Unstoppable: Love With The Proper Stranger / Letters To Kelly

Daniel didn’t look perturbed, but then again, Daniel never did.

Miller went out into the corridor, leading the way back to his office. He went inside, then turned and waited for Daniel to join him.

“What’s up?” Daniel asked evenly.

Miller closed the door and immediately lit into him. “If I hear you discussing my personal life with another agent ever again, you will be transferred off my team so fast, you won’t know what hit you.”

He’d truly caught Daniel off guard, and a myriad of emotions flashed across the young man’s face. But he quickly recovered. “I was unaware that you believed your inability to sleep was a secret around here.”

“I know damn well that it’s no secret,” Miller said coolly. “But it’s not your business to discuss.”

Daniel nodded and even managed to smile. “Okay. I can respect that, John. And I apologize for offending you.”

Miller opened his office door. “Just be ready to leave first thing in the morning.”

“I will.” Daniel paused and smiled again before he went out the door. “I’m glad we had this little time to talk and straighten things out.”

Miller didn’t let himself smile until he’d closed his office door behind Daniel. I’m glad we had this little time to talk… Hell, other men would’ve wet themselves. Taylor sure as hell would’ve—it was just as well he wasn’t going to be hanging around, getting in the way.

Miller tossed his briefcase onto a chair and the photos Taylor had taken onto his desk. The blurred picture of Serena Westford had been on top, but it slid off the pile, and Mariah Robinson’s laughing eyes peeked out at him.

Tomorrow he was going to be in Garden Isle, Georgia, and he was “accidentally” going to bump into Mariah Robinson. For the first time in weeks, he felt wide-awake with the buzz of anticipation.

Chapter Two

THERE WAS A DOG ON THE beach, frolicking in the surf in the predawn light.

There was a dog—and a man.

It wasn’t such a rare occurrence for a dog and its master to be on the beach outside of Mariah’s cottage. The stretch of sand was nearly seven miles long, starting down by the resort, and ending at the lighthouse on the northernmost tip of the island. Ambitious runners and power walkers often provided a steady stream of traffic going in both directions.

No, finding a dog and a man on the beach wasn’t odd at all, except for the fact that it wasn’t yet even five o’clock in the morning.

Mariah had risen early, hoping to get some photos of the deserted beach at sunrise.

There was still time—she could ask them to move away, off farther down the beach. But the man was sitting in the sand, his back slumped in a posture of exhaustion, his head in his hands. And the dog was having one hell of a good time.

Mariah moved closer. The wind was coming in off the water, and neither dog nor man was aware of her presence. She settled herself on her stomach in the sand and propped her camera up on her elbows as she focused her lens on the dog.

It was a mutt and probably female. Mariah could see traces of collie in the animal, along with maybe a little spaniel and something odd—maybe dachshund. Her coat was long and shaggy—and right now almost entirely soaked. She had short legs and a barrel-shaped body, a long, pointed nose and two ears that flapped ungracefully around her head. She may not have been eligible to win any beauty contests, but Mariah found herself smiling at her expression of delight as she bounded in and out of the waves. She could swear the dog was full-out grinning.

Her master, on the other hand, was not.

He stood up slowly, painfully, as if every movement hurt. He moved as if he were a hundred years old, but he wasn’t an old man. His crew-cut hair was dark without even a trace of gray, and the lines from the glimpse she saw of his face seemed more from pain than age.

As he straightened to his full height, Mariah saw that he was tall—taller even than she was by at least a few inches. He wore sweatpants and a windbreaker that seemed to fit him loosely, as if he’d recently lost weight or been ill.

Together, man and dog made a great picture, and Mariah snapped shot after shot.

The dog bounded happily up to the man.

“Hey, Princess. Hey, girl.” His voice was carried on the wind directly to Mariah. “Time to go back.”

His voice was low and resonant, rich and full.

Dog and master were silhouetted against the red-orange sky, making a striking picture. Mariah moved her camera up to snap another photo, and the dog turned toward her, ears up and alert. She launched herself in Mariah’s direction, and the man turned, too.

“Stop,” he commanded. He spoke softly, just one single word, but the dog pulled up. She backed off slightly, her entire backside wagging as she grinned at Mariah.

Mariah looked from the dog to the man.

The man was far better-looking—or at least he would be if he smiled.

His hair was dark and severely cut close to his scalp, almost as if it was growing in after he’d shaved his head. Despite the austerity of his crew cut, he was a strikingly handsome man. His features looked almost chiseled, the bone structure of his face more elegant than rugged. His eyebrows were thick and dark, and right now forming a rather intimidating scowl over eyes that she guessed were brown. His chin quite possibly was perfect, his lips generously full, but his nose was large and slightly crooked.

On closer scrutiny, Mariah realized that it was possible some people might not have found this man worthy of a second glance. Actually, he wasn’t conventionally handsome—he’d certainly never grace the cover of a men’s fashion magazine. But there was something about his looks that she found incredibly appealing.

Or maybe it wasn’t his looks at all, Mariah thought with a smile, remembering how the young woman in the natural-food store on the mainland had spoken of cosmic reverberations and auras. Maybe as far as auras went, his was a solid ten.

As he stepped closer, she saw in the pale morning light that his face was lined with weariness and gray with fatigue. Still, despite that and his too-short hair, she found him to be remarkably attractive.

“Hi,” Mariah said, sitting up and brushing the sand off the front of her T-shirt. His eyes followed the movement of her hand, and she became self-consciously aware of the fact that she’d only thrown a pair of shorts on underneath the T-shirt she’d worn to bed. She wasn’t wearing a bra and she didn’t have the body type that allowed for such wardrobe omissions. The only times she didn’t bother to put on a bra were mornings like this, when she was certain she would be alone.

But she’d been wrong. Right now, she most definitely was not alone.

“I’m sorry,” she said, trying to fold her arms across her chest in a casual manner. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

Dear God, would you listen to her? She was apologizing for being on her own stretch of beach.

She didn’t have to apologize for that. And she certainly shouldn’t bother to apologize for her missing bra. Despite the man’s earlier scowl, it was clear from the way that his gaze kept straying in the direction of her breasts that he, for one, was not in the least put out by her lack of underwear.

He pulled his gaze away from her long enough to glance up at the cottage. “Is this your place?”

Mariah nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “I’m renting it for the season.”

“Nice,” he said, but his eyes were back on her, sweeping along the lengths of her bare legs, skimming again across her body and face. “I hope we didn’t disturb you. The dog can get loud—she’s still young.”

“No, I woke up to catch the sunrise on film.”

He glanced up at the sky. The sun was already above the horizon and climbing fast. “I’m sorry,” he said. “We were in your way.”

“It’s all right.”

He held out one hand, offering to help her up.

Taking his hand meant she’d have to unfold her arms. But there was no way she’d be able to get to her feet with her arms folded anyway.

What the heck, Mariah thought, reaching up to clasp his hand. With a face like his, this man had no doubt seen a vast array of female bodies, and probably wearing far less than a worn-out T-shirt. She was nothing new, no big deal.