The wind had picked up as Samuel anchored out in the protected inlet and used the rubber dingy to go ashore. He prayed his boat would make it through the storm. He had brought two long lines ashore and planed to tie both to different trees, hoping that the trees would outlast the storm.



He fought the wind with the dingy, wrestling it into the storage shed at the top of the dock. The damned thing would probably blow away, but maybe some luck would shine on him and the shed would survive the storm.



Finding the shed unlocked had been surprising. He wondered how long the thing had been left unattended. Thieves could strike without warning, stealing the owner blind. But it wasn't his concern. Right now, his primary worry was finding shelter before the storm hit.



If he had been smart he would have headed for a larger island. But Delanie had been on his mind for days. If he felt he could have, he would have come ashore yesterday and talked. About what, he didn't know.



He still was wary about telling her who he was. He didn't want to hide everything from her, but if she found out billionaire was a word commonly used to describe him she would change her tune. They all did. Women flocked to him once the money thing was mentioned. They often would come up with almost any excuses to be near him.



Lying turned his stomach though. He'd never been good at spinning a deceiving lie. In business he may refrain from telling everything, but an outright lie would do him in.



Two steps up the hill to Delanie's house the rain hit. Before he'd even gone two more steps his shirt was drenched. By the time he made it to the top of the stairs everything with him was wet.



He ran to the porch and found the French door covered with wood that he couldn't budge open. She must have locked the place down.



Sam circled the house, noticing the roof for the cistern up on the hill behind the house. Even with the height of the island he wondered if the cistern should be shut off. Of course if the ocean water rose high enough to get into the cistern they would have other problems.



Every shutter had been secured. He found one window that had been left open under the wooden slats, but every time he approached the trees and bushes beat the heck out of him.



Instead of risking death by foliage he went around the house to a huge wooden door. With his fist clenched he started pounding, praying that she would hear him.



Lightning struck close by. Thunder crashed, drowning out any sound he might make. The sky opened. What he thought earlier was heavy rain was nothing compared to what came down now.



Sam ran back around the house. Opening each shutter to check the window. After many cuts and scrapes to his arms he found one window unlocked. He slid the window up, ignoring the leaves and branches cutting at his legs as he slid into the house. He jumped up and closed the window, knowing he needed to go back out and secure the shutter.



"What the hell?"



Sam looked up to see the beautiful Delanie, eyes blazing with fear and anger, wielding a frying pan as she barred his exit from the room.



"Delanie, sorry to scare you. I couldn't get in. Been pounding on the door."



"That was you?"



"Obviously I used the wrong tactics to get in."



"Yeah, don't do that again."



"Sorry." He stood, knowing that he needed to get back outside to fix the mess he'd made with the shutter before it was too late. "Can I?" He tried to move past her but she held the frying pan up, ready to strike.



"No."



"You could pound me latter, I need to get back out there and fix the shutter."



"Fine."



She stepped back and let him pass. Her stance filed with anger. He had scared her. That hadn't been his intention.



With the frying pan still in hand she followed him to the door. He opened it, hating the way the rain swamped the entryway.



Once outside he moved with speed. Thankfully the shutter hadn't ripped itself out of the wall. He secured the wooden structure and headed back to the door. The sound of a tree breaking shook him. He turned to see a huge palm fall to the ground not far from the house. If one of those things hit the roof the house might not survive.



With leaping steps he ran back to the entry door, praying she would let him back in. With two steps to go she opened the door and he dashed in, almost slipping on the tile.



"Here, dry off."



"I need to strip, no way I could ever get dry with these still on."



"Fine. Here's the towel. I'll go search out some clothes for you."



He watched her walk away, wondering again why he hadn't come back yesterday. Showing up when the weather had been nice would surely have scored him more points than scaring the crap out of her.



After divesting himself of all his clothes he wrapped a towel around his waist. He felt uncomfortable standing stark naked in her house. This wasn't the best way to impress her. He heard her shoes clicking on the tile then looked up at her face. Damn, she was angry.



"Here are some clothes. After you clean up your drippy mess come and meet me in the kitchen."



The cold wave coming off of her left nothing to guess work. She didn't want him here. He wished he could comply, but there was no way for him to get back to his boat. He could have tried to ride out the storm, but he hadn't wanted to risk his life this time.



Last year during the storm season he had lost one boat. This year he didn't want to lose anything. This time he would put his boat in storage when storms came near.



Sam put on the dry clothes and mopped up his mess. He hung his wet clothes in the bathroom. After washing his face and wasting as much time as he thought he could get away with he went in search of Delanie.



"Hey, sorry to have scared you earlier."



"Why did you come back here?"



"I was near."



"Bull."



"Okay, I've been thinking about you. I wanted to see you. I hadn't planned on there being a storm."



"You are stalking me. Who's paying you?"



"What?"



"You said you weren't with a newspaper last time, I don't believe you now. You are up to something."

Copyright Sara Thacker 2011