“Why does that shock you? I liked having my own apartment and being able to eat whenever I wanted. Do you live in a dorm?”
“No, my sorority house. It’s nice to my have friends close. I grew up with sisters, so I’d rather not live alone.”
“I doubt you’d be alone for long.”
His sly smile made his meaning clear. She ignored it. “You’re right, roommates are good for sharing expenses.”
“Not if they’re men who’d hope to do more than help with the rent.”
Julian appeared with a crusted fish dish, and she waited for him to serve it and leave. “Yes, I appreciate the warning. Have you lived with someone?”
“Not really. A couple of girls had a key and stayed for weekends, but I’ve never asked anyone to live with me, because there’s no easy way to ask them to leave.”
She put down her fork and blotted her lips. “That’s what you’re thinking when you begin dating a woman, that you don’t want a messy breakup?”
“There’s always an end, Libby. I’m just being realistic.”
She didn’t look up from her fish. “Just because your father could have run a shuttle for the women he had coming and going here doesn’t mean you have to follow his example.”
He finished his fish. “Let’s talk about something else. The photo shoot is at eleven, and you’re coming with me. If they try to pose me on a stuffed tiger’s back, you can back me up when I refuse.”
She wondered if he never discussed personal topics, or if his father was simply off limits. Either way, he’d stopped the conversation just when it had gotten interesting. “I’ll be happy to go. I’d like to see how it’s done.”
Julian arrived with a savory beef dish, and Libby sat back in her chair. “This is all delicious. I need to keep running for an hour at least every day.”
“You’re not to go out alone,” he insisted.
Hopping around on crutches, he couldn’t stop her, but he was a very generous employer, and she let him have his way, momentarily. “Fine, then I’ll swim and stay in sight of the house.”
“Swimming is too dangerous. The man who followed you this morning could drown you before anyone could come to your rescue.”
“It’s always wise to be cautious, but if someone is watching us, we shouldn’t let them suspect we’re on to them.”
“Someone is watching us,” he emphasized. “They’ve even been in the house, but they won’t get in again.”
He was being very protective for a man who worried about how to get rid of the women he dated. She wasn’t a date, though. She was simply an affectionate personal trainer. “It must be a relief for you to know I’ll be leaving in August, so there’ll be no threat of a messy breakup.”
His fork clattered on his plate. He regarded her with a knowing stare. “Tonight is all that concerns to me.”
Taking that as a warning he was in no mood for banter, or the truth, she waited until they’d finished dessert to announce her plans. “I’m going to read in a bubble bath and sleep in my own room tonight.”
He stared at her, his dark eyes bright. “No, you’re sleeping with me. It’s too dangerous for you to be alone.”
She stood and moved the chair and small table away from his bed. “We’re safe here. The security company has the house fully wired now.”
He reached for her hand. “I don’t care. You’re sleeping with me.”
Clearly he meant it, but he couldn’t pick her up and plunk her on his bed, which had to frustrate him. To make matters worse, his knee hurt. He wouldn’t want her pity, though. She squeezed his fingers and pulled her hand free. “Fine, I’ll sleep in your bed, but let’s just sleep.”
“Whatever you want,” he replied. He reached for his guitar and played a few chords. “Stay in the bathtub as long as you like. I’ll work on my song.”
“It’s a beautiful melody.” She closed his door behind her, but rather than go to her room, she went downstairs and out on the patio. Tomas and the boys were cleaning up the kitchen, so as far as she saw it, she wasn’t alone. The ocean had a gorgeous shimmer and the scattered moonlight drew her to the shore, but she stayed by the house until Tomas was ready to leave.
“Good night, I’ll see you in the morning,” she said.
“I’ll pray you have a more peaceful night tonight,” the chef replied in halting English.
Libby thanked him, but peaceful wasn’t a word she associated with Santos. She stopped by his room on her way to her own. She knocked lightly and waited for him to invite her in. “What if I asked Tomas’s chubby helper to come running with me? I wouldn’t be alone, and he needs the exercise.”