You cant even see the lighthouse tonight the fog is so thick, Kat said, following his gaze to the night, sounding worried about fishermen who might be trying to get to safe harbor.
Jonah looked out past Ravens Cove, where he knew the lighthouse loomed up from a jagged island outcropping of rock, then back at her as the waiter brought their salads. He couldnt stop thinking about Arabellas warning. Or his own uneasiness. He told himself it was just the fog. Just being back here.
So tell me about your work, Kat said.
He watched her take a bite of her salad, captivated by her mouth. My work?
Computers. What is it exactly that you do?
He let out a laugh. So he was supposed to be a computer nerd? Great. Its too boring for words. Im sure your job is much more interesting.
She shook her head, smiling. You arent one of those people who thinks the private-eye business is like on TV? She had a great smile. He felt heat as his gaze locked with hers.
You mean its not? he asked, trying to sound disappointed as he looked deep into all that blue. It was like looking down into the sea. Bottomless and full of mysteries.
She licked her lips, her cheeks flushing again, and dropped her gaze to her salad, her fork poised above a piece of endive. It actually consists of tedious, time-consuming hours spent digging up facts. But I started the business because I wanted to help people, so I dont mind. She shrugged and let her gaze lift to his again.
He didnt know if the jolt he felt came from her lookor the realization that she was the P.I. of Ridgemont Detective Agency. Bad news. But although he was more than a little attracted to her, he wouldnt be seeing her again after tonight. In fact, he planned to be out of Moriahs Landing as quickly as possible. As soon as he finished what hed come here to do.
He managed to steer the conversation away from himself throughout the rest of their dinner date, careful not to give anything awayor let on that he wasnt her real date. He even got her to relax a little.
I had a nice time, she said shyly outside the restaurant after dinner, sounding surprised. Why did he get the feeling that she didnt date much?
I had a nice time, too, he said, realizing it was true. He hadnt meant for the date to last this long. He could no longer pretend he was just buying time. And yet he felt off balance again out here in the fog, being with this woman who should have been with someone else. Can I walk you home?
She shook her head. I just live a block or so from here. She tugged her jacket around her and shifted her feet. Her gaze came up to meet his. Oh, those eyes. And that mouth.
Stirred by a yearning stronger than the force of the moon on the sea, he bent to kiss her good-night. Goodbye.
Her eyes fluttered closed. Her lips parted. A hairbreadth from her wonderful mouth Jonah felt something brush the back of his neck, something cold as the kiss of death.
He jerked around, only to see wisps of fog streaming past as if blown up from the sea by a gust of wind. Except there was no wind, just as there was no one right behind him. But that didnt mean there wasnt a presence out there in the mist watching them. Let me walk you home.
She opened her eyes in surprise, licked her lips and turned her face away, unsure. Again. I am more than capable of walking myself home. Obviously upset with him for not kissing her, she took a couple of steps backward.
I had a great time, he said, not wanting to let her go. Suddenly afraid to let her go.
She nodded, turned and disappeared into the fog.
He waited and then followed her at a distance as she walked to her clapboard three-story house at the edge of the town green, unable to shake the feeling hed had that instant before hed almost kissed her.
Before turning back to the wharf, he listened for the sound of the bolt sliding on her door, and then for the footsteps hed heard to retreat, shaken by the fact that someone else had followed her home as well.
Chapter Two
When shed stop, so did the others, which only strengthened an illogical but growing fear that someone was after herjust as someone had been after her mother twenty years before. The Beretta in her purse and the fact that she was an expert
markswoman, had given her little comfort tonight. Shed been spooked and running scared, both highly unlike her.
Once inside her house, she closed the door behind her, locked it, then pulled aside the curtain to look out into the fog, seeing nothing, hearing nothing but her own ragged breath and the erratic thump of her heart. Logically, she knew the sound of the footsteps had probably been some weird echo because of the fog, just as she knew what had caused this sudden case of paranoia. The very mention of her mother.
She kicked off her heels and padded barefoot farther into the first floor of the house shed lived in her whole life, noticing as she looked upstairs that a light shone from under her sister Emilys bedroom door. She could hear music playing and Em on the phone talking with one of her friends, both reassuring sounds. She was glad the seventeen-year-old was home on a school night and would be graduating next week, although it worried her that her half sister didnt seem to have any plans after graduation. But tonight, Kat was just glad not to be alone in the house.