James, Stephanie (5 page)

“Er, yes, now that you mention it. Uh, you collect sea serpents?” he asked very politely.

Tabitha smiled in amusement. “I like fantastic creatures. Dragons and unicorns and griffins and harpies.

There’s something about mythological animals that I find fascinating. I can’t really explain it.”

“Maybe it’s because you’re part tabby cat,” he suggested softly.

She looked up in surprise and then chuckled. “Tabby cats are hardly fantastic creatures. Quite ordinary

animals, as a matter of fact.”

“Any creature is fantastic to someone who isn’t familiar with it. If a man had never seen a tabby cat up

close, he might be quite amazed when one wandered into his life.” Dev’s words were spoken in a slow,

thoughtful tone.

Tabitha stared at him in astonishment. “You’re absolutely right, you know,” she said very seriously,

plunging into her favorite topic. “When the medieval monks wrote their bestiaries they had to describe a

lot of creatures they had never seen. It was natural that the unfamiliar ones seemed quite strange to

them.”

“Bestiaries?” he queried.

“Books of beasts,” she laughed. “They were books of natural history. Full of information on flora and

fauna. They were serious attempts at biology but a lot of the information on animals from far-off lands got

a little garbled in the translation process. Perfectly understandable, of course, given the limited methods of

communication at the time. It’s rather fun to sit down with a bestiary and figure out just what kind of

creature a griffin or a unicorn really is.”

“What do the bestiaries have to say about tabby cats?” Dev’s mouth crooked into a small smile, and his

eyes asked her to share the humor.

“Not much, as I recall,” she retorted dryly. “Something about cats being useful for catching mice, I think.

It’s a very short entry in most bestiaries. Perhaps a case of familiarity breeding contempt.” Determinedly

Tabitha decided to take charge of the conversation. She didn’t care for the personal tone it seemed to be

assuming. “Are you on board this ship to scout out new itineraries for your clients?”

He hesitated as if reluctant to change the topic and then gave in gracefully. “That’s right. One of the

perks of being in the travel business.”

“Have you been in the field long?”

“Quite a while,” he answered vaguely.

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“You must have seen a great deal of the world by now,” she said enthusiastically.

“A fair amount,” he agreed dryly. “Is this your first cruise?”

“How can you tell?” she asked, grinning.

“You seem to be a little reluctant to join in with the others. I’ve noticed you a few times during the past

couple of days, and you’re always by yourself.”

She flushed. “I could say the same thing about you.”

He looked pleased. “Had you noticed me before you encountered me in that alley yesterday then?”

Something about the boyish pleasure in his eyes made her laugh out loud. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I

had.”

“It’s the cane,” he decided, abruptly morose. “People tend to notice a man with a limp.”

“If you think they noticed you when you had a limp, just wait until they get a load of you covered in

bandages and bruises!” she teased gently.

He muttered something in disgust. “You’ve just convinced me to spend the day in the cabin instead of on

deck.”

“Nonsense,” she scolded roundly. “I think you’re quite right. The sun will feel good, and I refuse to let

you sulk down here in your cabin when going topside is bound to be therapeutic. Besides, with a shirt on,

the only visible marks are going to be the bruises on your cheek and under your eye. They’ll give you a

mysterious, dangerous look. Very appealing to the ladies. Just wait and see.”

“I’m on board for business purposes,” he stated aloofly, “not to appeal to the ladies.”

Sensing that she had somehow offended him, Tabitha impulsively reached across the table to touch his

hand. “I’m sorry. I was only teasing you.” When he nodded a bit shortly, accepting her apology, she

quickly withdrew her hand. His eyes went to where her fingers had rested on his skin, and then he picked

up his fork and resumed eating the scrambled eggs.

Tabitha smiled happily to herself. She really did like this man who was capable of being embarrassed at

the thought of serving as a titillating source of interest to women. Such a pleasure to encounter a male

whose ego wasn’t overly inflated! And she could empathize with him completely. She would have

reacted exactly the same way if someone had intimated she might be capable of drawing the attention of

the males on board.

The day ahead stretched forth invitingly. With a strong sense of proprietary interest in the man she had

rescued, Tabitha took charge of the day’s activities. Dev seemed quite content to let her establish the

schedule, responding to her gentle bullying with satisfying gratitude. Dutifully he obeyed her injunction to

avoid overdoing it in the sun and acceded to her choice of chicken with peanut sauce for lunch. She also

made sure he consumed invigorating tea at the morning break and several scones which were served at

three in the afternoon.

In between these times she obtained a deck of cards and played gin rummy with her recuperating

patient. And all the while the conversation flowed easily between them. Dev talked about his adventures

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as a travel agent, and she told him about the small pleasures of running a bookshop in a quaint Victorian

fishing town.

“We have something in common,” he observed at one point as she beat him for the third time at gin

rummy. “Both of us know what it is to be struggling small-business people.”

The thought of a similarity in their careers pleased Tabitha and her normally small, private smile widened

into something approaching brilliance. Dev stared at her for a moment as if he’d lost track of his thoughts.

Then he appeared to remember what he had been about to say.

“Listen,” he went on earnestly, “just because I’m not up to having a swim, don’t let me keep you out of

the pool. It’s getting quite warm out here, and I’m sure you want to cool off a little.”

Tabitha’s eyes widened in dismay. “Oh no, I’m fine, really, I am. I’m enjoying the warmth.” Have this

man see her in a bathing suit? Not a chance!

Now why should she feel so awkward at the thought? she asked herself grimly. She’d been swimming

before in the cruise ship’s pool, heedless of what poolside opinion might be. But she was accustomed to

receiving only mild glances that quickly slid off and went on to more interesting targets. In her demure

bathing suit, with its small skirt at the hips, she felt she achieved a certain anonymity amid the bevy of

sleek maillots and bikinis. This afternoon, however, simply because they had spent so much time together

and had gotten to know each other, Dev was bound to give her more than a brief, disinterested

once-over glance if she were to change into a swimsuit. She’d certainly give him more than a quick look

if he were to change!

“Go on, Tabby,” he encouraged. “I’ll just stretch out here on the lounger and rest a bit while you cool

off. Everyone else is in the pool!”

“I don’t…well, that is…” She fumbled to a halt. There really wasn’t a whole lot she could use for an

excuse. And she didn’t want to make him think she was self-conscious about the prospect of having him

see her in the suit. Besides, he was a gentleman and a friend. He wouldn’t be judging her against the

other women, would he? Dev Colter was too intrinsically gracious to stoop to that sort of masculine

cruelty. “All right, if you’re sure you don’t mind being deserted for a while, I’ll go downstairs and change.

Be right back.”

She was shy, Dev thought, hiding his amusement as he watched her hurry off toward the staircase which

led to the lower decks. Was she really embarrassed at the thought of flaunting that nicely rounded body

in a skimpy little swimsuit? He liked the small, growing signs of awareness he was seeing in her. The

notion of having her aware of him as a man was satisfying. Still, he cautioned himself, he had to go slowly.

The desire to pounce on her was increasing every hour he spent in her company but instinct told him it

would be disastrous. Better to have her relaxed and open, slipping over the edge into sensual awareness

before she quite realized what was happening.

Dev settled back in his lounger, wincing as he jolted a few still-healing muscles. Then his mouth tilted

upward faintly at the corners as he closed his eyes and waited for the return of his tabby cat. He felt

rather like a medieval hunter setting out to capture an unfamiliar creature described in a bestiary. The

knowledge that he was deliberately setting lures and baiting traps took him by surprise. What was it

about this woman that made him want to keep her near? Was it just that he was luxuriating in the soft

comfort she offered? Probably. It was a rare treat.

Women in his life tended to fall into one of two categories. They were either lethally dangerous or else

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they were cute, sexy creatures who found him temporarily fascinating because of his past. He made a

determined effort to avoid both varieties. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of choice in

between the two extremes. Or perhaps, up until recently, he hadn’t realized what he was missing. How

did a man know to go looking for something when he wasn’t fully aware that it existed?

Tabitha emerged on deck twenty minutes later swathed in a huge, oversized towel. She smiled a little

uncertainly as she came toward him, hugging the towel closely. Conscious of his role, Dev returned the

smile, keeping the greeting light and totally unthreatening. He wanted the tabby purring comfortably.

“Here, I’ll hold your towel for you while you go in the pool.” Casually he held up his hand, making it

nearly impossible for her to avoid complying. It took her a couple of seconds but then, apparently

deciding she was being ridiculous, she let the towel unwind and handed it to him with a brave

nonchalance that made him want to chuckle indulgently.

“I’ll be right back,” she assured him, turning at once toward the pool. He watched as she first sat down

on the edge and then slid into the water. It was a hell of a swimsuit, he decided dryly. He hooked his

arms around his knees, sitting up to watch as Tabitha dutifully began swimming laps. The suit was black

with tiny little nondescript flowers scattered about. High-necked, with wide straps and a little skirt

designed to help conceal the roundness of her hips, the garment stood out amid the gaily colored bikinis

and maillots simply because it was so utterly different! He wondered if she realized that in seeking

anonymity she had unknowingly made herself somewhat unique on the sun deck of the ship.

Even though it had been designed to conceal rather than reveal, there was only so much a swimsuit, any

swimsuit, could cover however, and Dev found himself thoroughly enjoying the sight of Tabitha as she

gamely went back and forth in the pool. She was so soft looking, he thought wonderingly. Soft and gentle

and feminine. He remembered the touch of her hand on his forehead the night before and took a deep

breath. A determined man might resort to violence to obtain that kind of softness for his very own.

And he’d sure as hell resorted to violence for less reason than that in the past!

But violence wasn’t the way with a woman like this. He narrowed his eyes against the sun as Tabitha

emerged, dripping, from the pool. He watched the way she shook back her warm-colored hair and then

he realized he wasn’t the only one whose eyes were following the progress of the staid little swimsuit.

With instinctive male alertness he pinpointed the one or two other knowing masculine gazes, and he

frowned in unaccustomed displeasure.

Almost simultaneously he realized something else. Tabitha was totally unaware of the other eyes on her.

It wasn’t a casual pretence of unawareness inspired by feminine self-confidence but a genuine lack of

consciousness that she was attractive. It was as if she simply didn’t believe herself the type of woman to

draw a second glance from any man. Perhaps it was that very lack of sensual response on her part which

made the other masculine gazes slide on past to other swimsuits.

But none of these other men had nearly gotten themselves killed in a back alley on some scroungy

Caribbean island and then had this woman come to their rescue. Nor had they discovered the warmth

and gentleness in her touch as Dev had the previous night. He decided he preferred to keep the

information to himself.

“I’ve been thinking about tonight,” Tabitha began hesitantly as she neared Dev’s lounger and quickly

picked up the towel he extended. As soon as she got it wrapped around her she felt instantly more

comfortable. His gaze had remained politely on her face as she approached, and his smile was one of

genuine welcome. Such a nice man. He neither leered nor ignored. Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as

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