It occurred to Tate that he was living every red-blooded American man’s fantasy. He was alone, on an island, with a gorgeous, willing woman who was urgently trying to undress him.
And yet…
He hesitated.
“What?” Gina saw the uncertainty in his eyes.
He hardly knew how to articulate what he was feeling. But he had to try to explain himself. Somehow.
He took her hands in his and kissed them gently. “You’re ready to make love to me tonight—but why? Is it because we’re out here in the middle of nowhere, and you think nobody will ever have to know?”
“No!” She snatched her hand away from his. His rejection felt like a bucket of icy water had been splashed over her head. She scrambled to her feet. “I thought…you wanted to…as much as I did. I’m attracted to you, damn you, Tate Moody.”
He stood up too, and reached for her, but she pulled away again, turning her back to him.
He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around so that they were facing each other again, but she wouldn’t look at him. “Don’t get me wrong, Reggie,” he said. “I want you. Here. Now. Wherever. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been working really hard not to want you. But it’s no good. Hell, I think I loved you even when I didn’t like you.”
She was crying now, dammit. “Then why…”
“I don’t want to be your last resort,” he said. “I won’t be that. I won’t ever be a hookup. Not for you or anybody.”
“That’s not what I want, either,” she insisted. “I’ve changed, Tate—”
Suddenly Moonpie, who’d been drowsing by the fire, leaped to his feet. He dashed to the edge of the campsite, barking ferociously, his tail up, on point.
“Stay here,” Tate told Gina, glancing around in search of something to use as a weapon. “There’s something out there on the beach—”
“Uh, people?” a voice called from the darkness. “Tate? Gina? Is that you? If it is, could you please call off the dog?”
“Moonpie!” Tate’s voice was sharp. “Here!”
The dog sat on his haunches, his ears quivering with anticipation.
“Who’s that?” Tate called.
Slowly, a slightly built figure crept toward the firelight, dressed all in black, water streaming from his clothes and every orifice. The creature’s eyes loomed unexpectedly large and dark without their customary horned-rim glasses.
Gina blinked in disbelief. “Zeke?”