In Too Deep (18 page)

Leli'a gave an eloquent shrug. "Nobody like. Man want girl he can find in sheets. She be too skinny. And
very
ugly."

Ah
. "Is that why you pushed her down the stairs last night?" Michael asked blandly. "Because she's skinny and ugly?"

"It dark. She clumsy and stupid. Fall down stair all by self."

Yeah. Right.

But that didn't explain the Frenchman with the knife. Or why Tally hadn't mentioned the small detail of a husband when she'd asked him this afternoon if
he'd
ever been married.

As his sister, Marnie, used to say when she was a kid, "The thick plottens."

Tally removed her sandals, carrying them in one hand as she strolled down the beach. Beneath her shorts and tank top, she wore her swimsuit. In her bag she carried a towel, a can of soda, an apple, and her book.

She wasn't going to give the pirate Michael Wright one more thought this afternoon. She'd already decided what to do about his stinky attitude. But that was for later.

She'd find a shady spot near those rocks at the end of the beach, settle in, and veg out with her book for the rest of the afternoon. It was probably a couple of miles, at least, but although the sun was high and hot, a pleasant, balmy breeze ruffled her hair. She'd given up on keeping the sleek, sophisticated hairstyle she usually preferred in Chicago. The damp sea air and hot weather brought out the curl, no matter what she did.

She paused, lifting her sunglasses to look out across the sea. Breathtaking. She and her mother had come to Tahiti looking for Trevor when Tally had been about eleven. They hadn't found him, of course. He'd remained well-hidden, almost under Bev's nose. Tally had spent her days alone on the beach, her nights watching movies in their room as her mother had scoured the bars and hot spots. Tally's more vivid memories were of that hotel room and how lonely she'd felt, rather than the color of the surrounding ocean.

Because of being dragged around as a kid, Tally had deliberately avoided overseas travel as an adult. Silly, really, but she'd consciously wanted to purge the smell of desperation and sadness from her life that had come from traveling with her mother.

But this was different. Different not only because she was here as an adult, but because Trevor had, at last,
invited
her.

Tally felt a rush of pleasure, and with a laugh spun around in a little dance of joyous anticipation. Oh, she couldn't wait to see her father.

Her childhood memories were of a huge man, strong as he lifted her over his head. She remembered the sound of his voice on the phone, telling her about faraway places and grand adventures. Perhaps she'd built a little on those images. What the hell? She was no longer that starry-eyed optimist—

She laughed out loud. Yes, she was.

He'd made no bones about disliking kids, but she'd grown up. There was so much she wanted to know about him. So much she wanted to tell him about herself, her life. Twenty-seven years of anticipation pulsed and glowed like the angel at the top of the Christmas tree.

Even though Trevor had sent her the airline ticket to come to him, she'd tried to caution herself not to expect too much. Years of disappointment warned her to keep her hopes and expectations in check. Between visits with her father, she'd embellished her mother's opinions about Trevor Church until he was some sort of godlike creature. Tally had built her father up in her mind to heroic proportions. Her expectations had always been unrealistically high, so it was natural that by the time she saw him again, she'd been doomed to disappointment.

But there was a huge difference between trying to bond over a meal every couple of years and being together for a week or more. Tally was determined to take this opportunity, and to view her father through the eyes of an adult. If they didn't like each other at the end of this vacation, then they didn't like each other. So be it. But she was going to give this her best shot and keep an open mind.

Tally inhaled a deep breath of salty fresh air and sighed it out. Life was good.

Despite that man coming to her room and scaring the bejesus out of her, this was turning out to be a great vacation. The weather was glorious. The island idyllic. A handsome man was attracted to her, she was giddy with delight at the prospect of flirting with him later, and right now she had a picture-perfect beach all to herself.

Oh, yes. This was turning into a vacation to remember. She wasn't going to miss a single second of it.

Gulls, white-breasted and noisy, wheeled in a cloudless blue sky above the marina. Michael was there, she knew, fixing his boat.

But she wasn't going to think about him. She refused to think about the way he made her laugh, or the mocking slant of his mobile mouth when he talked about himself. She refused to think of how gentle he could be, or how tender. And she absolutely refused to think about the quick flash of fear she'd seen in his eye before he'd verbally slapped her. Probably just her imagination.

Still, she'd wanted to draw him close and hold him in her arms to comfort him. Silly, Michael Wright gave every appearance of a man capable of taking care of himself.

Which didn't mean she couldn't want to hold him and… do things to him, anyway.

Tally lifted her face to the sun and spread her arms wide, inhaling deeply. Could it get any better than this? The hot sun on her skin, the intoxicating fragrance of water and flowers. The sound of the balmy breeze combing the palm trees.

Heaven.

She opened her eyes and removed her sunglasses to gaze across the bay. Turquoise and aquamarine hardly described the incredible clarity and color of the water. She dropped the glasses with her bag and shoes on the sand, then waded ankle deep in the foaming surf. The water was slightly cooler than the air, and silky against her skin. Wavelets lapped gently at her feet, burying them in sand. Something touched her ankle. She glanced down and watched a blue, pug-nosed fish with what seemed like upside-down fins and a bright green patch on its side swim across her instep. Enchanted, Tally froze as several bright yellow fish frolicked in her shadow in the gently eddying water around her.

"Hang on, guys," Tally told the fish as she pulled her feet out of the sand with twin
plops
. "I'll be right back to play."

She moved her bag and shoes farther up the beach and took out her towel and spread it on the sand in the shade beneath a palm tree. Then quickly stripped down to her swimsuit.

The blindingly white sand stretched out on either side of her. Inland, the beach disappeared into sea grasses and tangled tropical vegetation in infinite shades of green. Stately palm trees marched along the ridge, their fronds crackled in the errant breeze. With loud squawks and high
ke-ke-kek-yeks
, gulls and terns bickered above the reef where the calm sea formed frothy breakers over the coral.

With a laugh, Tally ran headlong into the water.

She came up wiping her eyes and spitting out salty water. Even though she'd swum several hundred feet out, the water came barely to her waist, and was so crystal clear, she could see her pale feet on the bottom. Smiling, she wriggled her toes to tempt the tiny fish swimming around her legs.

A prickle of awareness made her glance up.

Wearing nothing but bright purple shorts and a blue bandanna tied around his forehead, Michael stood, arms akimbo, on the beach watching her.

He'd heard her laughter, faint on the breeze, all the way up at the marina. As alluring as Lorelei, as tempting as Eve. He'd found himself loping down the beach toward the sound before he'd given the action much thought.

Before she'd noticed him, he'd stood on the very edge of the surf and observed her as she played in the water. Envious of her freedom to swim unafraid. The yearning to join her formed a terrible ache in his chest. Tally suddenly represented everything he couldn't have. And, damn it, he wanted it. Needed it, more than he wanted to admit.

His fingers twitched with the need to thread them through her short silky hair. He wanted to lose himself in the taste of her. Wanted to draw his mouth down her body. He wanted her eager to take anything from him. And then beg for more.

Who was to say he couldn't have that? If it didn't bother her that her husband had just died, why the hell should it bother him?

She was his for the taking for one more day. After that… he'd get over it.

She wore a plain, dark blue one-piece. She was too thin. Not a bad shape, but too damn thin for his tastes. Her breasts were too small, yet he wanted to put his mouth on them. Her hair was too dark, her mouth too big, and her attitude too damn… happy.

None of which accounted for his boner as he watched her frolic about in the surf like a child. He knew the second she spotted him. The laughter died. The smile on her soft mouth faded, and she froze like a Saudi in the gun sights of his MP5.

"There's nowhere to go, sweetheart," Michael said softly, mockingly, as she looked about almost desperately.

The straightening of her slender shoulders was infinitesimal, but he was trained to see nuances. Michael envied her the ability to wade through the shallow water with such ease… except for that little dip when she couldn't find purchase on the moving sand underfoot.

She'd better not go under. There wasn't anyone around to save her skinny ass.

"You better not be here to mess with my afternoon, Black Bart," she said from yards away.

"Huh?" He tried to gauge her mood. She didn't look particularly murderous, but she wasn't smiling, either. Which, he was learning, wasn't a good sign. "We've been invited to a party," he said, not knowing what the hell she was talking about but wise enough to shut the hell up.

"
We
?" She eyed his electric purple shorts. "Do you have a mouse in your pocket?"

"We were both invited," he said, his voice cool and ironic. "If you'd prefer to go on your own, feel free."

Tally did
not
want to be standing there, water dripping down her creamy, olive skin, swimsuit glued to her body. And he only knew that because her gaze lingered on her towel. Which he just happened to be standing on. She brought her attention back to his face. "What if I'd prefer not to go at all?"

"That would be kinda rude. It's Auntie's birthday."

"For real? Hmm. Who's going to be there? I thought just about everyone left early this morning." She gave him a suspicious look. "It's not going to be a party for two, is it?"

"Auntie said she felt like dancing. Ask her."

"As a matter of fact, she did mention something about a party earlier."

"Fine. Let's talk about Arnaud."

She shot him a startled look at the non sequitur. "Did they find him?"

"Not that I know of."

She frowned. "Why do you want to talk about him, for heaven's sake?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were married?"

"I'm not."

"Widowed, then."

"I've never been married. And if I had, I can assure you, Arnaud would have to be the last sperm-producing Homo sapiens left on the planet for me to even consider it. What on earth gave you the idea he and I were married?"

"Leli'a."

"Auntie's niece?"

"Yeah."

"How weird. Why would she say something like that? Oh, let me guess… we're talking about
Arnaud Bouchard
here. If there's an angle, he'll find it. She probably pressed for a ring, and the slime told her he was already married. What a jerk."

And, annoyingly
, Michael thought,
what a frigging relief
. "She's the one who pushed you down the stairs last night, by the way."

"
She
did? Why? What is that girl's problem?" Tally shook her head. "Now all we have to do is figure out who the guy was."

"I imagine he's long gone with the crews who left this morning."

"You think?"

"Yeah."

Her shoulders relaxed. "Another blight removed." She tilted her head, the sparkle dancing in her eyes. "Are you over your snit?"

"Snit?"

"This morning."

He glowered. "Men don't have snits, for Christ sake."

"Okay." Her mouth twitched. "Are you feeling better now?"

What was it about her, anyway? Michael wondered sourly. Aside from those huge,
happy
blue eyes. And her bee-stung mouth. Her ass was great. But, hell, she was
miles
away from being beautiful. So how come he kept forgetting that?

Damn it. What man could resist her effervescence? A disgruntled growl rumbled in his throat. "You don't want to mess with me, lady."

"No? Why not?"

"Because," Michael said roughly, shoving his hands deep in his pockets so he wouldn't grab her.
Because I'm going to annihilate your father. I'm going to use you to get to him, and you'll break in the process. I'm going to stomp on all your sweet little dreams and aspirations, and crush them to dust. Run, Forrest, run
.

"Because I'm a mean son of a bitch, and you shouldn't have a damn thing to do with me."

Her wet hair was slicked back off the pure oval of her face. Without the soft, curly distraction, her eyes appeared enormous, and very blue against the backdrop of the sky. "Hmm."

Jesus, wasn't she listening? "You're going to get hurt."

"After sleeping with you
once
? Okay, three times, but it was one night, for goodness's sake." She bent down and picked up her sunglasses, which she slid onto her nose. Damn. Now he couldn't see her eyes.

"So, you think you can break my heart in a couple of days, do you? Get real. You're great in bed, but not
that
great. Women have flings all the time, and walk away unscathed. Why do you imagine I'm any different?"

"You are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, damn it, you are."

Tally laughed. "Thanks for thinking about my delicate sensibilities, but you don't know me. I promise you, I'm a lot tougher than you think."

"You aren't tough at all."

"Ha. Try breaking into my room with a pocketknife and say that."