Home by the Sea by Joann Ross

Author:Joann Ross [Ross, JoAnn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488034091
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1994-08-17T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

SAUSALITO, located just across the Golden Gate Bridge, was a charming little Mediterranean-type village nestled along the shoreline, reminding Grace of the French Riviera. Rustic houses, quaint Victorians and soaring homes of redwood and glass crowded the hillsides, cascading down steep slopes to the sparkling blue bay. Grace was immediately charmed.

“Oh, it’s lovely,” she said as Lucas drove past the restaurants and shops lining Bridgeway Avenue. A sign at the marina declared the town to be a Nuclear Free Zone. In a bit of whimsy, another beside it announced it was also a Cholesterol Free Zone.

“It’s definitely more laid-back than the city.” He pulled the Porsche into the parking lot of the yacht club.

“Which is why it appeals to you,” she guessed.

He shrugged. “I suppose cities have their appeal. And San Francisco is definitely one of the most appealing. If you like the fast life.”

“Which you don’t?” A man who enjoyed life in the urban fast lane probably wouldn’t be heading off to watch whales in Alaska.

Although her tone was casual, Lucas had the feeling that her reason for asking was more serious. Which is why he decided to answer honestly. “I’d rather be sailing.”

Her smile was quick and warm and pleased. “Me, too.”

That hurdle behind him, Lucas took their bags out of the car and began walking down the dock. The breeze blowing off the bay carried the scent of the sea, of salt and seaweed and exotic, faraway places.

In the distance, across the water, San Francisco gleamed golden in the sunshine like a grand dame wearing her best jewels. Moorings creaked as the boats bobbed on the water. Gulls whirled overhead, searching out fish or a tourist who’d prove generous with his french fries.

It was a perfect day. Almost too nice for thoughts of murder. It occurred to Lucas that he’d spent his entire adult life thinking about death. How to avoid his own, how to dispatch an enemy and then, during those days in that rat-infested Caribbean prison, how to stay out of the clutches of the grim reaper one day at a time.

Even the past eighteen months had focused on keeping clients from getting murdered. Even more reason, Lucas considered, why, after this conference was over, the closest he wanted to come to death would be a James Patterson thriller.

The Rebel’s Reward was berthed at the end of the dock. As he approached, Lucas felt that now familiar surge of pleasure at the sight of her sleek white hull.

He’d come a long way since the twenty-four-foot sloop he’d picked up at a bargain-basement price from a former SEAL living in Hawaii, whose wife had decided that the growing family needed a minivan more than a sailboat. The boats may have gotten bigger and more expensive, but Lucas’s love of life on the water hadn’t changed.

“Oh!” Grace drew in an appreciative breath as Lucas stopped in front of the ketch. “She’s absolutely gorgeous!”

Her honest, open appreciation assured him that he’d chosen exactly the right woman to fall in love with.

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