Twice the Temptation

“I’d like to meet your Sister Margherite,” Mac said as he pressed his mouth to her fingers again.

For a moment, neither of them said a thing. She suddenly became aware of how close they were standing. Her back was against the wall, and he was so near that she could see those blue, blue eyes deepen to the color of the sky at twilight. The air around them suddenly changed, growing so thick that she could hardly breathe.

“Reese, I want to kiss you again. When I do, I won’t stop.”

Heat, a glorious rush of it had her toes curling. “Hold that thought,” she said as she took his hand and drew him up the next flight of stairs to her room.

“YOU’RE SURE REESE is all right?”

Avery leaned back in his chair as he followed the direction of Nate’s gaze. They were seated at a table in the courtyard of the hotel that offered a clear view of the balcony opening off Reese’s room. The lights inside the room had been on for about fifteen minutes. “I’m betting she’s better than she’s been in months. The girl has become a workaholic. She needs to lighten up and play a little.”Nate snorted. “That man could be up there with her right now. We saw him hone in on her table seconds after we left her in the bar. They took a walk in the garden.”

Avery grinned at Nate. “Good grief. You’d better arrest them.”

“There’s no guarantee that the guy was a gentleman and just saw her to her room.”

“Exactly.” Avery hoped to heaven that Mac Davies was with Reese. When he’d first talked with Charles Dutoit, he’d thought that perhaps the Frenchman was the man Hattie had in mind for Reese. But he hadn’t missed the flying parchment when Reese had collided with Mac in the lobby earlier. And he’d seen Mac pick it up and read it before giving it back to Reese. “Let’s not forget that Reese is a big girl.”

Nate frowned at Avery. “He could be the one who’s sending her the threatening notes.”

“Highly unlikely,” Avery said. “He caught my attention when he and Reese collided in the lobby. He literally knocked her off her feet. So I checked him out.”

When Nate’s brows shot up, Avery continued, “I like to keep a close watch over the Brightman sisters. His name is Mac Davies. What popped up right away was the fact that he’s in the creativity and production end of Hollywood. Keeps a low profile. But from what I was able to dig up, he’s the creative force behind Reese’s new TV show.”

“So she knows him?” Nate asked.

“I don’t think so. When they bumped into each other this morning, neither gave any sign of recognition.” His gut feeling was that Hattie was stirring up a new flame rather than rekindling an old one. Avery could only hope that she would work just as cleverly at her fantasy matchmaking for a few others attending the Singles Weekend.

But for now, he shifted his attention to Nate Kirby. “You don’t really believe that the man who may be with Reese right now is the one sending her the black roses, either.”

Nate sighed, lowered his gaze from Reese’s balcony and sipped his beer. “No, I don’t. If he is, why make the blatant move to pick her up in the bar in front of everyone?”

Avery sipped his own beer and let his gaze stray to a table closer to the lobby entrance where Molly Pepperman and Miss Emmy Lou Pritchard were sharing a bottle of the hotel’s best champagne. He’d sent it over himself.

“Since you’re being honest,” Avery said, “why not come clean and admit that you don’t really care that Reese may have found a man she wants to spend the night with. What’s bothering you is the fact that tomorrow night, our pretty local boutique owner may do the very same thing.”

Nate’s beer sloshed over the side of his glass as he nearly dropped it on the table. “That’s none of my business.”

“No? A little bird told me that you and Molly have a history together.”

“We do. But it’s ancient history.”

“The bird said you dumped her at the senior prom. Broke her heart.”

Laughter drifted to them from Molly’s and Miss Emmy Lou’s table.

Every muscle in Nate’s body stiffened. But he didn’t glance over his shoulder. Instead, he picked up his beer, took a long swallow. “Her heart was barely dented. She went to fashion school in New York City, found herself a hot new boyfriend and made quite a name for herself.”

“She came back to the island,” Avery pointed out.

“When her grandmother got sick, she took over the store. Family is important to her. But she won’t stay. She shouldn’t. Her dream isn’t here.”

Nate set down his glass, then rose. “I’m going to check in with my deputy and then call it a day.”

Avery bit back a smile as he watched Nate move toward the lobby, giving Molly’s table a wide berth. He might say he wasn’t interested in Molly Pepperman, but the fact that he’d booked a room for the duration of the Singles Weekend was very interesting. Nate Kirby had never before been a guest at the hotel.

Avery waited until the sheriff had disappeared, then he rose and walked to another table that sat in the shadows of one of the porticoes. “Colonel Jenkins, I’m sorry I missed your arrival.”

“Sit down, Mr. Cooper.” The tall man with the good looks of an aging Paul Newman gestured Avery into a seat. “I came as soon as I received your message. She’s here.”

Avery followed the direction of Colonel Jenkins’ gaze to the table where Molly Pepperman sat with Miss Emmy Lou Pritchard.

“How did you get her to come to your Singles Weekend?” the colonel asked. “A month ago, when I visited the library and asked her to join me for a cup of coffee, she made it quite clear that she doesn’t date. And yet, here she is at Haworth House.”

“I think Molly convinced her to come along for moral support,” Avery said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if your father and Hattie Haworth have something planned for Miss Emmy Lou, as well as for Molly.” And perhaps even you, too, Colonel, Avery thought.

Colonel Jenkins picked up his glass of wine and took a sip. “A couple of months ago, I didn’t even know that my father and Hattie Haworth had been lovers. And not merely lovers. They were in love—the kind of love that’s supposed to end happily ever after. All I knew was that my father had committed suicide and left me behind.”

“I don’t think he ever left this place. I’ve given it some thought,” Avery said. “And I have a theory.”

The blue eyes that met Avery’s were very shrewd. “You don’t run a successful hotel with a pair of resident ghosts unless you think carefully about the possible consequences. I’d be interested in hearing your theory.”

“I think Hattie and your father have shared some kind of existence here for fifty-five years.”

Jenkins frowned. “Even during the ten years that Hattie survived him?”

Avery nodded. “Even then. And I think they were happy. Hattie’s fantasy box—their fantasy box—is their way of spreading that happiness around. Of course, they were hampered a bit when the tower was boarded up all those years. But the Brightman sisters have set them free.” Avery raised his beer. “So I wouldn’t give up on Miss Emmy Lou just yet.”

Colonel Jenkins’ glance strayed to the table where Miss Emmy Lou Pritchard sat. “I’ve never told this to anyone, but I had a crush on her when I was little—four or five. My father used to take me to the library frequently. And she was there working for her grandmother. She must have been twelve, but she had beautiful long, blond hair. I was sure she was straight out of Alice in Wonderland.”

Avery hid a smile. If his hunch was right, Hattie and the colonel’s father were going to find a way to push them both down that rabbit hole.

6

LATER, MAC WASN’T SURE HOW he made it to Reese’s room without touching her. Standing there in the stairwell, listening to her talk about her first love had made him half-mad with the need to get his hands on her.

He was furious that someone had hurt her in the past and was determined to soothe that old wound with pleasure. But by the time they’d climbed an extra flight to the tower level and he’d waited for her to punch a code into the door, his blood had begun to pound like an anvil in his chest.The instant they were in the room, he kicked the door shut and pushed her back against it. Gripping her waist, he moved in close so that every slim angle of her body was pressed against his. He gave himself a moment to absorb the sensation of softness, another to feel the perfect fit. He was almost sure the ground shifted beneath his feet.

Knowing that once he kissed her, he’d be lost, he only briefly rubbed his lips across hers before he began to nibble his way to her ear.

“What about the fantasy?” she asked.

“Hmm?” Mac already felt as if he were steeped in one. Her skin was so soft just beneath her jaw line….

“The boy toy thing? Shouldn’t we—”

“Right.” He gave himself a mental shake, and he was certain he could hear his thoughts rattle around in his head. Finally they settled. The boy toy thing. The woman had a focus he had to admire.