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He took the bear and made admiring noises, his hands gentle as he handled the damaged toy. “What’s his name?”
Name?
Not in a million years would she have thought to ask if the bear had a name, but apparently it did.
“Andrew.” Lizzy’s reply was hesitant, but Ryan nodded, as if the name made perfect sense to him.
“So, how are you and Andrew liking Puffin Island?”
Emily was grateful that the bear couldn’t talk; otherwise he’d no doubt be reporting the fact that so far he’d been well and truly ignored.
If there was a Stuffed Bear Protection League, she was about to be reported for neglect.
She watched as Ryan handed the bear back carefully, envying the ease with which he talked to the child. He didn’t use baby talk, nor was he patronizing or condescending. He behaved as if Lizzy had something to say that he was interested in hearing. As if the answers she gave were important to him. Some of the tension in Lizzy’s shoulders melted away.
“I like the boats.”
Why did it have to be the boats that had caught her attention?
Emily wondered what had possessed her to think coming to the island would be a good idea. She should have picked Wyoming or another state with no coastline.
“I like boats, too.” Ryan rose to his feet. “What’s your favorite food?”
This time Lizzy didn’t hesitate. “Waffles. And chocolate milk.”
“That’s a lucky thing, because I happen to know somewhere that sells the best waffles you have ever tasted. And it has tables overlooking the sea so you can watch the boats at the same time. It will be my treat.”
“Thank you, but we’re fine.” Emily found herself staring at him. He was at least a head taller than her. The casual attire did nothing to diminish the overwhelming sense of presence.
“You don’t like waffles and chocolate milk?” There was humor in his eyes and something else. A sexy, lazy gleam that flustered her. He was the sort of man who made most women lose their heads and throw caution away with their underwear.
Emily had never lost her head or her underwear. Relationships were something to be thought through, measured and calculated, like every other important decision in life. She’d never found that difficult. But nor had she ever met anyone who made her feel the way Ryan Cooper did.
She’d spent three years with Neil and not once had he left her with this sense of breathless awareness. When he’d walked into a room, her heart rate hadn’t altered.
“I appreciate the offer, but Lizzy and I have things we need to do before we have lunch.”
Lizzy clutched the bear to her chest. “I’d like waffles.”
To please her niece, she had to sit at a table with a man who made her feel as if she was naked?
He smiled. “Seems to me that what you need to do most of all is relax. You look as if you’re about to explode.”
“I’ve been driving for two days, and—”
“So a cool drink on the deck is just what you need to help you unwind.”
“I don’t need to unwind.”
His gaze slid over her face. “There is more tension in your spine than in the mast of that yacht over there.”
“I appreciate your concern, but if I’m stressed, then it’s because I don’t appreciate being stalked, Mr. Cooper.”
“Stalked?”
“It seems as if every time I turn around, you’re standing there.”
“Welcome to island living, Emily. Chances are you’re going to be bumping into me several times a day. And then there’s the fact I promised Brittany I’d keep an eye on you.”
“I appreciate your concern, but I’m absolving you of that duty.”
“She told me you might need someone you could trust. She asked me to watch out for you. So, here I am, watching out for you.”
Emily met that lazy, interested gaze and decided no normal, sane woman would be foolish enough to put her trust in a man like him. You might as well hand over your heart and say “stomp on this.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I don’t need anyone to keep an eye on me.” In fact, people keeping an eye on them was the last thing she needed.
She was all that stood between Lizzy and a media hungry for a story at any cost.
They reminded her of vultures, swooping down to strip the last pieces of flesh from a carcass.
Lana was dead.
Surely that should be enough for them. Why did they need to unpick her life? There had been a constant parade of stories in the press. A catalog of salacious details that one day Lizzy might read.
If Emily could have found a way of destroying all of it, she would have done so.
Ryan stepped closer, his voice low. “Tell me what the trouble is, and I’ll fix it.”
She wondered how it felt to be that confident. It didn’t seem to occur to him that there might be something he couldn’t fix.
“It isn’t trouble as much as a change in circumstances. Brittany was exaggerating.”
And she was going to kill her.
“She said you’d push me away.”
She wasn’t just going to kill her; she was going to kill her slowly. “It was wrong of her to put you in this position. I’m sure you’re a busy man, so you should get on and do whatever it is you do, and I’ll—” She’d what? Carry on messing up parenthood? “I’ll be fine.”
“I made her a promise. I keep my promises.” He gave a disarming smile. “And on top of that, I’m scared of Brittany. Apart from the fact she’s an expert in Bronze Age weaponry and has an unnerving fascination for re-creating daggers and arrowheads, I remember what happened when someone stole her sea glass. I don’t want to be on the wrong side of her temper.”
She eyed those broad, powerful shoulders, noticing that his biceps filled out the arms of his shirt. She was willing to bet there wasn’t much that scared him.
“Aunt Emily?” Lizzy tugged at her hand. “I’m hungry.”
She saw Ryan lift an eyebrow and knew he’d filed the information that she was an aunt, not a mother.
“We’ll buy some food. You can choose the things you like.” Because she had no idea what the girl liked.
“Harbor Stores is the best place for that. And don’t miss the bakery next door. They sell the best cheesecake I’ve tasted outside New York.” He broke off as an elderly lady crossed the street toward him. The face was lined and the hair was white, but there was no missing the twinkle in her eyes.
“Ryan Cooper, the most eligible man on the island. I was hoping I might bump into you.”
“I was hoping the same thing.” He was all charm as he reached out and took her arm. “All ready for tonight, Hilda?”
“I might have a problem with transportation because the doctor told Bill he shouldn’t be driving for a few weeks.” She looked at him hopefully, and Ryan didn’t disappoint.
“What time are you planning on leaving? Seven?”
“Perfect. Will you drop me home afterward?”
He laughed. “You think I’m in the habit of leaving my date stranded?”
“You’re a good boy, despite all the rumors.” She patted his arm. “I hear all sorts of stories about all-night parties at the Ocean Club, but I try not to listen.”
Boy? Startled, Emily looked at the stubble that darkened Ryan’s jaw and the lazy, sleepy eyes. She saw nothing of the boy in him, only the man. She wondered what the rumors were.
Women, no doubt.
With a man who looked like that, it had to be women.
“You’re talking about Daisy’s twenty-first birthday party. It didn’t last all night, but it’s true that the sun was coming up.”
“I heard she was wrapped like seaweed around the Allen boy.”
“Is that right?” It was clear that if he knew, he wasn’t telling. “If anyone else needs a lift tonight, let me know.”
Emily liked the fact he wasn’t prepared to reveal someone else’s secrets.
As someone currently guarding a big secret, it reassured her.
Hilda glanced around and then stepped closer to him. “This month’s book was a shocker. It was Agnes’s choice.”
He looked amused. “You don’t surprise me. My grandmother enjoys shocking people.”
“True. I still remember the time she hired a nude model for our drawing class.” The woman’s face wrinkled into a smile. “We had better attendance that night than any other night in the history of our group. We had to paper over the windows to stop people peeping through the glass. This book was a step up from that.” She noticed Lizzy and lowered her voice. “There were naked people and spanking.” She gave him a knowing look, and Ryan’s eyes gleamed.
“Now I’m thinking I should join the group.”
“You can’t do that. No testosterone allowed.”
That would rule out Ryan Cooper, Emily thought. He was surrounded by a force field of testosterone.
“This is Brittany’s friend Emily,” Ryan said easily. “She’s staying at Castaway Cottage, and this is her niece, Lizzy.”
Hilda studied Emily closely. “I remember you. You’re one of Kathleen’s girls. You used to spend the summer here. You and the pretty blonde girl.”
Emily hadn’t expected anyone to recognize her. “Skylar.”
“Kathleen talked about the three of you all the time. ‘Hilda,’ she said, ‘those three are as close as sisters. They’d do anything for each other.’ You were the quiet one.” Hilda transferred her attention to Lizzy. “You’re going to love Puffin Island. You should take a boat trip to see the seals and the puffins. And don’t forget to visit Summer Scoop. Best ice cream in Maine and all organic. What’s your favorite flavor?”
Lizzy considered. “Chocolate.”
Emily felt something stir inside her.
Everyone knew the right way to talk to a child except her. They were easy and natural, whereas she used the same tone she used when presenting to a board of directors.
Miserably aware that she was only a few hours in to a responsibility that was going to last a lifetime, she watched as Ryan helped Hilda back across the street. If they were going to escape, this would be the perfect time.
She could walk to the store and do what she’d planned to do, stock up the cottage.
“Aunt Emily?” Lizzy was clutching the bear so tightly it seemed unlikely the stitching would survive.
Emily looked at the white knuckles and the lost expression on the child’s face.
She didn’t know anything about fairy wings or teddy bears, but she knew this.
She crouched down in front of Lizzy. “It must feel strange for you, being here without your—” cook, nanny, cleaner, mother? “—the people you know around you. It’s strange for me, too. It’s a new life for both of us, and it’s going to take a little while before it feels normal.” She didn’t admit how afraid she was that it would never feel normal for her. “We don’t know each other very well yet, so I won’t always know what you want unless you tell me. It’s important that you know you can ask me anything. Talk to me about anything. And if there’s anything you want, you just have to ask.”
Lizzy looked at her for a long moment. “I want waffles and chocolate milk.”
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_87615b2b-e959-5c34-a325-762e31726614)
RYAN ORDERED AT the bar and exchanged a few words with Kirsti who ran the Ocean Club and had made herself indispensable in the short time she’d been with them.
“Who is she?” Kirsti passed the order through to the kitchen and then glanced across to the deck, where tables had views across the bay. “She’s pretty. Not in an obvious way, but in an interesting way. A little too innocent-looking for you, but it’s time you mended your wicked ways, so that could be good. I think she could be The One.”
Kirsti was obsessed with finding The One. It drove some people crazy. It made Ryan smile.
“It’s a big world out there. If there really was only one person for everyone, we’d all be single.”
“You are single. And you’re mixing up sex with relationships.” She selected a tall blue glass from the shelf. “A common mistake, particularly among the male sex, and the reason so many partnerships fail. You don’t only need someone who can rock your body, you need someone who can rock your mind.”
Ryan was fairly sure Emily would be able to do both, but Kirsti didn’t need encouragement, so he kept that thought to himself. “Sometimes sex is the relationship.”
“With you, sex is always the relationship. I bet you slap a page of terms and conditions in front of every woman you date.”
“I don’t, but it’s a good idea. I’ll run it past my lawyer.”
She gave him a reproving look. “You’re not funny.”
“I’m hilarious. You just don’t share my sense of humor.”
“Does anyone? But this is my point! You need someone who is going to hold your attention. Your eye might be caught by a double-D cup, but your cynical heart will be caught by something more complex.”
He glanced across at Emily’s eye-popping curves. “My attention is caught. There’s just one thing wrong. One thing that makes me completely sure she’s not The One.”
“Don’t tell me—the child.” With a sigh, Kirsti whipped up chocolate milk, added a straw and put the glass on the tray. “What do you have against children?”
