Distracted (4 page)

He stifled a laugh, backed out of her room, and
closed the door.

Functioning on auto pilot, Erin stepped into the
bathroom. It was exactly like the one she had barged into earlier,
except this room had her toiletries on the counter, her shampoo and
conditioner in the shower. She opened the mirrored medicine cabinet
and found her toothbrush, her floss and even her birth control
pills.

She stepped out of the bathroom and into the closet
area. Pulling open drawers she found her lingerie, her stockings,
shorts and shirts. Her dresses hung on satin-padded hangers. He had
left out her red La Rok, a short-waisted cocktail dress with a
cut-away back and short tulle skirt. He had even arranged her
silver Stuart Weitzmore slingback sandals, with their corsage
straps and four-inch heel, beside the dress. So, he had even
decided what she should wear tonight.

Erin sat on the bed and fumed at the invasion of her
privacy. She thought about calling Patricia. Instead, she went back
into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

“It’s on,” she growled.

Soon Erin was sleek and polished. The skirt of her
strapless red dress flared high above her knees in baby-doll
fashion. Her high heels made her legs appear long. They were a bit
sunburned from her morning on the deck so she decided not to wear
stockings. Instead, she slathered them with fragrant lotion. She
used makeup sparingly, but the dress called for a bit of war
paint.

The casual, tomboy approach hadn’t worked. Sharing a
few beers on the deck had been a bad idea. Maybe the glamour puss
would succeed.

She stepped into the living room, her small silver
evening bag in her hand. Spence, sitting in an armchair and toying
with the TV remote, whistled.

“I didn’t think you’d wear it,” he said, referring to
her dress.

“Why not? That’s why I brought it.”

“You clean up nice.”

She sashayed into the center of the room and batted
her lashes. “Thank you. Wish I could say the same.”

It was another lie. Spence was dressed in a pair of
tan, baggy pants, a black silk shirt and leather sandals. His wavy
dark hair was pushed back and he hadn’t bothered to shave. He
looked reckless and sexy.

He placed his hand over his heart and tossed his head
back, laughing. “Now that’s just unkind.”

He walked towards Erin. “What can I do to improve
your opinion of me?”

“Obey me. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”

Spence bowed. “As you wish.”

She smiled and turned towards what she hoped was the
front door. They didn’t speak as they walked outside. Without a
word, Spence whisked her into his arms and waded through the tall
grass towards her SUV.

Erin gasped at the touch of his warm hand cupping her
bare legs while the other snaked around her back and curved under
her arm. His fingertips brushed the side of her breast.

“Hey! Put me down.”

“Quit complaining,” Spence said. “You’d never make it
through the field in those shoes.”

Erin flinched as his warm breath caressed her cheek.
She closed her eyes and held her purse tight.

Seconds later, Spence set her on her feet at the
passenger door and held out his hand. Erin shrugged; he knew the
town best, so she handed him the keys and he opened the door. He
smiled as she maneuvered into the high vehicle, then obligingly
tucked her short skirt under her thigh and closed the door. He
climbed behind the wheel, started the truck and wound his way back
towards town.

A few minutes later, Spence pulled into the
shell-packed parking lot of a local restaurant. “You like
seafood?”

“No,” she said sniffing at the tantalizing aroma of
grilling meat. “But I do like steak.”

She didn’t wait for him to open her door. Instead,
she slid down carefully, placing one high heel on the running board
while the other floated inches from the ground.

“You need help?” Spence asked, keeping his eyes on
her thighs as her dress rode high.

“No thank you; I’m fine,” she said as she dropped,
groping for the door handle.

“Yes you are,” he agreed softly.

Chapter Three

“You know, that is just fascinating,” he said,
pouring her another glass of wine.

She monopolized the conversation with her detailed
explanation of book outlines and the importance of schedules.

“Really? You think so?”

“No. I’m just saying that so you’ll drink more.”

Erin steeled herself against his smile, his soft
voice and the spreading warmth of the red wine. She had long since
finished her steak and salad, and had progressed to slathering
butter on thick slices of brown bread.

Meanwhile, Spence continued to crack open crab legs,
mounding the pink and white meat on his plate. He had several small
containers of drawn butter in front of him. He ate slowly, spearing
the crab meat with a tiny fork then dipping it in the yellow
liquid. Erin could swear he’d been eating for an hour.

“Can’t you eat any faster?”

“You can help, you know,” he said, offering her a
crab leg and the pliers.

“Ewww. No.”

“Why don’t you like seafood?” he asked, sucking on a
cracked leg.

“It all tastes the same to me. Gross.”

“You should try this; it’s not gross.” Spence offered
her a forkful of white crabmeat dripping with butter.

“No. I don’t like it.” She shoved a piece of bread
into her mouth. “Besides, I’m full.”

Spence eyed her puffed cheeks.

“Do you hear that?”

“What?” Erin listened for sirens. Life in the city
had numbed her to loud noises.

“They’re playing our song, darlin’.”

He wiped his hands on his napkin, stood and pulled
her to her feet. He seemed to glide toward the empty terrace. He
held her hand and put his free arm around her waist. They swayed in
the dark.

“I don’t hear anything,” she said, pulling away and
putting a hand on his chest.

“Listen,” he whispered. He pulled her close and
danced. Below, in the restaurant’s kitchen, a radio played a reggae
tune.

She stepped out of his embrace and put her hands on
her hips. “You realize this is not a date.”

“Of course.” Time to change the subject. Spence
leaned over the rail and nodded toward the boats moored in Silver
Lake Harbor. “Over there is Anchorage Marina. That’s where my mom
runs the dive shop. That’s where I keep my boats.”

“Boats? You have more than one?”

“I’ve got a few. You’ll like them.”

“I’m sure I will,” Erin said. “I’ve seen photographs
of them. Fancy yachts filled with beautiful women.”

He grinned. “I wouldn’t call them yachts. I’ve got a
sport fisher and a sailboat. I’ve also got a john boat and a small
Boston whaler. They’re not fancy. They’re work boats.”

“Work boats?”

“Sure. I do a lot of exploring when I’m considering
which scenes to paint. I work from photographs I take in the
wild.”

“Right. What about all of the beautiful women?”

“All women are beautiful to me, darling.”

“Mm hmm.”

Spence studied Erin’s face, as if memorizing her
green eyes, sooty lashes, and honey blonde hair streaked with
highlights. Soft, full lips crowned a dimpled chin. She valiantly
tried to hide a smirk and it dimpled her cheek. But it was the
determined look that narrowed her eyes, the stubborn tilt of her
chin that he found most attractive.

“I’d say you’re just about the most beautiful woman
I’ve met,” he said, seductively stretching out his hand to caress
her lovely cheek.

She wasn’t buying it. She snorted and arched away
from his questing finger tips. “Hah! You’re full of it.”

* * *

After dinner, they walked to the beach. Erin’s tiny
purse was tucked into Spence’s back pocket, and he carried her
shoes by their straps. Even in the moonlight she could spot shells
and she was gathering them by the handfuls, collecting them in her
skirt.

“Tomorrow you’ll just toss those out.”

“No I won’t. They’re beautiful.”

“Happens all the time. People pick up seashells and
then toss them away the next day because they’re not perfect. They
start discriminating because one is chipped, or they find a
prettier one.”

Erin shrugged at his logic and released the edges of
her skirt. The shells tumbled to the beach.

“Tell me about your sailboat,” she commanded.

“It’s a 50-foot catamaran. It’s got a saloon, a full
galley, a master suite and two double berths, each with their own
heads. Sorry; I know you like to use my bathroom.”

Erin rolled her eyes. “Let it go ….” she warned.

“The cockpit is large and it has a huge dive platform
on the back. Do you dive?”

“No, never. I’m a freshwater girl. I grew up near a
big lake in Pennsylvania.”

“Oh yeah? Where about?”

“Eaton. It’s a small town in the mountains, hours
from anywhere.”

“Your family still live there?”

“Yes. My sister and her husband. My parents are
retired.”

“Just you and your sister?”

“That’s right, just us. I barely know my cousins. My
parents seldom left the farm to visit family. We had livestock that
needed constant care, so instead of vacations we kept a cabin down
by the lake.”

“You a farm girl?”

“Used to be. I’m a city girl now. I have an apartment
in Dupont Circle. Have you been to D.C.?”

“Sure. A few times. I like the way they’ve improved
the waterfront there. They have a nice boardwalk and a few good
patio bars.”

“Boats and bars. Why am I not surprised?”

Spence smiled and took one of her free hands,
carelessly wiping the sand on his shirt before clasping it in his.
Erin tugged but he held fast. They walked back along the shore to
the parking lot, retrieved the SUV and drove back to Spence’s
house.

He turned at the battered black mailbox, onto the
unpaved road that Erin almost missed earlier in the day.

“What’s the deal with the trashy mailbox?” she
asked.

“It helps keep the riffraff out, along with the
models from all the photo shoots.”

“Very funny. I bet every one of them ended up ... at
your house.” She almost said, “in your bed.”

Spence just smiled, drove down a private driveway,
and parked the SUV beside the house.

“How did I miss this?” Erin basically abandoned the
vehicle on the side of the road that afternoon.

“You were supposed to. That’s how I designed the
property.”

At the front door, he lifted a discreet panel and
pushed a few buttons. The door opened, low lights turned on and
soft music began to play.

“Wow, Double-Oh-Seven, you’ve got quite a place.”

He smirked and stood aside, letting her enter
first.

“My feet are sandy,” she warned. Spence shrugged.

She dropped her shoes by the front door along with
her small purse and walked into the living room.

“Well. Thanks for an exciting first day, Spence. I’ll
see you tomorrow morning.” She began walking towards her room but
he caught her wrist.

“You really shouldn’t go to bed yet. You should drink
some water. Don’t want to wake up with a hangover.”

He maneuvered her into the kitchen and pulled a
couple bottles of cold spring water from the refrigerator. Then, he
opened the sliding glass doors to the patio and ushered her into
the night air.

“Let’s watch the stars,” he suggested. He reclined in
his hammock and patted the netting next to him. Once again Erin
sought alternative seating. Her choices were the bar or the deck or
the hammock.

“Okay. Move over.”

They rocked quietly for several minutes gazing at the
stars. She tried not to focus on his arm and leg, warm against her.
She slowly relaxed, but still felt a little chilled from her
sunburn. When she shivered, Spence asked, “You cold?” He lifted his
arm and she rolled into the curve against him.

“A little.” Erin allowed herself to huddle closer,
absorbing his body heat and inhaling his clean, fresh scent. Her
arms and legs felt heavy. It was too easy to close her eyes and
sigh.

“I used to lie in the hammock with my daddy when I
was a child. Down at the cabin near our house. We spent a lot of
our summers out there at the lake.” She yawned.

After a few minutes of quiet rocking, Erin was
asleep.

Chapter Four

“Wake up, sleepy head.”

Erin opened her eyes to a dusky blue dawn. She tried
to sit up but the sudden movement rocked the hammock and it started
to flip over.

“Whoa.” Spence put anchoring foot on the deck and
caught her about the waist before she could tumble out.

“Did we sleep out here?” Erin’s dress bunched around
her waist and sand still clung to the skirt. Thank goodness, she
thought, her top was still in place.

“I’m a mess.” She ran her tongue over her teeth and
smacked noisily. “I need my toothbrush.”

Spence smiled at her lack of pretension. Her hair was
tousled, sticking up wildly.

“And you’ve got bed head,” he added.

“Well, you’re not so pretty yourself this
morning.”

Actually, he was.

“I’m not supposed to be.”

“And I am? That’s a chauvinistic thing to say.”

“I didn’t say it.”

“You intimated it. Never mind, I’ve got to pee.”

“Want me to come along?”

“Thanks; I think I can handle this one alone.”

She stood up and gave the hammock a shove. Her
fingers still wrapped in the webbing, she jerked it back and
tumbled Spence onto the deck.

“I’ll remember this.”

Erin stuck out her tongue, scooted through the
sliding doors, down the hallway and into her room. She tossed her
ruined dress on the floor and turned on the shower. Her sunburn
from the day before had begun to fade. Luckily it wasn’t bad. She
wouldn’t forget to use sunscreen again. She washed her hair and
poured a generous helping of shower gel on her shower puff. As she
scrubbed her body she ran her hands sensuously down her breasts and
her belly. Hugging herself, she found herself thinking of Spence’s
eyes, and his smile.