Bird of Paradise (17 page)

Greg! Greg of the thigh-sized arms.
Hero's eyes narrowed as she recalled him questioning Adam the night
of the first dinner. And Sally knew she was a journalist—had she
told that to Greg as well? Hero couldn't help but being hurt, even
though the man had said Sally was reluctant to verify the truth.
She had
liked
Sally, how could she be so cruel to Adam?

“Miss North, I have here a copy of
your application to participate on
Eden
, and a notarized statement
concerning your background. Nowhere in it does it state that you
are currently employed as an investigative journalist for a British
newspaper.”

She felt Adam twitch next to her, and crossed her
fingers behind her back, praying that she had the time to talk to
him before he thought the worst of her. If it wasn't too late, that
is…

“Would you like to explain this oversight?”

She raised her chin. “Explain it?
No, I would not
like
to explain it, but I will nonetheless. I was employed by a
newspaper, but as of three months ago, I was forced to take a leave
of absence. I am no longer on the payroll of
the
Revue
.”

“Do you deny that you applied for a
spot on the show with the intention of using your experiences here
in an article to be published by
Sentinel-Revue
at a later
date?”

“That was my intention, yes.”

“And you willingly provided false information to the
show's producers that would mislead them into believing your sole
interest was in participating in the show in good faith?”

What must Adam be thinking of her? She shuddered to
think. “No. I did not provide false information.”

“You did not reveal your recent employment by a
British tabloid known throughout England for its outrageous and
often fantastical and inaccurate stories. You do not consider that
providing false information?”

“I assume there is a point to this?” Hero asked,
wanting to lean into Adam, but unsure of his reception to such a
move. “My foot hurts. If you are going to throw me off the island,
too, please say so now so that I might see the doctor before I have
to leave.”

The man nodded, mopping at his face again. “You are
also disqualified from the show. You have one hour to remove
yourself from the Crescent Moon Resort. Further, you will be
hearing from the Hawkeye Productions legal department regarding the
falsifying of statements on your applications.”

Hero wanted to tell the man where he could stick is
falsified statements, but the camera was on her and Adam, so she
just smiled instead.

“Do you need me to carry you?” Adam asked as the
group turned around and left without further word. Hero wanted to
look at him, wanted to assess the damage the fact that she'd lied
to him had done, but hadn't the nerve.

“No, I can walk,” she said, her head down.

“Hero.”

His hand on her arm stopped her.

“What?” she asked into his chest, ashamed and
embarrassed and close to tears with the knowledge that her stupid
plan had hurt the one man she loved more than anything else.

He raised her chin and looked down at her with eyes
so blue they looked like the brightest sapphires. “You could have
told me.”

“I know. I'm sorry, so very sorry,
Adam. I didn't mean to not tell you, but there never seemed to be a
good time, and I didn't want you to think badly of me, and I didn't
know how you feel…
felt
…and I was going to tell you tonight, but now you probably
don't even want to hear me out—”

He leaned forward until his breath was warm on her
lips. “Honey, it would take more than a little thing like this to
change how I feel about you.”

She blinked back her tears, shivering despite the
warmth of the day. His eyes were so warm, so full of love, she
wanted to do a few back flips down the dock despite the fact that
their world was falling apart. “It would? What would it take?”

His lips brushed hers in the sweetest kiss
imaginable. “Oh, I don't know…global destruction? No, not even that
could change my mind. You're the best thing that's ever happened to
me, Hero. I love you now, I'll love you tomorrow, I'll love you
always. You're my bright, beautiful goddess in my very own
Eden.”

“Maybe I'll change my name to Eve,” she murmured,
sucking on his lower lip, releasing it to add, “But what about you?
What will you do if you can't follow Sally? And what about
Jesus?”

They both looked down to where Jesus had plopped
himself in the shade Hero provided, sitting with his one good front
leg tucked under him, the other stretched out straight.

“We can't let those quarantine people take him and
put him down. We can't!”

Adam's eyes, heated with passion the moment before,
turned to ice. “We won't. The only thing Jesus will have to
sacrifice is his balls, and I already told him those were on hold
when I decided to give up the job on Sally so I could court you.
He'll be OK; his balls'll just have to wait until later, once I can
scrape together enough to pay for the surgery.”

She touched his cheek. “Once
we
can scrape together
enough for his surgery. It seems a shame he should lose his
testicles a second time.”

He grinned at her, the grin fading a moment later.
“Hero, I hate to do this to you, hate to start out our life
together with something illegal hanging over our heads, but—”

“I have three hundred pounds in traveler's checks,
and a Visa card. Will that be enough to bribe someone into taking
us off the island?”

He laughed, pulling her against him, kissing her
soundly. “With what I have, yes, it will be enough. You know that
Dominica is just a short hop away?”

“Dominica?”

Adam smiled and brushed a curl out of her eye. “It's
a small island, one that doesn't have animal quarantine laws. I'll
call Gar from there—if his past is anything to go by, he's probably
already engaged to someone else—and apologize and send him back his
money.”

Her smile answered his, love alight in her eyes.
“Sounds marvelous,” she said under her breath, giving him one more
kiss. “This has the makings of a great story! My editor will love
it!”

Adam laughed as he scooped her up in his arms. “Come
along my little fugitive from justice. Jesus, heel. We have a
daring escape to plan.”

“Escape to paradise,” Hero sighed, snuggling against
Adam, filled with love and hope and happiness, but most of all,
filled with the knowledge that all her feelings were returned.
“What a lovely headline that will make.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

For as long as she can remember, Katie MacAlister
has loved reading. Growing up in a family where a weekly visit to
the library was a given, Katie spent much of her time with her nose
buried in a book. Despite her love for novels, she didn’t think of
writing them until she was contracted to write a non-fiction book
about software. Since her editor refused to allow her to include
either witty dialogue or love scenes in the software book, Katie
swiftly resolved to switch to fiction, where she could indulge in
world building, tormenting characters, and falling madly in love
with all her heroes.

Two years after she started writing
novels, Katie sold her first romance, Noble Intentions. More than
thirty books later, her novels have been translated into numerous
languages, been recorded as audiobooks, received several awards,
and are regulars on the
New York
Times
,
USA
Today
, and
Publishers Weekly
bestseller lists.
She also writes for the young adult audience as Katie
Maxwell.

Katie lives in the Pacific Northwest, and can often
be found lurking around online. You can visit her at
http://www.katiemacalister.com