‘What right do you think you have to push your way in here as if you owned the place...?’ She halted, jolted by the sudden stunned expression in his eyes. ‘What’s the...?’
‘You’re green,’ he choked out. ‘What in the world happened to you? Are you sick?’
He staggered back against the opposite wall as if the very sight of her had knocked the knees from under him.
‘All right,’ she snapped, ‘say what you have to say then get out.’
‘It’s a face mask.’ He ran a hand over his mouth, and she was sure he was hiding a smile. ‘Ruined now, of course. Cracked all to hell.’ The smile couldn’t be contained. It became a chuckle. And then a full-bodied belly laugh. ‘Hey, I’m sorry ... but if you could only see yourself—’
‘Say what you have to say,’ she gritted, ‘and get out of here!’ Out of my life!
‘First of all, then—’ his voice had a strangled sound ‘—I came in here as if I owned the place because I do own the place.’
‘When it’s rented out, you have absolutely no right whatsoever to come in here without an invitation.’
‘Which you were not about to offer, as I recall—’
‘Nor ever will! OK, that’s the “First of all” taken care of. Now, what was the real point of your visit?’
‘I came to apologise.’
‘For...?’
‘For... assuming the worst this morning. For accusing you without asking for your side of the story. I assure you it won’t ever happen again.’
For a second, she melted. He looked so sincerely repentant, she was almost on the point of forgiving him. And then she heard a muffled moan come from deep in his throat, and she knew he was laughing at her. Again.
‘Get out!’ Temper aflare, she jerked the towel even more tightly around her breasts to make doubly sure it wouldn’t fall again as she marched back along the hall to the door, which still lay open.
She stalked to one side, bracing herself, waiting for him to pass by.
‘I think,’ he said softly, ‘it would be a good idea if, from now on, you and I could keep out of each other’s way.’
‘Oh, you’ll get no argument from me on that point, Mr Hunter. I couldn’t agree more.’
‘Well, hell, finally we’ve agreed on something. Who says miracles don’t happen?’
He grinned, and the sight infuriated her. She wanted to slap him, but she stood still as a marble statue, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing how close to being out of control she really was.
He left then. And as he brushed past her his arm touched hers. She hadn’t been expecting that, nor could she possibly have anticipated the shock of electricity that passed between them. It jolted her whole body and she inhaled sharply. With the inhalation came the musky scent of him.
It was heady, and intoxicating, and erotic.
She stared after him, her legs sagging, her mind reeling, as he strode away along the path.
She couldn’t have moved had her life depended on it.
She was still standing there, rooted to the floor, long after he’d disappeared around the corner.
She’d never felt such a thing before. Oh, she’d read about it, but she’d never experienced it—that sexual electricity that could arc between a man and a woman.
It was disturbing...it was exhilarating.
And it was the very last thing in the world she wanted.
Over the next week, Logan saw next to nothing of his near-neighbour...but that didn’t mean he didn’t think about her.
He didn’t want to think about her, but from time to time, when he least expected it, images of her would sneak into his mind.
Two images, to be exact.
The first invariably set his pulses pounding: the fiery Mrs Wynter wearing nothing but a white cotton bra and bikini panties, her skin so smooth it just begged to be caressed.
The second...well, even now he couldn’t think of it without chuckling. She’d looked like an alien from Mars with that green face mask...but with those turquoise eyes spitting at him and those pink lips snapping at him and that glorious blonde hair scraped back in a perky ponytail she’d been something else again...
Only what that something else was he couldn’t pin down. And he didn’t even begin to try to.
The woman spelled trouble, with every letter in bold black caps!
His decision to stay away from her was one of the most sensible he’d ever made in his life.
And on this sunny afternoon, as he walked into his study, he idly congratulated himself on that very thing. Life on the island had always been simple, and he wanted to keep it that way. No complications, no entanglements.
‘Andy—’ he hitched a hip on the edge of the computer desk, where his daughter was sitting at the keyboard ‘—I thought I’d take a hike to the old swimming hole and cool off. Want to come?’
‘No, thanks, Dad.’ Andrea’s eyes were fixed on the monitor. ‘I’ve got tons of e-mail to answer. You go, though. I’ll catch you later.’
‘Fan club stuff?’
‘Mmm...’
‘OK.’ He glanced around. ‘Can’t believe we’ve been here a week, but we’ve gotten a pile of work done...though this room looks so darned bare now without all our books. The whole house looks bare, with all the knick-knacks packed away—’
‘Dad, do you mind? I’m leaving with Chrissie tomorrow morning...I’ve really got to get these letters written this afternoon.’
He pushed himself to his feet. ‘Right, I’ll be off. What are we having for dinner?’
‘Oh, it’s my turn, isn’t it?’ Finally, she looked up at him, but in an absent way, with a distracted frown tucking her brows together. ‘How about...um...a stir-fry?’
Her mother’s eyes. Large, the colour of rich dark chocolate, fringed with thick sable lashes. Just looking into them sent his thoughts spinning backwards. The ache of his loss...would it never go away? He’d always known he was a one-woman man; what he hadn’t known was the price he’d have to pay for being that way...
‘Stir-fry it is.’ He set a light hand on his daughter’s shoulder. ‘Did I ever tell you you’re a great kid? ’
‘Did I ever tell you you’re a great dad?’
Under his palm, he felt her shoulder muscles tighten. Her eyes lost their vague expression and became focused, serious. Determined.
‘We’re a team, right?’ she said.
He tried to lighten the moment. ‘Oh, sure...till some Prince Charming comes along and whisks you away on the back of his white charger—’
‘No way!’ She surged up from her chair and gave him a fierce hug. ‘I’ll never leave you, Dad. That’s one thing you’ll never have to worry about. I don’t want a Prince Charming. I don’t need anybody else but you. We don’t need anybody else but each other. For ever.’
When Logan left the house a few minutes later, his mood was troubled. And it remained that way as he followed the track through the woods to the swimming hole. How come he’d never noticed before just how dependent on him Andy had become? Sure, they spent a lot of time together, he’d made a point of doing that; he’d tried to fill the space her mother had left in her life. But