She smiled. “That’s not necessary. I’ve walked Duval alone a…a zillion times. I’ll be fine.”
“I wasn’t going to because it was necessary. I was going to walk you down because I wanted to,” Sean said.
“All right, then, sure. I’ll just say good-night to Katie.”
She walked to the stand. A man of about sixty was onstage. He was doing a damned good Sinatra imitation with his version of “Fly Me to the Moon.”
She kissed Katie on the cheek; Katie looked up and waved to Sean. She was smiling. He walked to the computer area himself and kissed his sister on the top of the head. “Tomorrow, kiddo,” he told her. “Ready?” he asked Vanessa.
She nodded.
They walked through the high-top tables in the karaoke area and said good-night to David and Liam. “Can you grab the tab?” Sean asked David.
“Got it. I’m not too worried—I know the owner,” David said.
Sean waved a hand and walked Vanessa out.
The south end of Duval was quiet as they walked along. Down by the inn where Vanessa was staying, there would still be activity at Sloppy Joe’s, Captain Tony’s, Rick’s, Irish Kevin’s and maybe a few more. It would probably be a mild crowd though. On Friday and Saturday nights, it was a wild crowd. When any of the festivals was going on, anything went.
“I really didn’t know anything about Jay looking to join on,” Vanessa said.
“Yes. That’s what you’ve said. Several times.”
“But you don’t believe me,” she said flatly, turning her blue eyes on him. The woman really looked like a damned angel. Her hair was like a halo, blond, and bleached lighter by the sun. Not really an angel. She wasn’t delicate, he had learned that by watching her in action. She was really just about perfect. Too perfect. He felt jealous, though he barely knew her. He wanted to strangle Jay Allen because he seemed to be so close to her. He wanted to know if—in the years of their friendship—they had ever been intimate. Information he had no right to. He barely knew her.
He wanted her. She was gorgeous, she was sensual, she was lithe, athletic. He was imagining far too much about her.
That meant he had to stay the hell away.
“Look, it’s not that I don’t believe you, it just seems all too opportune,” he said. “But my partner agrees that it’s interesting, and we’ll see how Jay does tomorrow.”
“I should be there,” she said.
He shook his head. “Let’s see how he stands on his own, okay?”
“All right.”
They were coming closer to the northern end of Duval, where revelers were still out. Too many people for a real conversation. All seemed to be having fun—a few were inebriated.
“Watch out,” he murmured. A group, nicely dressed and not composed of teenagers, seemed to be having a bit of a problem navigating the streets. He thought a tall stout man was about to run into Vanessa. He took her hand and pulled her out of the way.
She laughed. “Thanks.”
“Here we are,” he said.
She nodded. “The stairway is up the back, through the garden gate.” She rummaged in a pocket for her key.
“I’ll walk you around,” he said.
“All right, thanks.”
They passed through a little walkway. It led to the back. There was nice foliage along the way, but the inn was basic, just some rooms over a storefront. No charming tables and chairs outside, no pool, nothing but access to the rooms.
Sean knew that it was filled with spring-breakers and bachelor and bachelorette parties.
“I’m surprised you chose this place,” he told her. “It gets awfully loud.”
“I wanted the loud,” she said.
“Oh?”
“And the activity—cops around most of the time, lots of people at all hours.”
“Are you afraid?” he asked her, frowning and setting his hands on her shoulders.
“No, I’m not really afraid. But I like people and noise.”
He nodded. “All right. But you do know my sister well, so it seems. She owns the house we grew up in, though I’m living there now and Katie has moved in with David. Both places are huge. You’re on the project now. You’re welcome to come stay at either.”
“Thank you.” It seemed there was a slight tremor in her voice. “I thought I should stand on my own until we get going with this.”
“Your choice,” he told her.
“Thank you.” She looked at him for a long moment. He found that he really was in love with her eyes. Other assets as well, but her eyes…
The moment grew awkward. He pulled his hands away and shoved them in his pockets. “All right. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, then.”
“Actually…” she began, and then hesitated.
“Actually, what?” he queried.
“Well, I am your assistant, and a writer. I have a list of interview questions. I wrote them up, assuming you’d be interviewing an expert on the pirate era, and with Pirates in Paradise gearing up, it seemed to make sense. And Marty is amazing. I mean, it’s your project, you have your own questions, and once Marty gets going, but…”