Donovans 01 - Amber Beach

Kyle’s fiancé.
    “She’s alone.”
    He watched Marju get out of a beat-up rental job and pick her way through the mud and puddles toward the front door.
    “Wonder if she and Ellen went to the same school?” Jake asked idly.
    “Spy school?” Honor asked, startled.
    “Locomotion.”
    “What do you-oh, that,” she said, understanding when she saw Marju walking. Even though the black skirt and sweater weren’t particularly stylish, on her they looked like Paris originals. “Whew. I think some women are born walking like that. No practice required.”
    “You ought to know.”
    She gave Jake a sidelong look. “I don’t move anything like that.”
    “You do it better.”
    “Ha. No way do I walk like I have the secret of the universe tucked between my thighs.”
    He made an odd, strangled sound and then laughed out loud. As he turned toward her, the backs of his fingers brushed down her cheek and across her lips. “You’re one of a kind, honey. Whatever happens, I don’t regret meeting you.”
    Honor looked at the laughter and shadows in Jake’s eyes and knew he was telling the truth. Before she could think better of it, she found herself whispering a kiss across his fingers. Whatever his motives for answering her ad, he had protected her as much as he had used her; and he had been a hungry, generous lover who made her feel like the most desirable woman since Eve.
    “Does this mean I’m forgiven?” he asked huskily.
    “It means . . . I don’t know what it means.” But she was afraid she did. It meant she was an idiot. She cleared her throat. “It means we need each other until this mess is cleared up, so we might as well bury the hatchet.”
    “Damned by faint praise again. But I’ll take it. It’s better than the deep freeze and a razor tongue.”
    A knock on the door saved Honor from having to answer. She opened the door and started to say something, then she simply stared. Though Marju was not conventionally beautiful, there was something about her that was electrifying. Charisma, sheer animal presence, whatever—the woman radiated on every band of the sexual spectrum.
    Honor’s stomach sank. She could understand all too well how her brother could have lost his head over this woman.
    “Come in,” Jake said dryly to Marju. “Don’t worry about the silence. Honor will get her tongue back real quick.”
    “Jay? Is it really you?” Marju asked. Her huge, dark eyes opened wide. The flecks of gold that rimmed each black iris exactly matched her burnished blond hair. A small, pale hand closed around Jake’s wrist. “Where is Kyle? Is he well?”
    “Yes, yes, I don’t know, I don’t know.” He led Marju in and closed the door. “Honor Donovan, meet Marju. I’d give you her last name but you would hash the pronunciation so badly there’s no point. Call her Jones. It worked for Kyle. Marju, the awestruck woman is Kyle’s sister.”
    Honor held out her hand. “Hello, Marju. Susa would kill to paint you.”
    Marju shook hands briskly despite looking confused by what Honor had said.
    “Susa is my mother,” Honor explained. “All the kids call her Susa. She paints. Landscapes usually, but she makes exceptions for exceptionally interesting faces.”
    Marju smiled uncertainly. “Oh. This is good?”
    “If you don’t mind holding still for her, it’s great. Come in and sit down. You’ll be my first sister-in-law. As soon as we find Kyle, of course. Coffee? Tea? Something stronger?”
    Long, natural lashes swept down over Marju’s eyes. Again, she smiled uncertainly.
    Jake sighed and began translating. His Lithuanian was marginal, but his Russian was excellent. So was Marju’s.
    Honor’s Russian was zilch. She waited with increasing impatience.
    “Okay,” Jake said finally, turning to Honor. “Marju speaks four languages, including English, and understands three more. But school talk and real talk aren’t the same. Slang is a problem for her.”
    “Got it,” Honor said. “Er, that is, I understand.”
    “If it would not trouble you,” Marju said, smiling, “a cup of coffee would be welcome.”
    “I’ll get it,” Jake said. “You two get acquainted.”
    “What about you?” Honor asked him.
    “Jones and I already know each other.”
    “Biblically speaking?” Honor muttered before she could stop herself.
    He didn’t answer.
    Marju settled gracefully onto the worn sofa and crossed her elegant legs. Though Honor and Jake had picked up the worst of the mess