Tropical Safeguard (Men Of The Secret Service) (11 page)

“Did someone already buy
them?” Trudy asked with disappointment.

“Yes,” Katrina managed
to grunt a one-syllable answer through her shock.

Cole watched Katrina as
she slid into her chair again. It didn’t take a genius to see that something
had shaken her, and she knew he could tell right away. Glancing at the others,
she realized they were none the wiser to her stress and she was grateful.

“We’d better get going now,”
Katrina announced.

“Yes, the boys should be
getting back from the museum. I hope your fellow agent had a nice time.” Helene
half joked to Cole. “Something tells me he’s a real barrel of laughs.”

“The life of the party,”
Cole offered, still watching Katrina.

She felt his eyes burn
into her with curiosity as she quickly got up and gathered her bags, all the
while scanning the crowd in complete distraction. As if picking up on her
hypersensitivity to the surroundings, she noticed Agent Nielsen scan the crowd
more too.

As they rounded the
corner, she stayed as close to him as possible, like his shadow with their
shoulders practically touching.

“Is everything okay,
Katrina?” he whispered so the other women couldn’t hear.

Looking up and meeting
his eyes, she couldn’t tell him the truth. She just couldn’t find the words to
describe the deep horror and sense of confusion she was feeling. It was a
feeling of smothering, sobering doom. “No, nothing. I’m fine.” He seemed to get
the hint and dropped the subject, though she could tell by his grimace that he
wasn’t convinced.

The rain came down in sheets that
evening. In her room, Katrina hunkered down in her bed with a book, but focus
and relaxation eluded her. She’d read the same page over and over again, and
each time her mind wandered back to the street in Hamilton, to her ex’s face.
Fear gripped every inch of her and she felt vulnerable, exposed. There was no
one who could help her. Once he set his mind on something, he went after it
with everything he had. It was part of what attracted her to him in the first
place. Who knew it would someday be her demise?

He was here. She was
certain.

She’d sat through dinner
with her mind elsewhere, her thin smile a mask for everyone’s benefit. She
could sense that Cole kept looking over at her. He knew something was bothering
her, she could tell. At least he was decent enough not to ask about it. Katrina
feared that if someone questioned her disposition, she would fall like a house
of cards and admit that her ex-boyfriend was here, on the island, ready to drag
her back to hell against her will.

After dinner she quickly
excused herself and found refuge away from the people she now considered
family; people who knew nothing about her past – and she planned to keep
it that way. The thought of them knowing how weak she’d been, how victimized,
was too humiliating to consider. And she didn’t want to put anyone else at risk
either.

Katrina locked the door
and drew the curtains. The room was her bubble, her cocoon of solitude and
pseudo-safety. But deep down, she knew he would stop at nothing to make
contact. He’d come this far, why would he stop now? She felt her body grow numb
as she wondered where he was at this very moment. In a hotel or maybe watching
her window in the darkness, waiting for his opportunity to steal back her
dignity, her freedom. The uncertainty drove her to the brink.
 
A long sleepless night of worrying
inevitably lay ahead.

Chapter Eight

The tropical air was
heavy and seemed to hang with the scent of oleander and hibiscus after the
recent rainfall. Katrina loved that. After a restless few hours, she’d finally
fallen asleep only to dream about her life now and her wonderful prospects for
the future. She awoke with a new sense of certainty that things would be okay.

With the sunlight came
an acceptance that perhaps the man she’d seen yesterday had only reminded her
of someone else. Maybe he was simply a figment of her paranoid imagination. As
she convinced herself of this, her fears began to wane. Pulling open the
curtains, the rising sun made her room glow with a yellow brilliance, chasing
away any trace of last nights sorrow. Katrina felt invincible and defiant of
any misery the thought of him conjured.

Wandering down the
narrow, Katrina breathed deeply, letting the smells and sights of her stunning
surroundings invade her. The winding paths were flanked by lush hedges and
dotted with colorful flowering plants like morning glory, poinsettia, and
passionflower, Mr. and Mrs. Winters had held nothing back with the landscaping.
Only the finest would do and in abundance. This place was a veritable paradise
on earth.

In the rising dawn,
Katrina’s tranquility was scarred momentarily when she heard the sound of
footsteps behind her. Pivoting defensively and wearing a look of terror, she
immediately softened when she realized it was Agent Nielsen.

“Oh, thank God!” she
blurted, putting a hand against her chest.

“Who did you think I
was, a mass-murderer or something?” He came closer.

“You just scared me, that’s
all.”

“I thought since I was
unavailable yesterday, today may be the day.”

“The day for what?”

“Pilates. Does the offer
still stand?”

“Sure, of course. But
I’m going to sit and meditate for a while beforehand. Would you like to run and
then meet me on the beach in twenty minutes?”

“Actually, I’d love to
join you for that too if you don’t mind.”

Side by side, they made
their way to the beach and plunked themselves down in the soft, cool sand. They
looked out over the water, watching as the sun slowly rose in the horizon.
Within a matter of minutes, the water turned from a dark grey shadow to a
brilliant opal of shiny blues with the sun’s full arrival.

                                   
<><><>

Cole was struck by how much the water
resembled Katrina’s eyes – a harmony of emerald green and blue –
the perfect jade. Leaning back on his hands, he took in the scene all around
him, wanting to remember this moment. The dunes behind him skirted the
horseshoe-shaped alcove of dark, rocky cliff. The mansion’s beach was like a
pocket of privacy.

Cole looked over and
watched as Katrina sat tall with a straight back, her face focused on the water
ahead. She was thinking about something important, something that was
preoccupying her every thought. How could someone so achingly beautiful, so
full of bright life hide a darkness? He couldn’t get within her invisible walls
of defense. He sensed she wanted him to, but she fought her own desires. An
easy tension had fallen between them since yesterday at the café in Hamilton.
It was only a mild tension, but it was there all the same. Cole felt it, her
new internal distance coupled with her need to be physically close. She was an
absolute contradiction. He wanted so desperately to make her confide in him,
but he was realistic. In due time he hoped she would, but he would never force
it. Still, he was only here for a week and their time together was of the
essence. Cole felt the urgency like a weight on his conscience.

“Katrina, you know you
can tell me anything, right?”

His phrase seemed to
pull her back to now, breaking the silence that took residence between them.

“Why do you say that?”

“You just seem a little
distracted. Is it something I can fix?”

“It’s nothing, but
thanks for your offer. I guess I’m just a little homesick. I miss my parents in
Maine. Often when I’m out here, I’ll watch the sailboats and think of them.
They’ve been sailing since I was just a kid.”

“I have a similar
experience. My parents are members of the yacht club in the Hamptons.”

“Why am I not
surprised,” Katrina looked over at him and smiled.
 

“So, seriously, what
brings you to the mansion? Did you know the owners before coming here?” He
watched for her reaction.

Katrina hugged her
knees, looking out toward the sunrise again. She thought for a while, a long
while, before deciding what to say. “Well,” she said, looking over at Cole who
sat staring with interest. “It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I was
ready to move on from the corporate world, and the studio where I was
apprenticing in Manhattan was going under because the owner didn’t know how to
run a business; her ignorance along with the struggling economy forced the
closure. I would’ve been looking for another job anyway. In truth, I’m saving
right now for a down payment on my own studio.”
 

“Wow, that sounds like a
huge undertaking. Do
you
have the business savvy to take on something like that?” Cole
hoped he didn’t sound condescending. He didn’t mean to be.

                                   
<><><>

Katrina looked out toward the water. She
was used to being underestimated. She guessed it was because she looked so
young, and her career choice seemed to indicate that she held no formal
education. It was comical how people judged others from a quick glance. She
realized that he had assumed she was in over her head. She’d been discouraged
from discussing her education around her ex because she’d surpassed him in that
department and he was sensitive about it. He’d said on many occasions how
having an education meant very little in the real world of finance. Those with
a brain rose to the top regardless. The subject would often lead to a heated
argument, and in turn a heated beating.

Although her face looked
relaxed, her lips pressed together in a thin line. The energy she exuded was
unmistakably anxious and no amount of willing herself to relax would help.

“Katrina, I didn’t mean
to offend you. I’ve just seen my share of hopeful entrepreneurs drown into
waters that were unexpectedly deep.”

She shot him a look and
then softened as she realized she hadn’t answered his question. “Oh, no, you
didn’t offend me. Sorry, I was just thinking about something.” She would
attempt to drop the subject. But then again, Agent Nielsen wasn’t her ex. Maybe
she could discuss her credentials without his insecurities surfacing. “I have
an MBA from Brown.”

His baffled expression
advertised his shock, and it soon turned to a wide grin. “Incredible. You just
keep surprising me at every turn. Yes, you definitely have the business savvy
all right. My apologies.”

“Thanks. Though even
with my education, making a go of a studio in New York might be tricky. But
it’s a dream and I’m going for it. Well, eventually. There are just a few
things in my life I have to work out first.” Katrina thought about her fears,
her anxieties, and the physical presence of the monster she had to avoid back
in New York. “I was also thinking of going home to Maine for a while. They
could use a studio there too.”

“You’re remarkable,
Katrina.” He leaned into her arm with his as they made eye contact.

“Thank you, Agent
Nielsen.”

Cole rolled back in the
sand and threw his arms up in exhaustion. “Ahhh, for goodness sake, will you
call me Cole?” He sat up again, looking at her with confidence.

Katrina smiled
flirtatiously at his antics. “I guess I could.”

“You guess you could?
You gave me the best massage of my life and you’re trying to convince me to try
Pilates. I think we’re past any need of formalities.”

“Which reminds me,”
Katrina stood up. “You still haven’t tried Pilates and now is as good a time as
any. You’re geared up for running, but all you have to do is kick off those
runners. You won’t be sorry.”

Cole gazed at his watch.

“When is your first
shift?”

“Plenty of time,” he
said with a sigh. “Guess I have no excuse. Alright, let me have it.”

Katrina smirked. She was
happy for the distraction. “I’ll go easy on you, don’t want to scare you away
with your introduction to the technique.”

“That’d be nice.”

 
“Okay, just clear your mind and we’ll
begin.”

Katrina felt the
attraction they shared, the hungry tension. She assisted Cole as he
transitioned from one move to the next. She had to remind him to release a
breath or calm certain muscles because it the heat of the workout, he would
forget. Cole admitted to feeling it, especially in the abdominal area.