Always Valentine's Day

“I suppose,” she said, and hesitated. “Let me see how dinner goes. Maybe we can have that drink after all.”

“Better yet, come to our table.”

“But my fath—”

“At least until he comes back. You can protect me from the nieces and nephews. Show off some of your American Gladiators chops.” He steered them that way before she could protest further.

She shouldn’t have been even remotely surprised that he walked up to the family at the big table. Up close, the sense of fun and pleasure shimmered around them. Although they were finishing up dessert and coffee, nearly everyone in the Trask family appeared to be more interested in talking and laughing than in food. A blond beachboy type held a woman on his lap—girlfriend or wife, judging by the kiss he planted on her hair. A pair of men with enough similarity in their dark good looks to make them brothers held an energetic debate about baseball and someone named Papi. Sophia was absorbed in a fast, complicated version of patty-cake with a tow-headed little boy who was the spitting image of the delicate-looking white blonde next to her, who in turn laughed with a mischievous-looking woman with a pixie’s cap of brunette curls. It was a chaotic, all-ages blend of people thoroughly enjoying being together.

“Hi, Larkin!” Sophia broke off her hand-slapping to wave.

“Hey, guys,” Christopher said to them all. “I brought a stowaway for dessert. This is Larkin. Let’s see, Larkin, this is my sister Lainie and her husband J.J.—” He pointed to the beach boy. “You know Sophia, and she’s playing with Kelsey, who’s the son of Hadley, there, and my cousin Gabe.” One of the dark-haired men raised his hand. “The guy next to him is my other cousin Jacob, and his wife Celie’s the one talking to Hadley, and—”

“Stop, Christopher,” protested Celie, the brunette pixie. “You’ve got her head spinning. Just let the poor thing sit.” A hint of a French accent colored her words.

“So where’s Aunt Molly?” Christopher asked, standing near Larkin.

“She went to the ladies’ room. A while ago, now that I think about it. She should be back soon.”

“In fact, she’s here now,” said an amused voice.

Larkin turned, and found herself startled into silence. There was no doubt where the Trask boys had gotten their good looks. Molly Trask’s face held a quiet loveliness, enough to have attracted an escort, Larkin saw. She extended her hand. “I’m Larkin.”

“The one who caught Sophia? I’m so pleased to meet you, Larkin,” Molly said warmly. “I’m Molly Trask. And this is—”

“My father—”

“Carter Hayes,” Christopher said simultaneously.

“What?” Larkin whipped her head around to stare at him.

“What are you doing over here?” Carter asked.

“You weren’t at the table. I came over with—” She shook her head. “Never mind.”

“This is Larkin, my daughter,” Carter told Molly.

“We’re going to need a bigger table,” Gabe said.

There was an after-dinner quiet to the decks as they all walked back to their rooms. The group of them had lingered over coffee and liqueur until the children had started yawning, worn out by the excitement of the day. Now Jacob carried his youngest son while Celie and Hadley shepherded the rest.

“We’ll be leaving at nine tomorrow morning for the glacier flight,” Carter said to everyone as they stepped out of the elevator. “We’ve got four open seats, so whoever wants to come is welcome.”

Christopher wasn’t surprised that Carter and Larkin had rooms on the luxury deck. Carter probably could have booked every suite on the ship with his pocket change alone. He walked along with Molly now, to escort her to her room on the portside hallway. Judging by the weather eye Jacob gave him as the rest of the family followed, that was all he was going to do.

“I guess we’re on our own,” Christopher said to Larkin as they stood at the entrance to the starboard hallway. “I take it you guys are down here?”

“I am. Carter’s on the other hall. We only got our reservations a few weeks ago. We had to take what they had.”

He nodded. “It’s still early. How about that drink?”

“I don’t think so.”

There was a kind of tension gathered about her. It was different than the restless curiosity he’d sensed on the fantail. It hadn’t come from the kiss, that much he was sure of. He knew when he held a willing woman in his arms. Somewhere around the time Carter had shown up, though, it had started to simmer. Christopher found himself subtly on edge. Something was going on with her, and he wasn’t the type of man to just let it go.

“It’s a big ship. We don’t have to go to a bar. There are other things to do, the casino, the piano lounge, the show. What do you think?”

“You want to know what I think?” Larkin asked coolly. “I think it’s very strange that a farmer from Vermont would recognize a man like Carter Hayes.” She turned down the hallway toward her room.

Christopher blinked and followed. “It shouldn’t be all that surprising. He’s a prominent guy.”

“Only in some circles.” They moved aside for an older couple to pass. “Carter lives pretty quietly. He doesn’t show up in the news. It’s not like he’s Malcolm Forbes or Warren Buffett.”

“I think you underestimate him.”

“Apparently, I underestimate farmers in Vermont,” Larkin returned. “Here I figured you spent your time talking about the price of grain, not futures traders. Who knew?”

“We do talk about the price of grain. And at my old job, we talked about futures traders like Carter.”

“Your old job?” She stopped to stare at him.

“I was a lobbyist for the financial industry.”

“A lobbi—” Suspicion bloomed into anger. And betrayal. “So you know who Carter is.” Probably right down to his net worth, Larkin thought as she strode down to her door, key card in hand.

“I followed the industry, and Carter was a part of it,” Christopher responded. “I don’t get what the problem is here.”

“Let me catch up a minute. You were a Washington mover and shaker, and then one day you just decided to throw it all away to become a farmer?”

“I wouldn’t use the words throwing it all away,” he said curtly. “I decided I wanted something else.”

“Except it sounds like that something else isn’t treating you too well.”

A muscle jumped in his jaw. “If you knew anything about farming, you’d know that’s pretty common.”

“How convenient for you that you met me.”

He frowned. “Meaning?”

Larkin gave him a bright, hard, merciless smile. “It’s funny how it works when you’re the daughter of a man like Carter. The whole world wants to be your best friend. Every guy with any ambition wants to date you—hell, forget dating, they want marriage, as long as it comes with a piece of the pie. They want to get close to the man. I’ve been offered five-carat diamond engagement rings.” She ran her key card and opened her door. “And you thought you were making progress with just a kiss or two?”

She started to walk inside but he caught at her shoulder. “That’s nuts. Paranoid.”

She whirled on him. “You want a list of the times it happened?” She’d had a lifetime of sharp-eyed people who wanted to use her to get close to Carter and his money.

She just hadn’t expected Christopher to be one of them.

“Are you saying I kissed you because of Carter?” Christopher asked tightly, anger stirring in his words.