Taken Beyond Temptation

“No. That is, we haven’t been formally introduced. This is the second time we’ve run into each other.” And he was going to have to stop doing that. “I’m a guest up at the hotel.”

The elderly woman nodded. “But I can see you’re worried about her. Nate Kirby is our local sheriff. He’ll know what to do about this.”

Was she trying to convince him or herself? “What happened in there?”

She frowned. “A nasty piece of business. It was in the kitchen. Someone bashed in the cupboards and threw red paint on three of the walls. It looked like blood.”

Ian’s stomach knotted.

“There was a message painted on the fourth wall. Get out while you still can.”

Ian glanced up the street. The urge to go to her was even stronger now. So was his gut feeling that she was in danger.

“Nothing like this happens in Belle Bay. And everyone here is grateful to the Brightman sisters. They’ve created an economic upturn for the whole community. I don’t understand why anyone would do something like this.”

In the next block, Ian could see that Jillian, in the company of the sheriff and the brunette, was on her way back. Time for him to exit stage left. He glanced back down at the older woman. He wanted to question her further. But maintaining a low profile was more important right now. “The sheriff is on his way. Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m fine.” She held out a hand. “I’m Emmy Lou Pritchard. I run the library. And you’re?”

He studied her for a moment. A more seasoned operative would have made his getaway without giving away his name. He had a hunch he’d just been out-maneuvered by a librarian. He shook the hand. “I’m Jack Ryan.”

“Jack Ryan.” She beamed a smile at him. “Glad to meet you. You’ve made me feel much better about Jillian’s safety.”

4

“To YOUR NEW STORE.” Molly raised the glass of champagne the waitress had just poured. “To Memories. I love the name.”

Jillian touched her glass to Molly’s and sipped the wine. “Thank you so much for agreeing to have dinner with me tonight.”

Molly rolled her eyes. “Right. Just keep the gratitude flowing my way. I get a free meal at the best restaurant on the island. Which also has the best view.”

The view was pretty good, Jillian thought as she followed the direction of her friend’s gaze. Although the open courtyard in the center of Haworth House didn’t offer the spectacular vantage that the second floor and the tower did, a wide stretch of the Atlantic was clearly visible through one of the arches. And the sight of the sun lowering into it—well, it was one of the reasons she’d fallen in love with Hattie Haworth’s retreat at first sight.

Molly lifted her glass again. “Plus, I get to drink champagne, I get an evening of girl talk. And what else?

Oh, yes, one of your sister Reese’s spectacular desserts. Clearly, you owe me big-time.”

“I do.” Jillian smiled at her over the rim of her glass. “Girl talk is exactly what I need tonight. And my sisters are currently otherwise engaged.”

“Naomi is happy with Dane, isn’t she?”

“Very.” Which was why Jillian didn’t want to call her. Her oldest sister, the person she’d always turned to for advice, deserved a little time to be something besides a big sister.

“And how is Reese?”

Jillian smiled. “Very busy and loving it. She’s filming the pilot for a cooking show in L.A., and the hope is that it will go into syndication. She’s close to getting everything she’s wanted since she was five. That’s when she pleaded with me to sneak her into the kitchen in the middle of the night so that she could bake a surprise birthday cake for Naomi.”

“You accomplished that in a convent boarding school?”

Jillian shrugged. “I was the risk taker in the family.” She supposed that it was her way of dealing with the confinement she’d always felt. “Naomi was the role model. Reese was the baby and had to be protected. So I was the one who could push the envelope. Most of the time I got away with it.”

“How was the cake?”

Jillian grinned. “Spectacular.”

Molly tilted her head to one side. “I’d say you’re still a risk taker. You’re the one who found this place and talked your sisters into buying it. Now you’ve bought your own store.”

Jillian glanced around. “We vowed when we were still together in school that we would one day start a business together. I knew the moment I walked through the front door that we were meant to make Haworth House our home base. But I never expected to buy a retail space so soon.”

Molly raised her glass again. “Let’s toast to the future success of Memories.”

Once they had, Jillian leaned back in her chair and toed off her shoes. “I haven’t had a second to breathe since I got to the island this morning. You’re relaxing me.”

Molly studied her friend. “Good. I’m not sure I’ve accomplished the same myself.” Setting down her glass, she reached to cover Jillian’s hand. “I’m so sorry about what you found in your store.”

“Nate did a good job of settling my nerves. He thinks the vandalism may be connected to another incident at the high school. I never thought I’d be grateful that some bored and mischievous teenagers decided to have a little fun. And luckily, it didn’t happen after I’d rehabbed the place. That would have been disheartening.”

Molly reached for her glass. “Nate is good at settling people.”

Something in her tone drew Jillian’s closer scrutiny. She knew that Nate and Molly had a history. “How is it going between Nate and you?”

Molly sighed. “It’s not going. At all. When he dumped me in high school, I thought I wouldn’t ever recover. But I did. I decided that I could do very well without him. And I did that, too. I went to New York, graduated from fashion school, and I was on my way to L.A.—I was going to fulfill my dream of dressing stars for the red carpet. Then Gram got sick. And when I came back,

I found that I hadn’t gotten over Nate Kirby at all. But he’s evidently gotten over me.”

“He said that?”

“In every way possible but words.”

“Have you asked him?”

Molly shook her head. “Too chicken. Words are so final. And I’ve never forgotten the ones he said to me at our senior prom when he took back his class ring. It’s over, Molly.”

Jillian opened her mouth, then shut it. Words were final. And what right did she have to offer advice to anyone? She certainly didn’t have a knack for developing long-term relationships with men. She couldn’t even figure out what to do about the stranger she kept running into. She couldn’t seem to avoid him.

Once she’d returned to the hotel, she’d filled Avery in on the vandalism at her store, and then she’d done a dry run of the tour she was going to give Colonel Jenkins on the following day. Mr. Hunk seemed to be everywhere. Once or twice she’d caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, and each time her system had gone into overdrive. When she’d been in the bar, she’d turned and found her gaze directly locked with his. For a moment, her mind had gone completely blank—just as it had when she’d plowed into him in front of the bookstore.

It had been like running into a rock—except that her skin had burned at each contact point. And she’d had to fight to hang on to where she was going, what had just happened. All she could think about was him, and whenever she did.

“Men,” Molly said.

No, it was one man, Jillian thought as heat churned in her center. And it was happening again. She could feel him. He was watching her right now.

Molly’s eyes narrowed on her. “What?”

Jillian pitched her voice low. “Keep it very casual, but I want you to look over my shoulder and tell me what you see.” Then she waited while Molly’s gaze slipped beyond her and then back. Nothing registered on the other woman’s face.

Molly lifted her wine, sipped, then said, “There’s a drop-dead-gorgeous man standing on the balcony—second floor. I think it’s the same hunk you ran into when we raced out of the future Memories.”