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article.”
    Slowly, what he said registered. She relaxed, her heart settled down, but she still couldn’t respond. He nodded toward the counter.
    “There’s a Post-it note with my name on it back there. Underneath, by the phone.”
    She glanced down and sure enough, there it was. Geoff must have been so excited about his intimate soiree that he had forgotten to mention it earlier.
    While Jake Montgomery’s expression showed nothing more than casual interest, she fought to recover her composure.
    “Perhaps I can show you something else,” she offered lamely. “We . . . have lots of talented artists on display right now. Once the season starts, things begin to move quickly, and choices become more limited.”
    “Geoff showed me around a bit earlier, but I’m afraid I had my heart set on one of your sunset seascapes. No one else adds those transparent figures from the past, do they?”
    “Not that I know of.”
    “How did you learn the technique?”
    “A friend taught me to paint, but the ghostly images started out as an accident. I didn’t know what I was doing when I first used thinned down white paint, but I liked the effect.”
    For months Geoff had been encouraging her to produce faster, warning her that come summer she would wish she had more pieces to offer. Money was always tight, and on top of rent and utilities, the old, battered Ford station wagon Etta Schwartz had permanently loaned her was going to need a new alternator.
    Carly wished she had a sunset piece she could pull out of a hat.
    “I’m sorry I don’t have any to show you except the piece that’s already here.” She tried not to sound as disappointed as she felt.
    He never took his eyes off her face. “How long have you been painting?”
    She paused, glanced at his hands. No wedding ring, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t married. She tried to avoid his stare, willing herself not to blush. “Not long.”
    “Your work is quite accomplished for a novice.”
    She felt herself blush again. “Thank you. Where are you from, Mr. Montgomery?” Uncomfortable with his praise, she attempted to turn the conversation.
    “The L.A. area. How about you? Were you born here in Twilight Cove?”
    Effortlessly he’d turned the tables back. She hesitated and began straightening the bio cards in the nubby, hand-woven basket on Geoff’s desk.
    “No. I’ve only lived here a few years.” She sensed his nearness as if he were standing right next to her instead of across the counter, and she turned to fidgeting with the maps beside the cards.
    Damn it, Carly, just stand still and smile. Better yet, show him some other paintings. Interest him in a nice, expensive sculpture or something, and make a sale.
    It had been centuries since talking to a handsome man had rendered her brain dead, but it almost seemed as if they had some kind of a connection, as if she already knew him. But that was impossible. She found herself wanting to know everything there was to know about him and more, wanted him to linger so that she could spend more time with him.
    As an awkward silence stretched, she continued to fidget while he seemed perfectly content to stand and stare.
    She hoped it would be a while before Geoff was due in to close up and she glanced down at her watch, a utilitarian waterproof piece with a black polyurethane band. Rand had assured her it was the very latest and yet least expensive of all the rad surf wear timepieces. She had never been the least worried about style. She bought it for its ability to keep good time and for its durability.
    Jake Montgomery shoved his hands in his pockets and walked to the center of the room to get a closer look at a bronze sculpture.
    Carly smiled and waited, and in a moment he quickly stepped back from the piece. Most people did, the minute they realized the free-form nude was complete with both female breasts and a penis.
    “Interesting.” He shook his head. “Not very practical, though.” He pointed to the erect