Seduction by the Book by Linda Conrad

he’d told her, she was going to have Nick’s baby.
    Dear Lord. Now what?
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    Nick backed away from her door after Annie slammed it in his face. He’d wanted to tell her about his mother’s arrival today. But then he’d been blinded by the sight of the faint purple smudges under her eyes, and of her neon pink shirt, and of her face that was somehow glowing and more beautiful than he had ever seen.
    He needed to walk away from her now while he could still fight off the furious desire that was buckling his knees. He almost hated her for doing this to him, for being everything that Christina wasn’t, and for being the most desirable woman he’d ever known. But he couldn’t.
    The sad fact was that he was the one to blame for not being able to control his own yearnings. Angry at himself, he jumped into his Jeep and headed down to the latest construction site in the village.
    When he’d given Annie the responsibility for the dolphin center, he’d imagined that would be the best answer for both of them. But now he wondered if he had been selfish to want to keep her near enough for him tosee, yet hold her far enough away so that there would be no chance of pulling her back into his life.
    It couldn’t be the best thing for her, staying here on this isolated island and not getting the opportunity to go out in the world to find friends and perhaps a man who would love her forever.
    That troubling thought made him slow the Jeep and ball his fists against the steering wheel. The very idea of Annie with another man made him suddenly mad as hell. But he had just better get over it.
    Annie had told him that she imagined him as a storybook prince, bewitched and waiting for a princess to come break the spell. Hell. He didn’t need to read that damned gypsy’s fairy-tale book to know he’d been acting more like a mean old ogre. A beast, like the one in that old tale of the beauty and the beast, who locked up beautiful women and never let them leave the castle.
    Blowing out a breath, he decided to give the whole thing some more thought. But not until after his mother had left the island again. It was too hard to think with her nearby. Almost as difficult as being around Annie.
    Almost, but not exactly the same.
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    â€œThe island doesn’t look too terribly shabby,” his mother said as he pulled in to the lot beside the pool house. “The trees will take some time to grow back, but all in all it’s much better than I’d imagined. You must’ve worked round the clock to get the work done.”
    He shook his head. “I’ve had lots of help. The islanders have been amazing.”
    His mother smiled. “My great-great-grandfather always thought so, too. He said there were no better people anywhere on earth than the families he’d hired to come work and live here.”
    Nick forgot from time to time that it was his mother’s family who had owned this island for generations. His father had always been such a huge presence in his life that he was shocked to remember that it was his mother who had inherited all the money from her wealthy American ancestors.
    â€œWell, here we are,” he told her as he parked the Jeep and got out to carry her luggage. “I doubt Annie will be here to greet you. In the afternoons she can usually be found down at the lagoon, working with the dolphins.”
    His mother shot him a very strange look before she shrugged her shoulder and climbed out of the Jeep. “That’s fine, dear. It will give me a chance to settle in. I’ll look forward to dining with her later.”
    â€œWell…” Nick filled his arms with his mother’s luggage and followed her as she unlocked the door and stepped inside. “I don’t know if…”
    Just as his eyes adjusted to the cool interior of the three-room pool house, Annie came flying out of the bathroom and nearly knocked into his mother.
    Her eyes