Eyes of Fire by Heather Graham Page A

“I was sleeping,” she lied.
    â€œJem’s there with you?”
    â€œYes. Where are you?”
    â€œMy cottage. I believe it’s the one you call Paradise.”
    â€œUm.”
    â€œWant to know about your guests?”
    â€œAre you…alone?”
    â€œChecking up on me? Worried about me? Miss me?”
    â€œDon’t be absurd.”
    â€œWere you imagining that I had Sukee here beside me?”
    â€œIt would be completely your own affair if you did, Mr. O’Connor.”
    â€œThen why did you ask?”
    She made certain that he could hear the depth of her very impatient sigh. “I was attacked this evening. Naturally I want to know as much as I can about who’s where on the island.”
    â€œInteresting. Since you know so little.”
    â€œThank you for that assessment.”
    â€œDo you want to know about your guests or not?”
    â€œDo I?” she demanded. “You’re not going to hang up on me if I say yes?”
    He laughed softly. She gnawed on her lower lip. Just the sound of his laughter seemed to brush sensually into her soul.
    And other places.
    â€œTalk!” she told him.
    Amazingly, he obliged. “Your Mr. Avery Smith isn’t a Mr. Smith at all.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œMr. Smith isn’t Mr. Smith.”
    â€œThen who is he?”
    â€œJames Jay Astin. Founder and chairman of the board of SeaLink.”
    Then, having made certain that Sam couldn’t possibly sleep all night, Adam clicked off.
    Â 
    The Walkers had a two-bedroom cottage on the opposite side of the main house from Sam.
    The kids were tucked into bed. Judy was being silent. The kind of silent Lew Walker just hated in his wife. Her lips were pursed. She’d changed into her nightgown, a long silky thing that should have been nice and sexy, just right for an island vacation for a man and his wife. However, as she pulled the covers neatly down on the bed, she kept up her silence—creating a killer chill within the room. Any excitement he might have been feeling withered in his BVDs as he watched her.
    Finally the silence got to him.
    He walked behind her and slipped his arms around her body. She stood very stiffly, not fighting him, just casting that awful chill.
    â€œJudy—”
    â€œIt’s not right,” she said. “What we’re doing—it’s just not right.”
    â€œJudy, we need the money,” he said.
    â€œThere are other ways to make money.”
    â€œWe have two children. We have to survive.”
    â€œWe have two children. We’re supposed to teach them right from wrong.”
    â€œWe’re not really doing anything wrong.”
    â€œThe hell we’re not.”
    â€œThe way you see it, maybe.”
    â€œLew, just don’t touch me right now, all right?”
    He froze himself, then released her. He walked around to his own side of the bed and slid beneath the covers, keeping his back to her.
    Judy turned off the lights. Once she got into bed, she kept her back to him, as well.
    The chill, Lew thought, had turned into a regular ice storm.
    He sighed and tried to sleep.
    The day after tomorrow, the Steps.
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    Jerry North sat, legs curled beneath her, in a wicker rocking chair on the small porch that surrounded their bungalow. She looked out at the night. The sky was velvet black, dotted with unbelievably bright stars.
    Beautiful.
    The island was beautiful. Peaceful, elegant, casual. A perfect place to call home.
    How ironic, how sad.
    She felt Liam coming out to stand behind her. “You’re going to have to go diving soon,” he told her.
    She shrugged.
    â€œI can dive, but it won’t help.”
    â€œYou’re the only one who really knows.”
    â€œI don’t know anything. I didn’t know what I was doing then, and I surely won’t have the least idea now.”
    â€œWell, who knows? Anything is worth a try. Adam O’Connor is here. You know