“Lucas. I was just—” She dusted her suit coat, working her flattened fingers down the length of her arm in short swipes. “My earring.” She held out a circular piece of jewelry lying in her palm. “I was getting my earring.”

Who was she kidding? She’d been lying flat on the floor, her ear against the register. She was caught. Nailed. Busted.

“Did it fall down the vent?” He held back a smile, barely.

Her cheeks bloomed with color as she attempted to put the earring in. Even across the room he could see her hand shaking. “Of course not. It just—” Kate tried again to poke the earring through the hole and failed. She gave up and looked at him like a butterfly caught in a net.

He raised his brows, waiting.

At that, her shoulders drew back, her chin tipped. “All right, all right,” she snapped. “You made your point.”

Lucas approached her, feeling sorry for her now that she knew she was caught. Still, there was that whole jealousy thing that tugged the corners of his mouth.

Kate set her earring on the coffee table and struggled to stand. When he extended his hand, she smacked it away, her eyes narrowing as she straightened. Her crisp white shirt had come loose from her waistband, and her hair was tousled like she’d just awakened. She smoothed it and tucked it behind her ears with quick hands.

“I saw you after lunch with that . . . woman,” Kate said. “I was worried about how it might look to other people.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “We have an image to maintain, and it’s not proper for you to be gallivanting all over the island with someone else.”

Her words were so ridiculous he didn’t know where to begin. “Gallivanting?”

She looked him in the eye. “You know what I mean. People will notice when you’re eating with another woman. It’s a small island—”

“I didn’t eat with Sydney.” Was that really what was bugging Kate? What everyone else thought? The notion sucked some of the air from his sails.

“Well, whatever. It’s not proper for you to be seen with someone like that.” Her lips, free of artificial color, pressed together.

Was she only concerned about her reputation, or was she hiding her jealousy behind its mask? “Someone like what?” he asked, curious to hear her answer.

“Someone like—You know what I mean. She isn’t exactly unattractive, and she’s . . . clingy.”

“Clingy?”

“Like socks out of the dryer,” she retorted. She tilted her head. “You know exactly what I mean.”

Lucas lost the tug-of-war with his smile. “You’re jealous,” he said.

Kate turned away, tucking in her shirt before grabbing the earring off the table and walking toward a mirror that hung over the armchair. “I’m concerned about my reputation.” She took the back off the earring and put it in.