was a lithe body with high, pointy breasts, and a stomach you could bounce gold doubloons off. A broad leather belt was slung across her hips, atop a pair of jeans that encased her long, slim legs. Desire crept through him, hot and relentless, like bootleg rum in his blood. “And the prize is tempting as ever.”
“I see you haven’t grown more subtle in your old age.”
“Not much wiser, either. How about you?”
“I seem to get dumber every year.” A smile tugged at her cheeky mouth. Vicki’s lips were always dark, as if she wore lipstick, but he knew from kissing them that it was her hot blood close to the surface. “Otherwise, why would I be back here?”
“Because you couldn’t get me out of your system.” He narrowed his eyes and watched her reaction. Of course it was wishful thinking on his part. She’d probably forgotten him ten minutes after he left. He’d certainly hoped so at the time. Things had gotten way too intense and it was time to lift anchor and run for the open sea.
“You’ve been out of my system almost as long as the last dregs of nicotine from another one of my bad habits.” She lifted her chin. “So don’t get any ideas that I’m here for you. I’m just here because I need you.”
“Be still, my heart.” He placed a hand over it and wasn’t surprised to find it beating faster than usual. Vicki must have that effect on any man. “Come lie next to me.”
“No way.”
“It’s important.”
“Nothing’s that important.” She’d crossed her arms in a defensive posture, and her hips tilted at a defiant angle. Sense memory flashed a moment of luscious recall—her hips pressed against his, arching higher, driving them both to a realm of beauty and madness.
“Not even finding your precious cup?”
“I fail to see how climbing into the sack with you brings me closer to my goal.”
He raised a brow. “I always thought you were a lateral thinker. The thing is, you need to join me in bed to see how things lie.”
She pursed her lips slightly and shifted her weight onto her other foot. Her pale violet eyes viewed him with intense suspicion. “I can see how things lie from right here.”
“No, you can’t.” He glanced up at the ceiling. Time had faded and darkened the image. The plaster had cracked in places, but the fresco still showed the green shore of the island against the pale blue of the sea. “Come on. Hop up.” He tapped the sheets. “So you can take a look at the old family map.”
“What?” She peered upward, but he knew she couldn’t see anything. The edge of the four-poster bed blocked any view of the painting unless one was literally lying on the mattress.
“Lazaro Drummond—the shipwreck survivor—painted the map above his bed, so that no one could see it but him.”
“And his lovers.”
He let a slow smile creep across his mouth. “Exactly.”
Vicki walked toward the bed and climbed gingerly onto the opposite side. She settled herself on her back with her head on the pillow. He studied her for signs that she was uncomfortable—or excited—by being next to him on a bed. But no, she was entirely riveted by the painting overhead. She stared at it without speaking, almost without breathing, for a full minute. “I do believe this is the first real-life treasure map I’ve ever seen.”
“They never do look like the ones in the movies.” He enjoyed the fascinated expression on her face. How long had it been since he kissed that sassy mouth? Six years, at least. The urge to repeat history was rising in his blood.
“I keep looking for the X but I can’t see it.”
“The mermaid sitting on the rock. She’s the X.”
“Hmm.” Vicki stared at it thoughtfully. She hadn’t moved her eyes from the ceiling since the moment she lay down. “So the wreck is southeast of the island. Is there any kind of distance scale so we know how far it is?”
“If the size of the island is accurately drawn, it would be about two and a quarter miles off the northernmost inlet. That’s what we Drummonds have always assumed anyway.”
“And none of you has ever found it.”
“Not yet.” He shot her a sly glance.
She finally turned to look at him. Her pale eyes sparkled like diamonds. “That’s why I’m here.”
“I can believe you bring luck.”
“Luck? How about my sharp mind?” She looked back up at the painting.
He felt as if the sun had shifted and thrown him into shadow. He wanted that bright, hopeful gaze on him again. “What will you do for me if I find it for you?” He made sure his voice held a purr of suggestion.
“Do for you? You’ll get all the loot your ancestor stole and took to the bottom of the ocean with him. Isn’t that enough?”
“There’s never enough.” He stared at her, willing her to bless him with her radiance again.
She turned to him, cheek resting on the soft pillow. “What else did you have in mind?” Dark lashes framed her eyes, giving them a smoky, sultry look. Her soft, pink mouth looked ripe with promise. He could easily imagine leaning forward a few inches and pressing his lips to hers.
Arousal thickened his groin and made his breath come faster. “I like having you back in my bed again.” Her mouth twitched slightly, which was almost unbearably sensual. “If you’ll stay with me here in my bed while we search, I’ll plumb the depths of the ocean for you.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s a big ask.”
“So’s yours. I’ve got projects lined up that could keep me busy until 2050. You’re asking me to drop everything and go fishing around on the bottom of the ocean for a wreck people have been hunting for more than 250 years. It won’t be easy to find, that’s for sure.”
“You don’t like things too easy, though, do you, Jack?”
He laughed. “No, Vicki, I don’t.”
“Then I can hardly just agree to your command, can I?” She sprang off the bed and strode from the room before he could even gather his thoughts, which were scattered and distracted by the sight of her tight ass in those fitted jeans.
She knew him too well.
“So where’s the boat?” Vicki headed into the big living room, past the dark pieces of ancient furniture. Lucky thing she could still remember her way around somewhat. She tried a handle on one of the French doors, which opened out onto a broad, stone terrace.
“At the dock.”
“Not the one we came on. Your super-high-tech treasure hunting boat.”
“Ah. That’s hidden.”
“More valuable than the treasure it finds?”
