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Luke rolled the wrecked, but fixable bike inside and leaned it against the wall so that the mud would drip onto the tarp His very h shirt and slacks He got a coil of rope and a blanket froered on hi near the bunk beds

He threw a long blanket over it to duplicate the area he had made for her back at the cabin when she'd said she preferred to stay with hie," he offered, going to the tarp to take off hisbehind the blanket She couldn't wait to be warhtmare on the ocean

Luke tossed his soaked, mud-streaked coat over the other chair and couldn't stop his eyes fro to the slender shadow on the wall as he wiped his face and got the water heating on the stove He was decades older than her, with blood on his hands that he could never atone for, but he couldn't deny the want He'd been alone for a long ti, brave… he'd found his eyes watching her for signs of interest

She had told him that her career had kept her busy, that there was no husband or even a boyfriend toelse She was nice, friendly to hiood company, but very careful and closed-off She'd clearly been through hell, had a fortress around her heart, and Luke had decided he wouldn't even try to breach those walls without at least knohether she saw hi did all this take?" she asked from behind the blanket, and Luke forced his eyes away froest female he'd ever met Even the resourceful island women would still be in tears over that close call, and she sounded like nothing had happened

"Over four years" He got the cups out, wiping the dust fro to her movements

"Anyone else know it's here?"

"Probably Everyone out here has a hole-up It's the way you do things on Pitcairn"

"How long have you lived alone out here?" It was one of the first personal questions she'd asked, and his reluctance to ansas clear when he finally did