Coming in to say hello to the high-society queen?” Selena asked when he stopped in her driveway.

  “I don’t think so.”

  Selena stared at him, her head spinning from the crazy roller coaster of a morning. “See you.” She climbed out and went into the house. It took more than a little effort for her to avoid looking back at him.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Evan had blown it the other day at the consignment store and he knew it. What he didn’t know was how to fix it.

  “What’s up?” Derek said as Evan entered the Shell Shack just after it opened.

  “Hey, Gus.” Evan sat on a stool at the counter next to Derek’s uncle.

  “Howdy, boy.” Gus gave him a wrinkly grin.

  “Where’s Macey today?” Evan asked Derek.

  “Tied up with meetings for her foundation. I’m holding down the fort here.”

  “He’s fixin’ to try, anyway,” Gus muttered good-naturedly.

  “Might be a busy one,” Evan said. “Haven’t had weather this good for a couple weeks.”

  “Bring it on,” Derek said. “Nearly eighty degrees in November. We could use it.” He helped himself to a Coke from the fountain. “What can I get you?”

  “Usual. Burger, loaded. Fries with cheese. Bottle of Bud.”

  Derek got the beer and set it in front of Evan, then went to the back to start the food. Several other people sauntered in and a couple of them came to the counter to place an order.

  “They’re doing okay with this place, aren’t they?” Gus said with a hint of pride. “’Course, Macey can take most of the credit.”

  Evan grinned, looking around them. “Only a few empty seats in the slow season. I’d say that’s pretty damn good. They act as a team, don’t they?”

  Gus nodded. “She’s just what he needed. And the bar.”

  Derek handled it well as they sat there watching, Evan distracted the whole time by thoughts of Selena.

  After orders had been taken and Evan’s food was ready, Derek leaned on the counter and stole a fry. “What’s happening today?”

  Evan took a long drink. “Damage control.”

  “Uh-oh,” Gus said.

  “Wh
at’d you do? Piss off Selena?”

  “Spoken like a man of experience,” Evan said.

  “Been there,” Derek said. “Will be there again.”

  “Join the brotherhood, boys,” Gus said.

  “So what happened?” Derek asked.

  Evan chewed his burger. “Found out Selena is stinking rich.”

  “Hallelujah,” Gus howled as he reached over the bar for a toothpick.

  “How stinking rich?” Derek asked.

  “She owns the beach house she’s staying in. Not her family. Her.”

  “How does she own that?”

  “Her dad left it to her.”

  “You just found all this out?”

  “Didn’t have any idea. A couple weeks ago she was planning to go to the free health clinic because she was broke, supposedly. She drives a Hyundai, man. Hell, she’s been working two jobs.”

  Gus picked at his teeth and shook his head, amused.

  Derek crossed his arms. “Now that you say it, though, I can see it. She’s got a manner about her that tells you she doesn’t eat beans and weenies for dinner.”

  “She’s got … class, I guess you’d call it. But she’s down-to-earth,” Evan admitted. “Compared to her mother.”

  “Is Mom a snob?”

  Evan told them about the limo, the driver, the luggage. “Who wears pearls for a cross-country flight to the beach?”

  Derek laughed. “Your future mother-in-law if you get your way.”

  “You got your hands full, son,” Gus said.

  “What the hell am I getting into? What happened to my life?”

  “Sometimes I shake my head when I realize in a few months I’ll be a married man,” Derek commiserated. “I imagine Macey will want babies soon after. Downright crazy, man.”

  “You don’t seem too worried about it,” Evan said.

  “Do him some good.” Gus nodded and crossed his arms, chewing on the end of the toothpick.

  “Wouldn’t change a thing,” Derek said. “So what’d you do to tick off your rich girl?”

  “Acted like a son of a bitch when she wanted to pay for a five-dollar baby outfit.”

  Derek nodded sympathetically. “How you going to fix it?”

  “Wish I knew. I need to make it up to Selena. Scoring some points with her mom wouldn’t be a bad plan either. Selena won’t listen to her opinion, but I’d like to get along with the ice queen if we’re going to be family.”

  “You’re still thinking marriage then?”

  “Nothing’s changed there.”

  “Hoo, dog.” Gus hooted.

  Derek studied Evan. “You care more than you’re letting on. It’s not just about the kid anymore, is it?”

  Evan stared into his half-full bottle. “It’s not just the kid. But I don’t know what the hell it is.”

  A customer came up to the counter to order drinks, and Derek served her and collected her money. He returned to Evan, wiping his hands on the towel over his shoulder.

  “So. Selena and her mom,” Derek said. “You play things their way. Take them out for a fancy dinner or something. Wine and dine both of them. Throw in some groveling in private.”

  “That’s what I’m thinkin’,” Gus agreed.

  Evan nodded. He just needed to figure out the wine-and-dine thing. He was a burger and beer man. Selena’s mom was more caviar and champagne. There had to be a way to bring their worlds together without acting like something he wasn’t.

  oOo

  Selena wondered what Evan was up to.

  Still angry, she hadn’t been thrilled to hear from him, but for once he’d called her in advance and asked if he could take her out. Her and her mom. She was just curious enough to acquiesce, surprised her mother had agreed to go as well. Clara wasn’t the type of mom who liked to spend time with Selena and her friends. Not in the past decade and a half.

  Evan had given Selena almost no information about where they were going or what they were doing, saying only to wear layers and bring a jacket. They’d likely be gone for a few hours.

  Clara was fluttering importantly around the house, trying on the resort wear she’d bought for her trip to San Amaro, even though it was completely inappropriate. As if this were a cruise ship or something. Selena just hoped she would be decent to Evan.

  Selena wore skinny jeans, the softest silk button-down shirt that looked like chambray and was only a little snug in the lower abdomen, and boots that went just above her knees. She carried a long gray cardigan sweater. She doubted she’d need the sweater — her body temperature seemed to have gone up about ten degrees in the past month. Her hair was pulled back at her nape in a low ponytail. She rushed to throw on some makeup before he arrived.

  A few minutes later, Evan knocked on the door, and Selena let her mother answer it. She tried to tamp down on the anticipation of laying her eyes on him. Summoned the irritation from the way they’d left things the other day. He obviously had some deep issues about her family’s bank account — even though she’d been cut off from it.

  “Selena, are you ready?” her mother called.

  She gathered her purse and sweater and steeled herself against any reaction to him.

  Didn’t work.

  When she went out to the living room, she caught her breath as she laid eyes on him. He was dressed in dark jeans that molded to his thighs and butt as if they’d been stitched around him and a navy blue T-shirt that stretched across his wide, muscled chest. He leaned against the wall in the hallway, his cornflower-blue eyes glued to her, only a sexy hint of a smile on his face.

  “Hi,” she said, doing her best to pretend she couldn’t feel the effects of him deep inside.

  “Hi. Glad y’all are able to go out with such short notice.”

  “Are you going to tell us where we’re going now?”

  “That’d ruin the surprise, wouldn’t it?”

  “I’m okay with that.”

  “Selena, when did you forget how to have fun?” her mother asked as she pulled on a caramel suede jacket.

  “A few weeks ago, when I found out I was pregnant.”

  “You might enjoy this if you let yourself,” Evan said. His hand on the small of her back, he guided her toward the door behind her mother.

  They were hit by blinding sunlight when they stepped outside.

  “I forgot my sunglasses,” Clara said. “I’ll just be a moment.” She went back inside while Selena took her own sunglasses out of her bag and put them on.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said as they neared his truck. “If she isn’t happy, no one will be happy.”

  “Don’t worry so much,” Evan said. “I’ll win her over.”

  “Is that what this is about? Because if so…”

  She was about to say there was no point because he wasn’t going to win her mother over. Selena had been trying for years. Her mom hurried out the door, though, and Selena kept the comment to herself.

  “Just want to get to know your family,” Evan said close to her ear.

  As soon as Clara returned, he opened the back passenger-side and helped her inside. Then he turned to Selena and held her hand as she climbed into the front. Her belly had seemingly swollen overnight, and for the first time, she could feel it as she bent forward to set her purse on the floor. Just barely, but it was there, bigger than usual. She put her hand on her abdomen as she sat back on the seat, trying to imagine what it would be like in several weeks to feel the baby move. Impossible to even imagine.

  Evan went around to the driver’s side and got in. An uneasy silence settled over them as he backed out, and Selena thought how none of them had a single thing in common. This outing, whatever it was, could — had a ninety-eight percent chance, in fact — turn out to be a nightmare.

  Evan surprised her though. He asked her mom questions about places she’d traveled, meeting her eyes in the rearview mirror from time to time and glancing over his shoulder at her. He told her about the island’s history and explained some
of the sights as they drove by. Her mom loved talking about travel and seemed interested in everything he said. The five-minute ride went better than Selena had expected. Freakishly better.

  Evan turned into a mostly deserted parking lot on the bay side of the island. The shore was across a narrow street and was lined with small businesses, most of them bars and restaurants capitalizing on the waterside location.

  “You’re taking us to a bar,” Selena guessed, hoping to God she was wrong.

  “I’m taking you to the San Amaro Marina.”

  They walked three abreast on the wide sidewalk that wound behind the businesses and led to the docks. Selena’s fingers itched as she took in the rows of boats, most of them long and lofty, some sailboats and lots of yachts. She’d have to paint this scene soon, with all the colors, the peace of the calm water, the buoys bobbing in the distance, the gulls peppering the cloudless sky.

  The air buzzed with activity as people prepared to take their vessels out or brought them back in. Sunbathers stretched out on decks in the afternoon sun, sport fishermen fiddled with their equipment, a couple of kids spit over the railing of one boat into the bay. Everyone seemed happy to be out in the gorgeous weather.

  “I never knew there was so much money lurking about on San Amaro,” Selena said as they trekked out onto one of the main heavy-duty docks. “I don’t remember any of this from when I was a kid.”

  “It’s fantastic,” her mom said, and Selena wished she meant the setting and the boats, not the money.

  “What are we doing?” Selena asked.

  “You’ll see.” Evan walked ahead, leading them onto dock number two.

  “Beautiful,” Selena’s mom said as they wandered past yachts that could probably sleep a small army and sailboats with towering masts.

  Evan turned onto one of the narrow perpendicular docks, his attention riveted on the boat to his right. It was one of the smaller ones in the marina yet still big enough for a large group. The name painted on the side was Hot Water.

  “It’s ours for the afternoon if you ladies are game.”

  Clara eyed the boat critically and Selena held her breath, waiting for her to pass judgment.