Beneath the Veil of Paradise

‘Looking for me?’

She stood on the beach, feet planted in the sand, hands on hips, a look of resolute determination on her face. ‘As a matter of fact, I am.’

‘I’m intrigued.’ He stood up, wincing a little at the ache in his joints. He couldn’t ignore the pain any more. She watched him, eyes narrowed, and he smiled. He could ignore it. He would. ‘So, what’s on your mind, scary lady?’

Her mouth twitched in a suppressed smile, and then she was back to being serious. ‘Is this your boat?’

He glanced back at the sailboat, doing an exaggerated double-take. ‘What—this?’

‘Very funny.’

‘Yep, it’s my boat.’

‘Did you sail here?’

He laughed, reluctantly, because once he might have. Not any more. He didn’t trust himself out on the sea alone. ‘No, I flew in a plane like most people. I keep the boat moored here, though.’

‘I suppose the Bryants are a big sailing family and you started at the yacht club when you were a baby.’

He heard an edge to her voice that he recognised. She hadn’t grown up rich, suspected the proverbial silver spoon. ‘More like a toddler,’ he said, shrugging. ‘Do you sail?’

Lips pressed together. ‘No.’

‘You should try it.’

She glanced at him suspiciously. ‘Why?’

‘Because it’s fun. And freeing. And I’d like to see you out on the water, your hair blowing away from your face.’ She’d look softer then, he thought. Happier too, maybe.

‘You would, huh?’

‘Yeah. I would.’

‘Well, you already told me how you felt about my haircut.’

He chuckled. ‘True. Feel free to let me know if there’s anything you don’t like about my appearance.’

She eyed him up and down deliberately, and Chase felt a lick of excitement low in his belly. He liked that slow, considering look. Millie Lang was checking him out. ‘I will,’ she said slowly, ‘but there isn’t anything yet.’

‘No?’ He felt it again, that licking flame firing him up inside. Was Millie flirting? What had changed since last night, when she’d been as sharp and jagged as a handful of splinters? When he’d let her walk away because he told himself it was better—or at least easier—that way.

And then hadn’t stopped thinking about her all night.

‘Come aboard,’ he said, and stretched out a hand. She eyed it warily, and then with a deep breath like she was about to go underwater she took it and clambered onto the boat.

It was a small sailboat, just thirty-two feet long with one cabin underneath. He’d bought it with his first bonus and sailed halfway around the world on it, back when he’d been a hotshot. Now he cruised in the shallows, like some seventy year old pensioner with a bad case of gout and a dodgy heart. No risks. No stress. No fun.

‘It’s … nice,’ Millie said, and he knew she didn’t know a thing about boats. Who cared? He liked seeing her on deck, even if her clothes were still way too wrinkle-free. Today she wore a red-and-white-striped top and crisp navy-blue capris. Very nautical. Very boring. Yet he was intrigued by the way the boat-neck of her top revealed the hard, angular line of her collarbone. He wanted to run his fingers along that ridge of bone, discover if her skin was as icily soft as it had been last night.

‘I could take you out some time,’ he said. ‘On the boat.’ Why was she here? He stepped closer to her, inhaled the scent of her, something clean and citrusy. Breathed deep.

She turned to him, her hair sweeping along her jaw, and his gaze was caught by the angles of her jaw and shoulder, hard and soft. Her top had slipped a little, and he could see the strap of her bra: beige lace. No sexy lingerie for this lady, yet he still felt himself go hard.

‘You could,’ she said slowly, and he knew she was gearing up to say something—but what?

He folded his arms, adopted a casual pose. ‘So?’

‘So what?’

‘Why are you here, Millie?’

Again that trapped look, chin tilted with defiance. This woman was all contradiction. ‘Do you mind?’

‘Not a bit.’ And that was the truth.

She turned away, rubbing her arms as if she were cold. ‘How long are you on this island, anyway?’

‘A week, give or take.’

‘You’re not sure?’

‘I’m being flexible.’

‘And then you go back to New York?’

‘That’s the plan.’ This was starting to feel like an interrogation. He didn’t mind, but he wondered what she was getting at.

‘I’ve never come across you in New York,’ she said, almost to herself, and Chase just about kept himself from rolling his eyes.