The Reef

reservation pedestal, where a woman in the bright-patterned shirt of the staff beamed at him. “Lassiter.”
    “Yes, sir. You requested the terrace.”
    “That’s right. I called ahead,” he told Tate when she frowned at him. Her frown only deepened when he held out her chair. If memory served, his manners had smoothed out considerably. “Can you handlechampagne?” he murmured, leaning down so that his breath tickled her ear.
    “Of course, but—”
    He was ordering a bottle even as he took the seat across from her. “Nice view.”
    “Yes.” She took her gaze from his face and looked out over the gardens to the sea.
    “Tell me about the last eight years, Tate.”
    “Why?”
    “I want to know.” Needed to know. “Let’s say it’ll fill in some of the blanks.”
    “I studied a lot,” she began. “More than I bargained for. I guess I had the idea that I knew so much going in. But I knew so little really. The first couple of months I . . .” Was lost, unhappy, missing you so terribly. “I needed to adjust,” she said carefully.
    “But you caught on pretty quick.”
    “I suppose.” Relax, she ordered herself and made herself turn back and smile at him. “I liked the routine, the structure. And I really wanted to learn.”
    She looked over as the waitress brought the champagne to the table to show off its label.
    “Let her taste it,” Matthew ordered.
    Obliging, the waitress uncorked the bottle and poured a swallow into Tate’s flute. “It’s lovely,” Tate murmured, much too aware that Matthew’s eyes never left her face.
    When their glasses were filled, she started to drink again, but he laid a finger on her wrist. Gently, he tapped the glasses together. “To the next page,” he said and smiled.
    “All right.” She was a grown woman, Tate reminded herself. Experienced now. She had all the defenses necessary to resist a man. Even one like Matthew.
    “So you learned,” Matthew prompted.
    “Yes. And whenever I had an opportunity to use what I’d learned on an expedition, I took it.”
    “And the Isabella, isn’t she an opportunity?”
    “That remains to be seen.” She opened her menu, skimmed it, looked up at him with wide eyes. “Matthew.”
    “I managed to hold on to a few bucks over the years,”he assured her. “Besides, you’ve always been my lucky charm.” He picked up her hand. “This time, Red, we go home rich.”
    “So, that’s still the bottom line? All right.” She shrugged. “It’s your party, Lassiter. If you want to live for today, we’ll do it.”
    While they ate, and the wine fizzed in their glasses, the sun lowered. It sank red into the sea, giving the air that brief and painfully lovely twilight of the tropics. On cue, the music from the patio beyond began.
    “You haven’t told me about your eight years, Matthew.”
    “Nothing very interesting.”
    “You built the Mermaid. That’s interesting.”
    “She’s a beauty.” He looked out to the sea where, beyond his sight, she rocked. “Just like I imagined her.”
    “Whatever happens here, you’d have a career in boat design and building.”
    “I’m never working to make ends meet again,” he said quietly. “Never doing what needs to be done and forgetting what I want.”
    It struck her, that fierceness in his eyes, so that she reached out to touch his hand. “Is that what you did?”
    Surprised, he looked back. With a careless shrug, he linked his fingers with hers. “It’s not what I’m doing. That’s what counts. You know something, Red?”
    “What?”
    “You’re beautiful. No.” He smiled slowly when she tried to slip her hand free. “I’ve got you now. For now,” he corrected. “Get used to it.”
    “The fact that I chose you over pinochle has obviously gone to your head.”
    “Then there’s that voice,” he murmured, delighted by the way confusion flickered with the candlelight in her eyes. “Soft, slow, smooth. Like honey spiked with just the right amount of good bourbon. A man could get drunk just listening to you.”
    “I think you got a head start with the champagne. I’ll pilot us back.”
    “Fine. But we’ll have at least one dance.” He signaled for the bill.
    A dance wouldn’t hurt, Tate decided. If anything, she could use the close contact to convince him that she wasn’t about to be seduced into the brief affair he was obviously after.
    She could enjoy him without losing herself or her heart this time around. And if he suffered a little, she