Just The Way You Are(31)

It would have been so easy to make love to him. So wonderful. One kiss and she'd been blown away. It had always been like that, for her anyway.

"Alli?" Mary Ann poked her head out of shop. "I thought you were getting us a sandwich."

"I was."

"But?"

"I slept with Sam last night."

"You did what?" Mary Ann stepped out of the shop and pulled the door closed behind her. "Cassie can handle the customers. You need to talk to me about what you were thinking—if you were thinking."

"I wasn't," Alli admitted, pushing her short skirt down over her bare legs. There was a cool breeze coming off the water, sending goose bumps along her skin. She had the strangest feeling that a storm was brewing even though there were only a few puffy white clouds dotting the sky.

"So, what happened?" Mary Ann wanted to know.

"Sam stayed with Megan so I could spend the evening at the hospital. When I got home, Sam was asleep in my bed. I tried to wake him up, I really did."

"But instead, you…?"

"Kissed him."

"Oh, Alli!"

"I know, I know. I was weak."

"For a woman who is trying to divorce her husband, you're certainly using some strange tactics. But the real question is—did he kiss you back?"

"Yes, but it was probably just instinct."

"So what happened next?"

"I told him to stop, and he did. I thought we were headed for another fight, but then he backed off, and instead he talked to me about Grams and was really comforting. He told me some of his stupid knock-knock jokes."

"Oh, please, those are terrible."

"I know, but they made me smile. Then we just went to sleep. It was nice."

Mary Ann shook her head in amazement. "Nice. You slept with Sam, and it was nice."

"It was. He can be a good guy at times."

"You don't have to tell me that."

"But I couldn't make love to him, because Tessa is still between us."

"Oh, my God, you've got Tessa on the brain. So where is your sister today, anyway?"

"I have no idea." Although even as she denied knowing Tessa's whereabouts, Alli was struck by the sight of a slender figure dressed in a figure-hugging sleeveless blue sundress and walking down the road toward Sam's boat dock.

"Hey, isn't that her?" Mary Ann asked, following Alli's gaze.

"And it looks like she's on her way to visit Sam."

"Or not," Mary Ann said as the figure paused along the rail to look out at the harbor and the boats.

"I told her Sam was still in love with her," Alli said.

"Why on earth would you do that?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Do you ever hear a little voice in your head telling you to stop and think?"

Alli made a face at Mary Ann. "Obviously, I don't listen to it."

"Maybe you should talk to Tessa."

"And say what?"

"I don't know. She's your sister."

Alli's eyes narrowed as a man in black jeans stopped a few feet away from Tessa and raised a camera to his eye. It wasn't just a drugstore automatic either; the camera looked to be expensive, with a zoom lens. Tessa stared out at the water, seemingly oblivious to his presence.

"I wonder what that guy is doing," Alli murmured.

"Probably trying to snap a photo of your sister. I imagine she ends up in the tabloids quite frequently. Maybe you should warn her."#p#分页标题#e#

Alli hesitated. It wasn't any of her business, and no doubt Tessa was used to photographers and other people trying to record her every action on film.

"Go on, do something nice," Mary Ann urged. "It will probably shock the hell out of her."

"True."

"That alone should be worth it."

"All right." Alli got up and walked down the road. She was a few feet away from the photographer when she heard Sam call Tessa's name and saw Tessa run down the street toward him. She didn't stop until she was in his arms, giving him a long, very friendly hug.

"Holy shit!" the man with the camera said loudly, lowering the lens from his face as he stared at Tessa and Sam.

Alli glanced over in surprise, wondering why the man seemed so annoyed. She started to tell him to mind his own business, but when he turned his head, she was caught off guard by his face. He was shockingly handsome, with light green eyes that lit up his black hair and dark olive skin. His face was beautifully strong, and very appealing. If he hadn't been holding a camera, Alli thought he probably could have made some money standing in front of it.

"Hi," he said simply, his frown fading when he saw her. "Who are you?"