Delanie couldn't believe the guy was back. She'd probably jumped to the wrong conclusion about the whole stalking thing, but how the hell was she supposed believe him. He was too good to be true. Really, a guy who didn't force sex when they were alone on a romantic island. Now, that was fantasy.



She'd just been thinking about Sam, and now he was here. He'd scared the crap out of her though.



Was he just an average guy, or was he hiding something, like the fact that he worked for a paper. It was almost too convenient that he showed up here twice. Trusting him meant being vulnerable. Every time she had let her guard down in the past it had come back to bite her.



"Delanie, I'm not up to anything other than getting out of the storm."



She held her ground, hoping that lifting her eyebrow would give him the impression that she was tough and wouldn't be a victim.



"Okay, so I had ulterior motives to hanging around."



"Ha, I knew it."



He swiped his damp hair with a towel. "I wanted to see you again."



"Why?"



He dropped the towel onto the countertop and blew out a breath. "I've never had to do this before."



Delanie took two steps back and her heart stalled. What if he was some deranged psycho? Mimi had warned her that Amanda had gone missing.



"Listen, I'm not great at talking about my feelings. You are a very unique person. I like you a lot. I don't know who you are though I feel like I've known you my entire life."



He took a step closer, the look on his face tugged at her heart.



"Delanie, I'm just trying to be honest with you."



"Honest? Let me ask you this. Who do you work for?"



"I don't work for anyone."



"So you freelance?"



"I don't freelance. I own my own company."



"What are you, some kind of internet news guy then?"



"I'm not a news guy. I don't know the first thing about reporting or taking pictures."



"Then why are you here?"



"I really just wanted to get to know you better."



Delanie dropped into one of the tall backed kitchen chairs. The fact that Sam just wanted to get to know her struck her as odd. She looked up at him, wondering how long the fascination would last until he took something of hers and sold it on Ebay.



Damn, she hated being so suspicious. Getting to know someone shouldn't be this hard. Everything in her life had led her to this place. She wished things were different. That she was just a girl interested in a guy. But she wasn't just any girl. Every dating experience had to be thought about and deciphered.



"I'm sorry. It's just..."



"Who are you and what happened to you?"



"What do you mean?"



"This is the second time you thought I was here to take pictures of you."



"It's complicated."



"We have a while. Sounds like the storm is still going strong."



She stood and shook off the strange feeling that held onto her since she'd first heard Sam outside. "I'm going to make some coffee while we still have electricity. Do you want any soup?"



"Sure, I'm a bit hungry." He walked over to the kitchen cabinets and started searching through them. After a few seconds he came up with a saucepan. "I'm not a gourmand, but I do know how to heat up soup. First though, I need to find your pantry."



Delanie pointed to the door where the food was stored. Doing domestic chores always made her feel good, almost normal. Like if she concentrated on cooking then maybe she could find a good relationship like all the other average Joe's, or Jane's out there.



Preparing a meal with Sam would be cathartic. She watched him search through drawers. "You like living on your boat?"



"Yeah, except during storm season."



"Must be hard living alone when the storms come up."



"It's a choice. I like it, for the most part. The weather gets bad. Usually it doesn't pop up so suddenly."



"Do you ever get lonely? You know, want people around?"



"Not yet. I'm sure one day I'll go back to living on land, but I like being alone. Actually, I was thinking about going back, but I'm not sure I could."



"Why not?"



He turned his back on her, his hands planted on the countertop, his shoulders heaved as he drew in a breath.



"Seams like you have a demon hunting you," she said.



"What?"



"I only know because I have one too."



"Then I guess we're in the same boat."



She took two steps forward, closing the gap between them. "I wonder if for tonight we could pretend all that baggage out there haunting us both just disappeared?"



"I hate baggage."



He reached out and touched her lips, "Shhh, don't think about it. Let's embrace the solitude and forget about what has come before."



"That's twice that we've ignored reality for some fantasy life."



He smoothed a strand of hair away from her face. "Yeah, probably not healthy for us to do that."



A funny tickle bubbled in her stomach. She pulled a leaf out of his hair, examining it before focusing in on his eyes. "Well, it's not like we're trying to build a relationship."



"No, just two nobodies alone on a romantic island."



Heat raced up her neck to her face. His gaze held hers. No mattered what they said about this not being serious she could feel the tension holding the two of them together. She wanted a relationship with this man so bad it scared her. She should go back to accusing him of being a jerk, because playing with him would surely hurt in the end.



"Should we tell the truth about our pasts?" He asked.



There would come a time when they both had to fess up to who they were, but she didn't want it to be tonight. Tonight she wanted to play act for a little bit longer.



"No, unless you want to. But I don't want to pressure you to tell me because I'm not ready to tell you about where I've been and what I do."



"Sounds good, unless you suddenly decide that telling me about your past is important, then I'll listen."



She smiled and held out her hand. He reached for her, pulling her close. "This calls for more than a handshake. It's more like a hug kind of promise."



When he wrapped his arms tightly around her she felt like heaven had captured her. She wanted to feel this way forever. Too bad reality would step in before long.

Copyright Sara Thacker 2011