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She’d removed her jacket, he noticed as she rose with surprising dignity to her feet. Large portions of her hair had tumbled free of its tightly wound knot, leaving the shiny dark-red strands to bounce on her nearly bare shoulders. Apparently, she was one of those women who were even more attractive in disarray.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he snapped, not liking his sudden strong urge to run his fingers through all that hair.
“You don’t have to shout.”
“Yes, I do. Otherwise, I’m liable to wring your neck.”
She blushed, bringing a pleasant pink hue to her smoothly tanned features. “I’m sorry for stowing away. It’s just that, well, I couldn’t think of any other way to reach Lucie.”
She’d removed her shoes. Without her stiletto heels, her head barely reached his chin. Digging her painted red toenails into the deep pile of the carpet, she seemed so small, so vulnerable, so…
So devious, he reminded himself sternly. He should know better than to soften for an instant. He couldn’t trust her. Hadn’t he just caught her stowing away on his boat?
“Trespassing is a crime,” he said, steeling himself against her wounded expression. “I should turn back to Miami right now and turn you into the authorities.”
“Listen, I can explain.”
“Please, do so.” He stood back, crossing his arms at his chest as he frowned at her. “I can’t wait to hear why you felt compelled to hide in my closet.”
Frowning, she glanced around the cabin. “Do we have to do this here? This bedroom is hardly conducive to true confessions. Let’s go up on deck.”
His gut reaction was to refuse, to make sure he didn’t concede anything to this woman, but following her gaze to the king-size bed, he had to agree that this was no place to conduct an interrogation.
She was blushing again, he saw when he turned back to her. Worse, he now noticed that the top two buttons of her blouse had come undone, revealing a froth of lace and incredible cleavage. Add that to the wild hair framing her heated face, and she could have just stepped out of the bed in question.
A prospect that caused a sudden, unwelcome spike in his pulse.
Sleep deprivation, he insisted to himself. The mind could do crazy things when exhausted, and nothing could be crazier than indulging in such a fantasy. He had to get them both out of this cabin. “Fine,” he told her, marching to the door. “Let’s talk in the galley then.”
“But I don’t want—”
“Frankly, I couldn’t care less what you want.” He paused in the doorway to glare at her. “I’ve had a long, trying day and my patience is virtually nonexistent. Either you come now and explain while I make a sandwich, or you can tell your tale to the authorities. Your choice.”
Leaving her sputtering behind him, Rhys headed for the galley.
Trae would have loved to shout something defiant, had she been able to dream up anything worthy to say. The trouble was, she knew he had every right to be angry, and if the truth be known, a sandwich sounded pretty good to her right now. With a cold beer and maybe a dill pickle.
She could have told Rhys that her day had been no picnic, either. It hadn’t been easy to convince Quinn and Alana that she should be the one to go after Lucie. They claimed she was too impulsive, too emotional and far too inclined to be unreasonable where Rhys Paxton was concand. Only the fact that she had flight benefits—thanks to her brother’s job at Worldways Airlines—tipped the scales in her favor. That and the fact that Vinny could get her on the 3:00 flight well ahead of Rhys’s 4:20 departure.
In the end, Quinn and Alana had each chipped in a couple hundred to her travel fund, after Trae had promised to keep them informed of her progress every step of the way.
Which she might have done, since she had little else to do cramped in Rhys’s dark, cedar-scented closet, but she no longer had her cell phone. All too vividly, she could picture it in Lucie’s bedroom, a small, black stain on that cumulus cloud of a bed. In all the excitement of chasing after Lucie, she’d forgotten to go back for it.
If that weren’t frustrating enough, she’d realized upon landing in Miami how hard it would be to actually locate Lucie. Thanks to Quinn and Alana—via Mitsy—she knew that Lucie had gone to the Paxton vacation home, but the Bahamas comprised hundreds of islands and she hadn’t the slightest idea which one Lucie was on. Rhys could have no idea how much it galled her to rely on him to find her friend.
She shuddered, remembering his threat to call the police. She should have expected his cold, contained fury, she supposed, but then, she’d planned to sneak off the boat as surreptitiously as she’d slipped onto it. She’d never have guessed, on such a short trip, that Rhys would peek inside his closet.
Following him into the galley, she took in the khakis and dress shirt, rolled up to the sleeves, that he now wore. He had great forearms, tanned and powerful, tapering down to large, capable hands. You could tell a lot about a guy by his hands, she’d been told once, and ever since, she’d judged her dates by their grasp. Over the years, she’d found it an amazingly accurate gauge of character.
How would it feel to hold hands with this man? she couldn’t help but wonder, watching Rhys duck his head as he entered the galley.
Not that she’d ever find out. Pointedly turning his back to her, Rhys stormed from cabinet to refrigerator and back to the table, opening and slamming doors in his search for sustenance. Trae knew she should be doubly intimidated by his display of temper, but the collection of meat, bread and fixings he’d amassed had her salivating. Her last “meal” had been the peanuts they’d served on the plane.
She nodded at the cold cuts. “Mind if I have some?”
He blinked at her, as if startled by her temerity. “Help yourself,” he grumbled as he sat at the table and began constructing his sandwich. “Not like anyone can stop you from doing what you want, anyway.”
Trae refrained from snapping back. The object was to get to Lucie, she told herself. Antagonizing the man would get her nowhere. Taking the chair opposite, she reached for the bread.
Unfortunately, Rhys, who had just finished slathering mustard on his two-inch creation, reached for his second slice at the same time.
They shared a startled glance at the unexpected contact, before retracting their hands simultaneously. The only difference being that Rhys came away with the bread. All Trae got was a vague impression of strength and warmth and a renewed—albeit unhealthy—curiosity about how it would feel to actually touch him.
Slapping the bread on top of his sandwich, he looked up with a scowl. “Okay, I’m in need of a good laugh. Let’s hear your story.”
Annoyed by her reaction to their contact—and his apparent indifference to it—she looked away, concentrating instead on building her own sandwich. “I have to find Lucie,” she said as she slapped ham and cheese on her bread. “You and your boat happen to be my only hope.”
Lifting his sandwich, he stopped halfway, his mouth open as he stared at her. “That’s it? That’s your explanation?”
“Would you prefer I made up something about being kidnapped by aliens?”
“What I’d prefer is that you answer my questions. For starters, how did you know I was coming to Miami? Or to the marina? Not to mention to this boat.”
“I overheard you. When I went to Lucie’s bedroom to use her phone.” Hard not to cower as his sharp, blue gaze probed her. “Technically, it’s your fault,” she said with false bravado. “You stole my cell phone. What was I supposed to do?”
He shook his head in disbelief. “First you eavesdrop, then you trespass, and now you say I’m to blame for it all?”
“Not all of it. I admit I was wrong to hide on your boat.” She bristled when he smiled in triumph, but she tamped down her temper, aware that any display of anger would only make matter worse. “I’m sorry, really I am, but how else could I hope to reach Lucie?”
Having taken a huge bite of his sandwich, he had to be content with glowering at her until he could swallow. “What makes you think you’re supposed to reach Lucie?”
“We’ve been through this, Paxton.” Even she could hear the irritation in her voice. “I have to find her,” she added more calmly, leaning across the table. “I have to help her. It’s the least I can do for my friend.”
She watched his eyes widen. At first, she thought she’d impressed him with her resolve, until she realized his gaze was focused on her chest. Looking down, she saw her blouse had come unbuttoned.
Her cheeks now matching the color of her hair, she sat back and did her best to remedy the situation. “Lucie’s my best friend,” she continued vehemently as she buttoned. “I won’t sit back and watch her get bullied.”
“Bullied?”
“C’mon, Lucie obviously doesn’t want to get married any more than I do. If you’d spend more time listening to her and less to her mother, you’d know that.”
He bit off another chunk of the sandwich, chewing as he spoke. “And you’ve reached this conclusion how? Correct me if I’m wrong, but you two haven’t spoken for six months.”
Did the man know everything?
Before she could explain about busy lives and diverging paths, Rhys quickly added, “Except for your little tête-à-tête in the church. Just what did you say to her, anyway?”
“What makes you think it was something I said that made her run? Believe it or not, Lucie does have a mind of her own.”
He shook his head firmly. “She might have her flighty moments, but she’d never run off like that. Not without encouragement, and certainly not there, in front of her parents and five hundred guests. I think even you would have to agree that it was an act that defied all logic and good sense.”
“Not everything in life is determined by logic, you know,” Trae countered angrily. “Sometimes, you have to go with your gut reaction. And in this case, Lucie’s gut instincts told her to flee.”
“Funny, though, how she didn’t have any such instincts until you showed up.”
How smug he seemed, calmly chewing his sandwich. How proprietary, as if he had sole knowledge of Lucie’s inner emotions.
“Can you really be so sure you know what she’s thinking, Paxton? Maybe she was just so afraid of how you’d react, she told you what she believed you wanted to hear.”
That stopped him. But only for an instant. Narrowing his gaze, he leaned closer. “Goes both ways, Trae. What makes you think you have the hotline to the real Lucie Beckwith? Don’t tell me you knew she would bolt. I saw your face. You were as shocked as the rest of us when she raced out of that church.”
He’d been watching her? “I was surprised, yes,” she said primly, trying to control the flush now creeping up her neck. “But honestly, Rhys, it wasn’t all that unexpected. It’s not like she hasn’t run out on you before.”
He winced, and she suddenly wished she could take back the words. It was a low blow, bringing up the incident, but the man had a knack for getting her riled.
No doubt he blamed Trae for that defection, too, but Lucie swore to Trae that she’d come up with the idea on her own. She’d claimed she had a sudden urge to see London, but Trae knew how little she’d looked forward to her engagement party. “Rhys won’t care,” Lucie had told her blithely, suggesting Trae go to the party and see for herself. Sure enough, Rhys had smiled throughout, acting as if nothing were wrong, telling everyone that a bout with a minor virus had his fiancée confined to her bed.
But to this day, Trae regretted not flying off to England with her friend. The minute the party was over, Rhys had hopped the next flight to London, bringing Lucie back home a few days later with the huge rock still on her finger.
“The point is,” Trae continued with a dismissive wave of her hand, “the poor girl is obviously confused. She needs to talk about this marriage. To someone other than yourself. The minute we reach that island…”
Cursing under his breath, Rhys glanced at his watch. “Damn, what am I doing?” Dropping what little remained of his sandwich, he rose and raced to the door.
“What’s wrong?” Trae called out. “Where are you going?”
“The bridge. At this speed, we’ll be slamming into the island in fifteen minutes.”
Rhys stood at the wheel, watching the sky brighten above the approaching shoreline. Fortunately, he’d had ample time to slow the yacht down before they hit the island. Pulling the throttle again, he brought the engines to a crawl as they hit the harbor limits.
What had he been thinking, letting himself get so distracted? He must be more tired than he thought. How could he get so involved in Trae’s incessant chatter that he’d put his boat—not to mention their lives—at risk?
Then again, had it merely been her chatter that had him so distracted?
Against his will, he recalled the sudden rush of desire as his hand had touched hers over the bread. He’d been caught off guard by how slender her hand had been, how soft and warm. Just like he’d been surprised by the unexpected view of her full white breasts, which had left him wondering if they were as soft and warm as her hands…
“Here.”
Wheeling around, he found Trae behind him, holding two mugs. He hoped she didn’t plan to make a habit of popping out at him from unexpected places while he was engrossed in his thoughts. Especially those thoughts.
Ignoring his frown, she smiled as she offered him one of the mugs. “I made coffee. I figured we both could use it.”
He took the mug. As the rich, aromatic steam teased his nostrils, he could feel his anger dissipate. Trae was right, he decided after a long, reviving gulp. He did need it.
He did not, however, need her on his boat. Or interfering with Lucie. Studiously ignoring his unwanted passenger, he concentrated on bringing them into port.
“I thought of something while I was below,” Trae said, oblivious to his displeasure. “In all the confusion, I had no time to grab my passport. Will there be trouble when we dock?”
“We’ll be mooring at my place.” Keeping one hand on the wheel, he gestured to the cove on the starboard side. “No one should question you there.”
What he didn’t bother to add was that while getting onto the island should be easy enough, getting off again might pose a problem. For her, anyway.
He had no intention of sticking around to find out. Once they docked, she was on her own.
Misinterpreting his smile, she returned it with one of her own. “This coffee sure hits the spot, doesn’t it? I know I needed it. I took this pill for seasickness and it’s got me feeling so groggy, I could have cotton balls jammed in my head. I guess it’s made me a tad grumpy. I blurted out things I probably shouldn’t have.”
Man, the woman could talk. “Your point is?”
He saw the flash of anger, just for an instant, but she clamped down on it with an impressive exhibition of will. “My point is, I’m sorry. For getting in the way, for hiding in your closet, for everything.”
“Everything?”
This time she wasn’t quite as successful at hiding her temper. Green eyes flashing, she glared at him over the top of her coffee cup. “I’m not apologizing for wanting to help Lucie, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“All I’ve ever asked is that you stop interfering in my life.”
“I’m not…” Her hands tightened around the mug, but with a sigh, she tried again. “Look, Paxton, I’ve said things and you’ve said things, some justified and some downright nasty. But right now, this is about Lucie. About her safety and future happiness. Can’t we put aside our differences until we’re sure she’s all right?”
“Are you suggesting a truce?” he asked, incredulous. The woman barged in on his boat, berated and insulted him, and then expected his help in ruining his life?
“Yes,” she said, beaming as she held out a hand.
Studiously ignoring it—as well as her question—he shut down the engines. “Hit that switch, will you?” he said, hoping to distract her. “We need to lower the anchor.”
Gazing around them, hand still extended, she looked as if someone had just yanked the rug from beneath her feet. “We’re stopping here? In the middle of the water? Not at the pier over there?”
“It’s for smaller boats. If I take this yacht any closer to shore, she’s likely to run aground. I generally use the skiff to get to the beach.”
“Oh.” Grinning sheepishly, she pulled the switch. “Don’t mind me. I’m not very nautical.”
No kidding, he thought, eyeing her fitted green skirt and bare feet. “It won’t be easy climbing in and out of the skiff in that outfit,” he told her. “Why don’t you look through Lucie’s bags? I took then down to the cabin earlier. Maybe you can find something more suitable. You can change down below while I finish docking.”
“Good idea. Thanks.”
He said nothing as she went below, knowing that in truth, he wasn’t being helpful at all. While she was below, he planned to get the skiff in the water. If he hurried, he could get to the island—and, more important, to Lucie—before Trae realized he was gone.
It took less than five minutes to get the skiff in the water. He was about to shove off when he heard Trae behind him. “Oh, here you are. For a minute, I thought you’d left without me.”
Rhys saw no reason to grace that with an answer.
Besides, he was robbed of speech when he saw her new outfit. Riding low on her hips and high on her thighs, the red shorts showed off an alarming expanse of smooth, tanned leg. The white T-shirt left even less to the imagination.
He didn’t help her into the skiff, knowing better than to risk coming in contact with all that exposed flesh. More to the point, Trae didn’t allow it. Dragging a suitcase behind her, she stepped over the rail and dropped into the boat before Rhys could recover his wits. “I figured Lucie might want her things,” she offered in explanation.
Cursing her soundly under his breath, he shoved off and motored their way to the beach.
None too happily, either. Having Trae around changed everything. How could he hope to talk Lucie out of what was so clearly a case of cold feet with her so-called best friend chattering in her other ear? That they’d eventually get married wasn’t in doubt—he and Lucie had talked about and planned for this far too long—but Trae’s interference could cause a lengthy and costly delay. Look at the damage she’d done already.
Frowning, he thought about their engagement party. Trust Trae to bring that up—he’d known for years that she’d been behind Lucie’s “impulsive whim” to visit London. How like her to toss it in his face, as if he were to blame for Lucie’s erratic behavior. Mitsy Beckwith had always maintained “that Andrelini person” was a bad influence on her daughter, and in this one thing, Rhys was in total agreement.
