She felt the heat like a whisper touch of his finger, and she closed her eyes...
Like a phoenix, his image rose before her, and Sophie dared to imagine what it would feel like if he came to her and took her face in his hands ... if he kissed her...
To her shock, her mouth remembered the taste of him, the feel of him... and she touched a finger to her lips... caressing them softly.
She never failed to surprise him.
Jack had expected Sophie to pout over the loss of her gowns but she hadn’t from the first. A simple grimace had been the extent of her lamentation.
She simply made do with what she had.
He’d also expected her to complain about her cabin; she hadn’t.
Instead she’d moved in with him.
He chuckled to himself over that one.
After she’d paid him ten thousand dollars for passage, he’d never anticipated she would willingly roll up her sleeves and work, but she had, and without ever having been asked.
Her meal tonight had actually been edible, and it was apparent she was trying.
She was either a very remarkable woman or a clever little spy who was bound to turn his entire crew against him. He hadn’t done a damned thing to her, but a blind man couldn’t miss the suspicious looks he was getting from his crewmen. She was winning them over with very little effort, and Jack could damned well see why.
Her smile alone, when she favored them with one, was enough to make a man’s gut flop. The thing was, Jack didn’t really think she even knew it. She seemed oblivious to the fact.
It had been a long day, and he was tired, but he was actually looking forward to the rest of the evening alone with her.
He whistled a cheerful tune as he approached his cabin, hoping it would be enough of a warning, just in case she was in the middle of her toiletry. There was no telltale scurrying behind the door, and so he knocked lightly and then opened it.
His good mood dissipated at once.
Rage filled him at the sight of her.
Chapter 17
She was a lousy as hell spy!
She’d obviously fallen asleep while snooping through his papers.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jack shouted at the top of his lungs as he entered his cabin, slamming the door behind him.
He startled her from her slumber, and she awoke with a gasp, her hands flying out, papers scattering.
Her gaze met his for the briefest instant; confusion in hers, then fear.
It happened too fast to stop it.
She knocked the lantern over. Its flame spilled onto his research, engulfing the papers at once. She shrieked in alarm when she realized and tried to put out the flames, blowing on them.
The fire merely spread faster.
His work was going up, literally, in smoke!
Jack moved quickly; he removed his shirt and began to smack at the flames, yelling for Kell to get water—something—anything!
By God! She was going to kill them all!
She ran out the door suddenly, shrieking, abandoning him to the fire—damned woman!
“Yah, right, save yourself!” he growled after her.
He was thankful the ship was small. Someone shouted at him and Jack ordered him to bring water to put out the fire—all the while continuing to slap out the flames, cursing Sophia Vanderwahl under his breath.
Had he really begun to soften toward her?
Dangerous prospect.
He was going to have to remember this the next time a good thought about her niggled its way into his brain.
“Kell!” he shouted. “Damn it, someone get in here!”
He heard footsteps and spun to see who was there. Water rushed past him, onto the desk, but not without drenching him first.
Before he could say anything, she ran away again, bucket in hand.
Stunned, he turned again to slap at the flames.
Kell was right behind her with another bucket, and someone else with another. By the time Sophia returned, the flames were extinguished, and she stood in the doorway, looking a little bit dazed and a lot sorry.
Jack wasn’t in the mood to be forgiving.
“What were you doing at my desk?” he railed at her. “Looking through my papers?”
She stood there clutching her bucket, and had the nerve to look injured by his anger.
“I should have known you couldn’t be trusted!” he told her, slamming his shirt down on the floor at her feet. She winced and took a step backward. Kell came up behind her, but Jack was undeterred.
By God, he had had enough!
“Did Penn put you up to this?”
He wanted to know right now. To hell with waiting to see. If she was Penn’s spy, for whatever reason, he wanted her exposed.
“Jack,” Kell objected.
“I... I don’t know what you are talking about,” she replied.
Jack ignored Kell, determined to find out the truth once and for all. “Sure you don’t.”
“I don’t!” she protested, her eyes filling with tears. “I fell asleep and then you scared me and then—”
“I know what happened then,” he countered. “What I want to know is why you were going through my papers!”
Sophie stood there, trying to make sense of his questions.
She shouldn’t have been snooping, that much was true, but she didn’t understand why he was so furious with her. She had almost burned down his cabin, that much was also true, but she certainly hadn’t intended to do it and it was as much his fault as it was hers for he had scared her to death. Still... it seemed to her that she was missing something...
“Did your boyfriend put you up to this?” he asked again, and Sophie blinked at the question.
She clutched the bucket in her hand. “Put me up to what? I don’t understand.”
What did Harlan have to do with this?
“The bloody hell you don’t!” he snapped, and his eyes flashed with anger.
She felt Kell’s hand on her shoulder and was thankful for it.
“Your boyfriend is a thief, Mizz Vanderwahl—and you’re no better if you think you can just come in here and help yourself to my research!”
Sophie’s eyes widened in surprise as understanding dawned. “You think I am here to steal your research?”
One brow shot up. “Yes, I do!” His gaze bore into her accusingly.
Sophie couldn’t believe what he was thinking. She couldn’t even fathom that someone would think her a thief! And Harlan was many things but she hardly thought he would stoop to taking another man’s work. And more, that he would employ Sophie to do his dirty work, was simply unthinkable!
However contrite she had felt about starting the fire, she was no longer.
In fact, she was becoming quite angry.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt like shouting back. Except that she had not been raised to engage in shouting matches with any man!
Her grip tightened on the bucket in her hands.
“Let me get this straight,” she said as calmly as she was able.
His eyes glittered ferociously, but he said nothing, merely stared at her.
“You think that Harlan engaged me to spy for him?”
“Damned right, I do,” he admitted, and his glare dared her to deny it. The wretch!
“And you think that is why I obtained passage aboard your ship? To spy for Harlan?”
He smiled a merciless smile. “Bright girl we have here!”
Sophie bristled, ready to do battle for her honor, but there was nothing she could say to defend herself if he chose to believe it. There was no proof she could give him to make him see the truth.
She clenched her teeth, fury seeping into her every nerve. She didn’t think then, just reacted. She heaved the bucket at him, tossing cold water into his face.
It was the very least he deserved and she didn’t bother to feel contrite. It served him right.
He yelped in surprise, and she spun on her heels an
d left him wiping the salt water from his eyes.
She was gone by the time Jack opened his eyes.
Only Kell remained. The few others who had come to his rescue had slunk away when he’d begun to shout.
“You’re not going to like my saying so,” Kell told him. “But you deserved that, Jack.”
And then he left too, leaving Jack to deal with piecing together the charred remains of his research, and thinking that his entire crew had defected to the enemy’s camp.
They’d been blinded by that damnable smile of hers, he decided, and was determined not to succumb to it as well.
The problem was... he was afraid he already had.
The night sky was nearly starless over an endless mantle of marbled blue. The moon itself was invisible but for a sliver behind dark ominous clouds. It was almost impossible to distinguish between ocean and sky.
The breeze lifted, cooling her temper as well as her body. Sophie was no expert on the weather but instinctively she sensed the brewing storm. They had been spared the last few days and nights, had merely been teased with a light drizzle late each afternoon.
Tonight would be different, and the electric feel in the air left her agitated.
Jack MacAuley was an impossible man!
She couldn’t believe he thought her a spy and a thief! Nor could she believe he would think it of Harlan and was piqued that she should feel the need to defend that rat even now. And yet she felt terrible for having destroyed his work, unintentional though it had been.
“He’s really not so bad a guy,” Kell said, coming up behind her.
Sophie turned to face him, crossing her arms to keep the chill at bay. It was cool, and getting colder with the increasing wind.
She believed Kell, and had seen glimpses of a different man, but wasn’t feeling the least bit charitable at the instant. “I don’t believe you,” she said irascibly.
Kell laughed softly.
Sophie turned again to face the ocean, turning her face up into the breeze. It was peaceful out here, almost as though nothing existed in the Universe but them.
“You kind of like him anyway, don’t you?”
He came to stand beside her, and Sophie peered up at him through her lashes. “He doesn’t like me,” she countered. “That much is evident.”
He stared at her, and she averted her gaze.
“You don’t believe I’ve come to spy, do you?”
“No, I don’t, but if you’ll forgive my frankness, Sophie, I don’t think you’re telling us the whole truth, either.”
Sophie refused to look at him. It wasn’t any of their concern why she chose to visit her fiancé. And she hadn’t lied about that—she was going to see Harlan. Her reason for doing so was her affair alone.
“Jack’s not stupid, and he’s sensing something,” he persisted. “He’s a good man, a fair man.”
“I didn’t lie,” she assured Kell. “But I am not a spy!” She turned to meet his gaze. “Why would he think so?”
He hesitated a moment. Sophie could tell he was weighing his words.
“Honestly, I’m not sure it’s my place to say so, but he has good reason not to trust your fiancé, I can tell you that much.”
Sophie tilted her gaze, questioning him, “Why?” she wanted to know. “What has Harlan done to him? I thought they were friends!”
Kell seemed completely shocked by her declaration. “Why would you think a thing like that?”
Sophie turned back to stare out over the ocean. “Because... Harlan mentioned him in his letter to a mutual friend of ours... I thought perhaps...”
“You thought wrong!” Kell disclosed without reservation, and his harsh tone caught her attention. She looked up at him then, gauging his expression. “I can safely say there is no love lost between Jack and your fiancé.”
“Oh,” Sophie said, realizing Kell had no reason to lie to her. The look on his face was contemptuous, though it was obvious he tried to shield her from it. Curiosity made her ask, “Please tell me, what did Harlan do?” It wasn’t as though Sophie thought his integrity impeccable. He had already fallen from her grace.
“That,” Kell replied, “you’ll have to ask Jack. It’s just not my place to say, Sophie. I’m sorry.”
“I see,” Sophie replied, but she really didn’t see at all. Kell’s loyalty was unwavering, and commendable, but she wasn’t about to ask Jack MacAuley for anything at all.
“You say you found Jack’s name in a letter?” Kell asked, and she could tell by his tone that he was curious.
Sophie decided she had nothing to hide from him. She trusted him. She somehow understood that whatever was said between them would go no further. And she needed someone to confide in. She decided it wouldn’t hurt to at least tell Kell the truth.
“I am going to see Harlan,” she assured him, “but it’s not what I’ve led you to believe. I don’t really miss him at all,” she confessed.
“That much is obvious, Sophie.”
Sophie peered up at him.
Was it?
She wanted to ask why, but wasn’t really certain she wished to know the reason he had come to that conclusion. She was heartily afraid the truth was in her eyes. She told him about the letter then, finishing the story with tears in her eyes.
“You deserve far better,” Kell assured her, and drew her into his embrace, consoling her in a brotherly fashion.
Sophie was grateful for his support. Her heart squeezed her just a little at the memory of Jack’s baleful glare. “Please don’t tell Jack?” she begged him. She was angered that he had chosen to believe the worst of her, but she couldn’t bear it if he were to pity her.
“It’s not my place to,” he reassured.
Sophie nodded, grateful for his answer. The
last thing she wanted was Jack’s pity.
Anyway, it would be far safer if he continued to loathe her. Judging by the weight she felt in her heart over his obvious disgust of her, she had allowed him to come too close already, and without even knowing it.
Why should she care if he didn’t trust her, or didn’t like her? After these two weeks at sea he would be of no consequence to her at all. She didn’t intend to bother asking about return passage. It would suit her best if she got off this wretched ship and never set eyes on him again.
One heartache in a lifetime was more than enough.
Chapter 18
The impact sent her into shock.
Sophie awoke, surrounded by darkness, her body quivering with remembered terror. She’d been dreaming, and the dream had seemed so real that she could still hear the wailing of ghosts in her ears. She whimpered softly.
“It was just a dream,” a voice soothed her.
Sophie blinked, trying to orient herself.
“A bad dream,” the voice cooed.
“Jack?”
Thunder roared, shaking her to the bone and rattling the ship’s shutters. A distant bolt of lightning lit the room for the briefest instant—long enough that she saw Jack’s look of concern as he stared down at her.
“I’m here,” he replied softly.
“I was locked in a tomb!” she cried out, her body continuing to quiver and her heart pounding until she had trouble catching her breath.
“You fell out of the hammock,” he explained, his voice soft and comforting. “Are you all right?”
“I fell?”
“Yes, you did.”
She hadn’t even realized she was on the floor.
“Are you all right?” he repeated.
“Yes... I... I think so,” she replied a little dazed, and continued to shiver as the wind howled in her ears.
She sensed, more than saw, that he reached up and pulled the blanket from her hammock. It fluttered down atop her, and he spread it around her, tucking her in like a parent would a cherished child.
Another bolt of lightning lit the room.
He was shirtless. The realization came to her at once.
The ship rolled a bit, se
nding him sprawling over her. “Sorry,” he offered, and retreated from atop her.
Sophie swallowed. “It’s all right,” she said, stuffing her arms beneath the blankets. “Thank you for the blanket.” She didn’t know why she suddenly felt so cold. Her teeth chattered, and he slipped an arm around her. Sophie couldn’t care less about propriety at the moment; she was grateful for the reassuring embrace.
“It’s cold,” she complained.
“It’s the storm,” he said, and added as the ship listed sharply, “I’d put you back in the hammock, but I think it’d be a wasted effort.”
Sophie was inclined to agree.
“I dreamt that I was locked in a tomb with ghosts and skeletons everywhere!” Her heart was still racing, her body tingly and numb.
He chuckled softly. “No skeletons here,” he swore. “But you hit the deck so hard it woke me from a dead sleep. Are you sure you’re all right?”
Sophie felt guilty for waking him.
The ship listed once more, and she slid a bit in the opposite direction. Were it not that Jack caught her, she thought she would have slipped away. “I think I’d prefer the floor just now anyway,” she confessed as her stomach rolled in protest to the motion. “I suddenly don’t feel so well.”
Jack laughed. “Would it make you feel any better if I told you I didn’t, either?”
Sophie didn’t think so. She shook her head and tried to steady her stomach, taking deep breaths.
“It feels worse than it is,” he disclosed.
How comforting, though at the moment, her stomach wasn’t much appeased by his reassurances. She groaned, grateful that the room was dark, because she thought it would be spinning otherwise.
“Kell has everything in hand,” he told her. “He says it’ll pass before morning.”
“That long?”
“Afraid so.” He shifted beside her and Sophie thought he meant to get up.
She panicked. “No! Stay!” she begged him.
She knew she was being silly, but she couldn’t help it. She’d never liked storms anyway, but it was far worse, she realized, to be caught in a squall at sea than to wait out a gale in her cozy little bed at home.
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