Page 16 of Island Rescuer

Thinking back, she had seen him around more often recently. He’d stopped by the resort to speak with Bruce and of course, he’d been at trivia last night. Months ago, she’d bumped into him on Brookwell, supposedly consulting with Trina on a security issue.

“Why do you pretend to be a security consultant?”

He was so still she thought maybe he’d actually fallen asleep. Of course that was only wishful thinking. When he moved, it was with such ease despite the rocking boat. He adjusted those long limbs and leaned forward, his soft brown eyes held her captive. Though he wasn’t close to touching her, she felt caged in.

It wasn’t awful.

Closer to wonderful. Ugh. She had to find a way to get over her infatuation.

“I do consulting,” he replied, almost lazily. “Particularly as it pertains to hotel security.”

“Mm-hm.” She wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily. “Were you consulting or dating Trina when we ran into each other a while back?”

Thinking about it, Harper decided they’d be good together. Beautiful, in complementary ways. His height a balance to her smaller stature. His long lines to her rich curves. She suddenly had a vision of the two of them in a kitchen where Knox helped Trina with anything on a high shelf. His family money would surely impress her parents. It was a match worth mentioning.

“What?” His eyes went wide and he lurched back in his seat. “No. What gave you that idea?”

“It’s not a bad idea,” she mused, inexplicably delighted to have flustered him. “Her parents would approve of you.”

“Stop it,” he snapped. “I was out there that day because Jess called. We met with Trina to go over ideas to strengthen security around the Inn.”

“I see.” Crossing her legs, the towel slipped and she was pleasantly surprised at the way he tracked the movement. Maybe he wasn’t indifferent to her after all. “Molly mentioned you were a big help to Miles recently.” She didn’t say anymore, letting the silence imply she knew he had secrets too.

“You’ve gotten pretty close with all of them,” he noted.

“I have. They’re all great.” And going to Brookwell gave her a healthy break from all things Ellington. Family and business.

“You count Jess as a friend?”

“Of course.”

“So why aren’t you mad at her?” he asked. “She’s in charge of personnel in this area.”

Harper sat up straighter. “You’re here because of her decisions?” His hesitation was answer enough. “I didn’t think so.”

“Personnel assignments are her job,” he protested.

“Mm-hm.” She was aware of that, but in this particular instance she knew there was more to it. “You’re here because Bruce wantedyou.” Her uncle and her parents would’ve insisted on having the best person available watch over her. Preferably someone they were familiar with. Someone they trusted. Especially if that someone wasn’t supposed to get caught protecting her.

He shoved at his sun-streaked brown hair. “Does it really matter?”

She rolled her eyes wishing she had her sunglasses, but they were on the way to the bottom of the ocean to join her phone. “Not really. Can you blame me for being annoyed with the entire mess? Who likes having their life turned upside down?”

“No one,” he agreed. “If you’ll cooperate with us, we’ll get this resolved quickly and I’ll be out of your hair.”

He said it with such confidence, as if he was catering to her greatest hope. He had no idea how wrong he was. She’d do just about anything for more time with him, not less. She snapped the towel back across her legs, wishing she could walk away. Some physical distance would surely allow her to get her emotions back under control.

“You’ve been hiding critical information.” Knox aimed a finger at her and she could practically feel it drilling into her heart. “You’ve been ignoring threats and putting yourself in danger. That stops today.”

“I’ll cooperate,” she promised reluctantly.

Soon enough he’d realize she didn’t know anything about the person harassing her. Would he give up on her then? Get himself reassigned somewhere far, far away?

Probably. He always managed to show up, reignite her longing for the impossible, and dash off again.

ChapterFour

Knox feltas if he’d won Olympic gold or scaled Mt. Everest.

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