“Sure,” she whispered, “no problem.”

God. She rested her head against the back of the cushioned chair and stared up at the brilliantly blue sky. Twists of white clouds strung across the expanse like spools of ribbon unwinding. From a distance, she could just make out the sounds of muted music and laughter.

The land that Gabe built.

Where sunshine and sensual pleasures combine to make a magical world where troubles just couldn’t find a place to roost.

Well, apparently except for her.

Gabe.

His name rolled through her mind, but she shook her head before the idea could take root. Stupid. Impossible. And yet…If she could arrange for a packaging deal with Fantasies, her travel agency could become the hottest agency in California. Maybe the United States.

She sat up a little straighter and stared out past the railing toward the ocean where the wind whipped white caps on waves that rolled perpetually toward a white sand beach.

People would line up at her door to get hold of an exclusive discounted package to Fantasies. She could be the only agent around to be able to offer those deals and her business would be saved.

But even as the thought rolled through her mind, Debbie was shaking her head. She couldn’t do it. Couldn’t go to Gabe and ask a favor. God. How could she? She’d turned down his marriage proposal back when neither of them had a dime and now, because he’s rich, she asks to use him?

Oh, no.

There had to be another way.

And she’d find it.

But first, Gabe or no Gabe, she had to get off this damn island.

Later that afternoon Deb had had enough. Fine. She couldn’t leave the island because she was a suspect. She could almost deal with that. But she wasn’t a felon yet. So why was a big burly security guy following her all over Fantasies? This was so not her imagination. Everywhere she turned, there he was, blending into the crowd with all the success of a redwood attempting to look like a rosebush. Not that he was trying to hide or anything, because if he was, wearing that red security jacket was a bad idea.

She made a quick right turn near the bank of elevators off the lobby and when her “shadow” showed up, she stepped out from behind a potted palm. “Okay,” she demanded, “what is it you’re trying to find out about me?”

He stared down at her for a long minute and Debbie momentarily regretted the impulse to face him. He was huge. And strong. With features that looked as if they were carved from stone. Until he smiled and his expression shifted into one of admiration.

“Nicely done.” Even his voice was huge. Deep and rolling like thunder.

“Thanks,” she said, relaxing just a bit, since it didn’t look as though he was about to cuff her and throw her in a dungeon. “Now, who are you and why are you following me?”

A couple of guests approached, loaded down with shopping bags from the village shops. Debbie watched them with more than a little envy. She was trying to avoid jail and, hey, save her livelihood. All they had to worry about was their Visa bill.

When the couple disappeared into an elevator, the big man spoke up. His voice rumbled out around her and she realized exactly why he was in security. Who would try to get anything past this guy?

“The name’s Victor Reyes. I’m chief of security here on the island.”

“Aren’t there more important things to take care of than following me?”

He shrugged. “I have my orders, miss.”

So, was Gabe trying to keep her safe or was he trying to find out if she really was the stupid jewel thief? Didn’t he know her better than that? Didn’t their night together mean a damn thing? “And you’ve been ordered to follow me around?”

He only nodded.

“I’m not a thief.”

“Glad to hear it, but that doesn’t change my orders, miss.”

“No,” she said, disgusted more with Gabe than with the poor guy just doing his job. “I guess it doesn’t. But I’m going to go talk to someone who can change them.”

“Mr. Vaughn isn’t in his office,” the big man said as she started toward the elevator.

Stopping dead, Debbie turned to look at him. Sunlight slanted in through the wide windows, splashing the red-and-white decor with a golden light. The thick, sweet scent of flowers caressed the air and under any other circumstances, Debbie would have been enjoying the ambience. As it was…

“Then where is he?”

“He’s judging a surfing contest on the beach.”

Stunned, Debbie couldn’t even think of a thing to say. She was being treated like a criminal and Gabe was off judging a surfing contest? What had happened to his offer of help? Where was the concern? Where was the trust?

“That’s just perfect,” she muttered, and headed past her guard dog at a fast clip. “You don’t have to follow me. I’m not going to do any permanent damage to surfer boy.”

He chuckled, but fell into step behind her. She sighed, then let it go. She couldn’t stop him and at least, Debbie thought grimly, he was keeping his distance.

Clearly, Gabe wasn’t exactly working his tail off to help her out. So, fine. If Gabe wasn’t going to help her, she’d do this herself.

She’d call Cait. Call Janine. Call the National Guard if she had to. She couldn’t afford to sit around and wait for island authorities to decide she was innocent. She had to get home. Like, now.

Her sandals clacked on the tiles and her vision was going red at the edges. Probably not helpful to be this darn mad, but she didn’t see how she could help it. She hit the automatic front doors and kept walking, cutting across the neatly tended lawn, moving from sun to shadow and sun again. She hardly saw her surroundings, but she was alert enough to glance over her shoulder and note that Mr. Security was tagging along after her. “Honestly, shouldn’t he be putting his efforts into actually finding the real thief?”

“What do you mean, he can’t help?” Debbie’s voice hitched near hysteria as she listened to Caitlyn try to calm her down.

“Jefferson’s got his lawyers looking into getting your passport returned, but apparently it’s going to take some time before we can clear this up.”

Debbie tripped on the edge of the walk leading down to the beach and hopped on one foot as she gritted her teeth through the pain of a stubbed toe. “Well, what the hell kind of no-good lawyers does your boyfriend have working for him, anyway?”

“Way to keep calm, Deb.”

“Calm?” She shot a look over her shoulder. Her own personal mountain was still following her, but he was staying far enough back from her that she could at least speak freely to her friend. “I can’t believe this. I’m living in a soap opera.”

“It’s not that bad, honey.”

Cait could only say that because she didn’t know the whole story. Debbie hadn’t told her about the disaster looming over her business. But heck. Wasn’t the rest of this mess enough to elicit a little sympathy? “Hello? Suspect. Security guard following me around like a starving pit bull looking for a snack.” The pain in her foot ebbed back a bit and she hissed out a breath. “I can’t leave the island and, oh yeah, Gabe is my jailer.”

“Yeah,” Cait murmured, “that part sucks. Janine told me he still looks hot.”

Hotter than he should, that was for sure, Debbie thought. Because even when she was furious with him, all she had to do was to think about him and that long, amazing night together and her blood pressure shot out of orbit. “That’s not the point, though, is it?”

“No, but it could be worse.”

“How?”

“Well, you could be in jail instead of Gabe’s place.”

“True…” Debbie sighed, stepped out of her sandals and walked onto the warm sand. It shifted beneath her feet, squeezed up between her toes and made walking just a bit more difficult. There wasn’t much of a crowd on the beach, but those that were there made plenty of noise. The cheers and shouts for the surfing competitors lifted into the air and hung there like limp flags.

Instinctively, Debbie headed away from the crowd. She didn’t really want to see Gabe lording it over his guests and she could hardly hear Cait when she talked.

“But staying with Gabe has its own problems,” she said when she was far enough from the crowd. “And besides, I’ve got to get home. I’ve got a business to run.” Save, she added silently. “And a supposed life to live and-”

“And it’ll all be here for you when you get back. Jeez, Deb. You’re in a place most people only dream about visiting. Sure, there’s a couple of flies in your soup at the moment.”

“Big damn flies, if you ask me,” Debbie muttered.

“But the soup is still pretty fabulous.”

Debbie lifted her face into the kiss of the wind and looked at the endless sweep of ocean stretched out in front of her. Sailboats, surfboards and body surfers littered the water, and on the horizon, dark clouds were gathered up like soldiers preparing an attack. She wanted to take a moment, let her worries slide away and see the upside like Cait wanted her to.

But the point was, there were much bigger flies in her soup than Cait knew. Debbie didn’t have a clue what to do next. Where to turn. Who to tell what to. And in that frenzied moment of wild thinking, she heard herself blurt, “I slept with him.”

“You what with who?”

“Gabe. Slept. Well…” Debbie hedged as she kicked at the sand. “Not so much slept with as rode like a pony for hours.”

A humming silence filled her ear for several seconds and Debbie almost smiled as she imagined Cait’s look of complete shock.

“This is huge. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” Cait finally shrieked, her voice hitting a note that had Debbie yanking the cell phone away from her ear in self-defense.

“I just did tell you.”

“Yeah, finally.” Cait grumbled a bit, then said, “Was it great? Was he great? Ohmigod, I can’t believe you’re together again.”