Read Online Shadowed Paradise by Blair Bancroft - Free Book Online Page B

up, because no matter where the kids go or what
they do, someone complains. Major generation gap. The sight of all
that silver hair just set the kids off, but it was a stupid thing
to do. Most of the seniors take this kind of nonsense as a joke.
Then again, this just might be the group to lodge a complaint with
the city council. Then some vote hunter will propose a ban on
surfing in Golden Beach, and there goes another of the few perks
kids have in this town.”
    Claire could see his point. Teenagers were
frequently their own worst enemies.
    “ I hope your cousin’s hair was a
fashion statement and not political.”
    “ Political, yes, but not the way you’re
thinking. Grandad hates skinheads almost as much as he hates long
hair. Slade is flaunting his unfortunate tendency to be more like
his cousin, that awful Blue boy, than his old man. Garrett
Whitlaw’s the good guy of the family. Runs the ranch, sits on the
County Commission, belongs to all the right clubs, yet never fails
to offer a hearty shake to every color, creed and bank account.
Just too good to be true is my dear Uncle Garrett. He even does his
damnedst to keep granddad from shooting trespassers—”
    Shooting? “I do
wish I could tell when you’re teasing the new kid on the
block.”
    “ Nothing but the truth, Ms. Langdon.”
Brad raised his right hand, palm out. “Wade Whitlaw’s ancestors
squatted on this land for years before they owned so much as a
single acre. In fact, his daddy nearly lost it all to developers
back around the turn of the century. Now that it’s platted, deeded,
and fenced, he’s going to make damn certain no one else sets foot
on it. Including me.”
    Abruptly, Brad pushed back his chair. “Let’s
get out of here before those seniors come storming up the stairs
looking for somebody to sue.”
    “ They left. And the check hasn’t come
yet.”
    “ It’s not going to. They bill me
monthly.”
    “ Oh, no, you don’t! I’m paying for
dinner,” Claire hissed.
    “ I told you there isn’t going to be a
check to pay. Zip. Nada . Don’t
argue, woman, I’m bigger than you are.”
    Heads were beginning to turn their way.
Claire gritted her teeth and let Brad guide her down the outside
stairs to the parking lot. Seething silence filled the Thunderbird
as he drove south along the shore road, passing high-rise condos,
marinas, a city park and public boat ramp. Still furious and not a
little humiliated, Claire paid scant attention to the elegant
stucco homes lined up along Golden Beach’s broad boulevarded
streets. Then, abruptly, the road narrowed, the houses dropped
away, leaving nothing but sand dunes, sea grass, and a few low
wind-swept pines.
    On their right was a narrow strip of sand
offering miles of gulf beachfront. To the left, invisible behind a
dense screen of cabbage palms and palmetto, was the Intracoastal
Waterway and an ever-widening bay. The area overflowed with people
during the day, but was a lonely, deserted wilderness of sand and
sea at night. The haunt of alligators, snakes, raccoons,
possums.
    And predatory males.
    Claire’s mouth went dry. Just because he’d
paid for dinner . . . Her heart threatened to leap into her throat
and choke her. There was just one reason to drive down a deserted
beach road at night.
    The man was pure temptation. A tidal surge of
pure sex. She wanted . . . but she wasn’t ready. Not yet, not yet,
not yet.
    The T-bird bounced over ruts left by the rain
as Brad turned into the deserted parking lot at the end of the
road, turned off the engine. Into the silence he drawled, “Tell me,
Ms. Langdon, when was the last time you went parking?”
    Oh, hell . Brad
felt a twinge of guilt. She was pale, jaw clenched, ready to throw
open the Bird’s door and run. He wasn’t above teasing, but
terrifying an innocent was another matter entirely. “Let’s take a
walk,” he offered, stifling a sigh. As Brad guided Claire along a
wooden walkway over the dunes to a park bench facing the