Drake Sisters 04 - Dangerous Tides

heaven. My parents didn't want me messing with chemicals or anything that could possibly blow anything up. Aunt Ida encouraged me. After a while I wanted to stay here in Sea Haven with her. It was just easier."

    "But you didn't," Libby said.

    "No, my parents would drag me back every now and then so we'd look good for some write-up in a magazine. They tried, don't get me wrong, they wanted to be great parents, but they just didn't understand how to parent me."

    "I didn't hear about their death until recently. What happened?"

    "A plane crash. It was a couple of years ago. I still haven't sorted everything out. The estate was overwhelming. I hide in the laboratory and try to forget about it most of the time. I know I've got to deal with it, but it's just not a priority for me. Sam and I had a talk about it a couple of weeks ago. He took Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    care of most of the details for me and has been overseeing a lot of things, but I can't keep expecting him to do it. He has a life, too, and sorting out the estate is a full-time job."

    "You're very close to your cousin, aren't you?"

    "He's more of a brother than a cousin. He tries to understand me just the way my aunt did." A small grin spread across his face, softening the hard lines that were etched in his face, making him appear almost boyish. "Tries being the operative word. He's given up trying to double-date with me. He says I'm abrasive."

    "Imagine that."

    He shrugged. "I get bored easily with inane conversation. I try to keep my mouth shut and just listen but after a while I can't take it and I have to leave. I see it as the lesser of two evils, but unfortunately, my dates don't agree."

    "You don't sound like that bothers you very much."

    He ducked his head. "Not especially. I wish it did. I want it to. I just can't seem to dredge up the effort to care what people think of me."

    "Not even for Sam?"

    He sat back in his chair, fiddling with the stem of the wineglass, frowning a little as he thought about it.
    "No. Sam doesn't need me to be charming. We don't move in the same circles most of the time. He has his life and I have mine. Even when we're sharing the house, I'm mostly in the basement."

    "You bring your work home," she guessed. "You take the time off, but you're still working."

    "I can't let it go for long. I start thinking about things and then I have to experiment. Sam's used to me disappearing. He's the one that always looks after things, pays the bills, keeps the refrigerator stocked, Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    but recently I realized what a burden I was putting on him and decided to get a full-time accountant. I'm trying to take some of the pressure off of him, to assume more of the responsibility."

    "Sam? He's always so—" Libby paused, searching for the right word. Did Sam ever appear anything but charming? Certainly not pressured. "Laid back? Easygoing? I heard you shared your inheritance with him. That was generous of you."

    He laughed. "Generous of me? The money doesn't mean anything at all to me. Half the time I forget it's there. Sam shared his mother and his house with me. The money is nothing compared to that, Libby."

    She heard the complete honesty in his voice. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the money had belonged to his parents, or that he was quite capable of making his own very good living, or maybe it was just his character, but she believed him—and she admired him. There was a lot more to Tyson than she'd ever thought.

    "Why do you go parasailing and fight fires and find the wildest river to raft down? What drives you to do that?"

    "I want to feel alive."

    "Doesn't it bother you that you risk your bril—" She bit off what she was going to say. "That you risk your mind?"

    His smile touched his eyes, warmed them to a deep blue. And there was too much heat in his smile. It was sensual and set the blood pounding in her veins.

    "You were going to say brilliant, Libby. See? You did call me brilliant, didn't you? In the hospital."

    His smile was so sexy. Everything about him was sexy, especially when he was teasing her. "I'm sure I didn't. You made the entire conversation up. I didn't say yes to a date at all."

    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    "You really don't remember anything?"

    "Bits and pieces. What about you?" She was curious as to what he