JAKrentz - The Pirate, The Adventurer, & The Cowboy (19 page)
"Nothing that need concern you, my boy. We merely chatted about our shared interests."
"What shared interests?"
"Writing."
"Don't give me that. You haven't written a thing except one or two obscure travel articles in all the years I've known you, Max."
Max's eyes went cold. "That does not mean I have no intention of writing again. I was a good writer once, Jared. Editors said I had potential. A great deal of it."
"Well, you're in another business now, aren't you?" Jared was feeling annoyed and when he got annoyed, he got a little ruthless. "And you've dragged me into it, too. The sooner this whole thing is over, the better. I don't like it."
"You've made your feelings on the subject quite clear right from the start." Max smiled benignly. "My supervisors are aware of your attitude. They understand that you are doing us a very big favor and they have asked me to convey their appreciation."
"Screw their appreciation. I want this thing brought to a quick end and then I don't want to hear from you or your supervisors again. When you write up your final report, Max, I want you to make it clear that there will be no more favors from me. We're even."
Max lifted his glass of rum in a short, mocking toast. "Understood. No more favors."
"When is it going to be over, Max? I'm tired of being kept on the line. This is my island and I don't like you and your friends playing games on it. I want a day and a time."
"Calm yourself, my friend. Everything is scheduled for the regular cruise ship day at the end of the month. Our little fish will swallow the hook at that time, as planned."
Jared stood up. "The sooner the better."
"I could not agree with you more," Max said. His gaze was on the sea as he sipped his drink.
Jared started to walk away, paused and turned back. He leaned down, one hand planted on the table and spoke softly. "No more cozy little chats with Kate, Max. I don't want her to be touched by any of this, not even indirectly."
Max was both amused and offended. "You think I am so unprofessional as to let something slip to a pretty lady?"
"I think," Jared said, spacing his words for emphasis, "that the pretty lady is also pretty smart and it wouldn't take much to make her curious. Stay away from her."
This time Jared did not pause as he walked away from the table. He nodded briefly at the colonel on the way out of the bar and then headed for the lobby.
He spotted Kate and David as soon as he crossed the small lagoon bridge. They were standing together looking up at one of the watercolors on the wall. They didn't notice him right away and he stopped to watch them for a moment.
David was talking very seriously about the painting, and Kate had her head tilted in the familiar way that meant she was paying close attention. Jared studied the graceful line of her throat and shoulder and something deep within him tightened as memories of the previous night trickled back. She had only to be in the same room with him to arouse him, he realized. The intensity of his feelings amazed him. She stirred a part of his nature that he had never fully explored and the knowledge that he could feel such an aching need at this stage of his life was unsettling.
She was so different from Gabriella in every way. His wife had been like the watercolor on the wall, a soft, gentle creation of pastels and light. Kate was vibrant and strong, full of color that was so hot and bright that it could, on occasion, singe a man's fingers.
But what was life without a few burned fingers, Jared asked himself with an inner smile as he went toward Kate and his son.
"What are you two up to this morning?" he asked as he came to a halt beside them.
"Hi, Dad. I was just telling Kate that it was my mother who painted this picture."
Kate smiled gently at Jared, her eyes searching his face. "Your wife was a very talented woman."
Jared glanced at the soft seascape and nodded briefly. "Yes, she was. She did all the lobby paintings."
"That's what Dave was just telling me."
"Yeah, I was explaining it to her, Dad. But I got to go now. Carl's expecting me. See you guys later." David dashed out of the lobby and across the small bridge.
Jared watched his son until the boy was out of sight and then he turned back to find Kate studying him. "I told you once, Dave doesn't really remember his mother, but he takes a lot of pride in knowing she did these paintings. It gives him a way of feeling his connection to her."
Kate nodded. "I understand. She must have been a very lovely woman to have created such lovely art."
"She was." Jared glanced at his watch. "What do you say we go get some lunch in the restaurant? It's almost noon."
"All right."
A few minutes later Kate put down her menu and looked across the table at Jared. "I'm very different from her, aren't I?"
Jared, who had just been wondering why Kate had been so abnormally silent for so long, suddenly understood. "Night and day," he said casually. He plucked the menu out of Kate's fingers and turned to the waitress who had bustled up to take their orders. "Bring us the fresh tuna,
"You bet, boss. Be right back."
"I didn't come all this way to have tuna fish," Kate complained.
Jared grinned. "The difference between fresh tuna and canned tuna fish is also night and day. Relax, you're going to love it, especially the way Marty does it."
"Is that why you're sleeping with me, Jared? Because I don't remind you of Gabriella?"
Jared drummed his fingers on the table and wondered why it was women asked such ridiculous questions. "Are you sleeping with me because I don't resemble your ex-husband?"
She turned faintly pink, which surprised him.
"Never mind," Kate said, moving a few inches back from the table in a small action that said more than words she was pulling back from the entire conversation. "I shouldn't have asked you such a personal question." She smiled brightly. "I understand there's a cruise boat coming in next week."
"We get a ship through every few weeks. And the answer is no, I'm not sleeping with you because you are so different from Gabriella. I'm sleeping with you because you're you and you have a way of making me get as hard as an eighteen-year-old kid every time you're in the vicinity."
"Last night you said there was more to our relationship than just sex."
Jared realized he had not phrased his reassurance in the best possible way. "Kate, don't twist my words. I meant what I said last night and I mean what I'm saying now. I like going to bed with you and I like being with you when we're not in bed, even when you snap at me. Look, I'm not good at this kind of conversation. Could we change the subject?"
She propped her elbows on the table, laced her fingers and rested her chin on the back of her hands. Her eyes were very clear and green as she looked at him. "Of course, Mr. Hawthorne. Whatever you say, Mr. Hawthorne. Far be it from me to try to dictate our conversation. What would you like to discuss, Mr. Hawthorne?"
Jared swore softly. "You're mad at me again, aren't you? I was right the first time I met you. You are one prickly broad."
"Yes," Kate said. "I am a bit prickly. But that doesn't seem to keep you from wanting to climb into bed with me. An insightful observer could conclude that my prickliness might be one of the things that attracts you to me and you just don't want to admit it to yourself because you decided long ago you liked sweet, biddable, mild-mannered women."
"I don't think I followed the logic there, but don't bother running it by me again. I'm sure I'd get just as lost a second time. What are you going to do this afternoon?"
"Read some more of Amelia Cavendish's diary."
"Working your way through it, hmm?"
"It's fascinating."
"Only to a woman. I told you I couldn't get through it, even if she was the wife of a distant ancestor of mine. All that nonsense about her social life in
"Then you missed a lot of the good parts. She had legitimate grounds for all those complaints about your ancestor. He treated her abominably. First he woos her and then abandons her without so much as a goodbye note and then he returns three years later and expects her to marry him. When she doesn't instantly leap into his arms, he kidnaps her, brings her out here and forces her to marry him. Yes, I'd say she had a reason to gripe."
Jared laughed. "I'll let you in on a little secret. Roger's journal contains a couple of references to what he called his sharp-tongued little shrew. I gather she made life hell for him on board ship after he kidnapped her. He said at one point in the journal that he was probably the only man alive who could claim to have been nagged halfway around the world. Amelia complained about everything from the food on board ship to the way
"Amelia did not approve of his chosen profession," Kate said austerely.
"I gather she made that real clear. You know, you're beginning to remind me of her in more ways than one. I'm starting to appreciate just what poor Roger had to go through." Jared broke off as the tuna arrived. When the waitress disappeared again he looked up from his plate to find Kate studying him with her intelligent eyes. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing."
"Then eat your fish."
"Yes, sir."
"Do us both a favor and don't start baiting me today, okay?"
She shrugged. "Okay. Why did Roger Hawthorne leave
"A little trouble resulting from a duel. He killed his opponent and had to get out of the country in a hurry. Dueling was illegal. There would have been a hell of a scandal for his family if he'd been caught."
"Why didn't he take the time to explain that to Amelia?"
"He left her a note explaining everything and asking her to wait for him, according to the journal. But apparently she never got the message or if she did, she didn't pay any attention."
"Really?" Kate's eyes were riveted on his face. "He left her a note? She knew nothing about any note."
"And didn't believe him three years later when he tried to explain. So he gave up explaining and kidnapped her instead."
"Very interesting," Kate mused. "There's no mention of a missed message in Amelia's journal."
"Like I said, she didn't believe Roger's story." Jared looked up, seeing a golden opportunity to make a point. "She didn't
trust
him."
"How could she? The man was a pirate."
"Depends on your point of view. He didn't attack English ships. Just those of
"Yes."
"You went snorkeling with
"Yes." She forked up her tuna and sampled it tentatively, then nodded in approval.
Jared sighed and put down his fork. "Did you do it just to show me that you could get away with seeing
"No. I went swimming with him because I had already made the arrangement last night. You probably heard me make it, since you were lying on my bed eavesdropping at the time."
"You're not really interested in him, are you?" Jared was sure of that, which was the main reason he hadn't gone down to the cove this morning and interrupted the snorkeling activity.
"No, I'm not seriously interested in him. He's a nice guy who asked me to swim with him, and I'm supposed to be enjoying myself on vacation, so I went."
"Meaning you don't enjoy yourself with me?"
"I wouldn't say that. I like being with you when you're not grilling me or giving me orders or telling me to mind my own business. Unfortunately, that leaves a very small amount of time in which I can actually enjoy myself."
"Now I know how Roger Hawthorne felt when he realized he'd kidnapped a professional shrew."
"But the good time we do have together makes it all worth it," Kate concluded, her eyes flashing with feminine mischief.
Jared felt himself slipping under the spell of her provocative smile. He took a firm grip on himself and picked up his fork. This was neither the time nor the place to take her into his arms. He had work to do this afternoon. "All right, I'm ready to change the subject again."
"What would you like to discuss now? Ready to tell me what's going on up at the castle?"
"No, dammit." His temper erupted in a flash. The woman did not know when to quit. "And furthermore, I don't want to hear one more word about it. Clear?"
"Clear." She went back to eating and made no effort to introduce another subject.
Jared gave her five minutes of silence. Then he could no longer resist asking the question that had been at the back of his mind for several days. "I'm not like him at all, am I?"