Rough Harbor by Andrea Stein

cry. He went to the premiere with her. Pictures, so cute!”
    They mentioned the name of the movie, and Caitlyn remembered hearing about it. Unfortunately, the actress’s assets had gotten more attention than the actual movie.
    “I hear he’s moving back to the East coast. Some new business venture.” That was news to Caitlyn. She thought he was only here temporarily.
    A tall, blonde woman looked at him speculatively.
    “I heard he was here for a funeral,” another one said.
    They all agreed he looked a little sad.
    “I think I might go and comfort him.” The blonde pursed her lips, considering, and then plunged in.
    Caitlyn almost said no and then stopped herself. Noah could speak to whomever he wished, and if this woman was his type – tall, tanned, blonde and with abs that could crush beer cans – then far be it for her to stop it. Caitlyn broke away from the group, watching as blondie made her move on Noah, disengaged him from whomever he was speaking with and worked him out onto the dance floor. Caitlyn took another glass of champagne and watched as the vigorous dancer moved all over Noah.
    He caught her eye once and looked almost as if he were pleading for rescue, but she shrugged. He was a grown man, a CEO, and if he could handle investors, employees and customers, he could surely handle one overbearing woman.
    Caitlyn didn’t let herself be a wallflower, either. A nice banker, Kevin, who was still in his pinstripes, asked her to dance, and she said yes. After that, there were others, and the time passed until she checked her watch, saw it was nearly eleven and, realizing her feet were killing her, knew it was time to find Adriana.
    She found her at a table, sitting with a group of people. “There you are, Caitlyn. Looked like you were having a lovely time out there.”
    Caitlyn smiled. A few of her dance partners had insisted on getting her business card, but she sincerely hoped none of them would call. Her eyes strayed to Noah. He wasn’t dancing anymore, but the blonde was still draped over his arm. They stood at the bar, having a drink while Noah talked, the blonde’s gaze fixed on him adoringly.
    As if he felt her eyes on him, he turned, looked in her direction and held her stare. He did nothing, made no gesture, just looked at her with such intensity, his jaw set, his face dark, that she felt him burning into her. It was an invitation. Caitlyn knew – she knew that if she just walked over there, the blonde would be history and that Noah would take her, be hers. The full realization of how much she wanted that to happen swamped her, and it took all of her willpower to gather Adriana up and hurry her out the door, forcing herself not to look over her shoulder, lest her resolve break.
    Boss, Caitlyn told herself. Rich playboy, she said. She’d already made that mistake in London, and she wasn’t going to make it again. Not to mention that he was the boy who had dumped her ten years ago because she wasn’t ready. He was all of those things, and still, she wanted to throw her caution, her resolve to the wind.
    “You seem to be in quite the hurry to go,” Adrianna remarked, her voice placid as Henry brought the car around for them. They were near the entrance, and the fresh air was pouring in and over her, and Caitlyn felt her body settle down, the hot flame of longing die off.
    She could do this. She just needed to stay out of Noah Randall’s orbit. He had to go back to California soon, to his real life. Queensbay, the firm, it had to be nothing more than a distraction for him, a distraction from his desire to build and grow things.
    Caitlyn looked over and down. Adriana was staring at her, a shrewd and knowing look on her face. Caitlyn wasn’t certain how much of her and Noah’s history the old woman knew about. Certainly the fact they’d been a couple that summer hadn’t been a secret.
    “You knew he’d be here,” Caitlyn said, her voice hoarse.
    Adriana shrugged. “Perhaps.”
    “What