“Hmm, let me think. Maybe your reasons for leaving me?”
She got to her feet. “You want the truth? I couldn’t take it. I was so in love with you, it hurt all the time. You were all that mattered to me. My dolphins were far too tame for you—and far too unimportant. Our agreement that we’d spend time dedicated to my pursuits didn’t mean a thing—not if a sunken ship turned up or a shark-research expedition was formed. Then it came to the point when I said you were welcome to go off even when you were supposed to be helping me—and you went. And then that became a way of life. There’s the story in a nutshell. You were gone long before I sent those papers. And sometime in there, I got over you. I love working with dolphins. No, it isn’t like finding a Spanish galleon, or even locating a yacht that went down ten years ago, maybe. But I love it. What you apparently needed, or wanted, was a different kind of wife. Either a pretty airhead who would follow you endlessly, or…someone as fanatic about treasure as you are. So go to your room and put some clothes on, or take a stroll over to the Tiki Hut and give someone else a thrill.”
She started inside, hoping he would stop her. Not because she wanted to be near him, but because he knew about the body.
Her back to him, she suddenly wondered how he knew. The question left her with a very uneasy feeling.
“Alexandra, whatever anger you’re feeling toward me, whatever I did or didn’t do, I swear, I’m just trying to help you now.”
She spun around. “How do you know about the body, anyway? Jay gave me very direct orders not to mention it to anyone.”
He cocked his head slightly. “Jay’s assistant talks.”
“What did you do? Flirt with Len, too?”
He arched an eyebrow, curiously, slowly. She wished she could take back the comment. It made it appear as if…as if jealousy had been the driving factor in her quest for freedom. And it hadn’t been.
Thankfully, David didn’t follow up on her comment. “I don’t think Len could contain himself. He tried to be smooth and cool, but I guess he feels he knows me and that I’m intelligent enough not to repeat what he said. He told me you’d all gone off in search of a body, and then it turned out to be gone. I overheard Jay tell him that part.”
She stood very still, watching him for a long moment. “You know, I came back here to be alone.”
“So talk to me, then I’ll leave you alone.”
“You know, this is very strange. Most people would scoff at the idea immediately. Bodies don’t turn up on a daily basis. And yet…it sounds as if you think that there…should have been a body.”
“No,” he corrected. “I didn’t say I thought there should be a body.”
Alex pressed her fingers to her temples. “I can’t do this,” she said.
She was startled when he suddenly moved close to her. “Alex, please. If there was a body, and you saw it—you could be in danger.”
She sighed. “Not if no one knows about the body.”
“But I know, so others could, as well.”
“You said Len only told you about it because he trusts you.”
“Others might have overheard.”
“Just what do you want?”
He was no more than an inch from her. He still carried the scent of salt and the sea, and it was a compelling mixture. She looked away.
“I don’t want anything. I’m deeply concerned. Alex, don’t you understand? You could be in danger!” His hands fell on her shoulders then. It was suddenly like old times. “You have to listen to me.”
She’d heard the words before. Felt his hands before. Memories of being crushed against that chest stirred within her. She didn’t want to believe that she had once been so in love with him just because he was so distinctively male and sensual. There had been times when they were together when his smile had been so quick, and then so lazy, when just a finger trailing across her bare arm or shoulder had…
“David, let go of me,” she said, stepping back.
His eyes were narrowed, hard. She’d seen them that way before, when he was intent on getting to the bottom of something.
“Talk to me, Alex.”
“All right. Yes, Jay acted like an asshole. Yes, I’m convinced I saw a body. A woman. A blonde. Other than that…I couldn’t see her face. The angle of her body was wrong, and she was tangled in seaweed. When we went back, she was gone. Even Laurie, who saw the body first, wasn’t sure we’d seen it anymore. She didn’t actually go near the body even when it was there. Anyway, there was no corpse. So, are you happy?”
He didn’t look happy. Actually, for a moment, he appeared ashen. She wanted to touch his face, but he was still David. Solid as rock.
“Please, will you leave me alone?” she asked him.