take cold showers in the dark until we’re rescued?”
“Yeah. But I was planning on that anyway.” Coming to his feet, he headed toward the stairs. “Until the water runs out.”
“Where are you going?” Lizzie asked, following behind him in case he decided to shoot something else.
“To light some flares.”
“Can I help?”
He stopped and faced her. “You can watch.”
“That’s no fun,” she said with a grin. “I’d really rather participate.”
He inclined his head. “Would you?”
“Yes. Don’t you think it’s more productive when two people get in on the act?”
“That depends on the act.”
In a fit of feminine insanity, she brushed her bangs away from her forehead and attempted a coy look. “Did you have a particular act in mind?”
His silver eyes darkened with something mysterious and promising and overtly sensual. “Flares, Dorothy. We’re going to ignite some flares.”
Something else was igniting. Something new and different within Lizzie. Something combustible that had to do with chemistry, and not the kind one studied in high school. Combustion between a man and woman. Between Ahab and Dorothy.
Maybe Captain Jack didn’t want to acknowledge it now, but he would if Lizzie had any say-so in the matter. They were stranded and had to find some way to pass the time. Life was short, and no one could predict the future. She might as well go for it because this chance might never come again. The chance to experience what it would be like to have a strong, brooding sailor make love to her. A live, virile man. For the very first time.
Then once she returned to her life, she could take the experience with her. And on those lonely nights, she would bring out the memories to keep her company.
If Jackson Dunlap could be persuaded to cooperate.
Three
Jack sent up the flares, only two tonight. He’d save the other two for later if these didn’t happen to summon assistance.
“Oh, wow.”
He glanced at Lizzie who watched the cloudy sky with wonder, as if the display of light had been provided for entertainment.
“They’re so pretty,” she said, turning her amazing smile on him. “I remember thinking that very thing while watching Titanic.”
Good, God. “I don’t think we should go there, either, Dorothy.”
“Oh, pooh. It was a nice romantic movie, if you overlooked the ship sinking.”
“That’s my point. I’d rather not discuss sinking ships.”
“I guess you’re right.” As she backed up to the railing, her smile vanished but it didn’t detract from her wholesome looks. With her wispy layered blond hair framing her face, her wide, guileless blue-green eyes, she seemed almost childlike at times. Yet her body shouted woman. Jack’s gaze automatically drifted to her full breasts outlined against the thin fabric, confirming that fact.
Dragging his attention back to her face, Jack tried desperately to ignore her current state of undress, but with her wearing only his shirt and, he suspected, nothing else, his attempts at detachment were futile.
She didn’t seem to notice though, much to Jack’s relief. “Do you think someone will find us?” she asked evenly, but she couldn’t mask the concern in her voice.
“Eventually.”
She seemed doubly disturbed despite the reappearance of her smile. “Maybe in a day or two, right?”
He couldn’t bear to shatter her optimism, or to cause her more anxiety. “Probably.” If someone happened upon them. If the Coast Guard had been notified of their disappearance. If the storm didn’t hinder any kind of rescue. And if they were lucky, they had twenty-four hours left before they had to deal with that.
Determined to provide some hope, he said, “Look, we still have plenty to eat. Of course, you might have to give up your dietary requirements for the time being.”
Her hand came to rest with reverence on her abdomen. “I will do that for Hank’s sake. He needs food.” She wrinkled her nose. “Even if it is some kind of questionable goulash.”
Jack admired her commitment to her child. Admired her ability to look on the sunny side of the situation. If only he could be that sanguine, but unfortunately he was far too jaded in general, in spite of his financial success.
The waves picked up, jarring the boat. Lizzie lost her footing and luckily Jack was close enough to catch her, close enough to smell her feminine scent mixed with sea air as she looped her arms around his neck.
“Whoa there, Dorothy.”
“Sorry. Guess I don’t have my sea legs yet.”
She had great legs, Jack thought, and they were brushing against his at the moment. Even though he was wearing chinos, he could still imagine how her bare skin would feel against his. How she would feel beneath him.
He really should let her go, but what if she fell again? She did, closer against him. “Isn’t good balance required when you’re in a balloon?” he asked, surprised at the grainy quality of his voice, at his body’s swift reaction to her nearness. At his resistance to turn her loose, which had absolutely nothing to do with courtesy.
“Not really,” she said in a wistful tone. “You have very little sense of movement in a hot air balloon. It’s as if you’re standing still, and the whole world is falling away from beneath you.”
Jack experienced that same sensation at the moment. He felt as if something inside him was falling away, namely his opposition to anything that threatened his solitary life, his emotional fortitude. “Sounds great.”
“It is great,” she said on a sigh, her eyes linked with his as solidly as her arms circled his neck. “It’s incredible.”
So was she, Jack decided. Incredible attitude. Incredible eyes, both wise and innocent. Incredible breasts pressed against his chest. And a very incredible mouth. Although it made no sense, he wanted to know that mouth intimately. Soon. Now.
There was no wisdom in his contemplation, no hesitation in the kiss. He simply took it, grabbed for the brass ring, as he’d done most of his life. Success had not come to him without risk, but the way Lizzie responded to his exploration—the slide of his tongue against hers, the way phenomenal heat coursed through his body—this attraction to her was more than risky.
As if he’d literally been burned, Jack pulled her arms from around his neck and placed her hands on the rail to steady her. Unfortunately, he wasn’t feeling all that grounded, and it wasn’t due to his lack of sea legs. “I don’t know why I did that.”
She touched her lips with long slender fingertips. “I know why.”
“Yeah?
