“Don’t you own anything casual?”
He lifted a brow. “What’s wrong with this?”
“In the first place, those shoes have to go. No one, I repeat, no one , wears leather shoes on Orchid Island.”
“I’m not accustomed to running with the pack.”
His words fit that young cop she’d crushed on. Even as Lani wondered if it were possible to remain independent while rising within such a structured, military-based law-enforcement system, she had to give him credit for the way he avoided sounding unbearably egocentric, the way most men of his accomplishments invariably would.
“That’s undoubtedly true. And what you’re wearing is a huge improvement over your earlier suit. But you still need work. What time tomorrow do you want to go shopping?”
“Shopping?”
“For clothes. Honestly, Donovan, you can’t possibly hope to enjoy yourself dressed like an FBI special agent.”
“I’m not a special agent. Yet,” he qualified. “I also learned early in my career that the proper clothing encourages respect.”
“If you need to dress like a Wall Street trader in order to earn respect, you’re probably in trouble.”
“Want to guess how far I’d get questioning the business partner of a billionaire commercial real estate developer I know beyond a doubt killed his wife, but can’t yet prove it, while wearing a hoodie, torn jeans, and Chucks?” he countered.
“Point taken,” she allowed. “But you can’t deny that the Italian suit you showed up in looks a lot better on television than the T-shirt and faded jeans I remember you wearing.”
His dark blue eyes became as shuttered as windows painted black. Lani supposed he’d developed that distant, detached expression in order to keep suspects from reading his thoughts. In a way, Lani couldn’t help but admire that skill. She’d never been all that successful hiding her feelings. Which was partly what had led to her life getting so turned upside down during her time on the mainland.
“I didn’t realize you’d been paying so much attention to my attire back then,” he said. “In fact, I got the impression that you couldn’t stand to be in the same room with me.”
Lani shrugged. “I may not have liked you,” she admitted. Which wasn’t the whole truth and nothing but the truth. What she hadn’t liked was the dizzying, unfamiliar way he’d made her feel. “But I never said that you weren’t good-looking back then,” she said. “You’re still a very attractive man, but if clothes really do make the man, as the saying goes, you’re not nearly as open or natural as you were back then.”
“Are you suggesting I’ve turned into a phony?”
Lani reminded herself that this man was, after all, her brother’s best friend. The least she could do was show a little aloha spirit.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”
“You’ve probably had a long day,” he suggested. “What with that rush remodeling job Nate dumped on you.”
“That’s probably it,” Lani muttered, not wanting to contradict him, for that would entail admitting that something about Donovan Quinn still put her nerves, and other, more vital parts of her body, uncharacteristically on edge. She fell silent as they both stared out over the turquoise water.
“Nate assured me that this was the ideal place to unwind,” Donovan said at length.
“And you need to unwind.” It was not a question.
“Is it that obvious?” He held up a hand. “Never mind. You needn’t bother answering. I don’t know if my ego could take any more battering right now.”
“Most people who arrive here from the mainland need a little decompression time,” she said mildly. “It’s not always easy going from warp speed to island time. I certainly had to go through a major mental adjustment when I returned home from California, which is probably one of the more laid-back states… Meanwhile, I hope you’re hungry.”
“I think I am.”
He sounded surprised. Which, in itself wasn’t all that surprising, considering how much weight he’d shed. She wondered why the hell Nate hadn’t warned her that not only was Donovan coming to the island, he was arriving both physically and emotionally wounded.
“The last thing I ate was a bag of chips on the plane hours ago. Where are we going?”
“To my parents’ house, which is just down the beach. Nate always jokes about this end of the island being the Breslin family compound. Tonight is something of a command performance for me, and since I didn’t think my brother would want me leaving you alone your first night on the island, I figured the best thing to do would be to take you along.”
“Are you sure they won’t mind?”
She looked at him curiously. “Why would they mind?”
He shrugged. “Well, if it’s a special occasion—”