Mystery in the Moonlight Read Online Free PDF

how are you going to get back there tonight?” Caitlin asked. “The last shuttle boat left hours ago.”
    “I have a small skiff tied to the dock.” His voice was low and enticing when he added, “But maybe someone will change my mind and I’ll stay.”
    Finally it seemed that Babs had had enough of being the fifth wheel. She rose out of her chair.
    “Excuse me, won’t you, Bryce? I think I’ll retire to my room and lie down. The sun,” Babs told him dramatically, “has given me a mild case of heatstroke.”
    “Maybe I’d better come with you.” Caitlin removed the napkin from her lap and set it on the table, relieved that her friend was providing a chance for escape. She didn’t know how much longer she could take the gorgeous man’s attention without turning into a blithering idiot. “I don’t have room for dessert, anyway.”
    “No, don’t bother, Caitlin, honey. I wouldn’t want your evening to be ruined too.”
    Caitlin opened her mouth to protest, then let it fall shut. Obviously Babs was determined to be impossible tonight. Maybe she’d take a walk down to the coral shoals by herself, Caitlin decided.
    “All right. Go on ahead. I think I’ll get some fresh air. But I won’t be long,” she told Babs, emphasizing the last statement.
    To her credit Babs appeared a little shamefaced, and her words sounded sincere when she said, “You do that, honey. Enjoy yourself, all right?”
    Caitlin watched her friend walk away, anything to avoid looking at the man across the table.
    But he was staring at her intently when he asked, “Would you like to take a walk? I’d be happy to go with you.”
    “There’s no need for you to put yourself out,” Caitlin told him, forcing herself to meet Bryce’s sea-green gaze as though it didn’t do strange things to her insides. “The island is safe.”
    “I know it is. That’s not why I want to go.” He paused significantly, and Caitlin felt a chill of excitement crawl up her spine before he added, “I could use the exercise, myself, after all that food.”
    “Oh.”
    Why did disappointment seep through her at his practical statement? Caitlin wondered. Hadn’t she just wanted to be away from the man before she had a chance to embarrass herself?
    “How about it?” Bryce asked, not waiting for her answer. Having left money with his bill on the table, he was already rising. “Let’s walk south toward the coral outcroppings.”
    Could the man read her mind? Caitlin wondered. It was exactly what she’d planned to do.
    “Okay.”
    Rising reluctantly, Caitlin felt the room move a little strangely around her. The piña coladas were making themselves felt. She never had been able to handle liquor. Steadying herself, she smiled nervously at Bryce. She guessed she was stuck with his company whether she desired it or not, so she might as well make the best of the situation.
    And he certainly wouldn’t be hard to take—at least not if she could manage to stop acting so foolish around him. How had she ever developed the idiotic shyness she felt only around men to whom she was attracted? Caitlin wondered for the millionth time. She quickly led the way out of the restaurant to the path that would take them south.
    “Slow down,” Bryce suggested as he came alongside her. “Don’t you know you’re supposed to do everything at a more leisurely pace in the islands?” Caitlin obeyed, even though her instincts told her to run away from him as fast as her legs could carry her. “That’s better,” he murmured, lightly wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
    Automatically stiffening, Caitlin wondered why she hadn’t been the one to plead heatstroke. Obviously she’d had too much tropical sun in addition to the potent tropical drinks or she wouldn’t feel so hot so suddenly.
    Looking away from him toward the channel, she was surprised to note that it was no longer empty, as it had been before dinner. “Look. A yacht’s anchored out there. I hope the people from