A Secret Splendor

his eyes met hers in the mirror. They were dark and smoldering, like the purest of blue flame. And in her own eyes was the glassy sheen of desire.”
Arden Gentry went to the lush island of Maui for the specific purpose of ingratiating herself into Drew McCasslin’s world.
The dashing widower, who had bitterly grieved the death of his wife, is ready to tackle life again and believes that his meeting with Arden is fortunate happenstance. He and his young son, Matt, are drawn to Arden’s warmth and tenderness, and both open their wounded hearts to her.
But even as the passion between Drew and Arden intensifies and points toward love, she’s harboring the secret of their inextricable bond…which could also rip them apart.
"She's here again, Drew McCasslin thought as he slammed his racket against the tennis ball. For the third time that week she was sitting at the same table, the one nearest the ledge overlooking the tennis courts. The table's brightly striped umbrella partially shaded her face.
She hadn't been there when he and Gary started playing, but he'd known the moment she walked out onto the patio, which was an extension of the club's outdoor snack and cocktail bar. He had missed a ball when he let his attention wander to the graceful way she smoothed her skirt beneath her hips and thighs as she sat down. "Better every day," Gary said to him as they met at the net to catch their breath, take a swig of Gatorade and towel mop rivers of sweat that saturated sweat-bands couldn't absorb. "Not good enough," Drew replied before taking a long pull at the bottle of lemon drink. Over the bottle's length, he eyed the woman sitting on the patio above them.
Ever since the first day he had seen her there, she had inspired his curiosity. She was bent over the table tapping a pencil against a tablet in a manner that he now associated with her. What the devil was she always writing down? Slowly, he lowered the bottle from his mouth, and his blue eyes narrowed with suspicion. Could she be another bloodsucking reporter? God forbid. But it wouldn't be unlike an enterprising tabloid publication to send bait like that to trap him into an interview."