Bad dreams?
No.
Well, then.
Taking that as an answer, he continued his stroll down the narrow path.
Does having a man flirt with you always make you turn tail and run?
I certainly wasn't running. And I'm not interested in flirtations.
Funny. When you were standing out on the terrace a bit ago, you looked like a woman ready for a little flirting.
She stopped dead.
You were watching me.
Mmm.
Nathaniel crushed his cigar out into the sand of a nearby urn.
I was
thinking it was a shame I didn't have a lute.
Annoyance warred with curiosity.
A lute?
A pretty woman standing on a balcony in the moonlight she should be serenaded.
She had to laugh at that.
I suppose you play the lute.
Nope. Wished I did, though, when I saw you.
He began to walk again. The cliff
curved downward, toward the seawall.
I used to sail by here when I was a kid and look up at The Towers. I liked to think there was a dragon guarding it, and that I'd scale the cliffs and slay him.
Kevin still calls it a castle,
she murmured, looking back.
When I got older and took note of the Calhoun sisters, I figured when I killed the dragon, they'd reward me. In the way a sixteen-year-old walking hormone fantasizes.
She laughed again.
Which one of them?
Oh, all of them.
Grinning, he sat on the low wall, drew her down beside him.
They've always been... remarkable. Holt had this thing for Suzanna, though he wouldn't admit it. Being as he was my friend, I selflessly crossed her off my list.
That left three for me after I conquered that dragon.
But you never did face the dragon?
A shadow passed over his face.
I had another to deal with. I guess you could say we left it at a draw, and I went to sea.
He shook off the mood, and the
uncomfortable past.
But I did have a brief and memorable interlude with the lovely Lilah.
Megan's eyes widened.
You and Lilah?
Right before I left the island. She set out to drive me crazy. I think she was practicing.
He sighed at the memory.
She was damn good at it.
But they were so easy with each other, Megan thought. So relaxed and friendly.
You're so easy to read, Meg.
He chuckled and slipped his arm around her shoulders.
We weren't exactly Romeo and Juliet. I kissed her a few times, did my damnedest to convince her to do mote. She didn't. And she didn't break my heart.
Well, dented it a little, maybe,
he mused.
And Max isn't bothered?