The woman ─Eve her nametag read─ looked up over wide gold frame glasses from the museum’s guest book. Her gaze flickered from Cindy to Ronan and stuck on the impatient looking male. Her brow lifted as if she were waiting for something. Only when he gave her a nearly imperceptible nod of assent did she bring her focus back to Cindy.
“How can I be of service?”
The woman’s brown can-sized curls shook as she passed a nervous smile between the two of them. Cindy rolled her eyes and pulled her hand from Ronan’s grasp then moved back over to the docent’s desk. He fell in behind her and placed a hand at the small of her back. Geez! Personal space?
She ignored him and took a picture of Karina out of her purse. It had been taken a couple of years ago on a hiking trip.
“I just wondered if you might remember having seen this woman.”
Ronan leaned over her shoulder to get a look at the picture. She could feel his breath in her hair and his hand at her back sent tingles up and down her spine. She wriggled a little to shake him off but he wouldn’t budge.
“She’s a friend of mine,” Cindy continued, despite all distractions, “and I’m looking for anyone that might have seen her in the last month.”
The woman fixed her glasses and looked at the pic.
“No, I can’t say that I’ve seen her here. But I’m only at the museum on Mondays and Thursdays. You’re welcome to ask another docent or the groundskeeper, he’s here all week.”
“Okay, thanks,” Cindy said, not quite able to keep the disappointment from her voice. She wondered if Marley was fairing any better.
Head Docent Eve just smiled in response then looked tentatively over her head at the dark brooding man behind her. Cindy felt that imperious nod being given and cringed in annoyance. He was highjacking her investigation! She pushed back off of the front desk and bumped into his brick house of a body with enough force to make him step back then stomped into the lighthouse’s main room.
He was on her in an instant, his hand wrapping around her bicep in a firm grip that stopped her.
“Don’t do that again,” he growled against her ear. Prickles shot through her neck and fanned over her collar bone. Her nipples tightened, the traitors. She took a deep breath and blew it out slow, hoping that he’d pick up on her irritation and not her arousal.
“Look, while we’re here, there are some things I need to do,” she said slowly as though talking to a child.
He turned her body enough so that she had to face his dark scowl.
“… p-people I need to talk to…” she pressed on.
His hand on her arm tightened, though not to the point of pain, and her knees started to go weak.
“It’s fine if you come along,” she said, her tone losing steam.
He canted his head at her and narrowed his eyes in what any sane person would consider a warning.
“What are you up to cara?”
“Quit with the ‘cara’ business. My name is Cindy,” she bit out.
All this earned her was a lifted eyebrow.
She drew in a deep breath and blew it out, resigned.
“I’m looking for some information here,” she didn’t know why he felt he was entitled to an explanation, but he had an old world air of authority about him that had her scrambling to give him one, “about a friend of mine,” she finished, or thought she had. When he just continued to look at her, waiting, she added, “who’s gone missing.”
He straightened to his full imposing height then and held a hand out for her picture of Kay. She huffed but handed it over. He studied it for a moment then gave it back.
“I’m sensing that you are meddling where you shouldn’t be, miss,” he stressed the last word, “if your friend has been kidnapped, her retrieval would best be left to the males in her own family or the proper authorities, certainly not a waif such as yourself, all on her own.”
His eyes widened as though something had just dawned on him and he glanced all around in disbelief.
“How is it that, each time we meet, you are wandering the streets without escort? Isn’t anyone responsible for you?”
Cindy’s jaw went slack and she stared back at him, wide eyes blazing.
“Huh,” was all she could manage, even she couldn’t decipher whether the inflection she’d placed on the syllable was interrogatory or plain bewildered outrage.
“R-responsible for me?” she blurted out. “That would be me. I’m responsible for me. 21st century buddy…”
Her voice started to rise but his snort cut her off and she felt herself being tugged from her spot. A quick look over her shoulder told her that Head Docent Eve was getting an eye full. Craning as she was over her desk. Ronan pulled Cindy until they were out of the older woman’s line of vision.
“That may be the case under ordinary circumstances but,” he pinned her to the wall with his stare, “until you have returned my property, you are mine to look after.”
The grip on her arm softened but he didn’t let go.
“For the remainder of our time together, you’re not to put yourself at risk in any way that could hinder my objective and you will not leave my presence.”
In contrast to her bluster, his words had lowered in volume at the end of his speech but were maddeningly more effective. Damn him. All she was trying to do was help her friend. She stiffened and started to tell him what he could do with his demands. Then her eyes caught on the grouping of framed photos fixed to the wall behind his head. They were of the museum staff and Head Docent Eve smiled garishly at her from behind her enormous glasses. The little brass plate beneath the picture read out Eve Stropper. Of course it did!
Cindy heaved a big sigh and rolled her eyes the likes of which teenage girls everywhere would have been proud and ground out, “all right, fine.”
He relaxed and those heavenly lips of his softened into the barest hint of a smile, then he graced her with that condescending nod of his and set her blood boiling once again.
“But,” she whipped out a pointy finger and angled it at his chin, “I’m here to do a job and I will get what I’m looking for,” she looked back at the entryway and lowered her voice to a harsh whisper, “whether you like it or not, mister high and mighty.”
He enclosed her finger along with the rest of her hand in his much larger one and held it close to his lips for a second before he brought it down between them slowly…so slowly. Then he leaned into her personal space until it felt like all the air around them had been displaced. She had to drop her head back to meet his eyes.
“Indeed mistress,” he said, “I shall merely accompany you on your…expedition. You won’t even know I am here.”
Cindy flung a stray curl out of her eye and pushed past him to lead the way. A firm pump to her hand assured her that, no matter what he said, he wasn’t letting her out of his sight…or his grip.
***
They progressed through the main floor quickly since they were nearly the only people there besides the cleaning lady. Cindy had approached her with Kay’s picture, but Ronan had had to step in and translate since she spoke only Spanish. Of course he’d turn out to be useful Cindy begrudged. A couple more quick conversations with the museum staff proved fruitless as well. Apparently, if Kay had ever been at the lighthouse, no one had seen her.
She was getting frustrated. First, with Marley who had sent her on this wild goose chase, and second with Ronan for taking over and being infinitely better at getting people to do what he wanted then she was. She hoped the Miami PD was more on top of Kay’s case than they seemed because her friend deserved for someone to be competent enough to find out what had happened to her.
“Don’t worry, cara,” Ronan’s deep voice fell warm against her ear startling her, “if there’s anything here, I’ll help you find it.”
She turned away and pretended to study a wall of photos while her eyes started to sting. He stood right behind her. Their hands were still clasped on one side while his other had come up to squeeze her s
houlder. It made no sense but his reassurance sounded so sincere that it made her want to cry. She could feel his body heat against her back and had to fight off the impulse to lean against him.
She cleared her throat and stepped away before she embarrassed herself. His nearness after all, was a thing being forced on her, whether she liked it or not. It was best if she didn’t analyze that little thought any further. She turned back around. Big mistake, the earnest look on his face mixed with his rock hard form and commanding ‘I have everything under control’ presence caused her breath to catch in her throat.
He looked like he’d just stepped off the cover of one of her books. This one would be titled, “The Pirate Lord’s Captive for a Day.” She trembled and one of his dark brows lifted along with the corners of his mouth. Damn. Damn him. Damn her horny self! She finally got her bearings and released her breath.
“Let’s go upstairs,” she said.
***
Once at the top of a winding iron staircase, they looked out the windows and the view was amazing. Sunlight danced on the water. A few schooners and tour boats drifted across the bay.
Standing next to Ronan with his dark attire and muscled build, she found herself imagining him on one of those ships in some bygone era. She turned her head to look at him. His eyes were on the water and he was lost in thought. His large hands were braced against the railing inside the lighthouse making the muscles in his forearms flex. She had let go of his hand to place her own on the brass rail too but their little fingers touched. It shouldn’t have even been noticeable but the subtle contact sent a low current of heat through her that she couldn’t ignore. The pull of attraction she felt to him was undeniable. She’d never had this reaction to any other man before. In fact, the exact opposite was always the case. She couldn’t imagine why he was different.
His shirt was loose at the top, giving Cindy a glimpse of his rock hard chest and hinted at the muscles that lay below. Her tongue flicked out to wet her suddenly parched lips. The close fitting black pants he wore were made of a soft fabric that hugged his butt and thighs and left little to the imagination when he shifted his weight and leaned against the wall. Her mouth watered at the sight. Then her eyes traveled down to his strong, well shaped calves and took in the black leather boots he wore. Once again, she was put in mind of a swashbuckler from days of old. He was probably the only man on earth who could pull those things off. Then again, he’d probably look good in anything…or out of it.
Her gaze traveled back up his form, stopping to linger at the front of his pants where a promising bulge was evident. She blushed then brought her eyes all the way up to his face and blushed even harder when she saw that he was staring back at her. How long had he known she’d been standing there, checking him out like a piece of meat?
“Are you enjoying the view, cara,” he asked.
She, quickly, looked out over the water and swallowed. All of a sudden, her mouth had gone dry. She attempted to clear her throat, and when she spoke, it was in a husky voice that she didn’t recognize as her own.
“It’s magnificent,” she said, not facing him. “I-I’ve never seen anything like it.” Oh god, what was she saying? “I mean, I don’t get to see the ocean very often. I’ve always wanted to go out on a boat. Do you sail?”
She was babbling like a madwoman.
“Oh yes,” he answered her in a sultry voice. If she ever figured out where he was from that men spoke in that deep accent he wielded, she’d be on the next plane. He continued, “I’ve charted many a course through the waters in my day. Plunging into the deep has always been a favorite pastime of mine.”
Cindy’s eyes widened and she turned her head to find him sporting a teasing grin. It was totally disarming. He took a step closer and she had to drop her head back to look up at him.
His head lowered and he swept a stray curl away from her eyelashes. The long sun-browned fingers of his hand brushed like a whisper across the bridge of her nose where a fine sprinkling of freckles stood out. He smiled and his eyes brightened as if he’d made some kind of discovery and she closed her eyes. Her head started to fall self-consciously but he caught her chin underneath and brought her back up to meet his stare. When the backs of his fingers ran down the column of her throat to the top of her breast, she let out a small gasp.
The sound seemed to trigger an instinctual response and he closed the last bit of distance between them, placing himself entirely in her space. Common sense told her to step away but her body moved even closer as if by some magnetic force and she tipped her face up to his, closer to his lips. They held a ghost of a smile as he lowered them to hers. Her heart beat like crazy in her chest as she rose up onto her toes, a breath away from making contact….
“Well, Herb, I think we finally made it to the top, just a few more steps and we can catch our breath.”
Footsteps sounded on the metal stairs.
“I’m coming Dora, my old bones are moving as fast as they can go,” wheezed another crackly voice.
They shot apart at the noise.
Cindy gave herself a shake to clear away the onslaught of hormones that had come over her then they both turned to look at the stairs just as a downy- soft, slightly lavender head, appeared up over the banister.
A little old lady beamed at them from her wrinkled face. She had it all – the glasses on a chain, the whole bit. One look and Cindy was sure that that face was out there somewhere making millions for a cookie franchise.
The woman was followed by her, what could only be assumed husband, the termed “Herb.”
“Well look Herb somebody made it up here before us”, the old lady smiled and her eyes crinkled up behind her trifocals.
“I don’t see how that happened,” Herb commented, “I brought my racer today.” His beady eyes twinkled and he waved the rubber tip of his cane at them. “Yessir, the only reason I trudged all the way up here was to try and beat my qualifying time,” he continued with the joke, obviously very pleased with his line of cleverness.
“Oh Herb,” Dora twittered, “It’s a good thing these youngsters did get here before us. They wouldn’t have wanted to be stuck behind two oldies like us coming up those stairs.”
Herb just snorted in response.
“Well now, would you look at that view?” Dora exclaimed and shuffled over to the windows. Herb followed, stabbing along with his cane.
Cindy thought she’d never seen a more adorable pair than these two. Dora placed her hands on the rail to look out, her fingers bedecked with a number of enormous rings. She looked on as Herb sidled up next to his wife and put one age-spot covered hand at her back then leaned heavily on his cane with the other.
Ronan was watching the elderly couple too and smiled faintly at Cindy when she turned his way. She cocked her head and her eyebrows drew together as she studied him. He was ashen again, all of a sudden, leaning against the wall for support. She was just about to comment when Dora beat her to it.
“Are you alright young man?” She asked with grandmotherly concern. “You don‘t look so well. Doesn‘t he look a little peaked to you Herb?”
“Eh? What’s that?” the old geezer squinted over in their direction.
“Well, land sakes, the poor dear looks just about ready to fall over I’d say,” Dora continued to fuss.
Cindy was at a loss for what to do. She didn’t want to make a scene but Ronan really looked sick.
“Oh, well maybe he had some bad Cuban food. Did you have some bad Cuban son?” The old guy half yelled across the room in the manner of those with poor hearing.
“I am well!” Ronan burst out in defense of himself, trying to maintain some dignity. “Really, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”
As he said this, he sagged against the wall and looked in serious danger of collapsing. Cindy rushed forward, and just as her hands made contact with his arms, his head snapped up and his eyes lit with a strange glow. Her breath caught at the effect and she stared at him, shocked. Renewed strengt
h coursed through him and something akin to electricity sizzled inside her in response. She tightened her grip on his biceps.
Someone cleared their throat and she turned to find Herb and Dora both looking at them.
“Maybe we should go,” Cindy said.
“Yes, good idea,” Ronan agreed.
“You two enjoy your day,” Cindy said to the octogenarians.
“Herb…Dora,” Ronan nodded at them as they made their way to the staircase.
The couple shuffled aside to clear a path and Ronan led the way down, holding on to Cindy’s hand. Just like that, he was restored to his demanding, take charge self again. As they fled, a warm, papery hand touched Cindy’s on the rail and she stopped, looking up into two magnified eyes.
Dora leaned forward peering down at her over the rail, her face wrinkled up in a conspiratorial smile.
“Take good care of that young man dear” she said, “he’s a looker!” Her silvery eyebrows wagged up and down behind her glasses suggestively.
Cindy had to stifle a laugh. She nodded and winked as Ronan fairly pulled her the rest of the way down the stairs.
Chapter Fourteen
“What was that back there?”
Cindy tumbled out the doors of the lighthouse behind Ronan until he finally halted on the sidewalk.
“I don’t understand, one minute you looked like you were ready to pass out and the next you were fine.” She wagged a finger at him. “You have some ‘splaining to do Lucy.”
He eyeballed her finger then brushed it aside
“I don’t always understand your way of speaking,” he said, looking truly puzzled by her.
“You don’t know ‘I love Lucy’? I know that’s old school but sheez! Have you been living on a deserted island or something?”
Ronan inhaled through his nose, she’d hit closer to the truth than she knew. What was even more disconcerting was the effect she was having on him. What powers did she possess that she could still Thema’s curse with her touch?
“You have no idea, woman. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you”
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