Free Hold Me Tight: Heartbreakers by Cait London Page B

circling her now, searching in emotional fields she wanted to forget—
    He stood slowly in front of her, forcing her to look up at him, to be aware of how feminine she was in contrast to hissize and force—the contrast of a man and a woman, the physical differences….
    His hand raised to frame her cheek, his thumb stroking her skin. Jessica shivered, not from the chill but from that quiet, steady search of her eyes, as if he were seeing deeply inside….
    “It is cold, Willow. I’ll talk with you later,” Alexi said without removing his gaze from Jessica’s, and then he walked away.
    “See you later, Alexi,” Willow called cheerfully. “I just love the Stepanov men, don’t you, Jessica?”
    Not that one, Jessica decided silently. She rubbed her cheek briskly, trying to erase how easily those fingers had held her, how gently they had removed her hairpins. Alexi wasn’t at all what he seemed to other people.
    In the shop Jessica collected a few assorted soaps and paid for them. “I’ll call the addresses where you can send these. Is that okay?”
    Willow carefully began to wrap the fragrant seashell-shaped soaps into tissue, then tied raffia around them. “Great. Thanks. You’ve helped me so much. Goodness, I’ve gotten so many orders from the people who know you. I’ve been pouring molds ever since the holidays ended, and I’ve reordered some great scents and colorings, more seashell molds, too—the small kind, like for guest soaps. I think they’ll sell well, don’t you?”
    “Yes, I think so.” Jessica studied Willow. She seemed flustered and hurrying through her words, her hands fluttering over her work, dropping one soap to the floor, raffia tangling in her fingers. “Willow, I want you to tell me what is troubling you. I know something is.”
    “Boyfriend trouble. You don’t know him,” Willow answered briskly. “That old Kamakani curse, you know. Boy, that Alexi Stepanov is sure sexy. I think he likes me. He was in here, looking around the shop, and he seems really nice. He’s lonesome, I can just tell. Maybe I’ll ask him over some night for a movie and dinner. Oh, I suppose you could come, too,” Willow added as an apparent afterthought.
    “Thanks.” Jessica didn’t like the way Willow looked, dreamy and already in love, when she spoke of Alexi. And shedidn’t like the way Willow ignored the ringing of the telephone. “Shouldn’t you get that?”
    “No,” Willow answered in a high-pitched tone, her expression too innocent.
    “Is someone threatening you, Willow? I want to know—” She frowned as she noted the paper sack that Willow had just knocked over—it contained new packages of door locks.
    Before Alexi and Danya had removed Lars Anders, the man had threatened a few women, a bully picking on the defenseless. Willow was totally trusting and afraid, judging by her darting quick look at the front window, the way she jumped at the slightest noise, a shutter banging in the wind. Jessica followed Willow outside and helped her secure the shutter, closing it. On impulse, she hugged Willow close against her. “You’re like the sister I never had. I don’t want anything happening to you.”
    Willow was suddenly calm, leaning back to smooth Jessica’s hair. “I love you, too. Everything is going to be just fine. I knew it today. Everything came very clearly to me. I don’t want you to worry anymore. It’s time to love again.”
    Willow’s statement would trouble Jessica for hours—until she decided to jerk Alexi, alias the “Sex Magnet,” away from any Willow temptation.

Four
    A fter a sponge bath, Alexi threw down the towel he’d used to dry his body and drew on his jeans. He stepped into comfortable worn loafers and shook his head as he traced the beam of light moving unsteadily from the resort toward his house. He quickly eliminated Marcella, who detested exercise; she wouldn’t walk at night. At nine o’clock, that person was probably Jessica Sterling, the woman he