Chapter 7

Shawn finally dragged himself from the back deck after having sat there for hours waiting to see if the water nymph would come back out. But he hadn't, unless the man was on his own deck which Shawn couldn't see through the mass of trees, or maybe on the far side of the island. Either way, Shawn had been rather disappointed that the man hadn't shown up again.

He finally showered and dressed, figuring he might as well go introduce himself. He sort of wondered why the man hadn't come over to meet him, welcome him to the island, but it had been rainy up until yesterday afternoon.

Feeling refreshed, he debated attempting to trek through the wooded barrier, but since he knew nothing of the wildlife here, he decided it was better not to. So he trekked down his slightly muddied drive to where the road diverged and headed down the other path.

He admired the two-story brick home as he approached. There was a green SUV parked out front, and he could see steps behind the house that presumably led to the back deck. A small path led to the edge of the cliff, and he assumed that was the way the guy had come back up. He noticed another path on the opposite side of the house, and he altered his coarse slightly to peer down to beach. In the cove created by the land bridge and the jutting of the island, he could see a small dock with a boat moored to it.

Nice, he thought as he resumed his stroll towards the front door. He jumped up the couple steps to the front porch and rang the doorbell.

It was several minutes before someone actually came to the door, and he was a little surprised by the man who stood there. He was rather muscular looking, tall with dirty blonde hair, more muscular than he'd seemed earlier, but it was a bit of a distance. The guy's body seemed rather tense now, not the graceful, fluid one he'd seen earlier.

Wasn't his hair longer? But that could have been the sun and now the shadow of the house made it look darker. And was that a small beard? He frowned, did the guy have a beard? Fuck, he couldn't remember. With the sun... and... well, honestly, he hadn't really focused much on his face...

"Yes?" the man's deep voiced jolted him from his thought. The guy sounded a bit annoyed even.

"Hey," Shawn grinned as he reached out his hand. "I'm Shawn," he greeted, intentionally not adding his last name in case the man recognized it.

The guy almost seemed reluctant to take his hand. "Martin Jorss."

"Nice to meet you," Shawn said. He waved toward his side of the island. "I just moved in on the north side. Thought I'd come introduce myself."

"I see," the man named Martin stated, his eyes scrutinizing, and Shawn felt somewhat uncomfortable with his gaze. When it didn't appear that Martin was going to invite him in and be all neighborly, Shawn stepped back, turning to leave.

"Well, I just wanted to say hi," he forced his voice to stay upbeat.

Abruptly, Martin shifted and he opened the door wider. "Forgive me. I just don't get many visitors. Please, Mr...."

"Just call me Shawn." He grinned as he stepped toward the door.

"Shawn, would you like to come in for a moment?"

Shawn accepted the change in the man's demeanor as someone who'd just been wary of visitors as he followed the man to a large open living room. He tried not to imagine the man as he'd seen him before, wet, hot and naked coming out of the ocean.

"Holy cow!" he blurted in awe at the sight of the humungous aquarium that lined the back wall of the living room. There were huge curtains lining each side that presumably hid the filters and pumps for the massive tank.

Martin stoically took in Shawn's surprise. "It's... my indulgence. I love the sea and couldn't help but bring it into my home," he said, but Shawn sensed that he didn't really mean what he said.

Shawn laughed. "What, the huge ocean out back wasn't enough?"

"Someone I once loved adored the ocean. It's why we moved here."

"Oh, I see," Shawn murmured, picking up on the sad tone in the man's voice. Man, this guy was pretty gloomy. "Did they leave?"

Martin's eyes blinked quickly. "Passed away. Five years ago."

"I'm very sorry," Shawn said softly.

"It's just been awhile since I've allowed myself to think about it," the man said gruffly.

Shawn gave Martin a few minutes of silence. "So, you live here alone then?" he prompted.

"Yes," Martin said slowly, and Shawn couldn't help the weird sense that he was hiding something.

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Martin stared at the young man carefully. Damn, had this guy somehow already seen Casey this morning? He'd sensed from his questions that maybe he was fishing to see if anyone else lived here.

He cleared his throat. Knowing Casey knew to stay hidden if anyone ever visited, he wasn't worried about Casey inadvertently walking into the room, but he had to cover the boy's presence earlier, just in case this Shawn character had seen him on the beach. "I do have a nephew, however, who sometimes visits. He was here just this morning actually," he began cautiously. "He left shortly before you arrived. Probably a good thing. Your presence would have terrified him. He's painfully shy," Martin added, hoping that bit would deter Shawn.

"Guess it's a good thing then that I didn't scare him," Shawn smiled.

Martin didn't return the smile. He just wanted this man gone from his house. But throwing him out now, might seem a bit rude. "So, how about you?" he asked, attempting to pick up the previous conversation.

"What?" Shawn frowned.

"In the house... alone, with someone?"

"Oh, I'm alone too," Shawn said grinning. "Guess it's just you and me on this big 'ole island."

Martin cocked his head and frowned. "I would have sworn I saw a woman with you the day you moved in."

Shawn laughed. "Yeah, that would be Jenny. She's a friend of the family who came down to help me settle in."

"Oh, I see. Any girlfriends back home? Someone waiting for you to return from vacation?" Martin queried. He was hoping the damn stranger would only be here a week or so.

"Oh, no," Shawn drawled with a grin. "I actually just broke up with my boyfriend a month or so ago, so I'm just chillin' out here for a while."

"Boyfriend?" Martin caught on to the younger man's innuendo.

"Yeah," Shawn smiled.

"I see," Martin tried to carefully school his features, but he couldn't help seeing Shawn in a whole new light. Not that he would ever consider a new relationship.

"Is that a problem?" Shawn asked carefully, obviously testing Martin's reaction to the news.

"Nope, not a problem at all," Martin stated, running a hand over his short beard. He couldn't help flexing it briefly at the achiness. "My, uh, my lover who passed away was my partner. He was a marine biologist."

Shawn's eyes brightened, obviously excited to find out that Martin was also gay. "I'm sure you get a bit lonely here."

Martin suddenly realized that this dark-haired young man might be wanting to 'hang out', as they say, and he couldn't allow that to happen.

Martin turned to lead Shawn back toward the door. "I'm afraid I might have led you to believe that I might welcome further visits," Martin stated stonily, catching the smile falling from the handsome young man's face. "I am a bit of a hermit, as you would say. I don't socialize or chit-chat. I don't go to the local bar and cruise. I like my privacy and solitude."

He finished by opening the front door for his visitor to exit. He'd made nice long enough, now it was time to send the man on his way.

"Oh, uh..." Shawn was obviously dumbfounded by his abrupt dismissal, but Martin didn't care. He needed Shawn to realize that he wasn't welcome here, so that he wouldn't come 'dropping by.'

"I'm sorry, if I gave you the wrong impression," Martin said, trying to soften the blow of his abrupt dismissal. "I'm sure you will enjoy your stay at the cottage, but I'd prefer it if you kept to your side of the island."

Shawn seemed to flounder as he stepped down from the porch. "Oh, uh, yeah, sure. Sorry to bother you, Mr. Jorss."

"Thank you for your understanding, Shawn," Martin said carefully. "Have a nice afternoon."

"Uh, yeah, you too. Bye."

Martin carefully closed the door as his visitor stood there staring. Damn it. He prayed the man wasn't planning on staying long.

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Shawn stared at the wide front door in shock. Man, he'd never been dismissed like that before. People usually thought he was pretty fun to be around. He'd been the ultimate party boy. Part of why everyone was so shocked that he was actually a romance novelist. He'd cultivated Rachelle Adrian's mystique for three years now, hiding behind a shadowed picture of a vague image of a woman who liked to keep to herself.

He chuckled at the thought. Maybe Martin was a romance novelist in hiding too. He laughed as he turned to stroll back to his own little cottage. Well, so much for a little company. He supposed if he got really bored he could go into town. Not that little village that he'd passed through just before getting here. No, a real town, one with a bar, or several of them. It would take a while to get there, but it would be worth the distraction from the 'solitude' that his neighbor seemed to desire.

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"Casey!"

He jumped, uncurling himself from the small hiding space that Thomas and Martin had told him to hide in if anyone came to visit unexpectedly, well, anyone except the villagers. They often came by if there was a medical emergency they needed Martin's help with. When Casey had felt the jolt on his neck just after the knock had sounded at the door, he knew Martin was telling him this was not just a villager and he needed to hide.

He crawled out the small trap door in the library, still rubbing at his neck. There were a couple hiding places in the house so Casey always had a place to go, no matter what floor he was on. Uncle Thomas had made sure they were comfortable with blankets and pillows and bottles of water, in case he had to hide for several hours. He didn't have to do it often, and no one threatening had ever actually come, but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

Uncle Martin met him at the door of the library. The man's face was stern again, unyielding. "That was our neighbor. I think he may have seen you earlier as I feared."

Casey ducked his head slightly, feeling rebuked but also not wanting to feel his uncle's fury again. He could already feel a tender bruise forming on his cheek.

"I told him I have a nephew who visits sometimes, but that you left this morning, so that he wouldn't be snooping around. You have to stay out of sight."

"I will," Casey muttered, hating feeling like a little chastised kid again. Yes, he'd screwed up and let their neighbor see him, but hell, it wasn't like the man had called out the fucking army or something.

"Casey," Martin's voice softened, and he almost sounded like Uncle Thomas. "I'm just thinking of your safety."

"I know." But hell if it didn't seem like more than that.