Don't Tempt Me

by Julie Ortolon

  She looked at him sharply. "Have you told the St. Claires?"

  "Only that we're broadening our search area. We're progressing with the theory that the blast from the explosion may have blown the powder horn from the ship." He ran his finger over the chart. "We've been following a trail of debris to determine the ship's course as she sank. Gunter and I will be working the dredge today."

  One of the older members of the team, a large Nordic-looking man, nodded.

  "Tony and Sandra will be working here on the platform. You and Sam will be working in the captain's cabin. The horn might not be there, but the cabin is a treasure trove from an historian's point of view."

  "Oh?" Jackie asked.

  "Everything that's been covered with mud is in such pristine condition, it's like finding a time capsule from the Civil War. Paper, leather, wood, cloth, all of it is intact. I want you to concentrate on going through the desk, cataloging the contents of each drawer before bringing the items to the surface."

  "Yes, sir." She nodded.

  "Besides" ---he smiled at her ---"I think it's fitting you be the one to go through the desk, considering Captain Kingsley was your ancestor."

  "You're related to Jack Kingsley?" Sam asked.

  Jackie nodded, and saw awe spark in several pairs of eyes.

  "That's really cool," Sam said. "Wait till you see his cabin. Mr. Ryder's right. It's so intact, it's kind of spooky."

  "Anyone have any questions?" Carl asked. They all shook their heads. "Okay then. Let's get wet."

  Jackie and Sam were the last ones to go in since he had to show her their system for cataloging all the objects they brought up. Finally, they were in the water, swimming nearly straight down, since the platform was anchored so close to the wreck.

  When the ship came into view, she stared in amazement at the amount of mud that had been removed. Following Sam, she swam over the main deck, waiting for the temperature to drop as it had the time before. Other than the expected chill at sixty feet, she felt nothing. Turning her head from side to side, she saw remnants of hemp still dangling from belaying pins along the rail. Gun ports lined the edges of the deck but no cannons. She assumed they'd already been raised.

  Reaching the hatch that led to the officer's quarters, they swam down through it. Jackie's pulse raced as she realized this was where Jack had died. Surprisingly, the area showed little damage, although the louvered doors to the officers' cabins hung at crazy angles. Swinging her light back and forth, she saw they still had a lot of dredging to do in those rooms.

  At the end of the passage, the door to the captain's cabin stood open, surprising her. She'd pictured it closed, as the first mate had described, with Jack's ghost trying to open it, only to have his transparent hand pass through the knob again and again.

  Sam swam ahead of her into the cabin. She followed slowly, half afraid that the strange sensations from her last dive would return. All she felt, though, was wonder to be in Jack Kingsley's living quarters.

  They'd been thorough in clearing the mud out in search of the powder horn, but a thick film still covered the floor, cabinets, and the framed pictures nailed to the walls. Her spine tingled as she watched the bed curtain sway gently in the current. A muddy lump on the floor beside the bed appeared to be an oil lamp. Had he sat up at night, reading by its light?

  She turned toward the bank of windows. Carl and Gunter were working beyond it, and the beam of a light moved over the jagged panes of glass.

  Are you really here, Jack? she wondered, but felt no lingering emotion as she had before.

  Again the light moved over the broken glass. She floated closer and looked beyond the ship into the dark waters of the cove. Had the excavation freed Jack's spirit from the ship? Was he out there, somewhere, searching for the horn?

  A dolphin appeared suddenly before her, peeking through the windows. She jerked back, startled, then amused when it tilted its head as if smiling at her. Then it turned and darted off.

  Laughing underwater was not an option, but she turned her head enough to share her wonder with Sam. He rolled his eyes as if to say the dolphin was an amusing pest, then motioned for them to get to work.

  Chapter 21

  At the end of her shift, Jackie headed back to the dock in the johnboat with Sam, grateful for the warm sunshine after an hour underwater. Going through Jack Kingsley's desk had left her feeling torn. Each discovery had thrilled her, but she hated turning it all over to the public. Didn't dead people have a right to privacy? Not that anything had been embarrassingly personal, but still, they'd been his private things.

  The most significant finds from a historical standpoint were the manifests and ship's log, but she'd also found a beautifully detailed scrimshaw knife, an ink bottle and quill nibs, a brass button that must have come off one of his coats, and in the bottom locked drawer, stacks and stacks of money in several different currencies.

  Running blockades may have been dangerous, but it apparently paid well.

  "Jackie!" a female voice called, pulling her from her thoughts. She looked up to find Rory on the pier, waving madly.

  "It's about time you came up!" Rory called. "I've been waiting forever."

  Alarm skittered through her as the johnboat bumped against the dock opposite her ship. "Is something wrong?"

  "No, but I have news!" A beaming smile lit Rory's face as Jackie climbed the ladder. "I hope you brought that champagne, because we have a whole new reason to celebrate. A huge reason!"

  "What?" Jackie turned to accept the air tank that Sam lifted up to her.

  "Last night, our aunt, Vivian, went to a premiere party for some new play on Broadway and the producer of the Good Morning America segment was there. Except she's not with them anymore. She works for one of the food channels now. They got to talking, Aunt Viv mentioned Adrian was her nephew, and the woman started raving about how wonderful he was in front of a camera. One thing led to another, and ---get this ---the woman wants to know if Adrian would be interested in having his own cooking show!"

  "You're kidding." Jackie let her tank drop to the pier.

  "He's been on the phone off and on with Aunt Viv all morning," Rory said. "She's already hooked him up with her agent."

  "The one who saw him in the school play back in high school?"

  "What?" Rory wrinkled her nose.

  "Never mind," Jackie said, remembering that he'd never told his sisters about that.

  "Nothing's settled, but Aunt Viv's agent thinks he can work a deal. Can you imagine? Adrian with his own cooking show? Isn't that great!"

  "Great," she echoed numbly, wondering where that left their relationship, then instantly hating herself for even thinking that. She should be happy for him ---no matter how this affected her. Life had just handed him a second shot at his dream.

  "Anyway," Rory said, "change clothes, grab that champagne, and come join the party. Everyone's waiting for you."

  ~ ~ ~

  Sitting in the big armchair in the living room, Adrian pressed the phone to one ear and a finger to the other, trying to hear the woman on the other end. Even so, Sadie's bark rang through as the sheltie begged for treats. Allison shushed her dog as Lauren squealed for her dad to set her on the floor. Just the sort of background noise he needed to sound professional.

  "I'll need to talk that over with my family," he said, dazed by how quickly things were moving. "Three weeks is a long time for me to be gone from the inn."

  "Hi, Jackie!" he heard Allison say and looked up to see Jackie standing on the bottom step.

  Warmth spread through him, relaxing his insides. He hadn't even realized he was tense until then. He waved for her to come closer as Eva Phillips continued talking about concepts for the show.

  "Yes, I like the idea of focusing on brunch menus," he agreed. "It's a perfect tie-in to our B and B."

  Jackie handed the bottle of champagne she'd brought to Rory and moved his way. When she tried to scoot past him and sit on the sofa, he caught her hand and pulled her b
ack. Off balance, she fell in his lap.

  "Adrian ..." she whispered, glancing toward his family. He saw his sisters exchange smiles as they continued preparing lunch.

  Jackie tried to struggle up, but he anchored her with one arm. "Actually, I haven't decided about moving to L.A. I need to think about that."

  Jackie's eyes bugged a bit at hearing that and she finally went still.

  "Yes, I understand," he told the producer. "I just don't see why the show can't be shot here at the inn. You seemed to think the setting worked fine before."

  The woman argued vehemently, and he pulled his attention away from Jackie long enough to finish his conversation. "I'll talk it over with my agent and have him give you a call." Hanging up, he framed Jackie's face with both hands and brought her mouth to his for a smacking kiss that was just long enough to get his blood pumping. "I've been needing to do that all morning. Where have you been?"

  "Diving with Carl's team."

  "Oh, really?" He raised his brows. "I'd like to hear about that."

  "First, tell me your news. I understand congratulations are in order."

  "Mmm, they certainly are." He smiled, thinking about the night before.

  "Come on, you two," Rory called from the bar area as she took a wiggling Lauren from Chance. "You can play kissy-face later. We want to hear what the TV people said."

  Adrian gave Jackie a long-suffering look. "Little sisters are such a pain at times."

  "Well, I want to hear the news, too," she said.

  "Okay." He stood and set Jackie on her feet but kept an arm about her waist as they joined the others. "What do y'all think of Breakfast with Adrian?"

  Rory scrunched her nose, considering it. "Not exciting, but not bad."

  "I like it," Alli said. "It's kind of sexy. You know, the whole implication of breakfast after a night in bed."

  Laughing, Scott pulled her to him. "You have such a naughty mind."

  "Just don't tell anyone." Alli gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You'll ruin my reputation as a good girl."

  "Chance?" Adrian asked. "What do you think?"

  "The breakfast part is a good plug for the inn," Chance said.

  They all turned to Scott for his reaction.

  "Don't look at me." Scott held up a hand. "I stink at titles. Give me a four-hundred-page novel to write any day."

  "What about you?" Adrian turned to Jackie.

  She glanced around, clearly startled to even be asked. "I, um, I agree with Allison. It has a certain implication women viewers are bound to like. Although" ---she frowned at him ---"what's this about moving to L.A.?"

  He exhaled in a rush, as excitement and doubt battled it out in his stomach. "Eva says it wouldn't have to be year-round, but they want to shoot the show on a sound stage before a live audience."

  "Nooo," Rory protested. "They should film it here."

  "I agree." He looked at the faces around him and tried to imagine not seeing his family every day. And what about Jackie? That was the big question. How would he continue seeing her if he moved to California? "I'm pushing for here, but she sounds pretty set on L.A."

  "But what about the inn?" Rory asked. "The whole reason we started it was so we could stay together."

  "Rory ..." Allison frowned at her. "We can manage without Adrian if we have to. We'd miss him, yes, but we'd manage."

  "I know, but L.A.? That's so far." Rory turned to him with that sad, blue-eyed look that always went straight to his heart. "Unless you want to go."

  "I don't know what I want. I've never thought about moving away." Well, not consciously since high school. He had been feeling restless for months, though, so maybe subconsciously he'd been searching for something just like this. He tried to catch Jackie's eye for some reassurance that this wouldn't end things between them before they'd even begun, but she'd found a new obsession with picking crumbs off the bar. "One way or the other, I need to go out there for a while. They want me to appear as a guest chef on a few other cooking shows to build name recognition."

  "When will that be?" Alli asked, carrying food to the table.

  "As soon as they can arrange it." He caught another distressed look from Rory and hid his excitement. "I'll try to keep the trip as short as possible."

  As everyone headed for their seats around the table, Jackie started toward her usual chair opposite Adrian, but he grabbed her hand and steered her to the chair next to his. With a start, she realized Rory had already moved the high chair down, which shifted Chance to the foot of the table. Had they discussed this while she was diving, or had Rory just done it automatically?

  Feeling conspicuous, she took her new seat. The conversation continued around her but she could barely concentrate. Was Adrian really thinking about moving?

  Yes, she realized, listening to the subtle tension in his voice, the slight strain to his laugh. He wanted to go, but he felt guilty about it.

  She wanted to encourage him, even as she wondered: Why now? Why did this have to happen right when she thought she had a chance at a real relationship with the most wonderful man she'd ever met? That alone had frightened her, but now this?

  When the meal ended, Rory fetched the bottle of champagne from the refrigerator and Alli set a chocolate cake adorned with fresh strawberries in the middle of the table.

  "Here, Chance." Rory handed him the bottle. "You always do this so well."

  Seconds later, the cork popped toward the ceiling. Lauren clapped as her daddy started filling champagne flutes. "Sorry, peanut," he said. "None for you. Who wants to make the toast?"

  "Actually, I'd like to," Scott said. "If y'all don't mind."

  "Of course we don't," Rory assured him.

  "Okay." Scott rose and frowned at the bubbles rising in his glass as he collected his thoughts. "I want to say I'm happy for Adrian's news and for how well things are going for the inn. With success comes change, though, and new challenges. Whatever the future brings, I hope the three of you will remember the things in life that matter most, and that's what you have in this room: each other." He reached down and took Allison's hand. "So I'd like to propose a toast to prosperity, happiness, but most of all to family. And to say thank you for letting me be part of this one."

  "Hear, hear!" Chance touched his glass to Scott's. "I couldn't have said it better."

  "Oh, Scott." Alli stood to hug him. "You've gone and made me all teary."

  "Well, there's a mean feat," he teased her.

  Jackie turned to Adrian in time to see guilt flash in his eyes before his gaze dropped to the table. Scott couldn't have hit the target better if Adrian had drawn a bull's-eye over his heart.

  "To family," Rory said, raising her glass.

  "To family," Adrian echoed.

  Jackie drank with the others out of politeness, then glanced at her watch. If she didn't get out of there quickly, she'd say something she'd regret, like telling all of them to give the man a break. Did he have to live his entire life for them? "I hate to dash off like this, but I have a ship to sail."

  "Hold up, I'll walk you." His expression told her he needed to get out of there as badly as she did. "The rest of you carry on," he said over his shoulder. "I'll be back in a minute."

  "Take your time," Rory called.

  Jackie debated what to say as they ascended the stairs. Neither of them spoke until they reached the veranda. For once, the area was free of guests.

  "Finally, a moment alone." Adrian pulled her to a stop. "I wish you weren't leaving. I hate the thought of not seeing you for another month."

  "Sounds like you'll be too busy to notice I'm gone."

  "I'll notice." He tugged her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her.

  She rested her head against his chest and soaked in the simple pleasure of being held.

  "I'll miss you," he said with his chin on top of her head.

  Her heart sped up at his words, and a desperate urge filled her to send Ti sailing off without her and ask Adrian not to go to L.A. But such rash beha
vior held no regard for what was best long term. Closing her eyes, she tried to think of his future, if not her own.

  "Adrian, look ..." She leaned back enough to see his face. "About Scott's toast, don't let that get to you. Yes, family is important, and I envy you your relationship with your sisters more than I can say, but this is one time when I don't think you should put them first. You did that before when you had a chance to follow your dream. You chose to stay home for them. Now life is handing you a second chance. This time, do what's right for you. You deserve this."

  His arms loosened. "Are you saying you want me to move to L.A.?"

  "The question is, do you want to move?"

  "I don't know." He stepped to the railing and leaned back against it. "This is happening so fast, I haven't had time to think."

  "Well, you don't have to look so gloomy about it." She thought of how he always teased her into a lighter mood, and decided to try and do the same for him. She summoned a playful smile. "What happened to the guy who thinks life should be fun?"

  He lifted a brow. "I like fun."

  "I know you do." Her cheeks heated with memories of their night in his bed.

  He hooked a finger in the waistband of her jeans. "What did you have in mind?"

  "Only that you should go out to California, do the guest shots, have a good time, and see how you like it."

  "On one condition." His eyes danced with sexy mischief. "I get to give you another cooking lesson when I get back. At my house this time. With the doors locked."

  "Maybe." A thrill went through her at the thought.

  "Or better yet ..." He gave her jeans another tug and she fell against him. "Go with me."

  "I can't do that." She laughed in surprise, her hands against his chest. "I have ---"

  "I know. The ship." He looped his arms about her hips. "Go with me anyway. It's only for three weeks. We'll explore whole new ways of how to have fun."

  Meeting his lively blue gaze, she wanted more than anything to say yes, to lean forward and kiss him and agree to follow him anywhere. But how could she jeopardize eight years of hard work that were just beginning to pay off for three weeks of fun? She couldn't afford that much time off!"Adrian," she sighed, cupping his face in one palm. "This is your chance, not mine. Only you can decide what's right for you."