"We can go down and have dinnerin the restaurant," Trey said.
"It looked pretty swank. Can Iat least change?" Not that she'd brought much to change into. She did haveone skirt, a denim one that ended at mid-thigh. She put it on with a blackcamisole top and the little cardigan, and, with her sparkly flip-flops, itdidn't look too bad. She wished she had her whole closet to choose from, wishedshe could dress up in something pretty to impress Trey.
Trey was looking at her legs whenshe turned to face him, and warmth pooled low in her belly at the heat in hiseyes. Since the face-off at the gas station, he'd been jolted out of his cooldetachment, and the heat had been building again between them with every milethey'd traveled.
They walked into the elegantrestaurant and the hostess showed them to a table for two in the corner. Acandle flickered on the table, real flowers sat in the vase, and the waiterwhipped her linen napkin out of the stemmed goblet and handed it to her. Shesmiled up at him and looked at Trey across the table.
"After all that's happened,this is surreal," she said. "It's like we're on a date. We've neverdone that."
"No."
He met her eyes and the air becamecharged with sexual electricity.
"Maybe we should've just hadroom service," she said, her voice thick.
His eyes warmed. "You lookgorgeous. As usual. Supermodel gorgeous."
"Supermodel!" She gave alittle laugh. "Hardly. Remember, I work on the other side of thecamera?"
"It's those long legs ofyours," he said. "They turn me on."
"Oh. Well, good." She tooka sip of the water the waiter had poured into her glass, then opened the thick,leather-bound menu.
She looked it over and snapped itclosed.
"That was quick."
"I'm not very hungry."
He lifted a brow, but kept readinghis own menu. Finally, she opened hers again and quickly made a decision.
He ordered a bottle of wine forthem, also something they'd never done, and they drank wine and talked, mostlyabout what had happened that day.
"I can't believe I neverrealized the bartender was him," Marli said, shaking her head. "Hewas right there in front of us the whole time."
"Sort of. And, hey, I was justas stupid. I should've recognized him, too. He never spent a lot of time withus, though. Most bartenders are pretty friendly types, but I remember noticingone time that when I wanted to order a drink, he practically ignored us. Hemust've been nervous about you recognizing him."
"But the tattoo..." Marlisaid. "That's what clued me in that it was him today. I should've noticed that."
"I didn't really pay muchattention to him," Trey said thoughtfully. "But I'm guessing he waswearing long sleeves while he was working."
"And how did he get a job thereanyway?" Marli demanded.
"Probably used a different nameand fake ID. He's done it before."
She shook her head. "I neverwould have thought that." She sighed. "God, Trey, when it all clickedinto place, I just about died."
"Ha. I just about diedwhen I saw him holding you like that. Christ." He shook his head, eyesfull of remorse. "I will never forgive myself for putting you in thatposition." He cursed. "I shouldn't have brought you into such adangerous situation."
"Oh, Trey." She sighed andsmiled. "You beat yourself up over everything. I didn't exactly give youmuch choice about bringing me. And I'm fine. Everything is fine now."
He didn't look convinced.
"You really were amazing,"she told him again. At the time, she hadn't recognized what he was doing, butnow, in retrospect, the way he'd stayed so calm, talked to Sheldon, got hisguard down was so impressive. "How did you know what to say to him?"
"Hostage rescue training,"he said. "Part of my education. I did some work as a crisis negotiator fora while, too. I like getting inside the heads of criminals."
"That's scary." Sheshuddered.
"Nah. It's fascinating. Anyway,I knew I had to get him thinking about escaping, otherwise, there was nothingto negotiate with. If he didn't care if he died, he had no reason not to killyou. Or any of us, for that matter. Thank God he hadn't seen his sons earlier,so he still had some reason to want to escape."
She shivered again. "We shouldreally stop talking about that. Enough."
"It's important todebrief," Trey told her seriously. "It helps. You've been through ahell of a lot the last few days. Weeks."
She nodded slowly and sipped herwine. It was making her feel a little warm, a little relaxed, but she was stilledgy and aware of Trey sitting across from her, all big and gorgeous and brave.
"You saved me. Again," shetold him solemnly. "How can I ever repay you for that?"
"It's not something you have torepay," he said roughly. "Don't be crazy."
She shook her head. "I can'teven get my head around it all." She paused. "Maybe I can't repayyou, but I can show you how grateful I am." She met his eyes meaningfully."Later."
His eyes glittered with desire andhis white teeth flashed in a smile. "Okay."
Trey feasted on herb-crusted primerib, and Marli picked at lobster ravioli. They skipped dessert and went back upto the room. They meandered out onto the spacious balcony and stood at the railin the cool night air, enjoying the view of the deserted pool glowing turquoisein the dark.
Trey turned to her, eyes dark andmysterious. "Marli..."
She faced him, studying him."Yes?" Her heart beat with anticipation at what he was going to say.Surely, now he realized he cared for her.
"I'm sorry." He stopped.
Everything in her wilted withdisappointment. Even so, when he put his hands on her shoulders, she felt thatpull, felt her soul inexorably drawn
