Lantern Lake (3 page)

Vivian had no illusions that a man like Cooper Hayes, so powerful, adventurous and handsome, could ever be interested in a woman who had done nothing with her life. A woman who wasn’t suited to anything other than playing arm candy to a rich man.

Well, she was through with that life. Even if that’s what Cooper wanted from her, Vivian was done being the silent accessory to someone else’s exciting life of action.

She wanted her own life. And she was finally in a position to start working to get it.

A burst of optimism warmed her belly, unfamiliar and lovely enough to distract her through the first round of hugs and congratulations with the bride and groom. She tuned back into the conversation just as Miles clapped Cooper on the shoulder and said, “So. Are Greta and I flying off for this fabulous honeymoon you’ve arranged in my helicopter? Or are you going to try to convince me you won the bet?”

Vivian stole a glance at Cooper, whose brow had lowered like a storm cloud. “Don’t make me take those tickets back,” he growled, only half kidding.

“What bet?” Vivian caught the quick look exchanged between bride and groom.

“Nothing,” Cooper cut in, glowering at his oldest friend. “Miles is being an ass.”

The groom raised a brow. “At least I’m not a sore loser.”

“I haven’t lost anything,” Cooper insisted. “The deadline is past. I won.”

“Debatable,” Miles said, an amused glint in his eyes. “Are you sure you’re being honest with yourself? Think about the exact terms we agreed on, and you might realize you’re mistaken.”

Totally lost, Vivian looked to Greta for help. The bride leaned in conspiratorially. “Miles bet his billionaire bachelor groomsmen, that if they came to Sanctuary Island and helped him out with a few wedding-related tasks, they’d find their lives changed forever before he said, ‘I do.’”

Vivian couldn’t help but smile as a rush of love for this special island filled her. She’d adored Sanctuary from the moment she stepped off the ferry for her first visit to meet her childhood friend’s fiancée five months ago. “Sounds like a sucker’s deal to me,” she observed.

Switching his narrow glare from Miles to Vivian, Cooper demanded, “What do you mean?”

“I can’t imagine anyone spending time on Sanctuary Island without falling in love,” Vivian said, picturing the calm, glassy surface of Lantern Lake in her mind.

A short, charged silence followed her words, and when she replayed them silently, she had to fight down a flush. “With the island,” she hastened to add. “Everyone who comes here falls in love with Sanctuary Island. Is what I meant. At least, I certainly fell in love with it.”

“Oh right!” Greta seized on the subject change. “How did escrow go?”

Rock solid satisfaction expanded Vivian’s ribcage with pride. “Like clockwork. Have I mentioned that I can never thank you enough for your help with the Lantern Lake cabin?”

“A few times,” Greta said, laughing and rolling her eyes fondly. “Here and there. I’m so glad it worked out!”

“You bought property here?” Cooper asked, looking at her askance. “I never would’ve thought you’d leave New York.”

The words sent a chill through her that had nothing to do with the wintry wind whipping the over the waves outside the glass walls of their tent. “There’s nothing for me in New York. Not anymore.”

A strange expression came over Cooper’s face, something like recognition firing in his eyes. “Sometimes the only way forward is to leave everything you know behind.”

She stared up at him for a long, suspended moment, the connection between them as strong and real and tangible as it had ever been when they were young. He was so magnetic, his presence sucking the very air from Vivian’s lungs and leaving her shaky with the knowledge of how much she still wanted him.

“I tell you what,” Miles interrupted, amusement coloring his deep voice. “Let’s table the bet for the moment. We have a party to enjoy, and Greta and I have a honeymoon adventure to embark on, thanks to you. We can settle the bet when we get back in two weeks.”

And with that, he whisked his bride onto the dance floor for their first dance.

“I won’t still be here in two weeks,” Cooper protested, scowling after his friend.

His words pierced right through Vivian’s heart with a dart of regret, but she ignored it. She couldn’t be silly enough to hope for more time with Cooper. But she couldn’t stop herself from saying, “That’s too bad, since winter just started for real. Sanctuary Island is supposed to be very beautiful in the snow.”

That brought Cooper focus back to her, sharp and intense enough to make Vivian’s nerves spark. “As beautiful as Central Park in the snow?”

Nostalgia fluttered in her chest, memories as delicate and worn from repeated handling as the pages of an old love letter. “Beautiful in a different way. Wilder, more solitary. More peaceful.”

“You never used to like being alone,” Cooper said, studying her.

Vivian tried to laugh. “Thanks for making me sound like the original party girl.”

He stared down at her face, and Vivian had to fight not to squirm under his scrutiny. What did he see? Could he read the years of her marriage in her eyes, the constant whirl of empty social engagements and crowded parties where she’d been surrounded by people, yet totally alone?

She wasn’t sure she could bear to try to explain how much her battered heart craved actual solitude—as if being truly alone would glorify her loneliness somehow.

But Cooper didn’t push her. Instead, he smiled and arched a brow in that invitation to sin she remember so well from their school days. “Speaking of parties,” he purred. “Let’s get this one started, shall we?”

Vivian had never been able to resist Cooper Hayes, and she didn’t intend to start tonight—when it was almost certainly the last night she’d ever spend with him.

And it was a magical night, by anyone’s standards. He introduced her to his friends, the other groomsmen, and she introduced him to the friends she’d made during her extended visits to Sanctuary Island. They didn’t talk about the past, or their families, or her marriage.

The dinner, catered by the Firefly Café, was course after course of spot-on, perfectly prepared Southern classics. In between the fried chicken and cornbread, there was dancing to the pared down strains of a band of rock gods turning jazz anthems into pure, liquid sex.

Vivian savored the strength and warmth of Cooper’s muscular arms around her as they swayed to the music. Everything felt surreal, like a dream or a fantasy, and when he leaned down to whisper in her ear, she couldn’t hold back a luxurious, full-body shiver.

“You were made for dancing, Vivian. I love the way you move.”

She tipped her head back and blinked up at the brilliant explosion of stars through the clear glass of the roof. “I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe we’re both here, like this.”

I’ve missed you every day
.

Vivian bit her tongue. She didn’t want to say anything to break the spell—especially not something guaranteed to remind them both that they could have been together all along…if she hadn’t been such a coward.

“I learned to believe in destiny while I was traveling.” Cooper’s voice was dark with some emotion Vivian couldn’t name. Then he smiled, seductive and dangerous. “I learned to respect it. Because when the universe gives you a shot at something, you take it—or you regret it forever.”

The idea struck a chord in Vivian’s chest. She met his gaze with all the boldness she could muster, heart thundering with nerves and anticipation. “Then we definitely shouldn’t let this moment pass us by.”

Satisfaction blazed bright in Cooper’s eyes for the rest of the evening, even as they saw the bride and groom off in their luxury helicopter then headed down to enjoy the bonfire on the night beach.

The rest of the party guests began to trickle home. And as the bonfire blazed high, casting a red and orange glow of heat over the few remaining wedding guests huddled in Adirondack chairs around it, Cooper said, “I want to see this house you bought.”

After one too many champagne toasts, Vivian’s blood felt heavy and warm in her veins. She rolled her head on the wooden lounge chair to peer through the shimmery darkness at him. His face was half in shadow, half lit by the hissing, popping bonfire, but she could easily make out the broad, hard-muscled shape of his shoulders and arms, and the taut twist of his trim waist.

He waited patiently, watching her as she stared at him, and Vivian felt a rush of heat that had nothing to do with the bonfire. “It’s not a house,” she said breathlessly. “It’s more of a cabin, really. Very small, a little bit of a fixer upper, but lovely views of Lantern Lake.”

Cooper propped one elbow on the arm of the chair and rested his chin on his hand. He’d lost his black bow tie at some point in the evening, and the top two buttons of his white shirt were undone, exposing a narrow V of tanned skin. “You know, I’ve been all over this island in the last couple of weeks, and I don’t remember seeing a lake.”

“It’s hard to find,” Vivian agreed, with a tiny, secret smile. “Almost as if it’s my own private paradise.”

Or…the private paradise of whoever wound up living there for real.

She ignored the pang of longing. The Lantern Lake cabin certainly wasn’t her dream house, or anything.
You can’t afford dreams anymore
, she reminded herself.
Not until you prove to yourself you can survive without the help of a rich husband and wealthy parents
.

“Okay, now I really have to see it.” Cooper stood and held out a hand to her. “Show me this Lantern Lake of yours. I want to take a look at your private paradise.”

The silken seduction in his tone was more practiced than the boy she remembered, but the look in his extraordinary hazel eyes was the same. Somehow, after so long and so much painful history between them, he still wanted her. And heaven knew, Vivian had never forgotten what it felt like to be desired by Cooper Hayes. Everything in her yearned to experience the heady bliss of a night with Cooper once more.

Vivian paused, the cold harshness of reality threatening to pierce the soft shimmery bubble of her fantasy. If she took Cooper back to the Lantern Lake cabin, she had no illusions about what would happen there.

The youthful desire that had burned hotter than the bonfire lighting up the beach was still ablaze between them. In the sheltered privacy of her little cabin, surrounded by nothing but the calm lake, stands of maritime pine trees, and the bands of wild horses who made this island their home, Vivian knew she wouldn’t be able to resist Cooper.

She wouldn’t even want to.

But after a night of passion with him, what would the morning bring? Because she also had no illusions about any possible future between them. That ship sailed—and sank—a long time ago. Could she bear to go through with tonight, knowing it was the last time she’d ever see him…touch him…kiss him…

When the universe gives you a shot at something, you take it—or you regret it forever
.

Vivian put her hand in Cooper’s and let him tug her to her feet. “Let’s go.”

A spark caught and flared in the depths of his eyes, burning hotter than the fire at her back. Vivian’s heart jumped and started to pump thunderously in anticipation.

Without another word, Cooper laced their fingers together and pulled her away from the circle of light the bonfire cast over the last, lingering wedding guests. Vivian followed him to his low-slung red sports car, too full of jittery excitement to even feel the chill of the night air.

She couldn’t pass up the chance to add new memories to the store of mental images that had gotten her through the toughest times of her life. She’d steal one more night of passion with the only man she’d ever loved—and then she’d open her hands and let him go back to his fabulous life of wealth and adventure.

The life she could have shared with him. The life that would never be hers now.

So she’d take tonight and be grateful, no matter what happened. No matter how much it would hurt to say goodbye to Cooper when it was over.

Cooper followed Vivian’s quiet directions across the silent, narrow island roads. The tension between them hung as thick as the fog over the Scottish highlands where Cooper had done his first off-roading trek.

That battered old Land Rover he’d driven through rushing creeks and up perilous hillsides hadn’t been as fancy as his Ferrari Testarossa, but it had been a damn sight more reliable. As the sportscar’s racing wheels spun uselessly against the gravel road at the end of what Vivian optimistically called her “driveway,” Cooper spared a brief moment to wish he’d brought the Rover instead.

The convertible churned up the dual ruts of the pitted, pocked drive, curving through a winter forest of evergreen and pine. Its flip-up head lamps were the only light, apart from the graceful sickle of the moon.

Cooper squinted at the pitch blackness outside. “Isn’t it a little dangerous, living this far from the center of town?”

A tiny smile curled Vivian’s lips. “This from the man who BASE jumped off Angel Falls in a wing-suit, and filmed the entire stunt.”

“Not dangerous for me,” Cooper argued, peering through the small windshield and wincing at the grating scratch of something sharp along the car’s undercarriage. “Dangerous for—a woman living alone.”

Vivian’s smile widened fractionally, as if she’d heard the concern Cooper didn’t want to feel, much less speak aloud. “Don’t worry. Sanctuary Island is very safe. We have our own Sheriff’s department, but about the only calls they ever get are kids trespassing on the horse preserve and people running the one traffic light in front of the bakery on Main Street.”

He wasn’t sure he liked that. Aside from the obvious dangers to a woman alone, cut off from easy access to emergency services, there was the personality angle. Viv had always been an extrovert, quick to laugh, the life of every party, surrounded by friends and admirers.

“I just can’t picture you being happy to sit alone in an empty house in the middle of nowhere,” Cooper said bluntly.

She turned her head slightly, as if glancing at something outside the passenger window. “I don’t mind a little alone time, these days.”