Falling for a Stranger (7 page)

"I'm considering it," Burke said. "Give me a minute."

As Burke went to check out the galley, Drew's attention turned to a small sailboat pulling into a slip two rows in front of them. As the woman jumped off the boat to secure the lines, his chest tightened, and his heart skipped a beat. She was slender, wearing jeans and a navy blue windbreaker. Her light brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

Two teenage kids got off the boat. They exchanged a few words with the woman, and then took off. As she turned around, Drew saw her face.

"Oh, my God," he muttered.

"Drew?" Aiden asked. "What are you looking at?"

He heard the question but he didn't have time to answer. He had to get to her before she disappeared again.

He jumped off the boat and ran down the docks, hearing Aiden call after him. He didn't even glance back. He was not going to let Ria get away again.

But she was already walking down the dock toward the yacht club.

"Ria," he shouted as he ran after her.

She glanced back and stiffened, then turned around and quickened her pace.

What the hell?

He broke into a jog, catching up to her in the parking lot. "Ria, wait." He grabbed her arm, hoping he hadn't completely lost his mind and was about to scare the life out of a total stranger. But it wasn't a stranger staring back at him. It was Ria.

Her brown eyes widened, and she sucked in a quick breath of air.

"It is you," he said, feeling confused, relieved and amazed all at the same time. "You're alive."

Her hair might not be blonde anymore, but her brown eyes with the gold lights were the same, as well as her lightly sunburned cheeks, and her lips—her soft, full, pink lips that made his body tighten in memory.

He was suddenly slammed with a montage of images from the night they'd spent together. Every one of his senses came alive. He could smell the orange blossoms in her hair when he kissed her neck. He could taste the heat of her mouth. He could feel her breasts swell under his hands as he licked her nipples into peaks of pleasure. And the way she'd come apart under him, on top of him—he could still hear her soft cries of uninhibited pleasure.

Damn!

His breath came so fast he started to feel dizzy.

He'd wished a thousand times for people to come back from the dead, but it had never happened—until now.

"Drew," she said finally, biting down on her bottom lip, as she tried to come up with something else to say.

The silence went on far too long. He'd seen her in his dreams so many times he had to tell himself that he wasn't dreaming now. But he was holding her arm. He could feel the heat of her body. He could hear her voice. She wasn't a ghost.

"I don't understand," he said, shaking his head in confusion. "I thought you were dead. Everyone did."

"So you heard about the fire on the boat?" she asked slowly.

"Heard about it? I saw it. I was on the dock when the explosion almost knocked me off my feet." He could still hear the thunderous roar in his head and taste the terror that had run through him as he and Juan had sailed toward the destruction.

"You were on the dock?" Her eyes widened in surprise. "I thought you were on your way to the airport."

"I had a few more hours before my flight. I was down there looking for you."

She shook her head. "I didn't know."

He stared back at her. "How did you survive? The boat was blown to bits."

"I jumped off before it blew up." She licked her lips. "I swam away, and eventually I made it to one of the small islands nearby. I was there for several days before anyone found me."

Her words were logical, but there was something about her story that sounded practiced.

"What about the other people on board? Did they make it?"

"No, I don't think so."

He didn't understand why she was acting so guarded. There was fear in her eyes, but she hadn't been afraid of him on the island. Why was she now? Why wasn't she smiling, laughing, telling him about the adventure she'd had, the miraculous escape from death?

"Ria, what's going on?"

"Could you let go of my arm? You're hurting me."

He hesitated, then released his grip. "Sorry. Why did you run away from me just now? You heard me call your name."

"I didn't want to talk to you. It's—awkward."

"Why?"

"Because it is." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "We had a one-night thing a long time ago. I don't know what you want me to say."

There were a lot of things he wanted her to say, and none of them were coming out of her mouth. "Your explanation of your escape doesn't make sense to me. Juan took me out to the scene of the explosion. There were dozens of people looking for you and your passenger. I was one of them. I was in the water searching for you. I don't see how you could have swum away."

Her face whitened. "I didn't know you were part of the search. Why were you out there?"

"Because I wanted to save your life."

"Oh. Well, that was generous of you."

"That's it?"

"I didn't know you looked for me. I'm touched."

"I waited on the island for two days. I know search parties went out in boats to the neighboring islands. They came back empty."

"I was on a really small island. It was very far away. I'm sure most people wouldn't have thought I could swim that far. But I have strong survival instincts."

He gave her a long look. She avoided his eyes. "I don't believe you," he said. "Why are you lying to me?"

She stiffened. "I don't care if you believe me. You asked me what happened, and I told you. So we're done."

"Hold on," he said forcefully. "We are not done. I thought I saw you on Fisherman's Wharf right before Thanksgiving. And now I'm sure it was you."

"I don't remember seeing you."

She was lying again.

"After I saw you," he continued. "I called Juan at Sea Charters, and I asked him if you or anyone else on your boat had been rescued after I left. He said no and that the tragedy still haunted him."

She stiffened. "I wish you hadn't done that."

"Why?"

"Because it's complicated."

"The fact that you're alive when you're supposed to be dead is complicated? Yeah, that's an understatement."

"I didn't go back to the island after I was rescued. I wasn't particularly close to anyone there, and it was time to come back to the States." She paused. "Did you call anyone else besides Juan?"

"I also spoke to Martin at the bar. He said he'd made peace with the fact that you'd died doing something you love. I wonder how they'll both react when they find out you're alive."

"You can't tell them," she said quickly.

"Why not?"

"I have my reasons."

"Tell me what they are."

"I can't."

"Then I'll make some calls."

This time it was Ria who grabbed his arm. "Drew, you can't do that."

"I need to know why. Are you in trouble?"

"I'm trying to avoid being in trouble," she said pointedly.

"Maybe I can help."

"You can help by leaving me alone. Just go away and forget you ever knew me."

Considering the fact that he'd been dreaming about her nonstop for the last five months, and for the year before that, he doubted that would be possible. "I'm going to need more information." He glanced at her dark jacket, at the yacht club emblem on the chest pocket. "Do you work for the yacht club?"

She hesitated, then nodded, and said, "Yes. I give sailing lessons and run private boat charters."

"So being lost at sea didn't make you lose your love for the water?"

"The sea is the one place where I never feel scared. I trust the ocean to do what it's meant to. People are much more unpredictable."

Her cryptic words were tinged with pain and bitterness, maybe even a little anger, but he didn't think all of her emotions were about his unexpected appearance. "I can't just walk away, Ria. Not like this."

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Look, we had an incredible night together, Drew. I'll never forget it, but it's not going to happen again. I'm not that woman anymore, and I never will be again."

"Why not? What happened to you? What changed? "

"Everything," she said with a wave of her hand. "My whole world is different now. And there's no room for you in it. I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings, but that's the way it is."

"This isn't about hurt feelings. If you're not interested, I can take it."

"Then why are we still talking?" she challenged.

"Because your behavior is odd, and your explanations don't make sense. I feel like you're saying one thing with your words, but your eyes tell another story."

"That is crap," she said angrily. "You are reading way too much into my desire not to speak to you anymore. I'm leaving."

She spun on her heel, and he knew she was three seconds from disappearing out of his life for the third time.

"I have your necklace," he said abruptly.

Her step faltered. She turned slowly back to face him. "What did you say?"

"The gold chain with the heart entwined around an emerald. You said it belonged to your grandmother. I have it."

"Where did you find it?"

"In the sea, near the site of the explosion. It floated right past me when I was looking for you. For a few minutes, I had renewed hope that you were close by, but that hope eventually died."

She put a hand to her neck, as if she could still feel the chain. "It came off when I jumped overboard. I felt it slip away, but I couldn't stop to look for it. I had to get away from the boat."

"Do you want it back?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll have to meet again. When?"

"You could leave it for me at the yacht club."

"Do you really think you're going to get off that easy? You want the necklace, Ria, you'll have to talk to me. Can you meet me tonight?"

She shook her head. "No."

"What about tomorrow?"

She hesitated, indecision in her gaze. "I'm teaching most of the day. Weekends are busy. But if you want to meet me here at five o'clock, I should be done by then."

"All right. I'll meet you at five. And just so you know—even though you're not happy to see me, I'm very happy to see you. I'm glad you're not dead."

"I
am
dead, Drew. Ria Hastings, the girl you met, died in an explosion off the Isla de los Sueños. I'm Tory Harper now. New name, new start, clean slate. After tomorrow, we say goodbye, and we move on. Okay?"

"Why do you need a fresh start?"

"I can't tell you why. But it's important. So do we have a deal?"

He could see impatience in her gaze, a need to lock him down, have him make a promise not to threaten her new life, but he wasn't quite ready to do that. "I'll let you know tomorrow."

It wasn't the answer she wanted. She bit back something, then turned and strode away, her body as stiff as a poker. She was furious, but more importantly, she was also scared. And it was the fear in her eyes that wouldn't let him say goodbye or promise not to ever bother her again. It was ingrained in him to help people who were in trouble. And Ria was in trouble.

"Drew?"

The irritated voice of his brother, Burke, drew his head around. Aiden and Burke were walking toward him. He'd forgotten all about them, all about the boat. He'd seen Ria and everything else had vanished.

"Where the hell did you go?" Burke demanded, anger in his blue eyes. "We've been waiting ten minutes for you."

"I saw someone I knew," he replied.

"Yeah, you almost broke your neck getting off the boat," Aiden put in. "Who was that woman?"

"Someone I thought was dead."

Enlightenment dawned in Aiden's eyes. "Wait a second. Is that the same woman you thought you saw before?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it turns out she survived. She's very much alive."

"Well, that's lucky."

"Yeah, lucky," Burke echoed, an odd look in his eyes. "What's her story?"

"Not sure yet. We're going to meet tomorrow, and she'll fill me in."

"Okay, so let's get back to the reason we came down here," Aiden interrupted. "Are you guys in or out?"

"I'm in," he said impulsively, trying to tell himself that the fact that Ria worked at the yacht club had nothing to do with his decision.

"Great," Aiden said with happy surprise. "Burke?"

"Why not? It's been too long since I let you talk me into something stupid, Aiden. I'm overdue."

Aiden grinned. "We're going to have a good time—we'll be the three amigos."

"If you call us that, I'm not going to do it," Burke said with a warning frown.

"Yeah, deal breaker for me, too," Drew agreed.

"Fine," Aiden said. "We should celebrate. Sara is tied up with Emma, so I'm free. Let's go to the bar at the yacht club. The first round is on me."

Chapter Five

Emma walked into the apartment she shared with her fiancé and yelled, "Max?" When there was no reply, she turned to Sara. "He's not here." She held up the bag they'd gotten from the drugstore. "Time for the moment of truth."

Sara looked less than thrilled. "I feel sick to my stomach."

"Could be nerves or morning sickness. Only one way to find out."

"I don't know if I'm ready," she said as she reluctantly took the bag.

"Come on, get it over with, so we know if our next move is a round of drinks or a gallon of ice cream."

"Okay, I'll do it. It's going to be fine, right?"

"Whatever happens," Emma reassured her. "It's not like you're sixteen and knocked up. You're an adult, an attorney, and you're engaged to the love of your life. Everything is good."

"Exactly. Everything is great, but I'm afraid a baby will mess things up. Aiden and I aren't married yet. And we weren't planning on having kids for a while. We wanted to figure out our career plans first. This is going to change everything, and I honestly don't know how Aiden will take it."

The fear in Sara's eyes reminded Emma of the little girl she'd grown up with, the kid who was afraid to do anything wrong for fear her father would hate her even more. Steven Davidson had really done a number on his daughter, and Emma still disliked him for that.