Full Surrender

Seducing Danny could take a little more ingenuity than she’d thought if she had intimacy issues and he was going to insist on taking things slow. Just because she’d received an invitation to spend the night didn’t mean she’d be sleeping in his bed.

* * *

ACCEPTING STEPHANIE’S INVITATION didn’t mean he could fall on her like a sailor on dry land for the first time in months. He would restrain himself because she deserved better. Hell, she might not even be ready to be with him like that given the way he’d freaked her out back in the water. As much as she might be sending him the green-light signal, chances were good that she didn’t know exactly what she needed.

Which was why he would be a gentleman if it killed him. Which was also why he cleared the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen with a speed and dedication he usually reserved for his job.

He had no idea how things would go between them tonight, but his blood still simmered. He’d be back out in the bay to cool down if he couldn’t get himself under control.

In the living room, Stephanie wandered around checking out his book collection on one shelf and old CDs on the other. He’d chased her out of the kitchen twice, mostly because he needed the space to get his head on straight. He looked over again, and saw she was scrolling through his iPod playlist while the device was docked in the stereo. When she cranked up a Doors tune, the house filled with dark, moody music. She sang and twirled absently, occasionally running her finger down a book spine or drifting past the open French doors to breathe the fresh air.

Seeing her like this, full of song and a bounce in her step, brought him right back to that night they’d first met....

* * *

MUSIC STILL POURED through him, the echo of his show in the city humming in his head. Danny had booked the gig in Manhattan three months ago, knowing his band had what it took to make it on a big stage. And sure enough, the well-connected club owner had declared their show a success. The other guys in the band had expressed doubts about his level of commitment to music given the prominence of his family—and his dad’s seemingly never-ending thirst to expand Murphy Resorts, Inc. while strong-arming all his sons into corporate positions. But maybe the fact that Danny had set up this gig would quiet his detractors.

His bandmates certainly looked happy enough as they mingled at a house party hosted by Danny’s cousin, journalist Christina Marcel. The timing had been nice for him since Christina was headed overseas for a six-month-long news feature on the war in Iraq and she’d wanted to throw a little going-away party for her and her camerawoman, Stephanie Rosen. She’d been more than happy to expand the event into a reception for the musicians.

“You were awesome!” Christina threw herself into Danny’s arms as soon as he walked out onto her balcony, her energy a formidable thing. “You’ve got to cut yourself free from the resort business and pursue your music, Dan,” she whispered in his ear. “You’re so talented with that guitar.”

“Thanks.” He kissed her cheek, liking the view from her Brooklyn apartment. The city glowed across the water, reminding him his dreams were all right there for the taking.

Except that, more than music, he wanted to follow Christina over to Iraq. He hated sitting at a desk job and carrying on, business as usual, while a war unfolded. He needed to get involved. To use his smarts for something beyond making another dollar for the old man. He liked music, but even that had been making him feel restless.

“Have you met Stephanie?” Christina asked, oblivious to his dark thoughts as she blew kisses to someone who had just come out onto the balcony.

Danny turned to see one of his older brothers, Jack, who’d made the trip to New York with him. Danny couldn’t help but think that Jack was his designated watchdog this weekend. In a family full of high achievers, Danny had always been the crazy one, whereas Jack was Mr. Responsible. Long ago, the guy had been charged with watching over the younger brothers while the oldest learned the ropes of the resort business.

“No.” Danny looked around the balcony, more than ready to meet anyone that wasn’t related to him. Sometimes, when you had a big family, it was damn tough to escape their expectations. “Is she here yet?”

“Are you kidding?” Christina laughed and tugged him closer to whisper in his ear. “She’s been looking forward to an introduction ever since your first set back at the club.”

Danny waited while Christina waved her hand over the crowd.

And summoned a woman who damn near floored him.

It wasn’t just one thing about her. It was everything. Pale and delicate with wide blue eyes and fairy-tale dark waves that hugged her shoulders, she looked as though she belonged to another era. Except she wore a red silk scarf, tied pirate-style around her forehead, and her lips were quirked in a wry, knowing smile. She danced her way over to the jazz tune piped through an outdoor sound system.