Playing the Part

by Kimberly Van Meter

  Lindy resisted the urge to giggle at the insane change that had come over Heath and Lora. They hadn’t always been so lovey-dovey. Once Lora had done her level best to pretend Heath didn’t exist at all. That had changed when Lora caused Heath to fall from the roof of the resort when he’d been trying to repair a leaky tile. He’d fallen and cracked his noggin open, scaring the life out of all of them. Lindy supposed it’d been a life-changing event for them both because when he’d finally woken up, Lora had realized she’d fallen in love with him somewhere along the way and Heath had admitted he’d always loved her. Go figure.

  At first glance, it was a saccharine-sweet story that could give a person cavities at the telling, but anyone who knew Lora would know that it was impossible to feature her at the center of any story that could be deemed sweet. Heath had always been like a brother to Lilah and Lindy so when Heath and Lora had finally hooked up, Lindy’s first concern had been for Heath. But they truly seemed to be in love. And Heath brought out the best in Lora now that she was all softened up, so Lindy was all for that.

  But now, Lora was giving her looks that plainly said she was dying to know why the father of the kid Lindy had christened “the demon spawn” was suddenly sitting at their dinner table and Lindy was getting irritated. Lilah was always bringing home strays and no one thought to question. Why couldn’t she?

  The savory smells coming from the kitchen made Lindy’s stomach growl. In Los Angeles, she ran with a crowd that rarely ate more than a poppy seed in one sitting and although Lindy loved to eat, she wasn’t one to eat alone so she’d gotten used to the liquid diet of her peers. But now that she was home, her stomach was gleefully reminding her how much she used to love to eat.

  “Oh my word...is that...?” Lindy gestured to the steaming plate Celly had just brought in.

  “Boiled bananas,” Lora supplied, grinning. “Even better than the ones at The Wild Donkey. It’s Celly’s one saving grace,” she added, earning a scowl from Celly before she swished from the room, her multicolor sarong fringe dusting the floor as she went.

  “Don’t be getting after Celly,” Pops warned good-

  naturedly. “She’ll send a jumbie after you for talking bad about her. She’s real island folk, you know.”

  Lindy grinned and started piling her plate with braised pork with a squeal of open delight. “I’ve missed this!”

  Gabe accepted the boiled bananas from Lilah and tentatively put a little on his plate, clearly unsure about the dish, but he seemed intrigued by Pops’s warning. “A jumbie? What’s that?”

  “A ghost,” Heath answered around a hot bite, smiling at Gabe’s look of open disbelief. Heath shook his head in warning. “Locals are real superstitious about certain things, like their legends and myths. You’d be surprised how many stories are out there. You know the islands have a dark past.”

  “Like what?” Carys asked, suddenly captivated.

  Heath smiled, loving that he had an audience and Lora simply rolled her eyes at his love for telling stories. Lindy chuckled and Lilah listened intently. “Well, my friend Billy Janks, his family goes all the way back to the slave days. His grandmother, a little woman with grizzled hair that used to stand on end as if she’d stuck her finger in a light socket, was a full-blooded Carib whose family had been brought to the island as slaves to work the sugar plantations. And she used to tell us all sorts of stories about jumbies and zombies roaming the jungle at night.”

  “Zombies?” Carys’s eyes widened and Lindy wondered if she’d be able to sleep tonight after Heath had finished scaring the life out of her. “Real ones?”

  “There’s no such thing as real zombies,” Gabe interjected, shooting Heath an exasperated look that said, C’mon, man, ease up on the zombie angle otherwise she’s going to be sleeping with me tonight. “But it makes for a good tale, right, Heath?”

  “Right.” Heath winked and continued. “But there are definitely jumbie running around dis place, for sure.”

  Lindy suppressed a giggle at the way Heath slipped into a Crucian accent for the story. It was a wonder he wasn’t the one pursuing an acting career, thought Lindy wryly.

  “I was on a hike on Reef Bay Trail near the old sugar mill and I swear I saw the jumbie of a boy killed back in the days when they used slaves to process the sugarcane. It was a gruesome way to die, for sure,” Heath said solemnly.

  “What happened?” Carys asked, so absorbed in the tale she’d completely forgotten about her dinner. “What happened to the boy?”

  “I don’t know if I should tell you.... It’s not exactly dinner conversation....”

  “Too late now,” Lora quipped and Pops grinned, gesturing for Heath to continue.

  “It’s a great yarn. Finish! Don’t leave our guests to wonder. That’s rude, my boy,” Pops said, chewing his pork with great relish. Pops loved a good story as a complement to good food. “Go on... The boy...his name was...Maunie...something like that....”

  Heath nodded. “Maunie Dalmida.”

  Carys clapped her hands to her mouth as she suppressed a delighted squeal of shock. “This was a real person? You know his name?”

  “Everyone on the island knows the story of Maunie Dalmida,” Lilah said with a small smile. “It’s one of the best ghost stories around. They tell it on tours of the island.”

  “Ohhh,” Carys said, shuddering, but the light in her eyes was something to see. Lindy smiled, enjoying her reaction. It reminded Lindy of herself when she was young and new to the island and all its mysteries. “What happened?”

  “Well, unfortunately young Maunie met a terrible end. He was crushed between the cogs used to mill the sugar. But anyway, I was hiking the trail and there he was....” Heath paused for dramatic effect and even Lindy was engrossed. She couldn’t recall ever hearing this particular story. “Standing there plain as day. Except his clothes were that of a slave boy circa 1700s. He looked right...at...me.”

  “What did you do?” Carys asked, her voice barely a squeak.

  “The only thing I could do,” Heath said solemnly before breaking into a grin. “I squealed like a little girl, ran like hell and never looked back.”

  Everyone broke into laughter, including Carys, and Lindy grinned, enjoying the unexpected warmth in her chest as she returned to her exquisite island dinner. This felt good, sharing a meal with her family and Gabe and Carys. It felt...natural. She wasn’t sure why, and figured she shouldn’t spend too much time dissecting it for fear she might not like what she found, so Lindy simply took it for face value and left it at that.

  She stole a look at Gabe, struck again by how attractive the man was when he wasn’t glowering hard enough to scare small children. Sure, there was an austere quality about him most times, but now, with his guard down, the lines in his face relaxing with intermittent smiles, he had star quality. Kind of like George Clooney, Lindy mused.

  Lindy shook herself free from that particular train of thought and returned to the dinner conversation, which had continued without her.

  There was something happening here. She just wasn’t sure if it was something she should encourage or flat-out ignore.

  * * *

  GABE WAS SURPRISED to find dinner with the Bells had been unexpectedly enjoyable, even with the ghost story that was likely to give Carys nightmares in spite of her assurances to the contrary. As they walked to the bungalow, Carys ahead of them, Gabe felt compelled to invite Lindy to stay for coffee but didn’t know if he should.

  To be honest, any excuse would’ve worked—he wasn’t picky—but some part of him was telling him to bid her good-night and put an end to the day.

  In other words, move on.

  Lindy was a wild card in a game with stakes too high for his comfort. If he were single and carefree, he wouldn’t hesitate to slide his hand along her bare waistline and pull her to him, planting a slow and deep kiss
on that totally kissable mouth, but he wasn’t single.

  He was widowed with an impressionable daughter and the last thing she needed to see was her father casually messing around with every attractive woman that happened to walk by.

  Sound advice. Too bad his libido, which had been suppressed to the point he felt like a monk in training, was kicking to life, mentally removing each article of clothing on Lindy’s perfect body with its teeth. His breathing quickened and he was thankful for the darkness, which the tiki lights did little to dispel on the walking trail.

  “Dad, can we have ice cream?” Carys asked, completely oblivious to the awareness snapping between him and Lindy. She looked to Lindy with a smile. “You want some? We have chocolate and strawberry.”

  Lindy shot a look at Gabe as if asking his permission, and he appreciated her consideration. Saying yes seemed a small thing, even though he knew it wasn’t. Being around Lindy complicated his thoughts and crowded his conscience with too much carnal imagery to control.

  Sensing he wasn’t going to agree, Carys pulled no punches, pleading with that sweet, innocent voice that always tore at his heart and guaranteed his capitulation. “Pleeease, Daddy?” Carys asked, clasping her hands in front of her as if she were absolutely desperate to eat ice cream with Lindy and he couldn’t help but give in. It was just ice cream, right?

  “I don’t want to horn in on your family time,” Lindy murmured, quietly communicating that she understood his dilemma. “Dinner was great. Thanks for spending it with us.”

  Carys moaned in disappointment and started to pout as Lindy turned to go the way she came, and suddenly Gabe was blurting out an invitation that he wasn’t even sure he’d said out loud until he heard Carys squeal and start to run for the bungalow door.

  “Yay! I’ll go get the stuff ready. Do you like sprinkles?”

  “Of course,” Lindy said as if there was no other way to eat ice cream. “I like two scoops, one of strawberry and one of chocolate.” She slid a sexy look Gabe’s way, adding, “I don’t like to miss out on anything.”

  He swallowed and his Dockers shorts tightened, making him grateful, yet again, that it was dark outside. Damn, she was a sexy woman. And he was horny as hell.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  LINDY WASN’T SURE why she was pushing the envelope with Gabe. He didn’t want to start something with her and she sure as hell knew for certain she didn’t need to start something with him.

  However, she’d never been good at following her own advice, which clearly explained why she desperately wanted to kiss the man when she had no business doing so whatsoever.

  Maybe that was part of the allure.

  Her former therapist had said something about her always needing the thrill of the chase—not so much the relationship—and even though Lindy had thought the woman had been a quack and definitely not worth the $125 an hour she’d been charging, Lindy had grudgingly admitted there’d been a certain amount of truth to that assessment.

  The thrill was the chase.

  And the more unattainable the quarry, the better.

  But once she had them? Meh. Her interest level waned quickly.

  “I want to kiss you,” Lindy said bluntly, curious to see his reaction. With any luck he’d tell her he’d rather eat an eyeball sandwich than swap spit with her. Not that that was likely but a girl could hope.

  His mouth firmed in a deliciously aggravated line, then he said, “I want to kiss you, too. Which is a bad idea,” he added, though his eyes had fastened on her mouth as if he was already tasting the mango juice she’d had with dinner. A dark thrill chased her spine. “I don’t do casual,” he warned her.

  “And I don’t do relationships. At least not well,” Lindy amended with a subtle frown. “So what do we do?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Nothing? I don’t think that’s going to work. We’re both dealing with some hefty attraction, right? I mean, I know I’m not in a one-sided situation in this. So...maybe we should just kiss and get it out of our system and see what happens.”

  “I know where kissing leads,” Gabe said, his brow lifting in a sexy, yet sardonic arch that Lindy found insanely attractive. “Don’t you?”

  “I have an idea,” she murmured, biting her lip against the surge of arousal that followed his silky statement. “And that’s bad?”

  “I have a daughter to think about.”

  At the mention of Carys, Lindy flashed on the kid’s face and how devastated she’d be if Lindy were to come and go from her life as she was likely to do if Lindy and Gabe started hooking up. The kid didn’t need more people abandoning her. The knowledge was heavy enough to snuff the desire that had begun to kindle. Lindy took a step away, putting some distance between them. “You’re right.” She drew a deep breath to settle her nerves and then fixed a bright smile for his benefit. “Hey, tell Carys I’ll take a rain check on that ice cream. I just remembered my sister wants to have a family meeting to discuss some resort business so...yeah, I’ll catch you later.”

  “Lindy...”

  She stopped. “Yeah?”

  “It’s just ice cream.”

  “Maybe,” Lindy acknowledged. “But we both know ice cream could lead to...I don’t know, dangerous places. So, it’s better to just...not eat ice cream.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He exhaled, disappointment in the sound. “So...thanks for dinner.”

  “Sure.” Keep walking, Lindy, she told herself sternly, fully planning to execute that directive, but her feet seemed to have a different plan because she spun on her heel and launched herself at Gabe, connecting with his lips before either of them could come to their senses.

  His lips moved against hers, eager, almost desperate, and his tongue sought and found hers with unerring accuracy, sending an immediate wild thrill arcing through her body, causing Lindy to momentarily forget all the good reasons she wasn’t supposed to want him.

  The sound of Carys returning, her young voice happy and excited, caused the two of them to bounce apart as if scalded. Lindy’s hand trembled as she wiped her mouth, shocked and appalled at the same time how much she wanted to continue doing exactly what they shouldn’t be doing, and judging by Gabe’s expression he struggled with the same impulse.

  “I should go,” Lindy whispered, her voice an embarrassed wobble.

  Gabe jerked a nod, true distress in his eyes replacing the haze of lust. “Carys...” he started, as if needing to explain but Lindy didn’t need an explanation. She got it. Oh boy, if anyone got it, Lindy did. Carys didn’t need a flake like Lindy in her life, not like this. Not now.

  “Tell her I’ll take a rain check,” Lindy reminded Gabe with a forced smile, eager to get the hell away. Shame was setting in for her lack of control, her dangerous need for the hunt no matter the cost and Lindy knew she couldn’t let Carys get caught in the cross fire of her emotional damage. Not trusting herself to say more, she split without looking back.

  * * *

  GABE TRIED CALMING his wildly beating heart but it was still racing when Carys poked her head from the door. She frowned when she saw Gabe was alone. “Where’d Lindy go?” she asked, looking beyond Gabe into the darkness.

  “She had to go. She forgot about some resort business,” Gabe answered, adding when Carys’s expression fell, “but she said she wants a rain check. She truly wanted to stay but there were other things she had to attend to.” Gabe’s mind was spinning—had he just been in Lindy Bell’s mouth? Their tongues twining like vines with one another? He suppressed a shudder of pure desire at the memory. Yes, that definitely had happened. Oh hell. So much for shutting down the libido before it got him into trouble. He pushed the thought away and focused on Carys. “But how about me? I’m still up for a scoop or two.”

  “Okay,” Carys said, but plainly she was still disappointed. “Do you thin
k we can hang out with Lindy tomorrow?”

  Definitely not. “I don’t know, sweetheart. She probably has plans. I’d hate to be an unwelcome houseguest who doesn’t know when to do their own thing, you know? It was real nice of the Bells to invite us to dinner but ultimately, we’re just guests at their resort. We can go shopping, though, if you want. How about we check out that new shop in the plaza, the one with the bracelets you liked?”

  “Sure, I guess,” Carys said, sighing, casting one last look toward the main house. “Well, we’d better eat our ice cream before it melts.”

  Gabe refrained from commenting on how Carys’s preference for Lindy’s company hurt his feelings. It’d been a good night. He wasn’t about to ruin it by picking a fight.

  For the first time in months, he’d heard Carys laugh and act like a normal eleven-year-old and not some petulant, spoiled brat.

  And he wasn’t above savoring the moment.

  He wasn’t sure how long it would last.

  Carys’s disappointment over Lindy changing her mind at the last minute didn’t seem to dim her enjoyment of her ice cream and she finished two scoops in record time while Gabe was still savoring his. His cell phone buzzed to life on the counter and both Gabe and Carys stared at the phone. His first instinct was to reach for it, but he sensed Carys was waiting to see what he would do. It felt as if something important was balancing between them and one wrong move could tilt their relationship in the wrong direction. In spite of the fact that his brain was screaming at him to answer the phone, he deliberately ignored the buzzing and continued to enjoy his ice cream.

  His reward was a small smile from his daughter and it felt pretty good to earn it.

  “So, tell me what you’re looking forward to about the upcoming school year,” he said, trying to spark a normal conversation. “Big fifth grade coming up. Before you know it, it’ll be sixth grade and then junior high. Times flies when you’re having fun, right?”

  “When does the fun start?” She surprised him with a dry quip.