Jason smiled back at her. “It’s a long story, one that started with a trip to Africa.”
“You’re kidding, right?” she asked.
There she went again, back to work charming their host. Finn continued to listen, but the show was decidedly more fascinating. Watching Chloe beguile and engage her quarry was a sight to see. Clearly, she could put people at ease when she wanted to. Why hadn’t she ever tried that technique on him? Since the day he’d met her, she’d done nothing but demand, negotiate, tempt, and drive him crazy.
She wasn’t showing that side of her personality to Jason. Nope. All he was seeing was the injured Chloe, the pleasing dinner companion, the mild-mannered siren in sheep’s clothing. He hadn’t met the shrewd and stubborn Chloe, the one who refused to take no for an answer. Apparently that Chloe was reserved special just for Finn.
“Africa was a life-altering experience,” Jason was saying. “Mostly due to a friend of mine named Miranda Bennett. She’s one of the top dental zoologists in the country.”
“Whoa…an animal dentist?” Chloe asked in surprise. “How fascinating.”
“Miranda lives and breathes animal welfare,” Jason said. “I was lucky enough to work with her, despite the fact that she’s bossy and kept me on the straight and narrow. She and her husband, Matt, currently run an animal sanctuary in Botswana. Just so happens that I helped Matt save her life when an arms dealer kidnapped her. She repays me by interfering with every career move I ever think of making. Wouldn’t have it any other way, though.”
Finn hated the way Chloe was looking at Jason, intent and focused on his every word. He reminded himself that he’d only known the woman a few days. He’d no reason to resent her smiling at anyone. Except he did.
Jason offered up the plate of cookies to Chloe, and she selected a peanut butter one as he kept talking. “Miranda made the job seem sexy, like it was the most desirable career field on the planet. And it is. I love being a vet. But I’ve always been interested in marine life. She picked up on that, and the next thing I knew she’d connected me with friends at Sea World, which led to NOAA, and here we are.”
“She sounds like a wonderful friend,” Chloe responded, breaking off a piece of her cookie and nibbling.
“The best.” He held the plate out toward Finn, but after a negative shake of his head, Jason set the cookies back on the table.
“I have—” Chloe covered her mouth on a sudden yawn. “Oh, dear…oh…I’m so sorry.”
Finn had heard enough. He pushed back his chair and stood, ready to call dinner done. “It’s been a long and grueling couple of days. If you don’t mind, Chloe should get some rest. How about we call it a night?”
Jason matched his move and stood to shake Finn’s hand. He was grateful for the man’s hospitality. They’d be in a world of hurt without it. But at the same time, he’d wrestled with an urge to punch the man’s lights out. The dual emotions were foreign and uncomfortable, to say the least. And every bit of it was Chloe’s fault.
“Absolutely,” Jason replied with a suspiciously knowing grin. “I shouldn’t have kept you so long. We should reach Freeport on Grand Bahama Island by tomorrow afternoon. Breakfast is at seven, but there’s always something to eat no matter what time you venture out.”
Chapter 15
Dinner had been delightful, despite bone-deep exhaustion and Finn’s constant scowl and surly mood. Chloe had found it easy to be polite to their rescuer. Jason was quite charismatic. Finn, on the other hand, had a lot to learn when it came to social graces. She cut him some slack during the meal, but the second their cabin door shut, she took him to task for his lapse in manners.
“I realize you’re every bit as tired as me,” she said as Finn grabbed his duffle bag and began spreading the contents to dry, “but isn’t there a bounty hunting manual that teaches the art of polite dinner conversation without snapping at the host like a growly bear?”
“Sure there is,” he replied tersely. “I didn’t read it.”
Something was eating at him, something beyond their life-threatening ordeal. She just had no idea what it could be. “You know, if anyone has the right to be grouchy, it’s me, not you.”
“How do you figure?”
“Well, for starters,” she said, hands on hips, “I’m the one who got shot.”
He snorted. “It’s just a flesh wound.”
“Yes,” she said with a shrug, “but it was a dirty bullet. I might have an infection.” That much was true. Kyle said so. Open wounds, warm saltwater, yada, yada.
He shot her a skeptical look. “You are, without a doubt, the most exasperating female I’ve ever met,” he said with a complete lack of sympathy over her injury. “Anybody ever tell you that?”
“Never,” she declared. “Not even once.”
“Liar.”
Her earlier feelings of guilt over his sacrifice were beginning to fade. “Oh, yeah? Well, ditto.”
She turned away from him, disgusted with her brilliant display of inept debating skill. She blamed it on the fact that when it came to bad days, today was the second worst day of her life. The first being the day she lost her parents in the plane crash. And now she’d just lost the only real comfort she’d known since that awful day. She felt out of sorts, her arm ached like the devil, and she wanted to scream through a tidal wave of anger and resentment. Instead she maintained control. But it cost her. Whatever sharp-witted dialogue she had left, she’d spent at dinner.
She tossed her bag up on the top bunk, intending to follow it up, but decided to give it another shot and turned back to face him. “I don’t understand you. From day one, you’ve not wanted me around and haven’t once tried to hide it. I’ve done nothing but try to help. It’s not my fault pirates ruined everything. Why are you angry at me?”
When he took a step toward her, she stepped back, hitting the bunk. He stopped right in front of her, fireworks lighting his blue eyes as they glared at her in accusation. “I’m angry because from the day we met, you’ve done nothing but aggravate me.”
“That’s not true.” She decided to glare at him, understanding be damned. “And it’s unfair. If not for me, you wouldn’t have made it this far. Up to now, I’ve been your ace in the hole. The fact you didn’t like having a partner isn’t a problem you need to take out on me or our rescuer.”
His expression darkened. “You make it sound like I couldn’t have done it without you. For the record, I’ve managed plenty of cases all by myself.”
“But you didn’t have to with this one. I had the GPS location of the Fire.” She couldn’t stop arguing with him, even though she knew they were both under stress.
“True enough,” he said in voice that finally started revealing emotion. Not good ones, but even anger was better than the dead zone he’d been in all through dinner. “But those coordinates wouldn’t have done you any good without me.”
“To quote you, ‘I could’ve handled it on my own.’"
He gave a short bark of laughter. “Who was it that got results when the port authority shut you down?”
Her eyes narrowed. “That windbag was probably taking kickbacks.”
“Who had the know-how and the laptop to research piracy in the area?”
“Something I didn’t need since I had the actual location of the yacht,” she said with a tight smile.
“Maybe,” he said. “But it was my idea to steal it back from the pirates.”
He had her with that one. But she wasn’t giving in just yet. “Who all but handed you that bounty money so you’d work with me? I had to pay for your services.”
That was hardly a fair statement and she knew it. He needed that money. He had a family business on the line.
“You know what?” he asked smartly. “I can’t figure you out. You are secretive and deceptive. You want help but refuse to explain. Well, I’m getting tired of playing that game.”
He’d hit a home run, and she responded with silence
. When his jaw hardened and fingers clenched into a fist, a wave of remorse washed over her. This argument was ridiculous. She didn’t really feel this way. Him wanting her gone was true enough, but it wasn’t what she wanted to say. This wasn’t one-sided. And she wasn’t the only one dealing with a loss.
He was about to say something, but she held up her hand. “Please, let’s stop. We’re both tired and saying things we don’t mean.”
Finn didn’t move, but his eyes spoke volumes. They were a mixture of anger and something else. Regret maybe. But she doubted that. This man didn’t strike her as the type to second-guess anything he said or did.
But he finally nodded in agreement, and she let out the breath she’d been holding.
“You’re right,” he said brusquely and moved away from her to finish emptying his bag. “Arguing doesn’t serve any purpose. We’re alive, the Fire is gone, and what happens from here is anyone’s guess.”
They might have lost this round to pirates, but that didn’t mean the war was over. At least not for her. She still had the journal, the promise of royal emeralds worth a queen’s ransom. What did he have waiting? The loss of his family heritage. Surely he had other irons in the fire. Missing out on this one bounty wouldn’t be the end. Would it?
“What does happen now?” she asked him. “Boston Marine doesn’t have to pay a claim, but will they pay you a flat fee for almost getting the ship back?”
He laughed, but there was little humor in it. “No one gets paid. Not me, not your uncle, and not the criminal trophy wife. Intentional sinking isn’t exactly covered by insurance.”
She knew that, but hoped he’d get something for his efforts. Guilt nibbled on the edges of her conscious, and she fought against it. Was it her fault they couldn’t win against an army of cutthroats? No. But on the same token, it wasn’t his fault the Fire now rested at the bottom of the sea either. Wait, technically it was his idea, but it saved them from a horrible fate.
“Will NorthStar survive?” She didn’t want to hear the answer, but she had to know.
When his lips compressed into a straight line and he didn’t say a word, she knew.
“That’s not fair.”
“It doesn’t matter, Chloe.”
“Yes, it does.” She couldn’t let him walk away from this empty handed. It wouldn’t be right. She’d pay him herself, but the trust fund from her parents was shrinking away. The only thing she really had to offer him was the journal, and it wasn’t a guarantee. At best, it was merely a promise of the proverbial pot of gold.
Yet the thought of sharing the secret with another made her heart pound. For so long, she’d kept her research quiet, hadn’t even shared everything with Uncle Jon. Now, and for the first time ever, she actually considered pulling someone else in. That desire made her want to slow down, to think it over carefully. This wasn’t something one shared on a whim.
“Why are you asking, Chloe?” Finn stopped what he was doing and stared at her. “Why does it matter to you?”
He looked confused, tired, and vulnerable. She was, too, but one thing she was certain of was that he deserved NorthStar. “You gave up everything to save us at your own personal cost.”
And that truth was the reason she contemplated this confession. Sharing a priceless secret didn’t come free, however. She still expected something in return. “What if I told you it didn’t have to be that way? That there’s still a chance you can save your dream for NorthStar?”
He stepped over in front of her, and his close proximity stirred her blood, made her think of the way his lips moved on hers, leaving her as boneless as a jellyfish and wanting more. Suddenly the air in the cabin grew thin.
Then another thought hit her. If he didn’t take her up on this plan, he’d be going home. She wouldn’t see him again. For some reason, that bothered her.
“Are you trying to renegotiate our partnership?” he asked.
She inhaled a deep fortifying breath. “If I was, would you be interested?”
He reached out and brushed her hair off her shoulder, his fingers caressing the underside of her chin. She didn’t move.
“You know, at first I thought you’d jeopardize my chances of recovering the Emerald Fire. I wanted whatever information you had, and I wanted you gone. You were like a thorn in my side, but one that I needed to get the job done. Then, to my surprise, I actually started to like you. But then I still wanted you gone because I was afraid you’d get hurt.”
This wasn’t what she’d expected. He should be angry at what he’d lost. This Finnegan, with his soft-spoken honesty, confused her.
“You should go home,” he said in a whisper. “Quit taking insane risks. Stay safe.”
Suddenly, she couldn’t talk, could only stand there in front of him as he lightly traced the edges of her borrowed T-shirt sleeve, touching the bandage on her arm with something that felt strangely like concern.
She didn’t like it. He was doing this on purpose, throwing her off balance to gain the upper hand. She needed to negotiate a new deal and couldn’t think straight. He wanted her to go home, something she fully intended to do. She needed to take down a snake and, if she had to, she’d hire his services. Because she wanted his help in making Lisa pay.
Except right now, at this very moment, the only place she wanted to be was exactly where she was, one step from being wrapped in his arms. And how deeply she wanted that scared her. Now wasn’t the time for this. There was too much at stake. She’d been keeping secrets from him, from everyone, and it was a habit that had become second nature. She wasn’t sure she could change.
She needed to think, to come up with a plan. Instead, she took a step closer to him. So near she could feel the warmth of his chest and see the darkening of his ocean blue eyes. She lifted her face to his and breathed in a long, slow breath. His fingers traced her chin then gently held her steady as he brushed his lips across hers.
It sent her pulse into overdrive.
His hand shifted from her chin, brushed across her cheek, and around to the nape of her neck, pulling her closer and eliminating the last little space between them. He lowered his head, his lips teasing, nibbling little tastes against hers, and she sighed.
It was heaven. It was dangerous. It was all she wanted. After what they’d been through, he was all rough edges and calloused hands, and she clung to him. Savored the delicious feel of hard muscle and warm skin as she slid her palms under the sleeves of his T-shirt.
His arms wrapped around her then, pulled her so tightly against him that she could clearly feel a hardened part of him, one that made her ache deep inside. He captured her mouth with a kiss so demanding, it stole her breath. She instinctively responded, wrapping her arms around his neck and glorying in the feel of his arousal, of her own escalating desire and the friction developing between them.
Reality disappeared under the onslaught of need. He backed her up against the bunk and broke the kiss, only to nuzzle her neck as his hands braced her hips, sliding around to cup her curves and squeeze her against him.
He took a quick step back and ripped off his T-shirt. She loved the sight of his muscular chest and dark sprinkling of fur, but then she spotted his tattoo again, the maritime compass. She didn’t want the reminder, wanted to close her eyes against the reality. But it was too late. She stiffened, and passion fizzled inside her, to be replaced with the notion that doing this with him now was deceitful. Wrong. Not until they’d reached an agreement.
He sensed her withdrawal and took a deep ragged breath. “What is it?” he croaked.
She shook her head, feeling suddenly awkward and unsure what to say. “I can’t do this just yet.”
“You can’t…” He pulled back, shaking his head. “By the saints, woman. Are you trying to kill me?”
She chewed on her lower lip and looked anywhere but directly at him. Kill him? Not hardly. Deceive him and hide her true purpose, yes. Use his hunting skill and brazen approach to bounty recovery f
or her own ends, probably. But intentionally hurt him? No. The truth was she didn’t want to end this spectacular crappy day with a mistake she didn’t know how to fix.
Weariness seeped through every cell in her body. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “It’s just, there’s something I should tell you first.”
“You want to talk…” He sounded incredulous. “You need to work on your timing, sweetheart.”
That wasn’t the only thing she needed to work on. Her sanity and questionable decision-making skills topped that list.
“We owe you our lives,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” he replied. “Can we get back to business now?”
“Not yet.” She turned around to face the bunk and pulled her backpack closer. “I haven’t been completely honest with you.” She pulled her journal out and started removing the layers of protection. “I had another reason for wanting to find the Fire.”
He watched her with new interest. “I know. The journal.”
Her heart rate escalated with what she was about to do. The man from NorthStar will be your guide. Right or wrong, it was time to trust those words.
Chapter 16
Finally, he was going to get some answers. If all it took was to kiss the woman senseless, he’d have pushed those buttons days ago.
“There’s plenty of historical record in the journal.” She sounded nervous and had a little tremor in her voice. “William Desmond lived in a time of great change. And not just during America’s War of 1812. He details efforts of Northern Europe against Napoleon.”
“Sounds interesting, but worth risking your life for?”
She was fidgety and uncertain. Maybe because she was hot and bothered like him and also hated her timing. More likely she didn’t want to be telling him whatever it was she felt compelled to share.
“Desmond was a man who lived in the wrong century.” He watched her move over to the desk, liking the way her hips swayed. She set the book down and opened it, carefully flipping pages until she neared the end. “He was every bit a valiant knight, a protector of his queen.”
Emerald Fire Page 13
