“Does she work around here?”
John looked from Alex to Gage, clearly sensing the territorial issues that hung in the air between them like a storm cloud. “Um, well, her family is the Sinclairs. They own the Windswept Bay Resort, and she and two of her sisters are running it now.”
That was an interesting fact. Gage had passed the resort on his way to his rental the day he’d arrived. “Thanks. I’ll drop by there then. I enjoyed the tour. All of you are doing great work here.”
“Thanks. We have a great team.” Alex watched him.
John agreed. “Come back anytime.” He walked with Gage back the way they’d come. “We should have Don Juan in the water in a week or so. And there’s more of the place to see. We have a saltwater pool for them when they’re well.”
“I’ll be back.”
Instead of leaving through the building, he took the sidewalk around the building and to his car. His steps were quick and his thoughts focused. He hadn’t come to the island to hole up as he’d been doing the last few days. He’d come to escape for a while and to deal with the emotions of his dad’s death that lay waiting and confusing behind a thin black curtain in his heart. But today, his thoughts were on a woman. Shar Sinclair. And what a woman she was.
He pressed the gas and pulled out onto the road in the direction of the resort.
The wind whipped through his hair and his shirt billowed open at the neck as the island air embraced him. And the vision of a girl inspired him.
Chapter Four
It was nearly three o’clock on Tuesday when Shar closed her computer and stood. “I’ve worked on getting that group from Georgia set up and as far as I can see, they are good to go on arrival. And I’ve got to say it’s a good thing, too, because I’m about at the end of my rope with Mrs. Albert Talbert the Third.” She held up her fingers one at a time, counting. “One, two, three! I’m about struck out. If that little Southern woman says, ‘bless your heart’ to me one more time, I might just have to tell her to stick— Hey, you two, stop laughing. This is not funny.” She glared at her sisters, who were not even trying to hide their laughter.
“Well, stop making all those mistakes,” Cali chided her from behind the protection of her desk.
Shar scowled. “I’m not the one making the mistakes. That woman has called every day since she booked this shindig here and gotten some detail wrong. But still, I’m the one ‘making’ the mistakes.” She put finger quotations around “making.”
“Bless your little ole heart,” Cali drawled, in a perfect imitation of Mrs. Talbert. “She blessed my heart a few times, too, when she first called about booking her gathering here. You’re doing a great job, Shar. You have been polite and patient. And for that I’m proud of you.”
Shar scowled deeper. “You act as if that’s a shock. I can be patient and polite,” she said, indignant. “If I want to be. And the truth is I’m this close,” she pinched her thumb and pointer finger almost together, leaving only a slight gap, “to not wanting to be nice any longer.”
“We could tell.” Jillian chuckled.
“Well, sisters, I’m about to take a breather. I have a plumber coming to the house to try and fix that leak I’ve had and I don’t want to miss him.”
“I thought you had someone come out last week to fix that,” Jillian said.
Shar quirked a brow. “He canceled at the last minute. If I want water, I have to turn it on at the main water valve. And believe me, it’s getting old.”
“Why don’t you have Horace come take a look at it?” Cali asked.
“Horace has his hands full keeping all the resort maintenance problems under control. I’ll get this done, even if I have to do it myself.”
Cali looked skeptical. “Good luck with that. Maybe you should call Dad or one of our many, many brothers. I’m sure one of them could do it for you.”
Shar laughed at the inside joke. If there was one thing she did have, it was brothers and sisters. The Sinclair clan could make up their own baseball team. “I can handle my own business, thank you very much.” She glanced at the clock. “I’m running late, though. Gotta go. Oh, and I’m picking our dresses up at ten in the morning. Woo-hoo!”
“I’m so excited,” Cali said with joy in her voice. “And good luck with the plumber.”
“Hope you picked a good one,” Jillian called as Shar headed toward the door.
“Me too.” Shar waved and then turned the corner and moved down the wide winding stairway that led to the lobby. She needed some fresh air and no Mrs. Albert Talbert calls for a while. She slowed midway down the stairs. A man stood in the lobby, studying Grant’s mural.
Her heart skipped a beat—okay, a lot of beats—as she continued down the stairs and then toward the tall, very well-built man.
“Someone has connections,” he muttered under his breath as she drew close.
Shar felt an unusual flutter of butterflies in her stomach. “My sister does.”
He spun around and she almost gasped when those eyes she hadn’t been able to forget bore into her. She lost her voice. Who was she kidding—she couldn’t breathe.
“Hi,” he said.
That simple word had her heart drumming again.
“I thought it was you.” She smiled and hoped to goodness that he could not hear the racket her heart was making. “I thought I was going to have to hunt you down to thank you for helping me save that sea turtle yesterday morning.”
“Oh really? Glad to know you were going to look for me. And I’m glad I could help. You were amazing. Fantastic, in fact.” He held out his hand. “I came to introduce myself. I’m Gage Lancaster.”
She took his hand and her pulse went into overdrive, just as it had the morning before. He didn’t let go right away, just held her fingers in his for an extra beat. “You were pretty great yourself,” she forced, trying to think of some dry response like she would normally make but nothing was there.
“I dropped by the hospital to check on the patient. John gave me a quick tour. It’s a great place.”
“It is. I love helping out there.”
“So, your family owns this resort. And your sister has connections.” He glanced at the mural. “They must be good connections to have gotten this.”
Shar laughed. “Yes, two of my sisters and I run the resort. And my sister Cali has the connection. Grant is her fiancé. So you’re a fan of Grant’s?”
“I’d say that’s a good connection.” He smiled and Shar felt a little lightheaded. “Who couldn’t be a fan? His work is inspiring.”
She struggled to focus on what he was saying and not on her crazy uncharacteristic reaction to the man. “You’ll have to see his two other murals that he did,” she managed and then took a deep breath. “One is on the outside of the building facing the coastline. The other is next to the pool.”
He rubbed his jaw and she so wanted to do that.
“Do you have time to give me a tour?”
“A what?” Focus, woman—focus! And not on rubbing his jaw.
“A tour of the place?” he clarified, looking hopeful.
And that single look tempted her to stand the plumber up right then and there. Yep, the plumber was lucky she even remembered him in that instant. And it was pure survival instinct on her part that had her remembering her leaky pipes. “Um, no. I…I have a thing,” she admitted with great reluctance.
One perfect brown brow rose. “A thing?”
“Uh-huh.” Her brows met. “Appointment. I have an appointment,” she stammered.
“Then how about dinner?” he asked, without missing a beat.
“Dinner? No—no, I can’t. I…I have plans tonight.” Something in her, probably those survival instincts, told her to resist the overwhelming pull she felt toward the man.
He placed a hand on his heart. “I’m being brushed off.”
He was cute and gorgeous. Shar laughed; that helped her persevere and feel more like herself. “No, really, I have previous plans.” But you could
cancel…let the pipes leak for another day.
She was so very tempted. “No,” she said more firmly. “I can’t.”
He studied her, probably trying to decide whether he actually was being brushed off and she just didn’t have the nerve to tell him.
“Are you and Alex together?”
That came out of the blue. “Alex? Um, no. Wait, I didn’t mean it like that…I love Alex. He’s a great guy, but no, I’m not with him.”
“That’s good to know. Just wanted to get that cleared up in my head. How about lunch tomorrow?”
“I’m sorry—”
“But you’re busy.”
“Well, yes.”
“Dinner?”
“No.” She bit her lip. “Look, I am sorry, but I can’t. I hate to run but I need to go. I’m late. You should go see Grant’s other paintings. Just follow the signs to the pool and then follow the path out to the beach and turn around. You can’t miss it. Thanks again for helping save the turtle.”
Shar felt a little sick to her stomach as she fled the building. Why had she shut him out like that? Survival instincts be hanged! Yes, she had legitimate plans but she could have explained them all. But…the truth was that looking into Gage Lancaster’s eyes had suddenly scared her to death. It was as if she knew that if she started something with him, she might be in danger of falling into the deep end of the pool—and she wasn’t sure whether she’d be able to swim or whether she’d sink.
Gage had just been blown off. He watched Shar flee. That was the only word that came to mind as he watched her exit the building. He’d never dated much. He’d been busy and most times women had been a complication when he had the pressure of helping build the empire his dad was so set on building. When he did ask a woman out, she usually jumped at the chance and she usually knew who he was. And that added its own complication. Manhattan was a long way away from Windswept Bay, though, and for the most part he was an unknown. At least so far.
“You’re Benjamin Lancaster.”
So much for assumptions. He turned to find a gorgeous, sleek woman in a see-through black cover-up that showed off a spectacular figure in a very skimpy black swimsuit.
“I am.” He was tempted to deny his own identity.
She smiled a brilliant white smile. “I saw you on the cover of Forbes. I’m Gayle.” She held out her hand. The diamond rings sparkled like the carats in her ears.
“It’s nice to meet you, Gayle. I’m sorry, but I have to go. But it was nice meeting you.”
“Likewise. I’m here all week.” She batted false eyelashes at him.
“Ah, well, great. It’s a beautiful island.” He headed out the way Shar had just gone, making himself stride and not run. He caught a glimpse of her leaving in a yellow Jeep that had no top. Her dark curls waved in the wind as she goosed the gas and sped off down the road.
Unable to help himself, he jogged to his car and slid behind the wheel. Almost before he was in the seat, he had the engine of his sports car fired up. Glancing over his shoulder, he backed out, shifted into drive and pressed the gas pedal. His tires squealed as he goosed it to get on the road in front of three cars that would have cut him off from getting behind Shar if he hadn’t had the powerful car.
He was bearing down on her when he came to his senses. What was he doing? Had he lost his mind? He lifted his foot off the gas and slowed; he pulled off the road and came to a jerking stop. He watched the yellow SUV disappear around a curve. He took a heavy breath. He had lost his mind. What would she think if she found him chasing her down? Not exactly the way to make a good impression. And he wanted to impress Shar Sinclair.
His phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket to see it was Kym. He tossed the phone into the seat next to him. The next time he talked to her, he’d make the call. Right now, he had to figure out what his next move was on getting Shar Sinclair to spend time with him.
Chapter Five
Shar’s heart beat inside her chest like an out-of-control rock band as she sped down the road. She could not believe she’d left him standing in the middle of the resort.
Gage. She liked his name. It fit him. And he was more gorgeous than she’d thought. His blue eyes were intense—as was the way he’d looked at her. She tightened her hands on her steering wheel, remembering the way she’d reacted to his handshake. His touch was a bolt of heat that shot through her like a ball of fire. And that look in his eyes.
She shivered just thinking about it. Yep, those feelings were exactly what had her on the run.
She’d never felt that before…that thunderbolt. That heat. And she might be blunt sometimes and a little pushy—okay, a lot pushy—when she wanted something. But there was a part of her that was vulnerable. And all that emotion scared the daylights out of her. But she wasn’t about to let anyone know that tidbit.
Nope, not her.
Arriving home, she pulled into her small garage and checked her watch. She was ten minutes late for the plumber and there was no plumber’s van in sight. She sighed as she unlocked her door and entered the house.
“Rufus,” she called, finding it unusual for her little Heinz 57 mixed dog not to meet her at the door. “Rufus, here, boy. Where are you?” she called again, half laughing. “Are you hiding?”
She walked into the kitchen and set her keys on the counter—and spotted two big footprints on her tile floor.
“No,” she squealed and spun around, scanning the room for any sign of an intruder still being in the house. As she looked, she spotted the double doors onto her deck open. Her heart pounded in a completely different way than it had pounded moments ago upon seeing Gage. No, this adrenaline shot she could do without. She snatched up a heavy pan from the overhead pot rack and held it like a weapon as she moved around the end of the bar.
A note on the floor caught her attention. Scooping it up, she saw it was from her plumber. A quick scan had her growling in aggravation and frustration. She might just hurt Albert Meeks when she saw him. He’d arrived early, found an open door and just let himself inside. On top of that, he couldn’t find her leak so he left. So much for having an appointment with him. And in the meantime, Rufus had escaped.
Her new little rescue pup was still skittish and had probably gotten out of the house and was hiding somewhere, frightened.
Jogging out onto her deck that overlooked the almost private beach, she hurried down the steps, calling Rufus’s name. When he didn’t answer with a quick bark or show himself, she began to really worry. She hurried back inside, grabbed his leash and then ran back out to look for him through the neighborhood.
She’d found him at the local shelter and could not leave him behind. He was so stinkin’ ugly with his dull-brown, scruffy-haired body and large head. Ugly but cute fit him perfectly. She thought he was adorable and sweet. And she had to find him.
Shar raced out onto the beach, hating the idea of the poor puppy being lost. She looked down the beach both ways, hoping for some sign as to which way to start her search.
It was late in the afternoon and there was no one around. Shar loved this beach because it was so secluded. Most of the homes on this beach were owned by wealthy homeowners who vacationed here on occasion. This gave her the beach to herself much of the time but it also gave Rufus so many places to run and hide and no one to see him. The homes were not right on the beach, purposefully hidden among the landscape and quietly secluded. As she scanned the beach, deciding which way to go, the Glass Castle house caught her attention at the end of the beach. It was kind of an eyesore among all of the more sedate homes but she thought that was where Gage was staying. He’d headed that direction when he’d gone to get a knife. She headed that way.
“Rufus,” she called. “Come here, boy.” Over and over, she called for the pup as she went from one home to the other. It was taking forever. There were actually twenty homes hidden along this beach; no one would ever realize that until they’d walked up each path and hunted through bushes and sand dunes along the way. And she
had done just that in the last hour with no sign of her little puppy.
Hot, in more ways than one, Shar decided she might very well hurt the plumber when she found him. First, he’d entered her home without permission, but the worst was he’d let her puppy escape. Yep, Meeks better stay hidden just as good as Rufus was if he knew what was good for him.
Pushing her anger aside, Shar headed toward the last home on the stretch of sand and prayed Rufus was there.
Gage was unloading groceries from his car when he heard a whimper from the bushes just outside the garage. He’d spent an hour at the grocery store after coming to his senses and discontinuing chasing Shar down in his car. Deciding he needed to act like a sane person and not some infatuated lunatic had been a good move.
The whimper came again. Gage set the bag of groceries on the hood of the car and went to investigate. Crouching down, he peered into the hedge. Two big, dark eyes blinked back at him.
“Well, hello there, little guy.” Gage wasn’t sure whether he’d ever seen such an ugly puppy but the poor thing shivered, he was so scared, and Gage’s heart melted. “Come on, come out,” he coaxed. When the pup made no move to do as he was asked, Gage eased his hands in and hoped he didn’t get bitten. There was a lot of hair but as his hand wrapped around the body, the pooch was more fluff than meat and bone. Looking at the name tag attached to the collar, Gage smiled. “Okay, Rufus. Let’s get you inside and call your owner.”
Somewhere With You (Windswept Bay Book 2) Page 3
