Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [80]
Kate rode with a purpose; no meandering, no stopping and looking at the view. She zigged and zagged through the downtown village, cruised along the wharf, then led him through a residential area before turning back toward the water. It was a beautiful summer day, the kind of day Tyler hadn't stopped , to enjoy in years.
How long had it been since he'd ridden a bike that wasn't stationary in some twenty-four-hour gym? He couldn't remember. How long had it been since he'd actually stopped and looked at the scenery? Years, probably.
Since that day, more than twenty years ago, when his father had picked him up from school, he'd been on the move, never calling one place home, never making more than casual friends, never letting himself get attached to any place, any person. He supposed he could have stopped sometime in the past fifteen years and made a home for himself, bought some land, put down roots, but the concept was foreign to him. It was easier to go on living the way he'd grown up, reporting on life, watching other people live instead of living himself.
Shit! Way too heavy thoughts for a simple bike ride. What the hell was the matter with him? He didn't psychoanalyze his life. He didn't have the time, the patience, or the desire. He was what he was. He didn't need to change. It was just this decadent lazy island lifestyle that made him think of change.
Normal people didn't ride bikes and have picnics on Monday afternoons unless they were on vacation. He wasn't on vacation. He was on a mission, a mission he did not intend to fail. He simply had to get Kate relaxed, catch her off guard, and go in for the kill. He did not intend to end this day without a solid lead or maybe, if he was lucky, a definitive answer.
They stopped about fifteen minutes later, walking their bikes over a rough patch of grass that led down to a sandy, secluded beach.
"Hey, where's the waterfall?" he asked, looking around.
Kate pointed to a small stream of water dripping down between two rocks on the far side of the beach.
"'That's it? I'm not impressed."
"It's low tide. When the larger waves hit the other side of those rocks is when you get the waterfall. Disappointed?"
Actually, he wasn't disappointed at all. He liked the intimate atmosphere. The beach was almost deserted -- a mother and her toddler at the water's edge, a couple on a blanket down by the rocks, and a man throwing a stick to his dog. "Where is everybody? Isn't it summer?"
"They're watching the boats. You can't see them from here."
"Do you want to go somewhere else?"
"No, I like this beach. It's small and quiet, peaceful. We get so many tourists nowadays. I miss the years when nobody came to Castleton."
"That wouldn't be good for your business." He unstrapped the picnic basket and set it down on the ground. "Damn. I forgot a blanket."
"We'll survive." Kate plopped down on the sand and took off her tennis shoes, running her toes in the fine sand. "This is nice."
Nice wasn't the right word. Sexy was. He loved the flash of hot pink polish on her toes; it seemed at odds with her very practical personality and hinted at her passionate side, a side he wanted to see more of. "What is this love affair you have with dirt?" he asked as he knelt down on the ground next to her.
Kate laughed. "I don't know. I just like the feel of the sand. Why don't you take your shoes off?"
"I don't think so."
"Why not? Is something wrong with your feet?"
"No, there's nothing wrong with my feet."
"Then let's see 'em."
"Fine. But if I'm taking off something, so are you."
"I already took off my shoes."
He grinned at her; "I wasn't talking about your shoes."
She shook her head. "You have a one-track mind."
"Well, I am a man."
"So I noticed," she muttered.
"Good."
"Stop flirting and settle down. Get comfortable. Take off your shoes."
Shoes again. He stretched out on