Stealing Gold (The Logan Series Book 4) (8 page)

Chapter Nine

The
sight of Stacy sitting outside, as comfortable and relaxed as though it was her
home, not his, had thrown Adam into turmoil. On one hand, he was just as glad
to see her, as she obviously was to see him. On the other, he wondered if he
was the sort of guy who could just start again, forgiving everything that had
gone before.

Hell
no.

He
left the shower, dried off, and dressed quickly. He never should have made love
to her last night. There was no calling it just sex, he’d connected in the way
he’d only ever connected with one person before. Her. If he wasn’t careful, he’d
be back on the obsession treadmill, thinking they could have more than a month
sharing the same bed, thinking they could be part of each other’s lives again.

He
shoved his wallet into the front pocket of his jeans. She’d been vulnerable
last night. Had needed the consolation of a friend. Instead, he’d taken
consolation to a whole other level, and dived right back into dangerous waters.

They
needed some distance.

Stacy,
it seemed, had other ideas.

“I
want to thank you for last night,” she said when he walked back into the
kitchen. “For listening while I spilled all that stuff about my past.” She
glanced over. “I’ve had that locked inside me for so many years, I feel so
different today, now you know.”

“Different
how?”

“More
relaxed. Less tense, I guess.”

“That’s
probably as a result of the sex.” He grinned. “I’m relaxed too.”

“You
are not.” She crossed her arms. “You’re doing a pretty good impression of being
relaxed, but you can’t fool me. Something is different with you this morning.”
She pulled in a deep breath. “I could tiptoe around and see how this whole
thing pans out, but Jeez, I’m so sick of being careful and not taking charge.
The way I see it, you could be feeling weird because of a couple of different
things.” She twisted her hands together in her lap. “You could be freaked out
that my parents are alive, and I’ve been lying to you this whole time—I wouldn’t
blame you if you were—and maybe you can’t get past that, but...”

“I
understand why you did it.”

She
nodded. “Okay, well the other thing you could be feeling tense about is us
making love.” She waited. Silence stretched and the air hummed with
anticipation so heavy his skin itched.

He’d
waited too long to deny it or to laugh it off.

“That’s
it, isn’t it?”

“You
were vulnerable. Maybe us having sex wasn’t the best idea, under the
circumstances.”

“Didn’t
you want to?” There was hurt in her voice. Probably because he’d downgraded the
experience from making love to having sex. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he
didn’t want her building this up to something it wasn’t.

“You
and I always had great chemistry. I wanted you last night so badly I ached. But
I don’t want to be back loving you again. I don’t want to be back hating you
either.” He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Things are going
too fast. Just like last time.”

“So
we should stay away from each other.” She moved her hand away. “That’s what you’re
saying.”

“No.
We just need to keep some distance. Not get all carried away in crazy.”

“Carried
away in crazy? I feel another song coming on.” She sipped her coffee. “The way
I see it is this. I’m here for a month, sex makes me feel good, and I want to
feel good right now. When this job is over, I have to go back and sort out my
life, but right now I’m hiding from reality and chasing pleasure. If you want
to keep some distance, that’s fine.” She tapped her bottom lip with her
fingertips. “Sean said something about having a party. Did he say anything to
you about that?”

The
rapid change of subject made Adam’s head hurt. “Me throwing a party?” The
cottage was too small, he couldn’t cook; would he have to invite everyone
working on the project?

“No,
silly.” She cast him an indulgent smile. “Sean.”

“Sean’s
married.”

She
ignored his statement entirely. “He said it would be good to introduce me to
his friends. It doesn’t seem right that you should have to entertain me every
night. If I knew more people I’d be a lot more self-sufficient.”

This
is getting out of hand.
“I like spending time with you. You don’t need to be self-sufficient.” He
ground his back teeth together. “And anyway, I never said I didn’t want to have
fun too—I just said we should...”

“Take
it slow and not make the mistake of thinking this is any more than a casual
fling, I know.”

He
itched with the need to escape this conversation—since holding her in his arms
all he wanted was to return to bed with her for an action packed rerun of the
previous night, but that was completely at odds with his stated objective of
cooling things down.

“Why
don’t you dress, and then I’ll take you out for a drive.”

They
packed sandwiches, and drove the narrow roads to Roundstone, where Adam parked.
It was a beautiful day, warm with a clear blue sky.

“There
won’t be much happening today. Most places are closed.”

“That
doesn’t matter.” Her eyes sparkled.

They
strode down to the harbor, and he pointed out a couple of small currachs
bouncing on the waves, tied among the fishing boats. “My grandparents used to
own one. My brothers and I were always fighting about who would get to go out
on it.” He grinned at the memory.  “On weekdays the fishermen bring their catch
in here and you can buy lobster straight from the boats.”

Her
nose wrinkled. “I don’t think I’d have the heart to boil them alive.”

He
loved eating them, but couldn’t bear preparing them either. “When I was a kid I
stole one she’d bought here, and tossed it back in. Gran wasn’t very happy
about that. I was only six.”

She
smiled. “You must have been cute when you were young. So, what else is there to
do in this village?”

“We
could go and see if the bodhran makers is open.”

She
raised her shoulders in a what-the-hell shrug.

“It’s
a musical instrument. A round, hand held drum. You could buy one to take back
to Nashville.” The thought of her leaving made him ache inside. “Or we could
leave that for another day and go for a walk into the mountains.”

She
breathed in deep. “It’s such a beautiful day, let’s walk.”

They
headed out on the Ballyconneely Road. He pointed out the mountains, the flowers
blooming in the bog, the stone walls that bounded every small field.

She
found everything fascinating. All the things he’d taken for granted his entire
life came alive with her interested questions.

They
stopped near a dark lake, and ate their sandwiches. A gust of wind caught the
long strands of her hair, whipping them around her face as they sat on the warm
stone wall.

“We
can continue on and take another road that will bring us back to Roundstone
again, but it’s another hour’s walk. Or we can turn back.”

“Let’s
keep going.” She stood up and brushed crumbs from her lap. “It’s been so long
since I’ve spent time in the fresh air.”

As
they walked, she told him about the places she’d visited on tour.

He
explained how he’d become jaded with non-stop work. How the buzz he used to
feel working in his company had faded, and how he’d come to the decision to
sell out.

“I
came back for my grandmother’s funeral.” He stared ahead, noticing they were
almost back in Roundstone again. “Sean and I talked afterward, and I came down
to see the studios. It was perfect timing—he needed investment, and I needed a
new start.”

She
glanced his direction at that, but remained silent.

They
returned home. That evening they shared a simple steak and salad dinner on the
deck. When the dishes were done, Stacy stretched her arms above her head, and
yawned. “You know, I’ve been up since five. I think I’ll take a bath and have
an early night.”

Before
he had a chance to respond, she darted away, closing her bedroom door behind
her.

*****

The
following day at Christine’s urging, Stacy forgot about feeling self-conscious,
and had fun with the dialogue, allowing herself to ‘be the squirrel’. The
script was infused with humor, and before long she was picturing Bibi as she
delivered each line. They read through the script four times. By the end of the
morning Christine said she was delighted with the progress Stacy had made.

When
Christine called a break, Stacy was amazed to realize it was lunchtime. A girl
from the local deli had arrived first thing to take orders for sandwiches, and
had delivered them and a selection of drinks to the small kitchenette.

“It’s
such a beautiful day, let’s eat outside.”

Stacy
followed Christine into the garden. Other members of staff had decided to do
the same, some sitting on the grass, and some at picnic tables spread around
the green space. There was no sign of Adam, but Sean wandered over within
minutes.

“How’s
it going today, Stacy?”

“Great.”
With a smile, she tilted her face to the sunshine.

“More
than great,” Christine added. “We should be ready to lay down some real takes
this afternoon.”

“Seriously?”
She’d thought they were days off actually recording her voice over for real.
Maybe this would mean she wouldn’t need to spend the next month working,and could
go home earlier than planned. The thought of cutting her stay short filled her
with dismay, so she brushed that thought away.

“I’m
having a barbeque on Saturday night—I hope you can both make it?” Sean took a
bite of his sandwich and chewed. “I wanted to have it sooner, but my wife Amanda
is up to her eyes with work this week.”

“I’d
love to.”

“I’m
on for it.”

Stacy
and Christine answered at the same time.

“What
does your wife do?” Stacy asked.

“She’s
an editor for a magazine in Galway. A lot of the time she manages to work
online, but they’re getting the next issue ready to go out, so she’s commuting
this week.” He grimaced. “It takes over an hour to drive home, so she’ll be fit
for nothing until the weekend.”

They
chatted for a while, then Christine consulted her watch. “Time to get back to
work. Ready, Stacy?”

By
the time Adam came to find her at four o’clock, they’d recorded Bibi’s first
scene. Stacy asked Christine to play it back to Adam. She watched him as he
listened, and her heart swelled with pride when he laughed on hearing the
punchline.

“We’re
finished for the day,” Christine said.

“Me
too.” Adam took Stacy’s light cotton jacket from the back of the chair and
handed it to her. “Let’s go.”

At
the car, he smiled. “Let’s go swimming.”

Stacy
shook her head. “I don’t swim.”

“You
can paddle in the shallows then. This is way too good a day to spend indoors.”

“You
mean in the sea?” She chewed her bottom lip, considering if she could tell him,
then took a deep breath, and did. “I…uh…I’ve never been in the sea.”

“You
mean the Atlantic?”

“I
mean any sea. I just never got around to it.”

“You’ve
walked along the beach though, right?”

She
shook her head.

Adam’s
eyes widened. “Do you have a swimsuit?”

She
shook her head again.

“We’ll
buy one in Clifden, then head to Dog’s Bay. You’ll love it.”

Less
than an hour later, they were back at the cottage. Stacy dressed in the
conservative black swimsuit she’d bought, despite Adam’s suggestion of a whole
range of barely there bikinis, pulled a simple cotton dress on top, and grabbed
a towel.

The
doorbell rang.

“Can
you get that?” Adam called from the bedroom.

She
opened the door to find a beefy stranger on the doorstep. Her gaze immediately
honed in on something gripped in his large hand. A familiar pair of hot pink
panties.

“I
have these.” He held them out.

Fear
clutched her insides and squeezed. She’d never had a stalker, but she’d hung
those panties on the line in the backyard earlier, he must have stolen them.

“Step
back.” There was a container of walking sticks and umbrellas just inside the
front door. As the stranger’s eyes widened and he did as she asked, she grabbed
the first thing that came to hand, a knobbly stick, and brandished it in the
air. “Adam!” She called behind her as loudly as she could.

“Ah,
Jaysus. No, you’ve the wrong idea.” His face turned red, and he dabbed his
sweaty forehead with her panties, then gasped in horror when he realized what
he’d done.

Adam
came up behind her. “What’s going on here?” His hand curled around Stacy’s
shoulder moving her back out the way.