Free Night Diver: A Novel by Elizabeth Lowell Page B

until tomorrow. Which meant other pursuits were available tonight.
    He concentrated on Kate’s profile. She was an intriguing woman, seemingly unaware of her beauty, making no attempt to ingratiate herself with the man who held her family’s fate in his fist. Yet he had caught her more than once looking at him the way a woman looks at a man who interests her. During the brief time he had known her, she had ricocheted between fear and anger and aloofness more than many women he had known over years of acquaintance.
    Yet he didn’t think being volatile was a natural state for her. She didn’t have the pinched, nervous look of someone perpetually balanced on the edge of panic. Her hand on the steering was as competent as her posture was confident. She looked more and more relaxed with every minute.
    Maybe it’s just her family that makes her nervy.
    It would be a long time before he forgot her terror at the sight of the narrow staircase leading to the main deck. It would be even longer before he forgot the feel of her in his arms. The embrace had been meant to be soothing, but he was a man, after all. He had felt the woman heat as fear receded.
    He wanted to feel it again.
    Soon.
    You’re rushing your fences, he advised his body.
    His body didn’t listen.
    I’m a man, not a randy boy.
    His body didn’t listen to that bit of reason, either.
    Holden was relieved when the rental’s dock came into view. The sun was close to the horizon, setting sky and water afire, making the dock leap out like a welcoming hand. The engines dropped to a conversational hum as Kate slowed for docking.
    Though the tides weren’t as pronounced in the tropics as they were in the North Sea, they did exist. But tidal swings weren’t the reason many seashore buildings sat on stilts. It was the storms that shifted huge masses of water, making and remaking the sea bottom in a few hours, rearranging beaches and shorelines in their paths.
    “Amazing that the rental hasn’t washed away,” Holden said.
    “It’s on the leeward side of the island, protected from the worst of the storm surges,” Kate said, coasting into the dock. “If the storm you’re so worried about materializes, we might get wet but we won’t be swimming.”
    While she tied off, he grabbed his duffels and stepped lightly onto the dock. As always since the mishap, his thigh protested. As always, he ignored it. Some of his team would have been happy to be as lightly injured as he had been.
    “I’m not worried about the storm,” he said as she joined him. “My boss is.”
    “Has anyone ever thought that the whole supposed treasure was dreamed up by a long-ago bookkeeper to cover up losses or even theft?” she asked.
    “I have. It was not a well-received observation.” As he spoke, he reminded himself of the considerable intelligence behind her wide turquoise eyes. He could have ignored the curvy body, but he had always been drawn to smart women.
    Kate didn’t notice his assessing stare. With every step she took away from the water, she felt her nerves uncurling.
    “The idea of bean counters getting treasure fever would be funny if it wasn’t for my family’s business,” she said.
    “Oh, we bean counters have our romantic moments.”
    This time she laughed.
    “You don’t believe me?” he asked, pretending to be wounded.
    “Holden, you aren’t a bean counter and we both know it.”
    The undecided breezes of the doldrums riffled over him like a lover’s fingers. “You seem quite certain.”
    “Am I wrong?” she said, turning to face him as they approached the house’s sagging porch.
    “What gave me away?”
    “Your eyes were the first clue. Your fitness was another.”
    “I limp when I’m tired,” he said before he could think better of it.
    “Your point? I’ve seen men in wheelchairs who were incredibly fit.”
    “Another point to the lovely lady,” he said. “As for the rest, the eyes came to me at birth, no work required. They’re quite common