Chapter 4

CC emerged into the sunlight, her lips stretched into a triumphant grin. She carried the meticulously wrapped painting in her arms. With the storm coming, she wouldn't trust it to a courier; she'd take it to Jack personally, and he could deliver it to her father by the next day. She slid her sunglasses over her eyes and walked towards her boat, on her way back to Papeete and the airport. She pulled her mobile phone from her bag and placed a call to Jack so he would be ready to meet her there.

Niles stepped off the ferry and headed for the Gauguin Museum. After an hour at the beach, he had decided he had better take in a few sights before the arrival of the storm. Right before booking his vacation, he had read about a painting that the museum had recently acquired from the Met. Never having made the time to see it while it was in his own city, Niles wanted very much to see it now. He figured he'd admire the painting and then visit the botanical gardens before heading back to Papeete for dinner. The ferry schedule gave him two hours at—he checked his guidebook—Papeari. Why did that look familiar? He shrugged.

From a distance, Niles saw a woman emerge from the museum, holding a large package. He did a double take. She looked for all the world like—

"Niles! I didn't know you were coming to the museum!" A woman he had met on the beach—was her name Sheila?—called out to him.

Niles turned to speak with her, and by the time he glanced back towards the museum, the woman with the package had disappeared from sight. Niles shook his head. He chastised himself for seeing Babcock at every turn, and offered his arm to Sheila.

Jack had tried valiantly to convince CC to leave the island with him. He had been watching the path of Yasi closely on the news, and he feared it would be a direct hit on Tahiti. She had steadfastly refused. She wasn't going to let a little tropical cyclone cheat her out of the majority of her vacation. She had only just arrived!

Leaving her boat docked near the airport, CC had just stepped out of the taxi to do a bit of shopping before dinner. The suit she was wearing was one of her favorites, but the business portion of her trip completed, she was feeling decidedly overdressed for the island. Meandering from boutique to boutique, she selected a pale yellow sundress with spaghetti straps, a light sweater in case the evening was cool, and a floppy straw hat to protect her fair skin from the tropical sun. She asked the salesperson to have her suit delivered to her speedboat, and then proceeded to stroll down the street, keeping an eye out for a tempting dinner spot.

Niles headed for the ferry, disappointed that the painting he had wanted to see was no longer on display, but having very much enjoyed the beauty of the botanical gardens. He had left Sheila and another woman from their hotel, Marisol, admiring the greenery; Niles hoped to catch a little more beach time before dinner. They had loose plans to meet up at a beachside bar near the hotel for drinks later that evening.

The music of a live band drifting out onto the street had drawn CC to a small bar on the beach. She currently clutched a hollowed-out pineapple full of the most delicious alcoholic concoction while dancing with the tall, dark, and handsome Ari. And young. Quite young. He couldn't be more than 25. She was contemplating inviting him back to her place; after all, what better way to eradicate unseemly dreams about servants than to spend her vacation ravishing and being ravished?

Suddenly a shiver went down her spine, and she couldn't figure out why. She continued dancing with Ari, and had just leaned in to nibble at his neck when she heard it.

"Oh, shake it, Miss Babcock."

She turned around, shock written all over her face. Yes, it was Niles, all right, and he looked just as surprised as she was. He also looked ridiculous, wearing a lei, and sunglasses after dark. The khakis weren't so bad, though, her mind supplied, and she quelled the thought.

"Daylight come and me wan' go home," Niles said, taking a long sip of his drink.

"Mixing your tropical paradises, janitor-shaped-like-a-steel-drum?" CC snapped. "This isn't Jamaica. Did you follow me here?"

"Oh yes, I just can't stay away from you. I wanted so much to fetch your tea for you that I spent 24 hours stuck in various airports and airplanes just so I could follow you here." His response oozed sarcasm. And all of a sudden, he remembered why the address of the museum had seemed familiar. The slip of paper, snowflakes, and Miss Babcock's handwriting. Dear god, what if he had followed her? Subconsciously. He never would have made such a decision knowingly, he tried to reassure himself.

CC scowled. A cyclone coming, and Niles already here. Her vacation was quickly turning into a nightmare. She turned to look for Ari, but he had moved on to another dance partner and held the new woman close, swaying to the music.

"Of all the beachside bars on all the islands in all the world, you had to choose this one. Why?" She knew she sounded petulant, and she didn't care.

Niles grimaced. "Misquoting Bogart, how unattractive."

"I wasn't misquoting, I was paraphrasing! I know the line," CC said witheringly.

Niles rolled his eyes. "Come on, Babcock, I see no one else will dance with you. I might as well take pity."

"Such a generous offer, but no thanks. I was doing just fine until you arrived." CC turned towards the bar, more than ready for a refill.

Niles didn't move, but he followed her with his eyes. He slid his sunglasses up to rest on his head so that he could see more clearly on the dark beach. He stood there until Marisol tapped him on the shoulder and drew him onto the dance floor. In spite of Marisol's best efforts, and later, Sheila's too, Niles kept a close eye on CC for the next hour. She chatted with the bartender; she danced with several men; she drank: a lot. A few times, he even caught her glancing at him, and each time, he looked away quickly, but not quickly enough.

Finally, CC had had all she could stand. She stalked out onto the dance floor and unceremoniously pulled Niles away from whichever woman he was dancing with. Certainly CC didn't care to learn the floozy's name. Niles automatically took CC in his arms, and she stiffened.

"I didn't come out here to dance with you," she hissed.

"No? And yet this is a dance floor, and you so rudely sent my partner packing." He responded, moving to the rhythm of the music.

"No," she said, but reluctantly began swaying with him. "I came to tell you to stop staring at me. Better yet, why don't you leave this bar so I can enjoy my vacation in peace?"

"Me, leave? But this is practically my bar. I'm staying right there," he said, pointing at the hotel next door. Then he sighed theatrically. "Please tell me you're not staying there too."

CC sniffed. "Of course not. I'm staying at Daddy's house down on Tahiti Iti."

"Then how did you end up in this particular… gin joint?" He smiled at her, and she couldn't resist returning the expression.

"Fate or bad luck, you decide," she said.

The band changed to a slower tune, and Niles instinctively pulled her closer, until her chest was flush with his.

"Oh, bad luck, without a doubt," he murmured into her ear.

CC shivered. "My thoughts exactly," she said, moving against him.

CC leaned back slightly and looked into his eyes, which had darkened with an emotion she couldn't read. She had no trouble interpreting the hardening against her thigh, though, and struggled with her next move. She should pull away, get to her boat, flee. She knew it, intellectually. But she didn't find herself inclined to do what she knew she should.

She shifted infinitesimally closer to him, never taking her eyes from his.

Niles bit back a moan. This was dangerous territory, and he knew it. But Babcock seemed to be a willing participant, which hadn't happened since that night three months ago in the Sheffields' living room. Memories of the clinch they'd shared still colored the best of his dreams, and just the recollection of it made his groin tighten further.

"Is there any Johnnie Walker in that pineapple?" He asked her.

She snorted. "You'd think so, wouldn't you?" She licked her lips.

He leaned forward and couldn't resist following her tongue back into her mouth with his own. As he kissed her, CC lost her grip on the aforementioned pineapple, and it tumbled to the dance floor. Luckily she'd emptied it long ago, and in any case, neither she nor Niles even noticed it fall.

They kissed deeply, stopping only to catch their breath, and then plunged back into one another. CC moved her hands to his hair, plucking his sunglasses from where he'd perched them in his hair. She tucked them in the front of her dress, and he took the opportunity to catch a glimpse of her cleavage as the weight of the glasses pulled her neckline down.

CC, smirking, touched his chin and tilted his face back up.

Niles quirked a smile at her and shrugged. "Lucky sunglasses," he said.

CC arched an eyebrow at him. "You said your room is close by?"

Niles's heart rate quickened. "I did. Could I offer you a night cap?"

"You could." Her voice had deepened into a near-rasp.

Niles turned hastily, pulling her after him before she changed her mind.