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unprotected, for what reason?”
    Sean sighed. He was about to open up to a total stranger who could easily use his words against him.
    “I don’t know how much she’s told you about us.”
    The other man shrugged. “Not much. I know you were engaged and that you broke up. That’s pretty much it.”
    Sean winced. How could so few words encapsulate so many emotions?
    “Well, there was more to it than that,” he muttered, bitterness in his tone. “The bottom line is that I loved Leah. And I wanted to prove to her that I was worthy of her love.”
    Both of Danny’s eyebrows shot up and he looked like he wanted to say something. Sean paused, hoping he’d get some insight into Leah’s mindset, but the photographer finally just sighed.
    Sean shook his head. “Now I am worthy. I want her to see that. I want to know if I have another chance.”
    “Why didn’t you just come to Philadelphia, then?” Danny asked. “Why all this high drama and hostage taking?”
    “Because I know her. I knew if I came to her in Pennsylvania she’d put up a bunch of walls. She’d have all these safe places where she could hide away from me. But here it’s different. Here she’s forced to face me and our past. Maybe she’ll choose the same way she did before, but at least I’ll know I did everything I could this time.” Sean sighed. “I can’t do that if you’re here.”
    Danny nodded and a light of understanding was in his eyes. “Because I’m her safety net here.”
    “Exactly.” Sean sighed. At least Danny got it. “So I’ll ask you again. Please leave. I’ll arrange for you to be taken to Jamaica on one of the luxury yachts we house here. I’ll put you up in another resort there and pay for whatever you want, whatever will make you happy. At the end of the week, if Leah decides to go home, you can travel back with her, just as you’d planned to. I won’t keep her here if she doesn’t want to stay.”
    Danny examined Sean closely. “You’re not a man used to asking for favors, are you?”
    “No. So you must understand how important this is.”
    “I understand a lot more than you think.” Danny laughed. “A lot more than either you or Leah care to see. Fine. I’ll leave the island today if you want. I should have enough material for the article with the rolls of film I’ve taken so far. I could use a vacation anyway. When you work at a travel magazine, you don’t go to resorts for fun very often.”
    Sean exhaled a relief-filled breath. This was one hurdle he’d worried he couldn’t overcome. “Thank you.”
    Danny rose from the breakfast table and offered Sean a hand. As the two men shook, Danny’s grip became tighter. “But if I think for one moment that you’ve hurt Leah, I will come back here and prove every stereotype about gay men wrong by beating you to a bloody pulp. Understand me?”
    Sean couldn’t help a smile. “I understand completely. You leave the island in an hour, I hope that’s enough time.”
    “More than enough,” Danny said as he headed for the interior of the dining hall. “Especially since I don’t plan to talk to Leah before I go. I’ll write her a note, but you get to deal with the fallout from this little scheme of yours.”
    “That only seems fair.” Sean followed Danny to the glass doors where the other man turned with a wicked smile.
    “I mean, I’m sure you remember what Leah is like when she’s mad.”
    “I do.” Sean waved to Danny, then sank into the nearest chair with a broad smile. “She’s absolutely gorgeous.”
    ***
    “What the hell does this mean?” Leah asked as she burst into Sean’s office without knocking.
    Sean smothered a smile, but refused to look up.
    “One minute,” he said, returning his pen to a contract and signing his name with a little more flourish than usual. “Why don’t you take a seat?”
    He glanced up in time to see her creamy skin flush dark red and her green eyes flash hot emotion, but she did as he’d asked and