"Don't worry, Jack," she said softly. "I never do anything I don't want to do."

"Is that right?" He stroked a wayward tendril of hair from her eye, ran his finger down her jaw. "What would you like to do now?"

"Are we finished here?"

"I don't know about you, but I am."

"Then let's hit it." She stood up, then reached for his hand.

They found Heather, harried but happy with the money she'd collected so far. Sam settled up for her purchase and got her coupon for the lessons.

Heather hugged Jack hard. "Thanks for doing this. I know I owe you."

He looked at Sam, thinking about what he'd gotten out of the evening. "Consider us even."

"It wasn't so bad, right?" Heather asked. "No scandals."

"Were you expecting one?" Sam asked.

"No, but with Jack, the press will make one up if they have to. They love to hang him." Heather kissed his cheek, and then Sam's. "'Night, guys."

"'Night." Jack opened the back door and put a hand low on Sam's spine to guide her out.

"Oh. Uh, I just remembered…" Heather's voice trailed off.

Jack sighed and turned back to see Heather standing there, hands clasped. "I know better than to stop and ask what you just remembered."

"One last little favor…"

"What?"

"A carnival for the kids," Heather said. "Next weekend. We're short of volunteers. It'd only be for a few hours, the two of you could do it together. It'll be fun, I promise."

Jack sighed.

"Free food…"

Sam looked up at him expectantly. "I like free food."

He had to let out a laugh. "You did hear the 'two of you' part, right?" he asked. "Which means, you're involved now whether you like it or not."

"I wouldn't mind."

"For the children," Heather said sweetly. "It's all about the kids, Jack."

"Which booth?" he asked. "Because you're not telling me something, I can tell."

"Well, it's a simple one, really. Very easy to run. You'll have no problem with it at all. And the children just love it-"

"Which booth, Heather?"

His sister rolled her eyes. "The dunking booth."

Jack raised his eyebrows at Sam. "See?"

"I don't have a problem with a dunking booth," Sam said. "I like water."

Both women grinned and turned to face Jack, but it was Sam's promising smile that grabbed him, and he groaned because he knew.

He was a goner.

5

They made a late-night stop at McDonald's for sodas-both aware they were just trying to make the evening last-and Sam couldn't get over how much she laughed as they sat at that little table in the empty fast-food place. In fact, she couldn't believe the entire evening-everything about it and her date had made her smile.

But the smile faded as they walked back to the SUV. The night was quickly coming to an end, and now she needed an answer to the eternal question.

To kiss or not to kiss.

Actually, the question was moot now, wasn't it? She'd already gone that far, with an ease that shocked her. Tonight had been so much more than she'd bargained for, and she felt the need to retreat and think.

So as they got into his car and drove toward the café, she made the decision not to tell Jack she lived above it, mostly because she wouldn't be able to resist him if he asked to come in.

On the highway, Jack reached out and took her hand. His expression sent little shivers of pleasure down her spine. She knew he wanted more than a kiss.

And so did she.

But wanting more and getting it were two separate things. Nope, she needed to sleep on this one, which meant neither of them were going to get what they wanted, not tonight.


* * *

The moon hung above the waves, making the frothing white water glow as they pulled into the café's parking lot.

Jack had felt Sam's retreat, and he turned to her. "You okay?"

She smiled at him, though it didn't quite make it to her eyes. "Sure."

"Sam."

"I'm just thinking." She put her hand on his arm, making him feel better. "I get quiet when I think. Thanks for tonight. It was nice."

"Yeah, it was." He turned off the engine and walked around to her side of the SUV.

"'Night," she said, poised for flight.

"At least let me walk you to your car."

"That's okay, I'm going to go inside for a minute. I've got stuff to do."

Nodding, he studied her face by moonlight, or what he could see of it since she wouldn't look directly at him, and wondered what had happened to scare her off. "You work late out here a lot?"

"Sometimes." Again she looked a little distant, as if in her mind she were already inside the café working. "I'll be safe, don't worry." With another flash of a half smile, she turned away.

He snagged her wrist in a light hold, ran his thumb over her pulse. "Sam-"

"I've got to go, Jack." But in a surprising move, considering she'd already dismissed him, she leaned into him and gave him a quick kiss.

The press of her soft mouth on his was welcome, but all too quickly she pulled away and walked off into the night.

Despite her sudden silence, and how quickly she appeared to want to get rid of him, he stood there for a moment watching her.

She didn't go into the café.

She didn't get into her car.

But she did disappear over the bluff beside the café.

Curious, he followed her, and stopped dead at the top of the rise. Her high-heeled sandals lay discarded at his feet. Lifting his head, his eyes searched the night. There she was, silhouetted at the water's edge. Before he could so much as move, she raised her hands behind her and unzipped her dress.

Then let it fall.

Oh, man.

The moonlight bathed her body as she kicked free of the dress pooled at her ankles. Wearing only what looked like black panties, she straightened. The thin moonlight streamed over her body, lighting up her shoulders and her slim back.

Still not turning to face him, she stepped into the water a few feet, and when a wave came in, she dived into it and vanished.

Unable to believe his eyes, he stood there in frozen shock for a beat, and then when she didn't surface, started running down the dune toward the beach. He scanned the waves but couldn't see her. "Sam!"

He had kicked off his shoes, shucked his jacket, and had his fingers on the zipper of his pants when her wet blond head resurfaced, way out there now, past the next set of waves.

She dived again.

She was bodysurfing.

That had him relaxing, but only marginally. Now that he was no longer afraid for her, something else had taken him by the throat.

The way she looked, more than half-naked and wet by moonlight.

His fingers started working again, and he pushed his pants down and peeled off his socks. He tossed his shirt the way of his tux jacket.

And plunged in.

The shock of the cold water took his breath for a moment, but it was exhilarating, too, and he began swimming. When the first set of waves came upon him, he took a deep breath and dived beneath them, feeling them crash over him with thunderous pressure.

He surfaced, grabbed another breath and ducked under the next wave, letting the momentum take him through.

With the black sky above him and the blacker sea swirling beneath him, it was almost a surreal experience, with no clear definition of what was up and what was down.

Feeling awe-inspired for no obvious reason, he dived through the final set of waves and surfaced next to Sam.

With a gasp she turned her head and blinked at him, her body covered up to her shoulders with the dark, fathomless, turbulent water. "Jack. You scared me to death."

"What did you think I was, a shark?"

A hint of a smile curved her mouth. "I would have been less surprised."

"You didn't think I could swim?"

"I thought you were long gone."

"You've never had a guy want to walk you to your door before, or make sure you were truly safe before he took off?"

Instead of answering, she let the next swell take her, and then she disappeared under a wave. But she must have been thinking about what he'd said because when she swam back to him, she tossed back her blond hair and said, "I've been on my own for a long, long time."

He had no idea why that both appealed to him and tugged at him. Floating a little closer, he looked into her eyes. "You're not alone right now."

"Maybe I want to be."

"Really?"

She stared at him, then let out a sighing laugh. "No." She took the next swell, and the next, then after a while came to him. "You still here?"

Jack touched her face. "Still here. Don't people stick around for you, Sam?"

"Some."

"Do you have any family?"

"I have an uncle. And I consider Lorissa my family, too."

His heart softened some more. As much as his sister drove him crazy, as much as his parents bossed and nudged and invaded and tried to run his life, he loved them all and couldn't imagine being without them. "How old were you when you lost your parents?"

"Hey, here comes a good one, you going to take it?" She made a sound of annoyance when the wave passed them, lifting them high for a long beat in time, then dropping them back down.

The amazing pull of the tide, the way of the earth.

"Don't blow another one," she said.

So he didn't. He took the next swell and rode it in, finding himself grinning in the black night as he swam back out to her. "I don't think anything beats this, bodysurfing at midnight."

"No, nothing does." She swam a little closer, treading water. "I was fourteen," she said quietly. "They died in a car wreck."

His smiled faded. "God. What did you do?"

She lifted a shoulder. "I was all right. I went to my uncle Red's. And I had lots of friends so I was never really alone. I'm taking this one."