The Brooding Stranger Read online

  ‘Of course I like walking. But I’m—I’m rather busy just now, Sean.’

  ‘I thought you might say that.’ Running a hand around the back of his neck, he glanced down at the grass verge just to the side of him. Then, to Karen’s surprise, he seemed to regroup himself. He lifted his chin, then gazed directly into her eyes once more, as if reaching a decision.

  ‘I’ve seen you walking on the beach from time to time. You’re always alone. I thought that if you were going that way today you might like some company.’

  ‘That’s very sweet of you, Sean, but I—’

  ‘Don’t think I’m coming on to you or anything like that—not that I wouldn’t mind, if you see what I mean …’ He shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, momentarily ill at ease. ‘But I’ve got something to ask you about. Will you come for a walk so that we can discuss it?’

  ‘You mean now?’ Karen glanced over her shoulder at the spick and span sitting room, with its new coat of paint and the smart new furniture that had immediately revived the cottage’s previously careworn appearance. She’d just spent the morning cleaning the place to within an inch of its life. The comforting smell of polish floated up from the furniture surfaces she had vigorously shined, and the black iron grate round the fire positively gleamed from her enthusiastic administrations. The stack of washing up from her baking had been done, and her latest batch of bread and buns lay cooling on wire racks on the worktop.

  Baking …

  She did it because it was an outlet for the creativity she wasn’t expressing through her music and it helped to pass the time. But because she didn’t have a freezer on the premises nearly half of her baking ended up in the bin. It was a shame, but she wasn’t exactly on friendly enough terms with anyone in town or thereabouts to give it away. Something she would have done willingly. Even Gray hadn’t taken the scones she’d offered him that day. But then the atmosphere between them had been so tense that it was understandable he’d left without taking them.

  Unconsciously her teeth worried at her lip. Why shouldn’t she go for a walk with the amiable Sean? She would have gone anyway at some point this afternoon. Staying in the house for a whole day without venturing outside would hardly help her melancholy mood, whereas a walk just might.

  ‘It’s a fine day. All you have to do is put some shoes on and get your coat.’ Glancing down at Karen’s feet, Sean saw with amusement that they were bare. Pink coral-painted toenails and all.

  ‘All right, then.’ Caving in to his undoubtedly natural charm, Karen stepped back from the door with her cheeks suddenly as pink as her toenails.

  Acting spontaneously was not something she was used to, and it caused her more anguish than it ought to. It made her aware that she still had a lot to learn as far as loosening up a little went. Still, today she would make the effort to be different. Sean was likeable, and seemed trustworthy. And Gray had employed him, so he must be okay.

  Throwing down the tea towel onto the nearest chair, she stooped down to the shoe stand behind the door to get her walking boots. Rescuing the thick yellow socks that were stuffed inside, she took them over to the armchair to put them

  ‘Don’t stand outside, Sean. Come in. I won’t be a minute.’

  Stepping inside, Sean glanced interestedly round, his nostrils twitching. ‘Something smells good—and I don’t mean the polish.’

  ‘I’ve been baking.’ Karen grinned up at him through her mane of silky honey hair as she bent to do up her laces.

  ‘Sure, you’re a dangerous woman, Miss Ford. What is it this time? Another delicious fruitcake?’ Sean volleyed her grin with one of his own, momentarily transfixed by the sight of her loveliness and all that glorious long hair.

  ‘I’ve been baking bread and making buns,’ she answered.

  ‘Well, it’s good to know that you like cooking.’

  ‘Why?’ Laughter bubbling up inside her, Karen pushed to her feet, tugging the hem of the blue chambray shirt she was wearing tidily down over the waistband of her jeans.

  ‘My mother’s always said it’s a useful skill to have—for a woman or a man. Are you ready?’

  For answer, she lifted her thick sheepskin coat off the peg and slipped her arms into it. It was amazing how a little human contact and humour could change one’s mood for the better, she thought, feeling herself warm towards the boyish Sean even more.

  ‘Ready as I’ll ever be. Lead the way.’ She stood back as he passed her, catching the scent of a spicy cologne that was a little too overpowering, and wondered briefly if he was wearing it for her benefit. Then, dismissing the thought as too silly for words, she followed him outside.

  Despite her previously downbeat mood, her spirits lifted almost instantly as she breathed in the brisk fresh air that blew her hair into a wild burnished gold cloud behind her head. The wild and stormy weather never failed to make her fiercely glad that she’d come to this place. A place she now almost regarded as home.

  * * *

  ‘So you’ve lived round here all your life?’ Karen dug her hands into the deep pockets of her sheepskin as she walked beside Sean, vainly trying to keep up with his long-legged stride across the beach.

  ‘I have. I like it well enough.’

  He flashed a smile that Karen was certain must make the local girls light up like neon when it was trained on them.

  ‘How about yourself, Karen? Where are you from?’

  ‘A suburb of London. It has its advantages, living there, but often I yearned for some peace and quiet. If I was from here I couldn’t ever envisage wanting to live anywhere else.’

  Her announcement was passionate because it came from the heart. Glancing up at the cloudless azure sky, at the gulls circling above them with their coarse shrieking cries, she felt a definite sense of rightness roll over her. There wasn’t anywhere else on earth she’d rather be right now. Her gaze moved down along the vast stretch of empty beach that lay before them, with the sea lapping relatively calmly at its edge today, and she wondered how she could bear going home to England again. Wondered, too, if the day would come when she would even want to. This place was her idea of heaven.

  If only she had someone to share it with. She didn’t mean right now, because Sean was amiable enough company for sure. She meant someone to share it with permanently. Someone like Gray O’Connell. The dangerous thought slammed into her hard, making her throat ache and her heart race. Not seeing him for two whole weeks had begun to feel like an eternity. What was he doing? Was he seeing someone else? Was that why he’d been so angry and so eager to leave that day when he’d finished the decorating? Did he feel torn because he was attracted to her when there was already another person in his life? Her stomach cramped with jealousy at the idea. Why did just the thought of him with someone else hurt so much? It didn’t make sense. None of this crazy obsession she was developing for him made sense. Surely she couldn’t be in her right mind?

  ‘Karen?’

  ‘Sean?’ She came to a standstill beside the tall young Irishman, blinking up at him as the hauntingly handsome dark face in her mind, with its sculpted cheekbones and glacial eyes, reluctantly receded. Strands of silky blond hair blew across her face in the wind, temporarily shielding her embarrassment at being caught out not paying attention.

  ‘I asked you a question, but you’re away in your own little world.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ She screwed up her face in sheepish apology. ‘I do that sometimes … space out, I mean. I didn’t mean to be rude.’

  ‘No offence taken.’ Digging his hands into the pockets of his jeans, Sean looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘I was asking if you’d be interested in a bit of a part-time job? I briefly mentioned it to you before. My sister Liz has just opened up a café in town, and she’s looking to recruit some help. As soon as she tasted your fruitcake she wanted to meet you.’

  Karen frowned in bemusement. Of all the things he might have asked her, offering her a part-time job wasn’t the first thing that had naturally sprung
to mind. ‘A café, you say?’

  ‘Oh, it’s not just an ordinary breakfasts and sandwiches sort of place. It’s more upmarket than that. Liz has travelled all over the world, you know. It’s a themed café … Mexican. She’s called it Liz’s Cantina. And she doesn’t just serve Mexican food … There’s cake and all kinds of great desserts, too’

  ‘Your sister has started up a themed café here in town?’ Karen grinned from ear to ear. ‘What a crazy, wonderful idea!’ She’d noticed some building work going on at one of the previously boarded-up buildings just off the main street a while ago, but she’d had no idea what it was being renovated for. She didn’t like the idea that she’d been walking round so preoccupied with her own troubled thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed what was going on around her.

  ‘You really think so?’ Sean stuck the toe of his boot into the sand and gouged a hole.

  ‘Of course I do!’ Clasping her hands momentarily to her chest, all of a sudden Karen was inspired by Sean’s enterprising sister, whom she hadn’t even met yet. She’d never considered the possibility of a part-time job before, but right now it held an almost irresistible appeal. It would get her out of the house more, for one thing, and she would get to meet other people.

  ‘Liz wants to hire someone a bit more worldly than some of the local girls. A bit more “clued up”, as she puts it. Will you come and see her? At least have a chat with her about a possible job?’

  ‘When was she thinking of?’

  ‘Later this afternoon? She closes at five, and I usually go round to give her a bit of a hand tidying up. I’ll pick you up at about a quarter to, if you like?’

  ‘I suppose I ought to at least go and meet her … thank her for thinking of me. But I have my own car. I can drive myself rather than have you go out of your way to pick me up.’

  Karen shrugged a little nervously. It seemed such an ordinary simple thing to do, to go and see someone about a job, but it was actually something she’d never done before. When she’d finished college she’d met Ryan almost straight away, married him, and then started to pursue her singing career. As far as promoting her career, arranging gigs and doing all the accompanying paper and telephone work that had been involved—all of that had been Ryan’s domain. He’d taken care of everything. He’d worked in record management for ten years before they’d met, and there wasn’t much he hadn’t known about the music industry.

  She’d depended on him for so much. Had she given enough back in return? She really hoped so. She was desolate at the idea that maybe she hadn’t.

  ‘I’d prefer to pick you up, if you don’t mind? Liz has already instructed me, and she’ll have my guts for garters if I don’t. So … shall we finish our walk, then?’ Sean interrupted her wayward thoughts.

  Staring out at the shimmering white strand ahead of them, Karen smiled. Tasting the briny tang of the sea spray on her tongue, she vowed not to spoil this unexpected opportunity to enjoy the fresh air and exercise. All in all, today was turning out to be a much better day than she’d anticipated. This morning all she’d had to look forward to was cleaning, baking, and her own solitary company. And for once she’d actually felt scared that it might not be enough. Clearly she wasn’t as hardy or as resolved to the isolation of living alone as she’d thought. Certainly nowhere near as hardy and resolved as Gray O’Connell seemed to be.

  Shielding his gaze from the fierce glare of the noonday sun, Gray blinked at the two solitary figures some distance away from him on the beach. A gust of wind lifted a lock of black hair from his forehead, and in profile his brows were knit together in stern contemplation. When he realised that one of the figures was Karen his jaw hardened instantly, jealousy jack-knifing through his guts so sharply that he actually took a step back to steady himself. Beside him, Chase chafed at the bit, longing to be allowed to bound up the beach unrestrained like he usually did, but right now his master was holding on to his collar a little too tightly for that wish to become a reality.

  ‘Be still!’ Gray’s huskily angry voice brooked no argument. Chase hung his great fawn head and looked duly chastised.

  But it wasn’t the dog that had fuelled his temper. It was the sight of the woman down on the beach that had kindled the flames of his ire. The woman who had the ability to tempt him like no other woman had ever done before. Tempt him with her blue eyes with whites so white that it looked as though milk had been poured into them, and her serene, lovely smile that hinted of peace in a cruel and crazy world should he dare relinquish his guard and succumb to it. His desire for her was constantly on simmer every time he was in her company. Every time she so much as came into his mind! He was captivated by the graceful yet sexy way she moved, her soft velvet voice made him shiver, and her unerring ability to reduce every vow he made to keep his hands off her to a bare-faced lie went without saying.

  Gray loved the way she smelled, too—just like a warm summer breeze, even on a cold day when winter bit hard. Just what the hell did she think she was doing? Out with Sean Regan, of all people! He swore softly under his breath. He’d known he missed her. But he hadn’t realised just how much until he’d seen her there in the flesh with another man. He had a temper, God knew, but he wasn’t generally given to violence. For the first time since he had got into scraps at school with the other boys he was genuinely tempted to demonstrate his superior strength to the younger man.

  His eyes narrowed as he saw that the two figures on the beach had started walking again. Just what had they been discussing so intently? He’d seen Karen smile—or was it laugh? He resented it like hell that Sean had the ability to make her enjoy herself. He had to clamp down on the almost overwhelming urge to call out—to let her know he was there and demand to know what she was doing out with Sean. And when he got her attention he’d insist that she come home with him to his house, to his bed … Yes, to his bed. Where he’d soon make her forget the younger man’s ready smile and easy charm and make her ache and moan and cry out with wanting him instead. He’d lose himself in her. He’d drown them both in the scalding heat of their urgent coupling.

  An almost painful surge of desire ricocheted through Gray, so that for a moment he forgot to breathe as the world seemed to sway around him.

  ‘What the hell have you done to me, Karen Ford?’ He furiously cursed her name out loud, as if to exorcise the effect she was having on him, and Chase pricked up his ears, as if hearing something he longed to hear.

  ‘I know, boy.’ Loosening his hold on the thick collar, Gray ruffled the great fawn head. ‘You miss her, too, don’t you? I’m afraid there’s not much I can do about that right now. Not when she’s with someone else. Maybe later, though?’ An idea stole into his brain. ‘Come on. Let’s go home.’

  Surveying the various outfits she’d laid across the patchwork bedspread, the myriad colours, styles and textures making her bed closely resemble a stall in a Turkish bazaar, Karen sighed. She frowned deeply as she mentally mixed and matched and came up with … nothing too inspiring, to be frank. She’d never been a slave to fashion, nor was it her forte, but she wanted to feel good when she went to see Liz Regan at the newly opened Liz’s Cantina.

  Should she go for her usual bohemian look? Or would the well-travelled Liz be expecting some trendy upmarket look? She couldn’t imagine that that would be the case. The town—although thriving—was situated in a mostly rural area, for goodness’ sake. Not in the centre of some busy urban sprawl. It wasn’t as if her customers would be young hotshots from the city. Even so, it was still immensely difficult to make up her mind what to wear.

  Sighing, she picked out a coral-pink scooped-neck top with narrow pink ribbons threaded through the wrists, and found a long multi-coloured flared skirt that looked vaguely Mexican to match.

  Having divested herself of her plain white tee shirt, Karen had the top halfway over her head when there was a knock at the door. She froze. Who in blazes was that? Surely it couldn’t be Sean, arriving already? Struggling to tug her top down into place, s
he angled her wrist to read the time on her watch. Four-fifteen. He was way too early. Oh, well, he’d just have to amuse himself for half an hour while she sorted herself out.

  She was still in two minds as to whether she really wanted this job or not. One minute she did—the next she didn’t. What did she know about working in a café, for goodness’ sake? Not much. But at least she knew how to clean and cook. The little cottage was testimony to that.

  Feeling flustered and nervous, she checked her jeans were properly zipped up, then shot out of the bedroom to answer the door, her cheeks burning and her hair tumbling wildly about her shoulders as she went.

  ‘Gray.’

  Her heart almost stopped when she saw who her visitor was. Even though she hungrily absorbed his image—like someone nearly drowning who’d just been thrown a lifeline—he transmitted no such similar appreciation or pleasure at seeing her in return.

  His grey eyes, naturally cool and aloof at the best of times, looked as if they had frosting on them from the Arctic. The broad shoulders filling her doorway in the customary black leather jacket had fury rolling off them in waves, while his jaw was clenched with barely contained restraint. Restraint that made the arresting planes of his cheekbones seem as though they were carved out of granite. The impression he gave was an austere one, with not so much as a hint of warmth to soften those prickly rough edges. Karen’s stomach flipped. What had she done to deserve such a look?

  ‘I’ve obviously called at a bad time,’ he finally said, in a clipped icy tone that warned her his patience was at the end of a very short rope.

  ‘A bad time? Why would you think that? I was just—I was just—’

  There was something in the way those disturbing eyes of his dipped suddenly to the region of her chest that made her glance downwards. She saw instantly that her scoop-necked top had not been properly adjusted and totally bared one silky shoulder, where her bra strap had slipped down in her haste to dress. The top of a softly rounded breast was more exposed than it should have been, and that was coupled with her flushed cheeks and disarrayed hair. Karen suddenly realised with devastating horror that her visitor had immediately and wrongly put two and two together and made five.