That included Harry, of course, which was becoming an increasingly nice thought. “I’m guessing you haven’t had much rest in the past twenty-four hours.”
“You’re right. I haven’t.” He swung the garment bag from his shoulder and settled it in the trunk with a sigh. “I wasn’t even sure I’d make it here.”
“Well, you did, and the good news is that you have tonight to rest up before things get going again tomorrow. Kim and Stuart took the ferry to Block Island and they’re spending the night there by themselves to get their heads on straight before heading into the final stretch.” She closed the trunk and glanced at him to find out how disappointed he was that he wouldn’t be seeing Stuart right away.
He didn’t look disappointed, just bone tired. He nodded. “That makes sense. Good for them.”
Once he started toward the passenger side of the car, she walked around to the driver’s side. “I’ll take you to the inn, and you can just relax there for the evening. No need to get together with any of the family tonight. I think they all planned to go to an outdoor concert, anyway.”
“Relaxing in a cozy inn sounds perfect.”
Kate had already stashed her purse behind the seat and was ready to climb in when she saw a Great Dane sitting at the wheel of a Land Rover parked nearby. The dog looked for all the world as if it could simply turn the key and drive away. The window was down, probably because the owner knew nobody would try to steal the SUV with a huge dog in the front seat.
She had to have the shot. “Can you give me a second?” she asked Harry as she unzipped her purse and pulled out the camera.
“Sure, but—”
“I’ll be right back.” She walked over within range and snapped off a couple of frames. Then she moved to a different angle, shading her lens with her hand. Oh, this was terrific. She talked to the dog, who seemed to be posing for her by putting one hand on the wheel. She stepped closer. This was so wild, so totally—
The blare of the SUV’s horn nearly made her drop the camera as she leaped backward. The darned dog must have slipped and put his paw on the horn. “Don’t do that!” she said to the dog as she edged away, glancing around to see if anybody had noticed.
The dog continued to press the horn. As Kate backed toward her Miata, she began to suspect the dog was trained to honk the horn if anybody came too close. “Okay! I’m leaving!” she called to the dog. “Cut that out!”
Shoving her camera back in her purse, she jumped into the car.
Harry was laughing his head off.
“We’re so outta here,” she muttered, starting the car. “Who trains their dog to honk horns, anyway? Doesn’t anybody use good old car alarms anymore?”
“Guess not,” he said, grinning at her. “So, you’re a photographer, like Kim?”
“Yep.” She backed out and drove toward the exit.
“Freelance?”
“Technically I’m a studio photographer, like Kim. I handle the glamour shots and she’s into kids and pets.”
“What do you mean, technically?”
She hesitated, realizing she’d slipped up by qualifying her statement. When their dad had retired and left his two daughters in charge of the portrait studio he’d built into a fine business, they’d both been thrilled and honored. Kate was still thrilled and honored, except…except she wasn’t having fun with the glamour shots anymore. Been there, done that. Taking the picture of the Great Dane, even with the horn-honking added in, had been fun.
“I guess I meant that’s my main thing,” she said. “But, I’ve started taking candid pictures for the heck of it.”
“Where things aren’t quite so predictable?”
“Right. But studio photography’s rewarding, too. Very rewarding.”
“I’m sure it is.”
She had the oddest feeling that he understood her inner conflict perfectly, yet they barely knew each other. Intrigued by the thought, she glanced over at him. Damn, he was really shoe-horned into her car.
“Is the seat all the way back?” she asked.
He reached for the adjustment. “Uh-huh.”
“Sorry the car’s so small.” She’d been so intent on driving her zippy little convertible on this warm June day that she hadn’t stopped to think about how uncomfortable the car might be for a man who was at least six-three. Kim would have thought of that. Kim wasn’t so focused on pizzazz, which was why she liked family photography so much.
“Kate, after what I’ve been through, it’s minor.”
“I’ll get you to the inn as quick as I can.” While they waited in a line of cars to get past the ticket booth, she switched off the radio. He might like to sleep on the way to Newport, if he could possibly sleep crammed into the seat like that.
As they reached the booth, Harry lifted up slightly from the seat and took his wallet from his hip pocket. “Let me get the parking fee.”
“Absolutely not! It’s bad enough that I was late picking you up.” But in fumbling behind her seat for her purse, she nudged against his very solid body and discovered the close proximity made her breathless, and as uncoordinated as she’d ever been in her life. She should have taken the money out before she’d started the car. Kim would have done that.
The parking attendant cleared her throat.
While Kate was still twisted around digging in her purse for her wallet, Harry reached across her and handed a bill to the attendant.
“Thank you, sir.” The attendant gave him his change.
Kate abandoned the struggle for her wallet and glanced over at him. “Thank you for paying, but you’re making me feel extremely guilty. Let me buy you a drink sometime this weekend.”
He smiled. “I’d like that.”
She pulled away from the booth and slid the car smoothly into traffic, which was a small blessing. As jittery as she was feeling, she didn’t trust her reaction time. The best man had quite a smile on him. Kim and Stuart had said he was a really nice guy. They hadn’t said one word about him being a lady-killer.
That could be explained, of course. Stuart might not say something like that anyway, being a guy, and Kim was so crazy about Stuart she was likely oblivious to every other man on the planet. Still, Kate would have appreciated a warning from someone. The snapshot she’d carried to ID him didn’t begin to capture his animal magnetism.
A more trained photographer—like her, for example—would have nailed it. She’d love to have a chance to try, but she doubted there’d be any time for a formal sitting. Still, she’d become pretty good at getting shots on the fly.
He leaned back, his neck supported by the headrest. “The sun feels great. Sure beats the heck out of swimming through cold water for six hours.”
Kate did a mental double take. “Why were you doing that?”
“I had to pull six people out of a partially submerged sailboat. It took most of the night.”
Her jaw dropped. “That’s…incredible.” It was more than incredible. Not only had he spent the night rescuing people from a shipwreck, he spoke about it as if it were all in a day’s work. A chill ran down her spine. Had she finally found her hero?
“At least it went well. But the helicopter kept getting too low and churning up the water even worse, which made everything tougher. But hey, it’s over. And I made it to Stuart and Kim’s wedding, after all.”
“I’m sure they’re going to really, really appreciate that.” A certified hero