After Dark. Wendy Etherington

of the door, forcing it open. “Where is she?”

      Sloan gasped. That sounded like—

      Davis, his hair lighter, his face paler than she remembered, appeared in the doorway. His head swiveled right and left, then he caught sight of her, hovering in the hall.

      “Hey, baby,” he said, smiling as he started toward her. “Miss me?”

      3

      BABY.

      What a common, stupid name. Especially for Sloan.

      Sloan Caldwell was no baby. For one, there was nothing cute about her. She had smoldering looks, hot legs and amazing, erotic lips.

      But Aidan watched—with no small amount of resentment—as his former sales manager, Davis Curnan, slid his arms around the woman he’d been holding only moments before and lifted her off her feet for a hug.

      “You look beautiful, as always,” Davis said, setting her down and cupping her cheek.

      Sloan smiled, though a little hesitantly. “Thanks.”

      The whole reunion made Aidan’s stomach turn—and not just because he wanted Sloan for himself. Last time he’d checked, Davis had been dating a brunette from his accounting department.

      “As heartwarming as all this is,” he began, walking slowly in their direction, barely resisting the urge to grab Davis and shove him out the door, “I’m afraid the lunch break is over.”

      Sloan’s gaze shot to him, as if she’d forgotten he was there.

      Great. Now he was forgettable.

      “Oh, Aidan. Ah—” She glanced at Davis, then wriggled out of his arms. “I guess you know Davis.”

      “Of course,” Davis said, then smiled. “He used to sign my paychecks.”

      Aidan raised his eyebrows. “Actually, they were processed in the accounting department, if you recall.”

      Davis found humility long enough to act embarrassed. “Right.” His gaze slid to Sloan. “Not anymore.”

      Ah, so the big-city romance is over, and now you’ve come back to claim the small-town girl.

      Aidan had known, of course, that his sales manager was from Palmer’s Island. In fact, the few conversations they’d had about Davis’s hometown had led him to investigate the area for real estate after his parents’ deaths and his need for a new beginning. Davis could technically be termed responsible for Aidan’s coming to the island.

      Davis’s involvement with Sloan, however, was a nasty surprise Aidan didn’t like one little bit.

      “We have a lot to catch up on,” Davis cajoled, sliding his hand to the small of Sloan’s back. “Why don’t we let Aidan get back to work, darling?”

      “Darling?” Sloan’s expression went from pleasantly embarrassed to seriously pissed in the space of a heartbeat. She grabbed his hand and flung it off her. “You ran out on me, dumped me for somebody else and now you dare come back here over six months later, calling me baby and darling, thinking I’m gonna jump into your arms?” She narrowed her eyes. “Think again.”

      Feeling much better, Aidan rocked back on his heels, dying to see how the clever salesman would slide his way out of this tight spot.

      Davis turned bright red. “Sloan, honey—I don’t really think this is the place—”

      “Sure it is. You came here to find me.” She held out her arms. “Here I am.”

      Davis actually winced. Aidan had never seen him so rattled. But then fury from a goddess like Sloan was bound to put any man off his stride. Hadn’t Aidan himself spent half the night debating whether he should put his efforts into seducing her or running in the opposite direction?

      “Aidan,” Davis said, turning toward him. “Would you mind giving us some privacy to settle this?”

      Aidan leaned boldly against the rickety stairway railing he was due to replace that week. “I’m fine right here.”

      “That chick you dumped me for worked for him, didn’t she?” Sloan asked, her voice vibrating with anger. “What was her name?”

      “Rebecca,” Aidan supplied—with more cheer than maybe he should have.

      He wished he didn’t relish this confrontation so much, but that warm hug between Davis and Sloan, coming just after his and Sloan’s incredible kiss, had jolted him with jealousy.

      Five minutes ago, he’d simply wanted time to wrestle with his demons and consider assuaging some of his loneliness in Sloan’s arms. Now, suddenly, if he wanted her, he was too late. And, regardless, he might not have a prayer of her wanting him anyway.

      The ex had arrived.

      “This isn’t about her,” Davis said, facing Sloan, turning his back on Aidan.

      “Oh?” Sloan looked surprised. “You haven’t come to announce your engagement? Invite me to the wedding? Have a quick roll between the sheets before you commit?”

      “There’s no wedding.” Sighing, Davis attempted to steer Sloan out of the foyer, but she simply shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “Things between Rebecca and I were never quite right,” he said quietly after a quick, embarrassed glance back at Aidan. “I only broke it off with you because I was tired of our long-distance relationship.”

      “It was your idea to go work in Atlanta in the first place.”

      “What was I supposed to do? Take over my dad’s insurance office? Hang around boring Palmer’s Island all my life?”

      Sloan’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Yes.”

      “Well, I wasn’t ready to do that.” He rolled his shoulders. “However, things change. I realized I made a mistake.”

      “You’ve been gone for months, Davis. It took you quite a while to work out that mistake.”

      “It was okay at first. I was happy, and I thought you were probably better off, too. We needed to see other people, find out what else was out there.”

      Sloan glanced down, but not quickly enough that Aidan failed to see the hurt in her eyes. “I didn’t.”

      “I’m sorry.” He laid his fingers under her chin and lifted her head. “I screwed up.”

      “Did she break up with you?”

      “No.” He stroked her arm. “Things just kind of…fell apart.”

      “Got boring?” she challenged.

      Davis shrugged. “I don’t know. I only know I missed you.”

      “Convenient that this missing me started after Aidan sold the company.”

      “I missed you before that.”

      The simple explanation and clear sentiment behind it was hard to argue with. Sloan obviously felt the same, since she didn’t protest.

      “I got back to the island last night,” he added, “and couldn’t wait to see you.”

      Sloan moved away from him, wandering around the foyer. “I heard.”

      “Already?”

      “Gossip is the only thing that travels fast in this town. Helen told me this—” She whirled toward him. “Why did you come here? To this house? In another fifteen minutes I would have been back at the library.”

      Or in my bed. And Aidan wished like hell he’d taken Sloan’s advice and ignored the door, forcing the intruder to go away.

      Again, Davis glanced at Aidan. “I did go to the library. The clerk said you were here with the new owner, who turned out to be Aidan. So I decided to come right over.”