Maybe it was because his dark hair was just a little too long and too wild, or because of the little white scar just above his left eyebrow, which Josh said Michael had gotten in a fight. Maybe it was his looks, for they were dark and dangerous, and just a little mean. Like a greedy angel’s, she thought as her heart fluttered uncomfortably. Grinning all the way to hell.

But she thought it was his eyes. So startlingly blue they were in that face. So intense and direct and intrusive when he looked at her.

No, she didn’t like the way he looked at her.

“Get in the damn car.” Impatience shimmered around Josh in waves. “Mom had a fit when she realized you were out here. One of you gets hit by lightning, it’ll be my ass.”

“And it’s such a cute one,” Margo added, always ready to flirt. Hoping to make Josh jealous, she opened the door on Michael’s side. “It’ll be a tight fit. Mind if I sit on your lap, Michael?”

His gaze shifted from Laura. He grinned at Margo, a quick flash of teeth in a tanned, hollow-cheeked face. “Make yourself at home, sugar.” His voice was deep, a little rough, and he accepted the weight of a willing female with practiced ease.

“I didn’t know you were back, Michael.” Kate slipped into the backseat, where, she thought sourly, there was plenty of room for three.

“On leave.” He flicked a glance at her, then looked back at Laura, who still hesitated at the car door. “I ship out again in a couple days.”

“The merchant marine.” Margo toyed with his hair. “It sounds so . . . dangerous. And exciting. Do you have a woman in every port?”

“I’m working on it.” As the first fat drops of rain splatted the windshield, he raised a brow at Laura. “Want to sit on my lap, too, sugar?”

Dignity was something else she’d learned at an early age. Not sparing him a reply, Laura got into the backseat with Kate.

The minute the door was closed, Josh sent the car streaking across the road and up the hill toward home. When her eyes met Michael’s in the rearview mirror, Laura deliberately looked away, then back. Back toward the cliffs, and her place of comfortable dreams.

Chapter One

Chapter One

On the day of her eighteenth birthday, Laura was in love. She knew she was lucky to be so certain of her feelings, and her future, and the man who would share them both with her.

His name was Peter Ridgeway, and he was everything she had ever dreamed of. He was tall and handsome, with golden good looks and a charming smile. He was a man who understood beauty and music, and the responsibilities of career.