When She Was Bad...

When she reached the counter, she noted that the tall man standing behind it had a pleasant face and a smoothly shaved head. His name tag read Gari and when he glanced up from the book he was reading, he beamed a smile at her.

“Welcome to Escapade Island, miss. My name is Garibaldi, but I go by Gari.” He ran a hand over his head, and his grin widened. “My friend Reynaldo said that if I didn’t nickname myself, I might get stuck with Baldy, so I went with Gari. How do you like our island?”

“It’s lovely.” Charmed by the young man’s enthusiasm, Pepper found herself smiling back. His voice had a musical lilt to it and a slight accent that she couldn’t quite place. British? Because the counter was a bit high, she placed her hands on it and raised herself even higher up on her tiptoes. “Are you from the island?”

“No, I’m a transplant from Miami. My friend Reynaldo was hired to run the specialty gift shop in the hotel, and I came with him. Now, I’m hooked. I mean, why leave paradise?” He waved a hand, and although she hadn’t thought it possible, his smile brightened.

Pepper found her gaze moving back to the sea. “It reminds me of a movie set.”

“Oh, it’s real all right.” Reaching beneath the counter, he handed her a small booklet. “Originally, this island was home to one of the largest sugar plantations in the area. This little book gives the history of the island and of some of the people who lived here.”

“Thanks.” Tearing her gaze away from the sea, Pepper took the book and tucked it in her duffel.

“Now tell me what I can do to make your stay a more pleasant one.”

“My aunt. She missed the plane from Miami.”

“Not to worry.” Gari beamed a smile at her. “There’ll be another plane tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? You’re joking.”

“No, ma’am. There’s only one flight a day from the mainland.”

“That’s…I…she has to get here today.”

Gari chuckled. “No problem. Here on the island, tomorrow is as good as today.”

“No. Tomorrow is very definitely a problem.” Even as her mind raced, Pepper’s heart sank. Friday the Thirteenth, Part II. That had to be it. “I need to get back to Miami. I have to find my aunt.”

“Today’s flight back to the mainland is booked. And there are several people ahead of you on standby.”

“But my aunt…she can’t wait until tomorrow.”

“Now, don’t you worry, miss. Whatever is worrying you will wait. You’ll see. Time has a different flavor here on the island, and what seemed so important on the mainland will soon matter very little on Escapade Island. Take one walk on the beach and you’ll see what I mean.”

Pepper’s gaze shifted to the sea again. The strength of her desire to take off her sandals and walk on that white, white sand surprised her. She couldn’t ever recall being drawn to a beach before. Certainly not in Philadelphia where she’d grown up, and not in San Francisco either. She’d always had way too many things to do. Pleasing her grandmother and now proving herself to her brothers and her father had taken all of her time and concentration. Especially with the amount of time she had to spend on damage control when she screwed up.

She didn’t have time now either, she reminded herself. She had a Monet to recover. If she had an inner beach bunny struggling to emerge, it would have to wait its turn. Right now, she’d better channel Veronica Mars, girl super sleuth, again. Turning back to Gari, she upped the wattage on her own smile. “That sounds delightful, but—”

“It does sound delightful.”

Pepper jumped. Even before she whirled around, she recognized the voice. Sure enough, Cole Buchanan was standing behind her. Panic erupted. She thought of running. But she had no doubt that if she bolted, he’d catch her. And this was an island. How far could she run?

“Good decision,” he said as though reading her mind, his hand closing around her upper arm.

Just that one touch had ribbons of heat unfurling up her arm. Fighting the sudden melting sensation that threatened to paralyze her, Pepper searched her mind for something to say. No use pretending that he’d made a mistake. Clearly, he’d seen through her disguise.

So…what did you say to a man you’d nearly made love to after one kiss? That you definitely would have made love to him if a Monet hadn’t been snatched from right under your nose? That you still wanted to make love to him? The adrenaline coursing through her veins wasn’t just panic, she realized. She still wanted to jump the man. Pushing down the feelings now churning in her stomach, she smiled at him and said the first thing that came into her mind, “Of all the gin joints in all the world…”

Gari chuckled. “Casablanca, right? You have to meet my friend Reynaldo. He’s a movie buff, too.”

Cole’s lips didn’t so much as twitch.

“I gather you two know each other,” Gari said.

“Yes.” Cole and Pepper spoke in unison.

“That’s wonderful,” Gari said. “No lady this lovely should be alone on Escapade Island, especially this weekend. We’re celebrating Valentine’s Day in a big way.” Pulling out two tickets from beneath the counter, he handed them to Cole. “Those are good for two free drinks at the poolside café. Come down as soon as you get settled. I work the one to nine o’clock shift.” He winked at Cole. “Valentine’s Day was invented for lovers, and this is not a lady who should be alone.”

“She won’t be,” Cole said.

Pepper’s mind was racing. What was Cole doing on Escapade Island? One thing she knew for sure—the answer wasn’t going to be good. It took some effort, but she kept her eyes on his—at least what she could see of them behind amber-colored sunglasses.

Cole still didn’t return her smile. “Shall we go?” Without waiting for a reply, he drew her toward the exit.

Friday the thirteenth had struck its third blow, Pepper decided. Didn’t that mean that her luck had to change?

COLE HAD TO HAND IT to her. For one minute, he’d been sure she was going to cut and run, but she hadn’t. Neither had she caused a scene in front of the beaming Gari, and she hadn’t protested when he’d drawn her out of the airport and helped her into the little convertible he’d rented from the island agency. Pepper Rossi had class. That was one of the things that had drawn him to her in the first place.

Damned if he didn’t admire her guts too. The line from Casablanca had nearly made him laugh. But his reaction to seeing her again wasn’t a laughing matter. Even in the blond wig and the low-slung jeans, he’d picked her out of the crowd of deplaning passengers. Of course, he’d been looking for her, and her petite build was one clue, the ankle-breaking shoes another. Plus, she was one of the few passengers who hadn’t been part of a couple.

But even before the rational side of his brain had picked up on all those details, his body had responded to her, heating the way it always did. Blindfolded, he’d know when she walked into a room, and from the very first, he’d never been able to completely control the effect that she had on him.

Even now and even despite that she’d helped someone steal that Monet right out from under his nose, he still wanted her. And he had a hunch that her partner in crime was none other than her boyfriend, Evan Atwell. The jealousy that he’d always felt whenever he’d seen Pepper in Evan’s company had sharpened, slicing through him like a knife, when he’d figured it out.

He’d spent some time puzzling through it, but so far it was the only theory that fit all the pieces. Oh, he didn’t have all the details pinned down quite yet, but greed was a prime motive, and collecting the insurance at the same time that you sold the Monet to a private collector who didn’t care much about the law was one way to have your cake and eat it too.

Once you looked at it, the evidence was all there. Evan had insisted that Pepper handle the security arrangements for the Monet by herself. Then there was the fact that she’d made a move on him the moment he’d walked into the suite. Whatever his intentions had been when he’d come there from the symphony, she’d initiated the kiss. But what had nailed the theory for him was his discovery that both Pepper and Evan Atwell had booked airline tickets to an island owned by a French Impressionist collector immediately following the theft.

He flicked her a brief glance. She might look innocent, but there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she was guilty as sin. Pepper Rossi had a reputation for getting herself in trouble, but this was the deepest hole she’d dug yet. And she’d done it for another man.

But, somehow, knowing that didn’t seem to diminish the fact that he still wanted her. Desperately. In the day and a half since he’d last seen her, his desire for her had only grown. He’d had a taste, and similar to Adam’s experience with the apple, he wanted more. And he’d have it just as soon as he straightened the mess she’d gotten herself into.