Page 6 of Riptide

“I need you to stay healthy, Mr. Tremaine. Go back to your room. Dinner is in an hour.” She stood and put her hands on her hips. She cocked her head, studying him. His long blonde curls brushed over the collar of his white shirt. Color had returned to his face, but she couldn’t quite see his expression from the angle where she stood.

“Come sit,” he told her.

“No.” She refused to budge.

“Come sit. One song. Then I’ll go lay down,” he promised.

“Or you could go lay down now.”

“Sit,” he insisted, his tone softened. “I promise I don’t bite. Not unless you want me to.”

“I’m not sitting down.” Something about the surfer’s voice, the way he spoke to her attracted her, and she chalked it up to some kind of a reverse nightingale syndrome. She’d taken care of him, cleaned his wounds while he writhed in pain. She’d held his hand, comforting him. But he’d never know. The drugs would blur his memory. Her lips tightened as her mind warred with her decision.

“One song.” Seth slowly turned around, his gaze locked on hers.

Kaimana’s heart squeezed, captivated with the intensity swirling in his deep blue eyes. She glanced to his hands and back to his mouth.

“One song. But that is it. Then back to your room.” Her voice didn’t waver as she set the limit.

This man would test her. It was what he did, who he was. Seth Tremaine didn’t know limits or obey the laws of physics. He’d spent his entire life smiling while giving a big fuck you to mother nature and doing things most humans would never dream of doing, let alone surviving.

With deliberately slow steps, she approached him. He patted the seat next to him and butterflies flew in her stomach. She released a cleansing breath, willing her emotions to settle as she slid next to him.

“So many questions,” Seth began. “You could have left me on the rocks. In the ocean. But you didn’t. But perhaps the biggest question is not why you brought me here but what were you doing that day at Big Sur? I certainly know what I was doing, but you?” He cocked his head with an inquisitive lilt to his voice. “The thing is Lars’ place is pretty remote. So why were you there?”

Kaimana fought the anger that rose in her throat. His fingers played a rendition of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata with such intensity she could feel the music reverberating throughout her body. As he played, she weighed her options. Tonight was not the night for this conversation, yet he seemed determined to break her.

“I was there. That’s all that really matters,” Kaimana responded, her tone curt. She refused to develop any kind of relationship with this man. He was a means to an end, she told herself. Do not look at him. She averted her gaze to the floor and noted his bare feet. “There are slippers in the closet.”

Her heart caught in her chest as Seth abruptly halted the song and began to play the melody of Heart and Soul. The individual pads of his fingers played the repeating notes, sending her thoughts drifting to Evan.

She heard his voice in her mind. That’s it. You’ve got it. Yes! He’d laughed as they played for several minutes. It had only taken her seconds to learn. It was the first time she’d truly laughed after being abducted.

Evan had saved her from Marretta, and he’d saved her from herself. He’d made her laugh. He’d encouraged her to train again. He’d been everything. When they said he’d died, she didn’t believe it for one second.

Seth abruptly stopped playing the piano, his finger slowly releasing the last key. In the silence, Kaimana glanced to his hand that was within inches of her thigh. Hyper-aware of his body next to hers, the heat from his fingers emanated onto her skin. A pregnant pause enveloped the air, and she quickly stood, her heart beating like a drum.

“We have dinner at seven.” She reached for her walkie-talkie and pressed her thumb to the talk button. “Keanu. Please come to the salon now and help Mr. Tremaine get back to his room. Over.”

“Be right there. Over.”

Kaimana knew what Seth wanted to hear but she refused to give in to his demands. She’d tell him on her own terms.

She sucked a deep breath and stepped away from the bench. As he rose to his feet, he swayed. A loud clatter of notes sounded as he steadied himself, his palms pressed to the keys.

Kaimana reached for him and wrapped her arm around his waist. “Easy now. Are you okay?”

“Wow. Yeah.” He blew out a breath. “Guess I’m not running any marathons tonight.”

“Easy,” she repeated. “I told you that you need rest.”

“No, no.” He straightened his back. “I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I think I’ve got this.”

Kaimana released his waist, but he held tight to her hand. Steadied on his feet, his muscular body towered above her. As her gaze rose to meet his, her heart pounded in her chest. Her eyes fell to his lips and her stomach flipped as the corners of his lips ticked upward.