A bitter smile touched Noreen’s lips. “She was young and had better things to do.” She paused. “I think her absence affected my sister more than it did me. She’s always lived her life as though she were chasing something, as if she is grasping for happiness. She’s desperate for attention no matter where it comes from.”
“Maybe that’s why she writes romance novels.”
Noreen blinked. “What?”
“You know happy-ever-after and all that stuff. She wants to believe that it exists.”
Noreen nodded. She’d briefly forgotten that she was Arlene. “Right. That’s probably it.”
“I guess that’s something your sister and I have in common. She writes fiction and I live it. I think that’s why you’re so good for both of us. You’re real. You’re true. You say, ‘Hey world, here I am. Take it or leave it.’ I admire that.”
“I don’t deserve that kind of praise.”
“Yes, you do.”
Noreen was quiet then said, “Thank you for sharing your story with me.”
Michael sat up and pulled her onto his lap, nuzzling her neck. “I want to share a lot of things with you.”
“I’m open to sharing.”
“I never had a teddy bear as a child. I always wanted one and now I have one.”
“You do?”
“Yes, you’re my teddy bear. You’re small and soft.” His hand slipped under her skirt. “And fuzzy,” he said, caressing the triangle of hair between her thighs. He cupped her sex. “Actually, you’re better than a teddy,” he said then kissed her, his palm igniting a longing deep within her as he pressed and toyed with her there until she was wet with wanting. Then he slid two fingers gently inside her and whispered, “I want to see you come.” He probed and teased until he hit her sweet spot. At that moment Noreen said his name and kissed him with wild urgency, and they fell into the soft sand and kissed and caressed until the sun started to cast shadows.
Noreen reluctantly drew away. “We’d better head back to the ship.”
Michael lifted himself on his elbow. “We don’t have to.”
She blinked, unsure if he was teasing or not. “Of course we do. We can’t let the ship leave without us.”
He picked up a fistful of sand then let it slip through his grasp. “We could stay here.” He sat up. “I know you’re running away from something and I could take care of you. I could put you up in a hotel for a few days and I’d join you once I take care of some business. I want to be here with you. We can start over. We can change our names and start with a blank slate. Wouldn’t you want that, Angel?”
Noreen hesitated.
“I know you want to,” he urged.
“You may be used to going to a place and changing your name and history, but I’m not.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t.”
“Why not? It’s not so difficult.”
“Because I have obligations. I have a family. I have people who depend on me. I couldn’t just disappear right before the holidays.”
He lowered his gaze. “I see.”
“You don’t know how wonderful your idea sounds,” she said, clearly tempted.
Michael’s eyes clung to hers. “All you have to do is say yes and leave the rest to me.”
“I can’t,” she said miserably.
“Because of him?”
“Because of a lot of things.”
Like the fact that my sister might be pregnant and I couldn’t desert her. That I have an ex who I pay alimony to, and a writing career I need to fix or else I’ll go broke.
“My life is more complicated than you think.”
He nodded and drew a circle in the sand. “Have you ever broken the law?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“A simple one. Yes or no?”
“But where did it come from? Is it because I won’t run off with you?”
He wiped the circle away. “I’m curious.”
“Have you?”
He shook his head, refusing to answer. “I asked you first.”
She bit her lip.
“I won’t judge you.”
Noreen took a deep breath. “When I was younger I did some things I regretted.”
“Like what?”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not going to let this drop, are you?”
“Nope.”
She sighed. “Why do you need to know?”
“I just told you my real name. I want to know more about you.”
“I stole things when I was younger and I worked for my uncle.”
“What did he do?”
She cleared her throat. “He was in the shipping business.”
Michael burst into laughter.
She frowned. “What’s so funny?”
“I never heard it called that before,” he said, sobering.
“Do you know my uncle?”
“Not personally, but I looked you up and saw your connection to Langston Webster.”
Noreen felt like burying herself in the sand. She remembered that story. Her uncle had been indicted on a number of charges but thankfully was never convicted. Her sister had testified and hadn’t felt shy talking to the reporters and there had been two photos of her standing in front of the courthouse as if she were attending a party instead of a trial.
“If you knew, why did you ask?”
“Because I don’t know everything. Every story has
two sides. Of course, now I know why you’re good at picking pockets.”
“I wasn’t picking your pocket. I was—”
“Retrieving what was yours,” Michael finished then kissed her on the forehead. “I know. What did you do for your uncle?”
“Didn’t the article tell you?”
He waited and Noreen poked holes in the sand, annoyed by his persistence. “I ran errands for him,” she said vaguely, not wanting to expand on it. “But I decided to do something else.”
“Why did you choose the antiques business?”
“Because I like them. Discovering the history of certain pieces is fascinating.”
“I understand.” Michael stared out at the waves a long moment then said, “When my mother put me on the bus she gave me this.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a chain. “It’s Saint Christopher. It’ll keep you safe during travel.”
Noreen held the small medal in the palm of her hand. “It’s beautiful.”
“I want you to have it.”
Startled, she met his eyes. “I couldn’t.”
“Please.” He draped it around her neck. “It’s for protection.”
“Do you think I need it?” she asked with a small smile.
He didn’t smile back. “I know we haven’t known each other long, but you can trust me. If there’s something going on, you can tell me. If you’re in any trouble, I can help you.”
Why did he look so worried? Why would she be in danger? She suddenly thought about the stranger in the ballroom and how aggressive Michael had been when he’d seen them dancing. “I haven’t spoken to my uncle in years. Or are you worried about something else?”
“No,” he said, but she didn’t believe him.
“I’m all right.” She stood. “We’d better get back to the ship.” She held out her hand and he took it and in silence they returned to where they had parked the motorcycle.
“The thought of escape is romantic,” Noreen said as she straddled the motorcycle. “But I’ve learned one thing.”
“What?”
She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Problems can follow you into Paradise.”
I
love him.
Noreen sat in her cabin with her knees drawn up and stared sightlessly ahead of her.
I love him,
but this time the thought terrified her. Unlike last night, she couldn’t laugh at the prospect because she didn’t love in the quick, reckless way Arlene did. Arlene freely gave her heart and affections, but Noreen gave forever. She knew this feeling wasn’t something she could shake free and forget, although she knew she had to. He wanted Arlene. He’d made love to Arlene and told
her
his secrets. How could she have let this happen? How could she have been so careless? She’d guarded her heart for years, determined not to give it to a man like Michael.
He’d wanted to run away with Arlene and live with her, and for a moment Noreen had allowed herself to
dream. To decide to stay with him there on that island would be heaven. She could write and…
But Arlene didn’t write and Michael would probably want a woman who enjoyed partying with their neighbors and entertaining guests, not spending days locked up in a room with imaginary characters, or a woman who played with porcelain figurines when she needed inspiration. He wouldn’t want a woman who enjoyed fantasy films or who spent most of her time in jeans and large T-shirts. Her ex had grown bored with her and she knew Michael would too. There was no way to make it last. Maybe it had already ended.
They’d barely made it back to the ship on time and didn’t say much through dinner. Afterward they gave each other a reason to return to their separate cabins—Michael said he had important business to take care of; Noreen said she had a headache. But it was her heart that ached. She clasped the necklace in her fist, remembering him draping it around her, the sound of the wind upon the waves and the touch of his fingers. Why did he have to be so wonderful? Why couldn’t he just have been charming, reckless and fun? That’s all she’d expected. But today he’d revealed the man beneath his carefree veneer, forcing her to share part of herself when she hadn’t planned to.
And he hadn’t judged her. Instead he’d sympathized about her mother leaving and made her relation to her uncle feel inconsequential, as if he were a plumber instead of a smuggler. He didn’t romanticize it as her ex had done and she was grateful for that. It erased some of her shame.
Too bad she was a fraud. He deserved the truth, but Noreen knew she couldn’t give it to him. Switching places had always been a secret kept between her and her sister. No one ever knew and no one could ever know. If Arlene was pregnant, Noreen couldn’t do anything to jeopardize her relationship with Clyde. When she returned home she would sort everything out, but not now.
She loved him. That was the only truth she could tell him and she hoped it was enough.
The sea air brushed his face as Michael stood on the deck outside his cabin and watched the island lights grow smaller. His hopes dimmed, as well.
“Uh-oh,” Joy said approaching him. “I know that look. Something is wrong.”
“
El Tiburon
is on board.”
“The Shark? Really?”
“Yes, I saw him dancing with Arlene.”
“Did he see you?” Joy asked sharply.
“He doesn’t know me, but I know him.”
Joy didn’t question him. She knew that Michael could move easily through a crowd unnoticed if he wanted to. He could change his appearance and voice to suit any situation. “So she’s in deep.”
Michael rested his arms on the railing. “I gave her two opportunities to back out.”
“But she won’t.”
“No.”
“So now everything makes sense. She’s not to be trusted.”
Michael stared out into the distance.
“You can’t save her, Michael. She’s made her choice.”
He glanced up at the sky.
Joy touched his sleeve. “Do you remember Jen?”
Michael briefly closed his eyes. His jaw twitched. “Yes.”
Joy leaned toward him. “Then you know how dangerous this is. You believed her and vouched for her and she nearly got you put in prison.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you falling for it again? You know how dangerous The Shark can be and if Harris is with him…” Her voice trailed off and she shrugged as though the answer was obvious.
“Somehow I don’t think we’re dealing with Harris. First, she doesn’t have Darren’s property.”
“You checked her stuff?”
Michael sent her a look as if to say “Of course.”
“I just wondered because you like her.”
“I can like someone and still do my job.” He tapped the railing. “Something bigger is supposed to go down on the island. If I handle this right—”
“You could shut down this ring,” she finished for him. “You’d help a lot of people. Not just one.” She saw his jaw twitch again, knowing his dilemma. “Arlene is smart. I’ve seen her. I know what she’s doing. I know how to stroke a man’s ego so that he thinks he’s special to me. So that he trusts me. You know those tactics too.”
“She’s more than that.”
“Is that your head talking or something else?” Joy asked, sending a significant glance down at his trousers.
“It’s something else.”
She flashed a smug grin. “That’s what I thought.”
Michael sent her a look. “It’s my heart.”
Joy’s grin slowly faded. “You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
Her expression grew anxious. “This isn’t like you. You’re scaring me, Michael.”
He was scaring himself. He knew he’d taken a gamble on the island by asking Arlene to run off with him. That could have cost him, but he’d been willing to take the risk for her. He enjoyed watching her cook with the women, picking up shells and laughing, but when she’d told him about her mother, the pain had been palpable in her voice; he’d wanted to do something to see that she was never hurt again. He wanted to take her away from the memories of her mother and the awful men in her past. He didn’t know why. He was too smart for infatuation and too old for a crush. He didn’t know what her hold on him was, but he couldn’t deny that it was there.
“I know I made a mistake in the past,” he said quietly. “But I was arrogant then. I’ve been able to read people a lot better now. And I know she’s involved but not as deep as we think.” He sighed. “I just need to get her to trust me.”
Joy gripped his upper arm and gently massaged it. “You’re tense.”
“I know.”
“I think you need something to ease that tension.” She kissed him.
He abruptly stepped back. “What are you doing?”
She gently touched his face. “Making you relax.”
He turned his face away. “Stop that.”
“You need to get her out of your system.”
“Not like this.”
“You enjoyed it before,” she reminded him with a knowing grin.
“Years ago. It’s over between us. We agreed.”
Her grin fell. “You mean
you
agreed.”
Michael shook his head not wanting to rehash the past. “Oy,
nena,
not now.”
Joy stared at him, tears glistening in her eyes. “Do you want me to pretend for another five years that I’m not in love with you?”
Michael ran a tired hand down his face. “Let’s just focus on our jobs and—”