She glanced dazedly up at him. His masculinity was so potent it was tangible. He eclipsed her entire vision. How tall was he? Six foot three, maybe? His bold male features and short sideburns created such a clean, striking profile. The dark irises, lashes, and lowered eyebrows looked especially defined next to the whites of his eyes as he peered out the window. She followed suit, staring blindly out the panes of glass.
Slowly, the vision in front of her resolved.
Her Camp Durand peers and Kehoe’s staff milled around a stone terrace featuring a splashing fountain. She and Fall were looking down on them from a higher floor. A colorful, meticulously maintained palette of gardens surrounded the terrace. Two formally dressed waiters were passing among the main group with flutes of champagne on trays. Everyone was admiring the gardens and view, talking and laughing. Over to the left, several white-jacketed caterers were setting up an elaborate serving table. Kuvi’s puzzled face leapt out at her from the others as she scanned the large terrace. Clearly, her roommate was the only one who had missed Alice.
There was a wide path that led through a vibrant green yard to a waist-high, pale stone wall in the distance. There would be
a drastic craggy drop-off to the lake on the other side of that boundary, Alice knew. She numbly recognized Thad, Brooke, and Tory standing at the wall.
“Alice?”
She blinked, belatedly recalling Fall’s question.
“No. I’ve never seen anything like it. You don’t see views like that in Little Paradise,” she replied through a sandpapery throat. Maybe she should have taken that drink after all.
“No,” he agreed. She sensed his stare on her cheek. “But Little Paradise hasn’t been your whole world, has it?”
“No. Thank God,” she mumbled under her breath. “Not since I went to college.”
“And before Little Paradise?”
She shrugged. “Nothing. I lived in that garbage dump until I escaped for college.”
“I see.” She looked over at him. He was watching her steadily. A strange feeling overcame her, like a door was opening in her chest. She had a bizarre yet shockingly strong urge to sink deeper into his dark gleaming eyes … to feel his arms close around her.
What the hell was wrong with her?
“Alice? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” she said through rubbery lips, forcing her gaze out the window again. Her heart began to roar so loud in her ears she wondered if he heard it.
“I was glad to hear you accepted the position at Camp Durand. I wasn’t entirely certain what to expect as far as an answer,” he said neutrally.
She grimaced slightly, grasping for steady mental footing. “Not too shocking, after that interview, I suppose.” He didn’t respond. “I was just as surprised to get the offer,” she admitted after a moment, feeling strangled by the oppressive silence of the house that surrounded them.
By the man.
It was all so strange.
“I did hear a gong sound,” she defended suddenly—stubbornly—as if to push back the haze encroaching on her, the strange, unnameable emotion that approached panic.
“Yes. I just realized what it was you must have heard. I think Marie was responsible. My cook is a bit of a tyrant. I mean that in the fondest sense of the word,” he assured dryly with a sideways glance at her. Alice gave him a shaky smile, relieved by the news. Maybe she wasn’t crazy after all? “Marie occasionally uses an antique gong she found here in the house to alert the catering staff she has something she wants done immediately. She has those poor people hopping around like nervous rabbits. I hadn’t realized you could hear it from here, but that must be the culprit.”
“Oh … it really did sound like it came from this room.”
“An old house like this can play tricks on the senses.”
“I’m sorry for—”
“There’s no harm done. I hope,” he added quietly. There it was again, that brief flash of a killer smile. “And I’m sorry. For snapping at you.”
She swallowed thickly. Through the window, she saw Kuvi cross the distance of the terrace and say something pointedly to Dave Epstein. Dave scanned the crowded terrace from his greater height and shook his head.
“I should get out there. I think my roommate is wondering where I went,” Alice said, starting to back away.
“Wait a moment.”
She blinked in surprise at his low, clipped command. Goose bumps rose on her arms. He looked a little embarrassed by his tense declaration. It was strange, to see him off balance—Dylan Fall. He cleared his throat.