Lie to Me (Pearl Island Trilogy #4)(8)
“Seven,” he repeated, his thumbs moving over the phone with practiced speed. “What’s your address?”
“Actually, I live in the cottage behind the inn.”
“Okay. Got it.” He looked around. “I guess I should get out of your hair.”
“You’re not in my hair, but I do need to get ready for tonight. How about I show you out?” She explained how to find the cottage as she led him from the kitchen back to the lobby. “It’s kind of hard to find since it’s hidden by the trees.”
“A hidden cottage?” The idea seemed to delight him.
“Pretty cool, huh?” she said as they reached the front door.
“This whole place is freaking cool,” he agreed.
She found his boyish enthusiasm ridiculously charming. When she opened the door, he stepped outside, onto the veranda. “So, I’ll see you at seven?”
He looked a bit shell-shocked. “Apparently.”
“Well, then,” she said, feeling almost giddy, “I’d better go check on those brownies.”
“Right.” He nodded, but made no move to leave.
“See you this evening,” she said, and gently closed the door. Turning to lean her back against it, she covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.
My God, he’s cute, she thought. Assuming all that shy, polite, awkwardness wasn’t an act. That thought dimmed her good mood.
Stop it, she scolded herself. Stop looking for a user lurking inside every guy you meet. Nice guys do exist.
Plus, it wasn’t like she’d never been out before. She’d just kept guys at a distance, as friends with benefits. Lucas had a sincerity about him that made her think he might be different. The thought made her skittish.
It’s just a date, she mentally repeated.
Calmed by the thought, she felt the smile return to her lips. Yes! She had a date!
Chapter 3
What the hell am I doing? Luc wondered as he drove back to Pearl Island that evening. He couldn’t believe he had a date with Chloe. What happened to his plan to approach her in a businesslike manner about getting his grandmother’s necklace, then getting back to work? Okay, yes, experiencing a zing of mutual attraction each time their eyes met had been a nice, unexpected bonus, but it couldn’t go anywhere. One way or another it would end; either when she remembered he was that dork she’d once thought completely beneath her, or when she found out why he’d come.
He should have told her his name was Luc Renard, not Lucas with no last name. Not telling her was a waste of time, he decided as he crossed the bridge onto the private island. He should just come clean. That was the logical thing to do.
But then he remembered how she’d looked at him in the kitchen, with so much interest in her amazing hazel eyes. Was he really going to bring that to a screeching halt? As Blade would say, Not bloody likely.
While Luc’s conscience squirmed a bit at continuing the deception-by-omission, Blade never backed down from a challenge, no matter the risk. What better challenge than seeing how far he could take Chloe’s attraction to him before she figured out who he was?
Would it go all the way? Would he let it?
His pulse kicked up as he imagined her standing before him in that skimpy pink bikini, and him taking hold of the string behind her neck, pulling it slowly until—
No, he told himself. He couldn’t do that to her without telling her everything. He had too much respect for her. After all, it was her outgoing, fearless personality, not to mention his awe of her athletic ability, that had inspired the female characters who populated Vortal. They weren’t helpless damsels to be rescued or quest objects to be won, but strong, bold females, designed to play the role of allies or adversaries.
Not surprisingly, the first female prototype he’d designed had had Chloe’s face. In the released version of the game, players of Vortal determined the appearance of their alter egos, but during the early days of development Luc had been in complete control, drawing all the characters in a sketch book, then scanning those sketches so he could bring them to life in 3D.
Remembering the drawings he’d done of Chloe stirred his body as well as his imagination, and he silently cursed. He needed to stay focused on the necklace and stop wasting time getting hot and bothered over something that was never going to happen.
Spotting the dirt drive Chloe had described, he veered off the road to the inn. As oak trees and palms swallowed him in a tunnel of greenery, he decided his best course was to tell Chloe who he was and why he’d come right off the bat. Then, over dinner, they could discuss what needed to happen for him to file a claim for the necklace. That was assuming she didn’t tell him to leave immediately.
The cottage came into view so suddenly he had to stomp on the brake and swerve left to keep from hitting the steps to the front porch. Once his heart settled after the near collision, he took in the brown shingle siding and green roof that made the little house almost invisible amid the trees. Through the tropical undergrowth, he could see a spacious side deck that probably offered a great view of the cove.
Chloe emerged onto the porch as he climbed from the car.
“Right on time,” she called as she locked the door, then came bounding down the steps all bright smiles and bouncing hair.
Wearing a hot, red sundress.
Holy crap!