“In the first place, those guys seem to live in their own worlds and don’t spend all that much personal time mixing with ordinary citizens. You’d be even more socially isolated than you are now.”
“I’m not socially isolated.” Hadn’t he gone out to dinner tonight?
“So you say. There’s also the point that Lani would hate the gypsy lifestyle of following you around from field office to field office as you climbed that federal bureaucratic ladder.”
“Which is a moot point since she assured me that she’s no more interested in getting married than I am.”
“Then she’s lying either to herself or you… And you must really be getting along like gangbusters to have discussed marriage your first day on the island.”
“Only in regards to your passion pit.”
“Now see, you’ve got to be exaggerating, because my sister has excellent taste. She flew up and helped me decorate this house when I moved in. She definitely doesn’t do tacky.”
“Okay. So, maybe the bedroom is sensual, not tacky. But the fact remains that Lani and I are both single adults, capable of making our own decisions. So, why don’t you do us both a big favor and butt out?”
The silence extended so long, Donovan thought his phone had dropped the call. Finally, Nate responded. “From where I’m at, marriage seems like a pretty good institution.”
“Says the guy who’s never been there,” Donovan said. “Look, I’m sincerely happy for you and Tess. You’re both great people who deserve each other. But—”
“Did you ever wonder why you’ve never remarried?” Nate cut in abruptly.
“Maybe because I’ve been there, done that, and ended up giving away the T-shirt when I got hammered in the property settlement?”
“Well, there is that. But my job is to delve beneath the surface of things.”
“You write horror novels.”
“I write stories about horrifying things happening to ordinary people,” he corrected. “Which means I spend a lot of my life walking in my characters’ shoes. And while I hate to dis a pal, you’re pretty stereotypical.”
“Thanks for the ego boost.”
“Just telling it like I see it. Also, having watched you all these years, I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason you’ve never really fallen in love is because with the exception of Tess, whom you thankfully let get away before things turned romantic, which gave me the golden chance to snatch her up, you’ve dated a series of identical, proper, predictable women. Admittedly, they’re beautiful and intelligent, but they’re all cut from the same boring cookie cutter.”
“Thanks for the lecture on my love life,” Donovan responded, annoyed when the accusation hit too close to home for comfort. “Now, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go back to sleep, and for the sake of our friendship, I’ll forget this conversation ever occurred.”
“You do that,” Nate agreed in an obliging manner. “But, Donovan—”
“What now?”
“You don’t have to marry Lani. But don’t hurt her.” The edge to Nate’s voice reminded Donovan that the writer wasn’t as easy going as he usually appeared.
“I’ve no intention of hurting anyone. Least of all your sister.”
“Just make damn sure you don’t,” Nate said seriously. Then he cut off the call before Donovan could respond.
Frustrated, Donovan turned his phone off just as he heard a light tapping at his door. “Now what?”
Tugging on a pair of jeans, he marched into the front room and threw open the screen door.
Damn. His annoyance dissolved like a sandcastle under high tide as he viewed Lani, scantily clad in a bright pink bikini, looking as if she should be served up in a sugar cone. She was wearing a flowered shirt over the bikini but hadn’t bothered to button it. At the enticing sight of all that golden flesh, the erotic dream Nate’s phone call had interrupted came crashing back.
Lani didn’t falter under Donovan’s glare. After lying awake all night considering the matter, she’d decided that he was in dire need of a strong dose of fun. And she was going to see that he learned to enjoy himself, whether he wanted to or not.
“Good morning,” she said, brushing past him into the beach house. “You seem to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed.” The familiar tropical floral scent tantalized as she breezed by him.
“Sorry. Your brother just woke me up.”
“I hope you told him that we didn’t appreciate his devious plan for you to seduce me. As if we were merely two of his characters he was moving around on that Technicolor screen in his warped writer’s mind.”
“Not in so many words, but I did tell him that we’re capable of handling our own affairs.”
“Interesting choice of words,” she murmured as she opened a cupboard. “Is that what we’re going to have? An affair?”