James gave him a smile and nodded. “I think Melinda will be pleased with your choice.”
“Hope so,” Sean told him.
“I’ll just give it a final polish and box it for you.” He was still smiling, but Sean dismissed that as a shopkeeper’s pleasure in making a sale.
“That’d be great, thanks.” Sean pulled out his wallet and handed over his credit card. “I’ve got to say I’m a little surprised at the price though. Not that I’m complaining, but you could probably get a lot more for that kind of craftsmanship.”
James shrugged again and took out a polishing cloth. “We’re a small island with a limited supply of customers.”
Sean leaned both hands on the glass case and watched the man’s reaction as he asked, “How would you like it if there were more tourists coming to the island?”
“I know about the hotel you’re planning to build, if that’s what you’re asking,” James said with a wink.
Sean grinned. “Island gossip chain?”
“Absolutely,” the man told him. “You’ll find that nothing stays a secret for long on Tesoro.”
“Okay,” Sean said with a nod. “So, how do you feel about it?”
“Cautiously optimistic,” the man said. “I’ve always agreed with Walter on his no cruise ship stance.” He shuddered a little as he said, “I don’t like the idea of Tesoro being overrun with thousands of people. But a luxury resort is something different, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is. Fewer people,” Sean said. “Fewer disruptions and a lighter impact on the environment.”
“It will still be change,” James told him, tucking the ring into a cream-colored velvet box and snapping the lid closed, “but not all change is bad.”
“I think you’ll be pleased,” Sean told him.
“I hope so,” James said and rang up the sale. When he was finished, he gave Sean his receipt and said with a grin, “I hope Melinda likes the ring.”
“Thanks.” Sean’s fist closed over the small box. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”
“Absolutely. I’ll be at the wedding.”
Chuckling, Sean nodded and headed for the door. “Along with everyone else on the island?”
“Exactly.”
Sean stepped outside, still smiling ruefully. Of course every resident of Tesoro would be at the wedding. The place was so small, they probably all thought of each other as family. The island was a world away from his everyday life. In California, there were so many people, so much…noise, a man could hardly hear himself think. He had always liked that—or at least, he had been comfortable with it. Where he lived, in Sunset Beach, he didn’t know his neighbors more than to exchange a nod with them in passing. His brothers were his best friends, and the women he spent time with came and went practically unnoticed.
Once, he had wanted more. The kind of “connections” most people searched for. But he’d learned his lesson in a hurry and had backed off immediately after that fiasco, wrapping himself in layers of insulation—using wit and charm to keep deeper emotions at bay.
Now, he was on an island where there was no escaping the kind of closeness he didn’t feel comfortable with—and he was about to marry into it.
The ring in his pocket felt heavy enough to be an anchor. Or a ball and chain, he thought grimly. Images of Melinda rose up in his mind again as easily as if they had been etched there permanently. He couldn’t escape thoughts of her. Couldn’t escape the growl of hunger his body felt. Her eyes, her smile, her quiet determination to have things go her way.
He smiled faintly at that thought. If there was one thing a King could understand—especially, he told himself, this King, it was determination. Wanting to win. That didn’t mean the next two months were going to be easy though. He knew already that he wanted her. Pretending to have a wife and not being able to touch her was going to make him nuts.
He pulled in a deep breath of the ocean air and told himself it didn’t matter. He’d survive. Kings always survived.
A couple of months from now, he’d be a free man again.
And Melinda Stanford, beauty, brains and incredible sensuality notwithstanding, would be nothing more than a memory.
Five
The crowd applauded.
Melinda hardly heard them. Instead, she stared up into the eyes of her husband and saw a reluctant humor there, shining down at her.
Something inside her warmed and raced through her veins. His hand holding hers, his right arm wrapped around her waist, he held her close enough that Melinda could feel the steady beat of his heart.
Music soared out around them, an old Ella Fitzgerald tune and that smoky, sexy voice seemed to swell in the air. Melinda’s eyes filled with a sudden rush of tears. She could hardly believe it was done. She was married.
“Brides don’t cry,” Sean whispered.
“I know,” she said, blinking her tears back determinedly. “It’s just…”
“Weird?” he offered, steering her into a tight turn with practiced ease.
“Well, yes.” Her gaze fixed on him, she caught snatches of the crowd in her peripheral vision, but they were hardly more than a blur of color.
“I hear that,” he said, smiling down at her. “But your grandfather looks happy.”
She turned her head slightly to catch a glimpse of Walter, standing on the sidelines, beaming at the dancing couple.
“He does, doesn’t he?” A narrow thread of guilt snaked its way through her. She’d made him happy by lying to him. And in the next instant, she imagined his face two months from now when she had to tell him she was getting a divorce. The image wasn’t a pleasant one and she closed her eyes in an effort to shut it out.
“Regrets already?” Sean asked.
She considered lying to him, too, but what would be the point? “A few,” she admitted. “You?”
“A few,” he agreed with a nod. Then his arm around her waist tightened further, pressing her even closer.
It wasn’t only the beat of his heart she could feel now, Melinda realized. As he held her tightly to him, she felt the unmistakably hard proof of what he was feeling. Her gaze swept up to meet his again.
He shrugged and gave her a tight smile. “My regrets are a little more personal.”
No sex.
Her own body sizzled a bit as he pulled her tightly enough to him that she felt the heavy length of his arousal pushing at her. Melinda’s response was instant and instinctive. Damp heat centered at her core and a pulsing ache settled deep inside her. If he noticed her reaction, he didn’t let it show, merely continuing their dance smoothly.