Page 59 of Eclipse Bay

“Good night, Rafe.”

He caught her chin on the heel of his hand and kissed her very deliberately. He stopped just as she felt the breathlessness setting in again.

“Good night,” he said. His eyes were shadowed and intense in the yellow porch light. “You’ve got my number at Dreamscape and my cell phone number. Call me if Winston goes into his alert mode again tonight, okay? I can be here in less than ten minutes.”

“His alert mode?” She had forgotten all about Winston’s nocturnal prowling. “Oh, right. That’s very kind of you, but I really don’t think—”

“I know you’re having trouble thinking tonight. You’ve already explained that.” He went down the steps. “Just call me if he does the sentry thing.”

She held the door open for Winston. Rafe waited until they were both inside the house before he drove away into the darkness.

Twenty minutes later she emerged from the bathroom clad in her primmest nightgown. It was a Victorian number, pure white, with long sleeves, a ribbon-trimmed neckline, and a hem that fell to her ankles. She glanced once at herself in the mirror and was satisfied with the demure gown. It was definitely not the sort of nightwear favored by women who were in the habit of leaving their undergarments strewn on the staircase while they indulged themselves in a mad, passionate fling with the most exciting man in town.

Make that the most exciting man she had ever met.

An aberration. That was what it had been. It had been much too long since she’d had anything resembling a normal sex life. Aberrant behavior was to be expected under such circumstances.

With a sigh, she switched off the lamp. Winston was already in position at the foot of the bed. He raised his head from his paws when she went to the window that overlooked the bay. She could feel him watching her as she opened the drapes.

“Weren’t you even a little bit concerned about the fact that I was so late getting home?” she asked.

He did not dignify that with a response.

“I was afraid of that.”

She padded through the shadows to the side window and pulled the curtains wide. She was about to turn back to the bed when she glimpsed the sheen of moonlight on metal between two trees.

“What in the world?”

She gripped the window ledge and peered more closely at the glint. A closer look verified her first impression. There was a car parked in a stand of trees near the road. In that position, whoever was in the vehicle had a clear view of the house and the entrance of the long drive.

She glanced at Winston. He had his muzzle on his paws. Not in alert mode.

She closed the drapes again, switched on the light, and picked up the phone. She punched in one of the numbers she had jotted down on the pad beside the bed.

Rafe answered on the first ring.

“What are you doing out there in the bushes?” she asked.

“Nothing for which I could get arrested.”

A small thrill of pleasure rippled through her at the sound of his voice; low, sexy, and just rough enough around the edges to bring back some very recent, very heated memories.

She turned off the light again. Carrying the phone, she went back to the window and opened the drapes a second time. She gazed out into the darkness, searching for the metallic gleam of the Porsche’s fender.

“Are you sure about that?” she asked.

“Positive.”

Talking to him now on the phone was a lot easier than facing him after that interlude in his bedroom, she discovered. There was a strange intimacy to the experience, but at the same time the distance allowed her to finally relax.

“You’re keeping watch, aren’t you?” she asked. “Waiting to see if whatever alarmed Winston shows up again.”

Silence hummed briefly on the other end.

“Just thought I’d stick around for a few minutes,” he said.

“That’s not necessary. I told you I’d call if Winston starts prowling. Go home, Rafe. We’ll be fine, honest.”

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