Stormy Passion (7 page)

“
Thanks for your help,”
Adrian acknowledged gruffly. “Now go back in. I'll be right behind
you.”

She didn't argue this time, but turned and
ran for the house, feeling as if she were wading against the tide.
The wind wrapped around her legs each time she took a step forward,
then a gust would push her backward. The sand felt like tiny pins
pricking her skin. Finally, she made it to the front door.

Adrian had really impressed her this morning
when they had helped the McLeods get ready for the hurricane. He'd
made sure they were safe and sound before ever touching their
house--she meant
his
house. No, she meant
this
house,
because she still wasn’t completely sure who the house belonged to.
His abrasive attitude notwithstanding, maybe there was more to
Adrian than she'd first thought.

She dried off as best she could, then
finished taping the window. The task completed, she rummaged in the
linen closet for towels for Adrian. Hearing the front door open,
Dani rushed back out to the foyer. “Here, I thought you might need
these.”

She stifled a giggle at the sight before her.
Adrian stood in the hallway, soaked from his battered head all the
way down to his tennis shoes. She reached up to push the hair from
his forehead, and that was when she recognized a strange sense of
tenderness surging through her body. She pulled back and handed him
a towel instead. The scratch on his forehead didn't bleed, but
would probably leave a bruise.

Saying nothing, he accepted the towel from
her. He was so wet that, in spite of his attempts to dry himself,
he couldn’t keep up. The dripping water made such a puddle that
Dani used another towel to dry his legs.

“
You need to take a good
hot shower,” Dani said as she mopped up the water from his feet,
then worked her way up his well-muscled legs to his
jeans.

He didn’t respond.

“
Did you hear me, or have
you lost your voice?” Dani looked up at him just as his hands
captured hers.

“
Better let me finish
that,” he said huskily, and pulled her to her feet.

She hadn't realized just how far her hands
had wandered up his leg, but when she did, her whole body flushed
scarlet.

“
I--I'm sorry. I was just
trying to help. Y--you've been out in that weather all day.
A--and--.”

“
So you do care,
sweetheart.” He grinned at her in that devilish way she was coming
to know . . . and love.

Danielle cursed herself for her
embarrassment. She certainly wasn't going to let him get the upper
hand. “I'd dry off a wet dog, too,” she insisted stubbornly.

Adrian chuckled. “Well, I'm glad I rate so
high on your list.” He dried his hair then draped the towel around
his neck. “I'm going to take a shower, and I suggest you do the
same when I'm finished. It might be a while before we have hot
water again. I also think we need to have a good dinner tonight.
I'm sure we'll lose power before morning. How do T-bones
sound?”

“
Wonderful! I'm about to
starve. I'll put the baked potatoes on and make a
salad.”

“
Sounds good. I'll do the
steaks after my shower.”

Adrian watched Dani walk to the kitchen
before he went into the bedroom, shut the door, and blew out a big
whiff of air. Why in the world had he agreed to let a female stay
with him? Hadn't he learned long ago that women always wanted
something? They spelled trouble. His ex-wife had taught him that
women were not to be trusted, no matter how pretty the package. And
Dani Kapur was certainly a pretty package.

His wife had swept him off his feet. She'd
been gorgeous, and she'd done and said all the right things. At
first. She had seemed perfect. Too perfect. That should have been
his first clue.

Her true personality hadn’t begun to show
through until after they were married. Only then had he realized
that she was nothing more than a gold digger and his money was just
what she wanted to put her on a social register.

After two years of separation, he still had
no regrets. He had dated so many women over the last two years, he
couldn't keep the faces and names straight.

But he wouldn't forget Danielle Kapur's
face.

Adrian pictured her with the towel and
chuckled as he remembered Dani trying to be helpful by drying off
his legs. He knew she didn't have any idea what she had been doing
to him. If she'd moved just a few more inches higher, she'd have
found more than she wanted to know. He couldn't deny, no matter how
much he wanted to, his strong attraction for the petite blonde. But
he was better off single. He wasn't too sure this was a good idea
having Dani in the same house with him.

On second thought, as a man of the world, he
could most certainly handle one blue-eyed, blonde female. That is,
after he took a cold shower.

The icy water quickly brought him to his
senses, followed by a relaxing hot shower. He hoped he was doing
the right thing by giving Dani shelter from the storm. If he'd
acted soon enough this morning, he could have called a helicopter
in to pick them both up. However, Angus had assured him that the
island wouldn't get a direct hit, so Adrian had decided to stay. He
told himself it was to protect his million dollar investment, but
he wondered if the real reason could be that he wanted an excuse to
spend more time with Dani and to find out what made the lovely
Danielle tick?

He just hoped the storm proved to be milder
than their brief relationship. One way or the other this would be
one interesting weekend.

Dani neatly wrapped the potatoes in tin foil
and slipped them in the oven. After setting the dials to bake and
turning on the timer, she peeked between the boards over the small
kitchen window to see what was happening. She could barely see the
street lights for the rain, but lightning streaking across the
dusky sky told her the hurricane would soon be here.

Deciding there was nothing she could do about
the weather, she began preparing the salad. Even though she'd never
admit it, she felt at home in this strange kitchen making their
meal. For all she knew, Adrian could be a mass murderer, she
thought, and she shivered as her mind spun with all kinds of crazy
notions.

She could see the headlines now. “I spent the
weekend with a mass murderer and lived to tell the story.” Dani
giggled. She had always wanted to write the great American novel.
Maybe this would be good research. If she survived the weekend. She
had to admit one thing, though. In spite of having every reason to
hate Adrian, there was something about him she liked. He had been a
tower of strength in the face of this storm, and she felt
comfortable with him. Rather like an old shoe.

A chain of mistakes and coincidences had
thrown them together, and for a moment, she wondered if fate had
stepped into her life. Could Adrian be her Prince Charming? No. She
shook her head vehemently. Did she really think that? If so, she'd
finally lost her mind.

There couldn't be anything right about this
whole situation.

“
I'll take over,” Adrian
said, coming up behind her as he dried his hair with a snow-white
towel. “You get your bath.”

His black hair still glistened with moisture,
and he smelled squeaky clean and cuddly. There was something about
a freshly bathed man that was decidedly erotic. Stop it! she warned
herself. “You don't have to ask twice.” Dani took off her apron and
handed it to him. He smiled, and her stomach tightened as she
turned and hurried from the room to safety.

After her shower, Dani stretched down and
touched her toes. She felt muscles she'd long since forgotten. She
had probably done more physical exercise today than she had in
years. Wrapping her hair in a towel, she stepped over to her
suitcase. The first thing she spotted was the black, lace gown.
Heavens no! That would never do.

With a sigh, she settled on pair of cut-off
jeans and a pink cropped top. After she dried her hair, she decided
to take the easy way out and put her hair up into pigtails, letting
each dangle over her shoulder.

Now how could any man flirt with such a
childish hairdo?

Satisfied with the results, she put her thing
away in her suitcase. Of course, no one said Adrian wanted to flirt
with her. Dani sighed as she realized her logical thinking was
short-circuited tonight. The left and right side of her brain
seemed to be in a tug-of-war. Maybe he'd found her lacking in bed
last night.

Thinking back on their day together, she
realized he'd been a perfect gentleman since he'd learned of her
dreadful mistake. As she opened the bedroom door, she wasn't sure
exactly how that made her feel.

“
I hope you're hungry,”
Adrian said as he set a sizzling steak on her plate and the other
on his.

The aroma put her taste buds in high gear.
“I'm starved,” Dani admitted when she took her seat. “How did you
know how I liked my steak?”

“
I guessed rare. I hope I
was right. If it isn’t, we can always put it back on the
stove.”

“
You were absolutely
right,” she grudgingly admitted. The man did everything
perfectly.

“
Did you hear any more
about the hurricane?”

Adrian set a tea pitcher on the table before
taking a seat. “It must be pretty close, because I'm only picking
up static on the radio. I'd guess we'll feel the brunt of Felix in
another four, maybe five hours.”

“
I sure hope this house is
made of brick. You know what happened to the three little
pigs.”

Adrian chuckled then reached out, placing his
hand on hers. “I can assure you, hurricane Felix can huff and puff,
but he won't blow our house down. He might do a little damage, but
that's all. Some extra precautions were taken when this house was
built. I guess now we'll see if it works.” He cut into his steak.
“You still look worried.”

“
I guess I am.” She reached
for the butter. “Why didn't you leave when you had the
chance?”

“
Are you sure you want to
know?”

She nodded and waited for his answer.

“
I knew you were still on
the island. And I figured your boyfriend had stood you up because I
usually bump into everyone on this small place, and I didn't
remember seeing any strangers. With him not around, you would have
been stranded here. Alone. And no matter what you think, I'm not a
complete jerk.”

Dani almost choked on the lump in her throat.
She didn't know what to say besides, “Thank you.” He would do that
for a perfect stranger? She was finding Adrian had many facets to
his personality.

“
Besides, the island isn't
expected to take a direct hit, so I feel we're pretty
safe.”

“
I hope you're
right.”

He smiled and raised his brow a notch. “Trust
me.”

She returned his smile thinking,
not on
your life.

They enjoyed the rest of dinner in silence.
Dani was starved. This had to be the best meal she'd had in a long
time. Or perhaps it was the company, she reluctantly admitted. She
glanced at Adrian when his attention was elsewhere and found
herself growing curious. He had a beautiful olive complexion and
intriguing dark brown eyes so dark they appeared black. A lock of
raven hair had fallen out of its place, making him all the sexier .
. . probably to anyone else . . . not to her, she tried to convince
herself.

Adrian cleared his throat and pushed the
chair back gaining her attention. Only then did she realize she'd
been caught staring, and her cheeks warmed with a blush as he
smiled broadly. At least this time he was gentleman enough not to
point out the fact. Maybe he did have a few good qualities.

“
Since this is going to be
a long night, we need something to do,” Adrian paused, looking at a
skeptical Danielle.

“
Such as?”

“
Why don't we play a game
of monopoly to pass the time?”

“
That sounds like fun,” she
said.

“
Good. I'll get the game
and set it up while you remove the dishes.”

“
You've got a
deal.”

Adrian watched the way her pigtails swayed as
she reached across the table to get his plate. Her top pulled up
and he glimpsed the velvety smooth skin on her torso and,
inconveniently, he recalled the way it had felt last night when she
was lying on top of him. When she smiled, her magnificent eyes
sparkled like aquamarines. How could that jerk--her so-called
boyfriend--stand her up? His opinion of Steven grew even worse.

Adrian pulled the game out of the closet,
hoping this small diversion would keep Dani's mind off the
approaching storm. He sensed a frightened woman, and he tried to
ignore the stab of guilt that had kept her here with him.

He removed the board, unfolded it and placed
it on the coffee table. Then he started counting out the play
money.

She was much better off with him and the
hurricane than that shiftless, no good fiancé. After all, she'd be
safe with him, Adrian thought, easing his conscience slightly.

It took Dani no time to clear the table and
load the dishwasher. Normally, she dreaded this regimental routine,
but tonight she found herself humming as she wiped off the counter
top, placing the spices back where they went. Strangely, she seemed
to know where everything belonged. Then she realized she felt much
too comfortable here. This wasn't her home, she reminded herself.
And Adrian wasn't her boyfriend.

“
Are you about
finished?”