He nodded in what might have been resignation. “You’re tired.”
“Yes. And I don’t exactly trust my judgment at the moment. Because, to be perfectly honest, there’s nothing I’d like more than to check out the view from the upstairs window with you right now.”
His eyes heated and he moved reflexively toward her. She held up a hand and he went still.
“I’ve known you two days,” she reminded him, finding it a little hard to believe, herself, that so little time had passed since she’d thrown herself at him at the gas pump. “And today has been fairly emotional, so I’m not sure how much that’s influencing my thinking.”
“Then you should go. I wouldn’t want to be accused of taking advantage of you.” His smile was a little strained, but understanding.
She lifted an eyebrow. “Maybe I would be taking advantage of you. I could be just using you as a tension reliever.”
He nodded gravely and spread his hands as if in surrender to her. “I think I’m up to it.”
She laughed and punched his shoulder. Leaving him rubbing the spot ruefully, she stood. “I’m going.”
He caught up with her at the door, snagged her around the waist and brought her against him again for one more lingering kiss. He held her closely enough to let her know that he was still aroused, but he made no effort to convince her to stay. “Just wanted to give you a little more to think about tonight,” he murmured when he finally released her.
As if she didn’t already have enough. With a sigh and a shake of her head, she let herself out the door.
She glanced instinctively at the cabin next door when she walked to the golf cart. She saw the blinds in the front window move and, just for the heck of it, she waved. The slats fell abruptly into place and went still.
She really didn’t believe any longer that the odd Terrence Landon was a criminal mastermind who needed to be watched furtively from Aaron’s cabin. The guy was just too bizarre, she thought as she spun the golf cart out of the driveway and head toward home. But maybe she wouldn’t tell Aaron just yet that she was abandoning her clever undercover scheme.
* * *
“I feel like a damned idiot,” Steven complained, glaring down at his immobilized leg. Having been discharged from the hospital Friday morning, he lay stretched out on his mother’s couch that afternoon, his injured leg propped on a pillow. The TV remote, a cooler of bottled water and sodas, enough snack foods to feed half a dozen people, his cell phone, laptop computer and an ebook reader were all within easy reach. And he did not look happy, Aaron thought, studying Steven from a nearby chair.
“It was an accident. Could have happened to anyone.”
Steven sighed. “That doesn’t make me feel any better. I let my attention wander. Stupid.”
Aaron took a sip of his bottled water. He doubted there was much he could say to make Steven feel better about being cooped up on his mother’s couch while the rest of the family went about the business of running the busy resort. As the weekend began, they were all needed at their posts, so Steven had convinced them he would be fine alone for a few hours. Aaron knew everyone was checking on Steven frequently, but he’d figured he might as well hang around for a while to keep him company. He didn’t mind Steven’s crankiness. He’d probably be in much the same mood under the same circumstances.
“Sorry,” Steven said, shaking his head. “I don’t mean to take it out on you.”
Aaron shrugged. “Are you hurting? Do you need anything?”
“My head hurts like hell, but it’s n
ot time to take anything for the pain. Don’t really like that drugged feeling, anyway.”
“Same here. But I can get you an over-the-counter painkiller if it would help.”
“Thanks, but I’m okay. So I hear you’re going to be laying shingles this weekend.”
“Yeah. Won’t be the first time.”
“Bet you didn’t come on vacation planning to climb around on a hot roof, though.”
“Frankly, I didn’t know what I’d be doing here,” Aaron admitted. “I left Dallas on an impulse with no plans for how long I’d be staying. Might as well make myself useful while I’m here.”
“You’ve done that. The family’s got you right up there on a pedestal with your brother.”
Aaron grimaced. “I hope not. That’s a hard fall—trust me, I know. I just haven’t been here long enough to tick everyone off yet.”
“Make a habit of that, do you?”
“You have no idea.”