to take him up on his offer. He had looked almost irresistible, lying there relaxed, heavy and sexy as hell, muscles sinking into the soft mattress, and that cool, curious look on his face.
But as she’d observed, he didn’t like things too easy. He got bored quickly. Anyone wanting to keep Jack’s interest better keep him guessing. And she’d already failed at that once, so the pressure was on.
“You trust me, don’t you?” She smiled sweetly at him.
That lazy, puma grin sneaked back across his mouth. “At least as far as I can throw you.” He took a step forward and her muscles tightened as she read sudden intention in his body. “Let’s see exactly how far that is.”
His arms reached out and she shrieked and ran—down the wide steps and onto a scraggly lawn. She ducked left and looked for an opening in the sea grape hedge, but it was too late. Jack’s hands caught her around the waist and clutched her against him.
Breath flew from her lungs, less from force and more from the emotional impact of feeling Jack’s big arms around her again. She braced herself, waiting for him to pick her up and hurl her somewhere. Instead, his grip only tightened and she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck.
Desire unfurled inside her, hot and liquid, darting through her veins and loosening her from head to toe. She could turn around right now and kiss him full on the mouth—but that would end the chase, and the chase excited him. “You wouldn’t take advantage of a defenseless maiden, would you?”
“No way. But you? Sure.” She could feel his grin radiating into the back of her brain. Still, his hands didn’t stray from her waist. She found herself wanting them to.
“So you’re not going to throw me?”
“Apparently I can’t.”
“Too soft?”
“Something like that. But it doesn’t say much for how far I can trust you.” He leaned in closer and his hot breath tickled her neck. “Though, strangely, I do trust you. You’ve never deceived me or led me astray.” He sounded thoughtful. “At least not that I’m aware of.”
“And I don’t plan to start now.” She wanted to move. Being so close to Jack, with his arms around her and her back pressed to his hard chest, was starting to mess with her mind. Worse yet, her body was starting to act up. Nipples thickening against her shirt, belly quivering, knees growing unreliable. If he hadn’t already noticed, he might soon, and she’d rather die than have him know that he still had power over her.
“So, your precious ship. In some hidden cove, I’m guessing?”
“Nope, it’s at the deeper dock.” His hands pulled way from her waist slowly. Relief mingled with a surprise ripple of sadness. “Follow me.” He pulled right away from her and set off across the lawn. Abandoned by his warm attentions, her skin felt cold. Still, she had to keep the dance going. It wouldn’t work if he had his fill of her before they even got started. She was in control this time and she intended to keep it that way.
Jack’s treasure hunting boat was dark blue, faded by the sun. It didn’t look especially precious or expensive, but then probably the treasure it found didn’t, either—at first.
Jack climbed aboard, muscles flexing beneath his faded jeans. “Done much diving lately?”
“Nope.”
“Can you still remember how?”
“More or less.” Jack had shown her how to dive years ago. Breathing underwater felt horribly unnatural and she’d been a slow study. She’d only fought past her fears out of sheer determination to prove he was wrong when he’d said she’d never do it. She wasn’t too excited about doing it again. “Do we need to dive? Don’t you have sonar to find the ship and a team of nano-robots to crawl the ocean floor for artifacts these days?”
He laughed. “That would take all the fun out of it.” He reached down a hand and, with some misgivings, she grasped it and let him help as she climbed onto the shifting deck. “We sometimes use sonar to look for a wreck, though it doesn’t always help. These funnels are used to blow holes in the ocean floor to expose stuff that’s buried under the sand. After that, it’s all about having sharp eyes and a lot of patience.”
“You don’t strike me as the patient type.” She squinted in the sun. The boat was neat as a pin, every rope coiled to perfection and the surfaces scrubbed to eye-popping white.
“I’m as patient as they come.” His slow, lazy smile challenged her to disagree. “I’ll wait a whole lifetime for something if it’s worth waiting for.”
“Intriguing.” She peered at the controls of the boat. It was probably not that much harder to maneuver than a car, should the need arise. “I suppose that’s why you’ve never married.”
“Who says I’ve never married?” His reply made her head snap up, which she bitterly regretted when she saw his smile broaden. “I only said that I’ve never fallen in love. But I’m touched that you care.”
“So, have you?” She tried to look casual, walking to another part of the deck. The idea of Jack pledging himself to another woman for an entire lifetime made her stomach tighten. Which was ridiculous. Why would she care?
“Not yet.”
Relief sank through her. Probably because she didn’t need any more complications right now, like some damsel coming forward to claim that the treasure was half hers as a result of their divorce settlement.
“But I might have.”
“If there was someone out there crazy enough to take you.”
“I like crazy broads.” His lazy gaze grazed her body, setting her skin on fire through her clothes and igniting a flash of irritation inside her.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“Probably why I liked you so much.” He hadn’t taken his eyes off her, and his dark stare seemed to penetrate right through her. Why did she still have to be so attracted to him? You’d think that kind of thing would fade over time. She thought it had! But now that she was right here, only a few sun-scorched feet from him, all that long-forgotten desire was rising up like buried treasure—or junk—hidden beneath shifting sands.
“I don’t think you liked me all that much.” She walked to the prow of the boat, careful to keep her footing on the slippery surface. The deck rose and fell with the constant heave of the ocean, and she had to work slightly to stay balanced. “But maybe I’m wrong.” She turned to him, feeling safer with slightly more distance between them.
“Maybe you are.” His forehead was slightly furrowed, and his eyes rested on her for such a long time that she almost lost her footing and had to grab the rail around the deck. Was he thinking back to their whirlwind romance, all those sweltering nights in the Keys that one summer after college? She didn’t think about it much, not anymore. She was over it.
Truth be told, though, she wasn’t entirely over getting dumped at the end of their steamy romance. And if the spark between them should happen to get reignited, she looked forward to returning the favor.
The rise and fall of the ocean shifted the deck under her feet and her stomach was starting
