by Thea Devine
She rushed back through the front door, humming a song that had been playing on the radio and hoping buff beach-boy Greg would come calling as he’d promised. She hadn’t made it halfway inside the room when the sound of a door slamming froze her in her tracks.
“Who are you?”
They both asked the question at the same time, Edie and the nearly stark-naked, soaking wet—gorgeous—man who stood on the other side of the room, staring at her, both of them equally shocked.
He was tall—the epitome of tall, dark and incredibly, fascinatingly handsome. All coherent thoughts logjammed in her brain. Her heart pounded in her ears though she wasn’t sure if she was frightened or just surprised. She stood staring, gaping.
“Who are you? And how did you get in here?” the man asked suspiciously, striding across the tile floor as if he belonged there. He obviously wasn’t worried about his safety with her.
He went over to a closet where he opened a door, yanked out a towel and proceeded to rub it over his perfect torso, further distracting her. He was muscular, but not overly so. Sculpted was the word that came to mind as she watched him dry off.
My God, were all the men here perfect?
“I’m Edie. Edie Stevens,” she managed, dragging her mind back to the moment, blinking as he reached for the jeans and hauled them on over his skivvies. “The door was open.”
“So you just let yourself in?”
His sarcastic tone shook her out of her momentary halt.
“Wait. Who are you?” she asked more clearly, raising her eyes to his intense silver ones. The irises seemed almost transparent and his gaze was incisor-sharp. A wedge of straight black hair over his forehead added a touch of devil-may-care danger to his appearance, making her shiver. The way he looked at her—as though she’d done something wrong even though she hadn’t—was so distracting.
“Well, Edie Stevens, why are you in my house?”
Her eyebrows flew up. “Your house?”
“Yes, my house. I live here.”
A furious blush burned her cheeks as realization set in—had she screwed up again? Or had Greg sent her in the wrong direction? The door had been unlocked and the place looked so much like the one in the pictures…could she have located the wrong house? Mortified, she closed her eyes for a moment, then reluctantly opened them knowing she had to face the music.
“Oh God…I’m so sorry. I must have the wrong place. I got a little lost, and someone gave me directions. This was the only house on the road, and it looks just like the pictures, so I just assumed—”
“What house are you looking for?” he interrupted. He had a foot on her, height-wise, and she was face-to-face with his amazing chest. She’d always been a chest girl—nothing like a strong male torso to cuddle up on. His was fantasy material.
Edie wasn’t usually flustered around men—she worked with dozens of them; many of her clients at the accounting firm were powerful, wealthy good-looking males. Being so rattled irritated her, and she drew herself up, mentally chastising herself for the flustered response.
“I was looking for 1279 Beach Plum Road. I rented the house for two weeks, and—”
“Who’s your Realtor?”
“Jason Yates. Beachside Realty.”
The man offered a gusty sigh, and tossed his towel on the chair by the door.
“Well, it seems you have the right address, so accept my apologies, but we’ve obviously got a rental mix-up. I’m Joel Roberts, the owner of the property. I distinctly instructed them not to book rentals for this month, but unfortunately, I guess someone must have gotten their wires crossed. Sorry about that.”
Edie took in his conciliatory tone, but instinct told her that he didn’t sound as if he was going to rectify the situation, either.
“Well, it wasn’t my mistake. I rented this house for two weeks—I paid months in advance. I drove all the way from Cleveland.”
“You’ll have to find another place. I’ll make sure you get a full refund of your money,” he said matter-of-factly.
Edie stood her ground. “I don’t want a refund—and I don’t want to be stuck in some crowded motel on the highway, either. I paid in advance and in good faith for this place, and this is where I want to be. It already cost me time and money to come this far, and I want the vacation I paid for. I have my receipts,” she said with conviction, glad she’d packed a copy of the rental agreement and the connected payments. In her line of work, she’d always found too much documentation was better than not enough.
He seemed momentarily taken aback by her vehemence, but shook his head.
“I’m sorry, I really am. I understand you’re in a spot, but I’m here for the next few weeks, and this is my home. I have contacts around the Cape—you can stay here tonight. I’ll make some calls in the morning to find you another comparable house, maybe even someplace better, okay?”
“You want us to stay here in the same house? Together?”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t worry. It’s just one night, and you’re not in any danger from me.”
“Oh. Thanks. I think.”
She supposed he was being reasonable about it, and if he could find her a nice place, she couldn’t really argue with that.
Normally, she would never have agreed to spend the night in the same house with a strange man, but it wasn’t as if they were sharing a room, right? And what other choice did she have? It was his house. She couldn’t exactly ask him to leave. And sharing a house with a handsome man, even for a night, piqued her sense of adventure.
Edie wasn’t a risk-taker, but this was her chance. She could spend the night with this guy, right?
“There are four bedrooms in this house—and I assume the doors close. I think we can both tough it out for a night, assuming you stay on the right side of yours.” She figured a little warning never hurt. Better to be direct.
He raised his eyebrows. “Don’t worry about that. Pretty as you are, I’m not interested in that particular kind of trouble.”
Just what did he mean by that, she wondered? She was tempted to ask, but the way his expression turned carefully neutral as he said the words discouraged her from doing so. None of her business.
She grimaced and grabbed her bags, frustrated that her perfect vacation wasn’t exactly getting off to a peaceful start. Who knew what tomorrow would bring, where she’d end up, or how long it would take to find a new place and settle in?
Mind over matter. She was here. She was on vacation, and she had a place to stay for the night. It would all work out. Vacation was about adventure, and adventure wasn’t always safe and predictable.
Hoisting her bags, she nodded.
“If you can tell me which room is mine, I’d appreciate it, and we’ll get this settled in the morning, I guess.”
Upstairs she walked into the first room she passed and fell in love with the place all over again. Setting her bags down with a decisive thump, she walked over to the window and looked out at the sunset, the sky and the ocean seeming to darken at once, closing in on each other. It was soothing, so different from the noisy, bustling suburban neighborhoods she was used to. She smiled as a silver-white bird cut through the scene, diving for its dinner.
The room was so pretty with its practical and sturdy furnishings and nautical colors and themes. It was perfect. She didn’t want to give up her vacation dream. Maybe she could use feminine wiles to convince him to let her stay…?
Her shoulders slumped and she leaned back against the wall. No, she wanted some adventure, but she wasn’t that daring. Besides, he’d hardly looked interested, and her feminine wiles were out of practice.
Still, she had to find a way to convince him to let her stay. It was a big house, and why not? Edie was an optimist—they could work it out.
It was too early to go to bed anyway, and she was hungry. Maybe she’d go downstairs and wow her temporary host with her culinary skills, a much safer way of getting on his good side.
As she cha
nged her clothes, however, she strategically chose a particularly sexy black tank top that she’d bought especially for the trip. It revealed more cleavage than she usually did, but if she was going to persuade Joel to let her hang around, she had to use every asset she had available.
Taking a deep breath and planning to put her best foot forward, she headed downstairs and hoped for the best.
2
JOEL SAT on the deck listening to the sounds of the waves splashing up on the shore and tried to find a solution out of this situation. He’d made a few quick phone calls while his new guest was upstairs, but it was a no-go. It was high season, and there wasn’t a house rental or even a hotel room to be found.
He was here to relax, to get back in touch with what mattered in his life. And he had intended to do that alone.
A failed marriage had been the last straw in his life, and he had to make some changes. He owned a successful law practice, and it had taken everything he had for the last ten years. He’d finally stopped handling it all himself and had added two partners who could run things without him for periods of time. But it was still his firm. However, he was planning to reprioritize a little. Women were not a priority except in the most casual way, and having one living in his house was very inconvenient. Especially a blond bombshell who made it difficult to Zen out and remember he was here for a higher purpose.
His rumbling stomach put an end to his brooding thoughts for the time being. Right now he should put something on for dinner and play the host, at least for tonight. Pushing out of his chair, he went back inside, and, as he rounded the corner, the sight of Edie Stevens in a pair of barely-there white shorts and a sexy black tank top stopped him in his tracks. Guilt and lust assailed him all at once. He wanted her to go, but he momentarily forgot why.
Reining in his libido, he ruthlessly reminded himself that the same reaction to another beautiful woman had landed him in a marriage that never should have happened. His romantic impulses weren’t very reliable.
All the same, he was almost incapable of dragging his eyes away from Edie as she bent to tie her sneaker. Her skin was pale, but it was classic peaches-and-cream. With loose blond curls, blue eyes and Daisy Duke legs, she was a midwest-farmer’s-daughter fantasy walking around his house.
She saw him and straightened, facing him. “I, uh, settled in, but wondered if I could make you something for dinner? I’m a decent cook, and I wanted to thank you for letting me stay tonight and trying to find me another place.”
He decided to break the bad news directly. “Actually, I’m not sure this will work out. I made some calls, but I couldn’t find you another place. I’m sorry, I really am. I will refund your money and in addition, I’d even be willing to rent you the house another time. You can come here for another two weeks we mutually agree on, no charge.”
She looked at him, her soft blue irises turning steely as slate in spite of his more-than-generous offer. She wasn’t happy, but it was the best he could do. He was taking a loss on negotiating with her, and Joel rarely lost.
“Listen, I rented this house, and I’m staying here if you can’t find another place,” she declared stubbornly. “My contract is signed and paid in full. I have all the paperwork with me, and you haven’t even considered the four-hundred-and-fifty-dollar car rental, one hundred dollars of gas and the twelve-hour drive here. I am not turning around and driving back now.”
He hadn’t expected that reaction, he had to be honest. She had grounds, literally, but he’d expected her to jump at his offer and couldn’t believe she was pushing the issue.
However, she had a point. He’d drawn up the airtight rental contracts himself, and he couldn’t ask her to leave when she had a signed agreement, not to mention her other expenses. There were a few cancellation clauses in the contract, but “the owner wants the house to himself” wasn’t one of them.
“I was just hoping that you’d understand, and that we could work something out,” he said lamely.
“I see. You live here. I came here for my vacation, and that’s all I want. I suggest we just keep doing what we’re doing now. Share.”
“Share? As in live here? Together?”
“Sure, why not? We’re adults.”
“It won’t work,” he stated flatly.
“Why not?”
“It won’t work because I’m a man and you’re a woman—a very sexy, hot woman, and if we’re in the same space, we’re going to end up in bed, and though I’m quite sure it would be great, I don’t need that kind of trouble.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Well, aren’t we just sure of ourselves?” she said sarcastically, but her cheeks turned pink, and he knew he’d hit a nerve.
He ran a hand through his hair, realizing he had sounded just a bit full of himself. Finding women willing to spend time with him had never been a problem, but Edie Stevens didn’t look like she was one of them. He tried a different tack, if appealing to her money sense wouldn’t work.
“I’m sorry. But you see, I came here to be alone, to reflect on life after my divorce, and I don’t really see how I can do that with company. Especially company as distracting as you are,” he said, meaning it.
She blinked, and he knew she’d been thrown by the compliment. Score one for him. It wasn’t enough to throw her off her game, though.
“I’m sorry about your divorce, that sucks. But I’ll be gone a lot, at the beach, shopping, relaxing. I don’t expect you to entertain me, or even talk to me if you don’t want to. We could just share the space. There are two bathrooms, so we should be fine.”
She made it all sound so easy, so practical. He stood silent, unable to come up with any more objections, except that looking at her made him hot. That was going to make it difficult for him to relax, but he didn’t think she’d be sympathetic to the point.
Being a lawyer, he couldn’t deny the logic of her argument. She’d rented the place, and what harm could it do? She seemed nice enough, and it was only two weeks, right?
He was nodding before he had really finished the thought, and her smile was so wide he felt the flash of it right down to his feet. Edie might not be interested in him, but Joel could find himself in a cold shower a lot over the next two weeks.
“Oh, good! Thank you!”
Suddenly she was sweet as sunshine, and Joel knew he’d lost—and lost soundly.
She opened a few cupboards and pulled out a pan. “Let me make you dinner, okay? We can just talk and get comfortable with each other, and as of tomorrow morning, you’ll hardly know I’m here.”
Joel blankly watched Edie plunge into the refrigerator and start making dinner. It was disconcerting, but he was just going to go with the flow. He could sit tonight and share a meal, and hope she’d hold to her word that in the morning, they’d live like two strangers in the same house. It was just two weeks, he reminded himself.
He choked off a groan as she bent to grab some vegetables out of the lower compartment, the white shorts riding up even higher. He closed his eyes, hoping the next two weeks would pass very quickly.
EDIE GASPED, walking forward into the dark gray-green water until it was up to her knees. It was bitterly cold; she hadn’t expected the warmth of the Caribbean, but her toes were already numb. Was it safe to swim in water this cold?
About twenty yards down the beach she saw two young children run into the rolling surf, laughing and screeching as their mother looked on. The fearless children made her ashamed of her shivering hesitation, and she took a deep breath and dove.
Oh. My. God.
Her body sliced through the icy water, and she surfaced with a laugh, quickly breaking into a strong crawl to get her body moving before she froze into place. The sun was baking down on her back, the cold water sliding along her front, her body hugged between bracing cold and burning hot.
Edie was a good swimmer, a credit to daily laps at the gym and parents who insisted their children learn to swim well at a young age. Cleveland sat on the edge of Lake Erie, which seemed as
large as an ocean and was certainly as dangerous.
Stopping for a moment to gauge how far she’d gone, she could still see the beach house to her left, and she spotted a boat moored in a small cove to her right. Someone walked on the deck—Joel. It had to be.
He was definitely incredibly hot and she was quite sure he’d know what he was doing in bed. He had that confident air that said he liked to be in control, and no doubt he knew how to satisfy. Maybe she’d like to find out, but he’d also made it clear he wasn’t interested. Besides, he had too much emotional baggage, coming off of his divorce. Handsome as he was—and as curious as she was—she wasn’t here to get weighed down by guys with issues. Fun was the operative word.
True to her word, she’d gotten up, taken herself out for breakfast, bought enough groceries to last her two weeks, and then come back and gathered all of her things for the beach, planning to stay here the entire day. Joel wouldn’t even know she was around, and she wanted to put him out of her thoughts, as well. Maybe she’d even meet some other hunks out on the sand. It was still early.
She swam along, not realizing how far she’d gone until a sudden pull grabbed her out of nowhere. She tensed, missing a stroke, and the next thing she knew, she was underwater, and her mind blanked with panic—shark!
No…no biting, she sighed with relief. However, she was being dragged out at a good speed. She was caught in an undertow, and knew if she was going to avoid drowning, she had to relax. Within moments the drag lessened, and she saw that she was quite a distance from the shore.
She could still spot Joel’s boat, and that was good. She tried swimming parallel, the only way to really get out of an undertow, but the current was too wide. She was stuck. It was damned cold. Treading water, she could see the speck of Joel’s red baseball cap on the deck of his boat. She shouted, choking down several mouthfuls of water, and she spat, trying again.
He stood in place, and she hoped against hope that he saw her. Unsure if her voice was carrying, she reached back and undid her top, lifting her arm up as high as she could and waving the bright-yellow bra in the air like a flag.
