Page 45 of Light of Day
“It’s also possible that the people who were after her caught her escaping. I think it’s time that I notify the Harbortown police. They’re going to wonder what took us so long.”
She set down the Bactine and opened a box of Band-Aids. After she’d applied one to his forehead, she tossed the scraps in the wastebasket.
“Shit. I was sure we’d find her before it came to that.” Her voice caught. “I’m really scared now.”
He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “I know. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Gabby, it’s that she’s resourceful. Escaping from that yacht couldn’t have been easy.”
“Ifshe escaped.”
“I’m almost a hundred percent sure that’s what happened. No sign of a struggle, clearly she rigged the porthole.”
Heather nodded along as she listened to him, her eyes clinging to his, her face pale with worry. He wanted to kiss her, to comfort her, to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay. But they would be empty words.
“Do you, uh, want to stay here tonight?” he asked, his voice roughened with a weird mixture of fatigue and intimacy. “I’ll call Harbortown first thing in the morning. There’s not much they can do tonight anyway, except yell at me for not notifying them sooner.”
“Are you going to get into trouble?”
He shrugged and rose to his feet, extending a hand to Heather to help her up from the edge of the bathtub. “I don’t answer to them. I suppose the island could vote me out as constable. But no one ever wants the job anyway, so good luck with that.”
When they were both standing, he drew her close to him and looped his arms around her back. It wasn’t meant to be sexual, just reassuring, but she felt very, very good pressed against him. Desire stirred inside him—crazy, considering the day they’d just had. He should be exhausted, and he was, but he was also flying high on adrenaline.
“Luke,” she murmured. “I’m not sure this is a great idea. My life is pretty crazy right now. My friend is missing, my show got canceled, I might have to move to New York, though I don’t want to jinx that. My boyfriend dumped me because he says I work too much, and the worst part is, my first thought was how much more free time I’d have, so he was absolutely right.”
“Mmm. Sounds like a rough stretch.” He traced slow circles on her back and felt her tension ease.
“That’s on top of always wondering where my father is, worrying about my mother falling off the wagon, just generally being a hot mess. That’s us, the Messy McPhees.”
“That’s better than being a Cunty Carmichael.”
Her body quaked with what he hoped was laughter. “I can’t believe you know about that nickname.”
“It’s well-earned.”
“Maybe. But you’re different. No wonder they kicked you out of the clan.”
He stroked her hair, finding bits of pine needles from her race through the woods. Heather really threw herself full-throttle into whatever she did. He found that appealing and…well, arousing.
“Luke, I really, really…like you.” The words were buried in his chest, but he heard them loud and clear.
“That’s good.”
She snorted with laughter and tilted her head up to look at him. “That’s good? That’s all you have to say?”
He smiled and cupped his hand around her upturned face. “There you go. I was hoping to get a rise out of you.” He dropped a kiss on her lips, a lingering one that he had a hard time ending. “I’ve been wanting to try this almost from the start. I don’t know if ‘like’ says it all, but it’s in the right direction.”
Her lips quirked into a mischievous smile. “What direction would that be? And is there a bed there?”
“King-size. Soft sheets.”
“Sold.”
He took her by the hand and led her out of the bathroom.
After the divorce, he’d moved into this old caretaker cottage. He’d spent two years fixing it up to make it livable. He liked it for its location, perched on a western-facing hilltop, where he could sit on the deck and watch the sun set over the inner islands of Lightkeeper Bay.
The place wasn’t big, but it had an extra bedroom for Izzy, a modernized kitchen and that incredible deck. After the turmoil of the divorce and his break with his family, the cottage had brought him a lot of peace. He rarely invited other people here, even women, since it was such a sanctuary for him.
But Heather…with Heather, things were different. He wanted her here. She’d woken something up inside him. Since Carrie, he’d been emotionally…sleepwalking. Protecting himself. Feeling numb. But that was impossible around Heather. She was too…direct, too alive, too present.
