With that, things began to click in place. But before she could think of what to say, Will shook his head.

“I thought you were different. I just thought…” He stared at her, his face a mixture of anger and disappointment, before suddenly turning away and heading for the beach. “Hell, I don’t know what I thought,” he tossed over his shoulder.

She took a step forward and was about to call after him when she noticed a flicker of light down the beach near the water’s edge. The light rose and fell, as if someone were tossing a…

Fireball, she realized.

She felt her breath catch in her throat, knowing Marcus was there, and took an involuntary step backward. She had a sudden image of him sneaking toward the nest while she slept outside. She wondered how close he might have come. Why wouldn’t he leave her alone? Was he stalking her?

She’d seen stories on the news and heard about things like this. Though she liked to think she would know what to do and could handle herself in almost any situation, this was different. Because Marcus was different.

Because Marcus scared her.

Will was already a couple of houses down the beach, his figure vanishing in the night. She thought about calling him back and telling him everything, but the last thing she wanted was to stay outside any longer than she had to. Nor did she want Marcus to connect her to Will. In any case, there was no her and Will. Not anymore, anyway. Now it was just her.

And Marcus.

Panicking, she took another step back, then forced herself to stop. If he knew she was scared, it might make things worse. Instead, she forced herself into the circle of the porch light and deliberately turned to stare in Marcus’s direction.

She couldn’t see him-only the flicker of light as it bobbed up and down. Marcus, she knew, wanted her to be scared, which set something off inside her. Continuing to stare at him, she put her hands on her hips and raised her chin defiantly in his direction. Her blood pounded in her chest, but she held her position even as the fireball settled in his hand. A moment later, the light went out and she knew Marcus had closed his fist over it, announcing his approach.

Still, she refused to move. She wasn’t certain what she’d do if he suddenly appeared only a few yards away, but as the seconds became one minute and then another, she knew he’d decided it was best to stay away. Tired of waiting and satisfied that she’d conveyed her message, she turned and headed back inside.

It was only as she leaned against the door after closing it that she realized her hands were shaking.

I want to get something to eat at the diner before it closes,” Blaze pleaded.

“Then go,” Marcus said. “I’m not hungry.”

Blaze and Marcus were at Bower’s Point, along with Teddy and Lance, who’d picked up two of the ugliest girls Marcus had ever seen and were in the process of getting them drunk. Marcus had been annoyed to find them here in the first place, and then Blaze had been hounding him for the past hour, asking where he’d been all day.

He got the feeling she knew it had something to do with Ronnie, because Blaze wasn’t stupid. Blaze had known all along that Marcus was interested in her, which explained why she’d planted those CDs in Ronnie’s bag. It was the perfect solution to get Ronnie to keep her distance… which meant that Marcus wouldn’t have a chance to see Ronnie either.

That pissed him off. And then to find her here, whining about being hungry and hanging all over him and pestering him with questions…

“I don’t want to go alone,” she whined again.

“Didn’t you hear me?” he snarled. “Do you ever listen to a single thing I say? I said I’m not hungry.”

“I’m not saying you have to eat anything…,” Blaze mumbled, subdued.

“Would you just shut up about it?”

That stopped her. At least for a few minutes, anyway. He could tell by the way she was pouting that she wanted him to apologize for something. Yeah, well, it wasn’t going to happen.

Turning toward the water, he lit his fireball, angry at the fact that she was still here. Angry that Teddy and Lance were here, when he wanted some peace and quiet. Angry at the fact that Blaze had run Ronnie off and especially angry that he was angry about any of it. It wasn’t like him, and he hated the way it made him feel. He wanted to hit something or someone, and when he glanced at Blaze and saw her pouting, she was tops on the list. He turned away, wishing he could drink his beer and turn up the music and just think in private for a while. Without all these people crowding him.

Besides, he wasn’t really angry at Blaze. Hell, when he’d first heard what she’d done, he’d been kind of pleased about it, thinking it might smooth the road between him and Ronnie. You scratch my back, I scratch yours, that kind of thing. But when he’d suggested it to Ronnie, she’d reacted like he had some kind of disease, like she’d rather die than come near him. But he wasn’t the type to give up, and he figured she’d eventually come to realize it was her only way out of this mess. So he’d gone to her house for a little visit, hoping for a chance to talk. He’d decided he would tone down the act and instead listen sympathetically when she talked about the awful thing that Blaze did. They might have gone for a walk and maybe ended up under the pier, and then whatever happened, happened. Right?

But when he got to her house, Will was there. Of all people, Will, just sitting there on that dune, waiting to talk to her. And Ronnie eventually did come outside and talk with him. Actually, they seemed to argue, but by the way they were acting, there was plainly something between them, which pissed him off, too. Because it meant they knew each other. Because it meant they were probably an item.

Which meant he’d been reading her all wrong.

And then? Oh, that was the kicker. After Will left, Ronnie realized that she had two visitors, not just one. When she noticed him watching her, he knew one of two things was going to happen. Either she’d come out and talk to him in the hopes of getting Blaze to tell the truth, or she’d act all scared like she had earlier and run inside. He liked the fact that he could scare her. He could use it to his advantage.

But she did neither of those things. Instead, she stared in his direction as if to say, Bring it on. She stood on the porch, her body language signaling angry defiance, until finally she went back into the house.

No one did that to him. Especially girls. Who in the hell did she think she was? Tight little body or not, he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all.

Blaze interrupted his thoughts. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

Marcus turned toward her, feeling the sudden urge to clear his mind, to cool off. He knew just what he needed and who would give it to him.

“Come here,” he said. He forced a smile. “Sit next to me. I don’t want you to go just yet.”