Eclipse Bay

Madison. The way I look at it, we’ve known each other most of our lives.”
    She blinked. “That’s certainly an interesting viewpoint. Maybe it’s even true in certain ways. But something of an oversimplification, don’t you think?”
    “Do you always talk like this on a date?”
    “That wasn’t a date we had tonight. I did you a favor.”
    His smile was infinitely slow, infinitely seductive. “Well, in that case, allow me to repay it.” He started to lower his mouth to hers once more.
    She braced her hands on his shoulders to stop him. “My point—”
    He gave her a look of polite surprise. “You mean you’ve actually got one?”
    “My point,” she continued grimly, “is that, although we’ve known of each other’s existence most of our lives, it’s stretching things to imply that we’ve been anything more than distant acquaintances. I still say we’re strangers as far as this kind of thing is concerned.”
    “Shush.” He covered her mouth with the palm of his hand.
    “Mmmph?” Outraged, she grabbed his wrist and tried to yank his hand away from her lips.
    She was so intent on telling him in no uncertain terms that she did not find this kind of stuff a turn-on that it took her a few seconds to realize he was not paying any attention to her. She finally noticed that he was lying much too still, his head turned toward the front door.
    She heard a very soft whine. Winston was standing at the door again, just as he had done last night. His alert, watchful tension radiated clear across the room.
    “He hears something.” Rafe took his hand away from Hannah’s mouth. He kept his eyes on the dog as he sat up on the edge of the sofa.
    “Probably an animal prowling for garbage.” Hannah hastily pulled her clothing back into place. “A skunk, maybe. Or cats.”
    “Probably.” Rafe watched Winston intently.
    Hannah sat up slowly. “He did this last night, too.”
    Rafe got to his feet and crossed the room to where Winston vibrated at the door. He halted at the window and pulled aside the curtain. “Fog’s so thick now you can’t see past the edge of the porch.”
    Winston whined softly. He glanced at Rafe and then at the door and then back at Rafe. The message was clear. He wanted to go outside to investigate.
    A cold chill went through Hannah. It was the same disturbing sensation she’d experienced last night.
    “Whatever it is, it’s not coming too close to the house,” she said quickly. “Winston would be barking like crazy if there was a critter in the bushes at the edge of the porch.”
    “Sure.” Rafe reached for the doorknob. Winston strained forward, preparing to streak through the crack in the door as soon as it appeared.
    Real fear galvanized Hannah. Everything in her was suddenly focused on the danger of opening the front door.
    “What, are you crazy?” She leaped to her feet and rushed across the room. She bent down to seize Winston’s collar. “You can’t send him outside. He was raised in a high-rise apartment in the middle of a city, for heaven’s sake. He knows nothing about wild animals. Whatever’s out there might be a lot bigger and meaner than he is.”
    Winston tried to pull free of her grasp. He was trembling with eagerness. His nose did not waver from the crack between the door and the frame.
    Rafe glanced down at him. “Okay, city dog. Stay inside and be a sissy. I’ll handle this on my own.”
    “Oh, no, you don’t.” Exasperated, Hannah released Winston and threw herself in front of the door, arms spread wide. “You’re not going out there, either.”
    Rafe looked amused. “Doubt if whatever is out there is bigger or meaner than me. This is Eclipse Bay, remember? Crime rate around here is almost nonexistent.”
    Winston whined again and bobbed restlessly at Rafe’s heels.
    Hannah glared at both of them. She did not budge from her position in front of the door. Frantically she searched for a rational, sensible reason for refusing to allow either male outside.
    “Cut the raging testosterone, you two. Let’s have a little common sense here, shall we? It is entirely possible that there’s a skunk outside. Does either of you have any idea of just how long it would take to get rid of the smell if you got sprayed? You’d both have to sleep on the beach for a week.”
    “Don’t think it’s a skunk.” Rafe looked thoughtful. “A skunk would head straight for the garbage cans. We’d have heard the clatter by now.”
    “If it’s not a