He faced her in time to watch a smile spread across her face. “Beautiful.”
“It’s a wonder the place isn’t marked on the tourist maps.”
“I’m glad it isn’t.”
“I know what you mean. I’d hate to see it developed.”
Sam pulled lightly at the oars, guiding them through the opening. As they left the sunlight the air grew hushed, closing around them in a cool embrace. Water dripped from the oar blades, echoing hollowly from stone that had been smoothed by eons of tides.
Kate craned her neck, looking around in silence for a while as they drifted over the mirror-smooth water. “It’s as grand as the royal palace, but in a different way.”
“It’s hard to believe that the destructive forces of the sea could create something as peaceful as this. It’s like a natural cathedral.”
“What a perfect way to describe it. It’s one of those places that makes a person want to whisper.” She set the gun on the seat beside her. “I don’t think I’ll be needing this.”
“A few centuries ago you would have. I bet this was a favorite place for pirates to hide out.”
Her laughter tinkled through the cavern. “Pirates? Oh, Sam, you would have liked that, wouldn’t you?”
He stowed the oars, propping his forearms on his knees as he leaned toward her. He knew they should be getting back to the boat now that they could see the cave was empty, but it had been too long since he’d heard her laugh. Another few minutes wouldn’t hurt. “How’s that?”
“I can picture you now, a sword in one hand, a spyglass in the other as you sail the seven seas to hunt down some notorious pirate captain.”
“What makes you think I would have been one of the good guys?”
“Oh, come on. You always believed in doing the right thing. That’s just the way you are. Noble, responsible Sam.”
“Sounds boring.”
“I doubt if you could describe your life as a SEAL as boring. I remember how eager you sounded to go on your first training mission to the South Pacific.” She smiled. “Was it as much an adventure as you’d hoped?”
“Not really. Aside from paddling around a mosquito-filled swamp with my team…” He paused, struck by what she had said. “You know about my first mission. So that means you must have read my letter, after all.”
Her smile faded. She shifted her gaze to the patch of sunlight at the entrance to the cavern. “We should be getting back to the boat.”
“How come you didn’t reply?”
“Sam…”
“And you sent the other letters back. Why, Kate?”
“It’s what we agreed.”
He should let this go just as he’d let it go for a week, he told himself. Accept the way things were now and get on with their duty. Why keep clinging to the past when she’d made it crystal clear the past was over?
But that was just it. The past wasn’t over, no matter how much she tried to pretend differently. He couldn’t keep burying this under duty—he’d tried that for a week, and it wasn’t working.
Sam caught Kate’s hands, enfolding them firmly in his. “Was it that bad, Kate?”
“What?”
“Is my memory of what we shared that wrong? Am I the only one who felt we had something special?”
She tried to pull away but he held on, twining his fingers with hers. “Don’t,” she said. “There’s no point—”
“I need to know, Kate. Am I the only one whose heart speeds up when our eyes meet? Don’t you ever dream of moonlight swims and making love on the warm sand?”
“Please, Sam. I don’t want to—”
“Don’t want to what? Remember?”
Sudden heat came to her eyes. Her features tightened. “Yes. That’s right. I don’t want to remember.”
He brought her hands to his lips. Holding her gaze, he pressed a slow kiss to each of her knuckles in turn. “It wasn’t bad, Kate,” he murmured. “It was magic.”
Her lips trembled. “Sam…”
“I remember the night we met. You were wearing a blouse with no sleeves that was the color of your eyes. Your skirt was covered with flowers that reminded me of laughter. But do you know what really caught my eye?”
She shook her head.
“Your feet.”
“My… feet?”
“They were bare.”
“That’s because I was walking on the beach.”
“And when I saw the way you curled your toes to feel the sand I said to myself, ‘This is a passionate woman.”’ He rested his chin on their joined fingers and smiled. “It didn’t take long for you to prove me right. Remember the first time we kissed?”
She remained silent, her gaze on his lips.
“We’d heard the saxophone music from the beach and followed it to that club. All I could think about while we danced around the floor was that I wanted to know how your smile tasted. I didn’t even realize the music had ended.” He chuckled softly. “We might still be standing there if you hadn’t grabbed my cheeks and kissed me yourself.”
Kate stared at his mouth, trying to shut out the memories, but they came anyway. She remembered every detail of that night. She had never done anything as bold before, but there had been something so seductive about the throaty wail of the saxophone and the feel of Sam’s body moving in rhythm with hers that she hadn’t been able to resist lifting up on her toes and guiding his head to hers.
They had met mere hours before, but they had kissed as if they’d known each other all their lives. The power of it had blown them both away. They hadn’t even thought that what they were doing was fast or reckless. They hadn’t been able to stop.
He was right. It had been magic.
But it was over.
Gone.
As dead as their baby.
She shuddered as the good memory was swept aside by the bad. She yanked her hands from his before the inevitable wave of pain could follow.
The small dinghy rocked from her sudden movement. Off balance, Kate threw her arms out to stop herself from tumbling backward.
Sam reached for her, catching her before she could fall overboard. But as his large hands closed over her shoulders, his thumb hooked the delicate gold chain that circled her neck.
Kate felt a sharp pinch a split second before she heard the snap. Over the sound of the water lapping against the rocking boat, she heard a tiny splash. She tried to twist around.
“Steady, there,” Sam said, shifting his grip to her forearms.
Kate shook off his hold and grasped the gunwale to peer over the side. “Oh, God.”
In the blue-green illumination from the reflected sunlight that filtered through the water, she thought she saw a glint of gold. She lunged forward, thrusting her arm underwater as far as she could, but she was unable to catch the necklace before it sank out of reach.
Strong arms wrapped around her waist. A moment later, she was jerked against Sam’s chest. “Take it easy, Kate. You don’t need to jump overboard to get away from me.”
“What?”
“If I’m that far out of line, just tell me and—”
“No, Sam.