An Innocent In Paradise. Kate Carlisle

her microscope. Maybe that’s why she felt so shaky. “I’m going back to my room right now.”

      “Ten minutes out here is enough to make a difference. Put the damn hat on.”

      “All right.” He was pushy, but he probably knew what he was talking about. Besides, she didn’t want to give him any reason to think her uncooperative. She slipped her ponytail through the strap in back and adjusted the cap on her head. “Thank you. I’ll get it back to you this afternoon.”

      “No hurry,” he said. “We’ve got a gift shop filled with wide-brimmed hats. You’ll need one if you’re planning to work outside every morning.”

      With a nod, she said, “I’ll be sure to buy one this afternoon.”

      “Good. And buy more sunblock,” he added brusquely. “I’d hate to see your skin get burned.”

      “Thank you.” I think, she added under her breath, since he sounded almost angry about it. But she decided not to blame him. He’d probably seen his share of hapless tourists suffering from second-degree sunburns.

      He stuck his hands in his pockets. “So you’ve been out looking for spores?”

      “Yes. I’ve found a thriving colony right here,” she exclaimed, energized all over again. Kneeling back down at the base of the palm tree, she pulled out her magnifying glass and handed it to him. “Come and see.”

      “Spore porn?” he said dryly. “I can’t wait.”

      She smiled at him. “I’m sure you think it’s odd, but I actually find it quite fascinating to watch them reproduce.”

      He knelt down next to her, so close that their shoulders and hips were touching. Taking the glass from her, he bent down and stared for a while. Then he straightened and gazed at her. “So they’re basically having sex right now?”

      Her eyes widened. His face was a mere inch away from hers. If he leaned in…But he wouldn’t, of course. What was she thinking? She took a moment to swallow around her suddenly dry throat. “Um, yes. I suppose you could call it that. They do it around this time every morning.”

      One eyebrow shot up. “I guess you’ve got to admire their discipline.”

      “Oh, I do, I do,” she murmured, mesmerized by his flirtatious smile. He had beautiful, straight, white teeth and his mouth had a sexy, sardonic curve to it that she found nearly irresistible. Oh, my, she thought. Was he moving closer to her? He stared into her eyes, then his gaze shifted to her lips. Was he going to kiss her? She could feel herself melting. She really should’ve worn a hat.

      Standing abruptly, she said, “I’ve got to go. Got to get these back to the room. Got to…Well, goodbye.”

      She took off like a startled bunny and could actually feel his gaze locked on her as she ran down the beach. On her mad dash back to the hotel, she berated herself for behaving so foolishly. Had her emotions shown on her face when she realized his mouth was a few millimeters away from hers? She hoped not, but she knew she wasn’t sophisticated enough to fake a look of bland disinterest in a moment like that.

      Despite knowing he wanted her off the island, despite knowing he would use any excuse to get rid of her, she still found him irresistible.

      “But you will resist him,” she said sternly. She had no choice. She might’ve spent the past fifteen years working in near isolation in the university biogenetics laboratory, but she hadn’t been completely cut off from real life. She read books and magazines; she socialized somewhat, if you could call it socializing when her current mentor—who was also her closest friend—invited her over once a month to have dinner with her big, boisterous family. Grace was grateful for those invitations since she was rarely invited to spend time with her own odd family.

      The point was, Grace was savvy enough to know that where a man like Logan Sutherland was concerned, she was in way over her head.

      From now on, she would keep her distance from her fine-looking boss. She would be polite and do what she had to do to impress him in the cocktail bar. But, outside of work, she would avoid him, evade him, do anything she had to do to stay away from him. She couldn’t forget that he wanted her gone, off the island and away from the spores that were critical to her life’s work.

      And yet, dealing with Logan Sutherland would be a piece of cake compared to the hell she’d lived through the past six months. All she had to do was remember the bottom line: she wasn’t leaving this island until she was damn good and ready to.