how outspoken her mother was. She did look horrified. She felt horrified. Don’t do this to me, she wailed silently. He’s in love with another woman, and I want to get away from him.
King turned toward Elissa and saw that look on her face. “If you don’t want me to stay, I won’t,” he said gently.
The soft tone made her toes curl. What could she say? “I don’t mind,” she murmured.
“I must look tired if it shows that much,” he said, winking at Mrs. Dean. “Yes, I’ll stay, thank you.”
“Wonderful!” Mr. Dean chuckled. “We’ll find some lazy projects to keep you relaxed.”
“I’ll fatten you up,” Mrs. Dean seconded, giving him a critical glance. “You look undernourished.”
Elissa could have laughed. He might look trim, but he was very muscular under his shirt. She flushed, wondering what her parents would say if she confessed that she’d watched him swim in the nude from her cottage window. She forced a smile and finished her iced tea while her mother asked about his work. He replied that he was in oil and gas. It didn’t dawn on Elissa until much later how her mother had interpreted that remark.
“To think, a handsome man like that working in a garage,” Mrs. Dean sighed as she made supper.
“What?” Elissa asked sharply.
“Well, he’s in oil and gas,” she explained patiently, “and despite the nice-looking suit he’s wearing, which he might have borrowed, I think his watch and ring are only copies of expensive ones. He’s trying to impress us, darling, to show us that he’d be a good catch for you. I’m very flattered. I like him. So does your father. And there’s nothing wrong with working in a garage. His parents probably own it, you know, and that’s probably their home in Jamaica. They must just let him use it.”
Boy, had her mother gotten it wrong. But Elissa bit her tongue. This was better. They didn’t need to know how rich King really was; it might inhibit them. She liked their response to him, and his to them. She couldn’t bear to spoil it. She’d tell them later, after King was gone.
Her eyes closed. Despite her trepidations, it was marvelous to have him in her home, to savor being with him away from Bess’s influence. She was in heaven. Even if he stayed only overnight, she’d love the house forever afterward, because she’d see him in every nook and cranny of it. And if he married Bess, well, her dreams wouldn’t harm the two of them very much.
CHAPTER SEVEN
AFTER SUPPER, KING and Elissa went for a stroll along the beach. It was very much like Jamaica at night, the whitecaps rolling onto the beach with a foamy whisper.
“You don’t mind that I’m here, do you?” he asked casually.
“No.” She had changed into shorts and a long-sleeved shirt, and she was enjoying the feeling of the cool white sand on her bare feet. She tossed back her long hair and sighed, drinking in the peacefulness of the setting.
He was still wearing his slacks, but he’d unbuttoned his shirt halfway down and was wearing thongs instead of shoes. He looked very casual, not at all the elegant millionaire he really was.
“I didn’t know you’d been raised a Baptist,” she commented, turning her eyes seaward.
He glanced at her. “And I didn’t know that you had Seminole blood.”
She smiled. “I’ve got a little Irish, too, and a trace of German.”
“I’ve got some Irish myself.” He stopped her, gesturing toward a hermit crab diving into a hole in a small sandy bank. “I had one of those for a pet once. They’re cute.”
“With those claws?” she groaned.
“Claw, woman,” he chided. “Well, one big one and one much smaller one. They don’t pinch that hard.”
“You wouldn’t feel it with hands the size of yours, I guess.”
He slid his hands into his pockets, stretching the expensive fabric of his slacks against the powerful muscles of his legs as he walked. “I like it here,” he said lazily. “I like your parents, too. I can see now why you’re such an independent little cuss. They’re very open and honest.”
She laughed softly, enjoying his company and the cool breeze and the solitude. “You’d really think so if you’d heard what my mother said about you.”
He stopped, looking down at her. “What did she say?” he asked with interest.
“She says that you’re very handsome to work in a garage, which your parents must own, and that that’s their villa in Jamaica. They just let you use it.