by Talia Hunter
“Don’t push her. She has memory gaps, and I don’t want you to upset her.”
Rosa stopped with her cereal spoon half-way to her mouth and frowned. “Of course I’m not going to upset her. What kind of person do you think I am?”
Good question. As much as he was starting to like Rosa, he couldn’t exactly trust her. “You’re the kind of person who went to see her after I asked you not to,” he reminded her.
“Because I was worried about her. I didn’t come all this way just to take a stranger’s word that she was okay.”
“I’m her brother.”
“And I’m one of her closest friends.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, and she narrowed hers right back. Giving as good as she got. Frank had once accused Dalton of being intimidating, but if that were true, she was impervious to it.
“Fine,” he said finally. “Ask her. But be gentle. As bad as her physical problems are, the hardest part is the way she’s suffering emotionally.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s had a serious brain injury. It’s not easy for her to adjust, and she’s been struggling. She doesn’t want to accept that things have permanently changed.”
Rosa pushed some cereal around in her bowl. Her expression was grim. “It hasn’t been long since it happened. She could get better.”
“With the right treatment, she could improve a lot,” he agreed. “But some of the damage is permanent. She won’t ever get back to where she was before the stroke.”
“You think she’ll be able to paint again?”
He gave a half shrug and chewed a mouthful of cereal, mostly to avoid having to answer, but also because he was hungry. The workout had got his heart rate up, and not just because of the view Rosa had flashed him down the front of her T-shirt. Her skin glowed from the exercise, and her hair was as messy as if they’d been working out in bed. Which, come to think of it, would have been an appealing way to spend the morning.
“I won’t push her about the wedding,” Rosa promised. “Whatever still needs to be done, I’ll make sure the bride and groom have a great day. Fight training was exactly what I needed this morning. It’s cleared my head, so I’m ready to work hard.”
“Why do you want to learn how to fight?”
“In case of pirates.”
Her unexpected answer, delivered matter-of-factly as though she were serious, startled him into a chuckle. “You’re not like most people, are you?” he said.
“Is that a compliment or an insult?”
“Do you want to be like everyone else?”
“Not really.”
“Then it’s a compliment.”
She watched him chew some cereal, probably trying to decide whether he was being serious in return. After a moment, she asked, “What do you usually do for a living?”
She’d put a spoonful of cereal in her mouth when he answered. “I buy companies in trouble and save them, if I can, or break them down to sell their assets for a profit.”
She choked, coughed and thumped her chest, then gulped a glass of water. It took her a while to be able to speak again. When she did, she pointed her spoon at him as though passing sentence. “I was right to worry about pirates. You raid floundering ships and steal their treasure.”
“I don’t steal anything. I buy the companies for a discounted price.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Is that so, Captain Plunder? By the way, that’s your pirate name.”
“You’re giving me a pirate name?” He shook his head, trying not to smile. He’d never met someone who’d give her new boss a pirate name one day into the job. Frank had been completely wrong, because apparently, he wasn’t even a little intimidating.
“If the name fits,” she said airily. “Where do you usually do your pirate plundering?”
“Not in any specific place. I travel all over Australia, and sometimes to the US.”
“Steering your ship wherever the wind takes you?”
“You could say that.” Although he’d bet she was the only person in the world who’d put it that way.
“You must have somewhere that’s more like home than anywhere else, though?”
“Not really. I have apartments in several cities, and regular hotel suites in others.”
Rosa swallowed her last mouthful of cereal and took her plate to the kitchen. He’d thought she was finished, but she poured more cereal into her bowl then sat back down.
“Do you see much of your aunt and uncle in Sydney?” she asked, digging into her second helping of breakfast.
If Rosa had been friendly with Tiny at school, she must know the aunt and uncle he and his sister had been sent to live with all those years ago. The aunt and uncle who’d kept Tiny and shipped him off to boarding school. Of course he didn’t visit them.
“You still live in Sydney?” he asked, avoiding the question.
“Not anymore. I hope I’ll get to stay on Lantana Island for a long time. However long it takes for Tiny to come back, I’ll keep the place humming for her.” She grinned. “I love it here already. It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited.”
He scooped up the last of his cereal, taking his time to eat it. Now wasn’t the time to tell Rosa she’d most likely lose her job when the resort was sold. He hadn’t told any of the staff he was selling Lantana yet. Better to wait until the deal was done and he knew the buyer’s plans for the place.
“There were female pirates, did you know?” she said. “I’ve been reading about Anne Bonny. She wore six flintlock pistols in her belt, and when she fought, she fired a pistol with one hand and swung her cutlass with the other.”
“Is that where all this talk of pirates came from?”
“I didn’t think I’d get to meet a real one. But here you are, Captain Plunder. Larger than life.”
Her right cheek dimpled and the green sparkled in her changeable eyes. Her smile was so open, so genuine, it broke right through his reservations. No man in the world could resist smiling back.
“Arrr,” he said, rolling the ‘r’ and putting on an accent that was almost certainly dreadful. “This be rum on me cornflakes, lassie.”
She snorted, almost spitting out her mouthful of cereal before managing to swallow it. “A Scottish pirate, no less.” She wiped milk from the corner of her mouth with her fingers. “I had no idea the Scots sailed the high seas.”
“Did ye not? Arrr, we made all the witnesses walk the plank.”
Her laugh was as uninhibited as her smile had been. He could do nothing but stare as his god-awful accent died in his throat. She was lovely. And she had to be more spell-caster than pirate to make him forget the bad temper that had caused him to stomp around glowering at everyone since he’d arrived.
If she had a pirate name, it had to be Captain Disarming.
He stood up, scraping his chair back, and took his plate to the sink. Best get out of here before he fell any more under her spell.
“You’ve finished already?” Rosa motioned to her own bowl. “Training made me hungry. Or maybe it’s the fresh sea air. I’ve eaten more since I’ve got here than I have in months.”
“I have a lot of work to do.” Not just preparing for the biggest deal of his career, but doing what he could to tidy the resort up. He cleaned his plate and was walking to the door when she spoke again.
“Captain Plunder?”
He turned, not sure whether he should tell her not to call him that, or give in to his urge to laugh.
“I just wanted to say thanks.” She gave him a half smile that was every bit as stunning as the full-sized version had been. “It was better practicing self-defense with you than training on my own.”
The way she sat with her slender body drawn up straight and her chin lifted made his breath catch. She might look fragile, but she was a one-hundred-and-thirty-pound firebrand.
He managed a brief nod. “Same time tomorrow?” he heard himself ask. Then frowned at himself. Where had that question come from?
Her right cheek dimpled. “Same time tomorrow,” she agreed.
7
This time when Rosa visited her friend, Tiny shuffled slowly into her living room with the help of a cane. She looked painfully thin. Mind you, Rosa was too thin herself, having lost weight over the last few months. But Tiny’s stroke had happened less than a month ago. How had she gotten so frail-looking in such a short time?
Tiny obviously had something on her mind. After Rosa had helped her sit in an armchair and settled opposite her, Tiny leaned forward, her face serious. “You have to help me,” she said. Her speech was a little clearer than yesterday, but still slurred. “You have to stop my brother.”
Rosa frowned. Dalton had been so much nicer that morning than yesterday, she’d been starting to like him. But if he was hurting Tiny she’d go full Navy SEAL on his ass, and to hell with the fact he was bigger and stronger than she was.
“What’s he doing?” she demanded. “Is he hurting you?”
Tiny blinked with obvious surprise. Then shook her head. “He wants to sell….” She motioned around with her hand. Her house was small but full of character, with big windows, worn wooden floors, and simple furniture. But it took Rosa a moment to realize she meant more than just the house.
“You mean, he wants to sell the resort? But why? This is your home. He said he wanted to take you to Australia for treatment, but surely you can come back when you get better…” Rosa trailed off, remembering what Dalton had told her about Tiny not wanting to accept that the stroke had permanently changed things for her. But surely she could still live in her own home?
“He doesn’t like it here,” said Tiny.
“How could anyone not like Lantana Island? Besides, if he doesn’t, he doesn’t have to come back. You could come back without him, once you’ve finished all your therapy or whatever.”
“You don’t understand.” Tiny heaved a breath, clearly frustrated by the effort it took to get each word out.
Rosa frowned. “What am I not getting?”
“I didn’t tell you why we left here.”
“Why you left the island?” Rosa frowned, thinking back to what Tiny had told her when they were at school together. Her friend hadn’t liked talking about either her past or her family, but Rosa knew the facts. “Your mother died, didn’t she? And your dad ran the resort by himself?”
She nodded. “Bad things happened.”
“What things?” Rosa asked, even though she could see what it was costing Tiny to speak in even simple sentences. ‘Bad things happened’ was probably as much explanation as her friend could give her.
Sure enough, Tiny brushed the question away. “Dalton can’t forget.”
“This is your resort. You don’t have to sell it if you don’t want to. He can’t make you, can he?” Rosa squeezed her hand. “I’ll look after it for you, so when you get back it’ll be just as good as you left it. However long you’re away doesn’t matter. I’ll be here.”
“Thank you.” The shadows around Tiny’s eyes looked darker, and it was obvious the conversation was tiring her. “But I love my brother. I want him to stay here.”
“You want him to stay on the island with you?”
Tiny nodded. “You can change his mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“Make him love Lantana.” Tiny said it simply, as though it would be the easiest thing in the world.
“How?”
Tiny shrugged a little. “He loved it once.”
“You want me to remind him about why he used to love Lantana Island when he was a boy? Before your mother died?”
“That’s it.” Tiny smiled with one side of her face, and for a moment she looked less drawn and more like her old self.
“What did Dalton like about it back then? Fishing? Swimming? Sailing?”
Tiny nodded. “You’ll help?”
“Of course, I’ll do whatever you want.” Rosa tried to imagine how she could show Captain Plunder a good time. Naked fight training, perhaps? She grimaced. What had made her think of that? And why were the pictures suddenly so clear in her mind? That was no way to think about her friend’s brother.
But it wasn’t Rosa’s fault that Dalton was leg-tremblingly gorgeous. It wasn’t like she’d wanted to have seriously erotic thoughts about him while he had her in a choke hold this morning. She’d never meant to notice the way his muscles danced with each other under his tight T-shirt, or to take in big lungfuls of his man-spice. If he’d kept being Captain Ass-Wipe it would have been a lot easier to ignore those things. So really, it was his own fault for being nice this morning.
Yup, totally his fault. She was the innocent victim in all this, powerless to resist the x-rated fantasies he’d forced upon her.
Rosa cleared her throat. “Um. But the other staff must know the island a lot better than I do. Whatever fun there is to be had, maybe they’d do a better job than me at showing him.” Besides which, she was busy trying put a wedding together. The last thing she had time to do was run around making sure Dalton was having a good time.
Tiny gave her a serious look. “If he sells Lantana, you might lose your job.”
Rosa blinked. “Why?” Then, when Tiny didn’t answer right away, she came up with the answer herself. “Is it because the new owner might want to run the place themselves, just like you did? If they do, they won’t need me. Especially because I’ve just arrived, so I’m still getting the hang of things anyway.”
Tiny nodded and squeezed her hand. “I need you,” she said.
“I’ll do what I can to change Dalton’s mind,” Rosa promised. The thought of losing her new job had sent a rush of disappointment into her gut, and she could taste it in her mouth. She’d packed up her whole life to come here, thinking she’d be staying indefinitely.
The last place Rosa wanted to go was back to Sydney, where Otto was waiting for her. And though she hadn’t been on Lantana long, she already loved it here. If she felt that way about the island, how much worse must it be for Tiny who’d lived here for years? Rosa couldn’t imagine how awful she must feel, facing the loss of her home while she was trying to recover from the stroke. It wasn’t fair for Dalton to ask her to sell the resort. In fact, it was downright nasty.
“Thank you.” Tiny gave her another of her lopsided smiles and this time Rosa smiled back. She’d already come two thousand miles and started her fight training. What was one more challenge thrown into the mix? Rosa Roughknuckles could handle it. She’d figure out a way to make Dalton fall back in love with Lantana and change his mind about selling it. All she had to do was work out how.
Tiny closed her eyes. They looked heavy, as though they didn’t want to open again. Time to let her rest. Almost.
“One last thing before I go.” Rosa kept her tone gentle. “There’s a wedding scheduled for Saturday. Do you know…” she trailed off when Tiny opened her eyes and frowned.
“Wedding?”
“You don’t remember?”
“Not sure. Who issss…?” Tiny stumbled over the word she was trying to say and it came out as an exhausted hiss. She shook her head. “Sorry. Who is getting married?” The words were more painfully slow and deliberate than before.
“It’s okay,” said Rosa. “I’ve practically got it all sorted out already. Forget I mentioned it, and don’t worry about anything, okay? Not for a second. You rest and get better. Let me handle everything.”
“You promise?”
Rosa shot her an affronted look, as though she were offended by the question. “Would I let you down?”
As soon as she had the wedding under control, she’d start on the Dalton Project, listing all the things he might like and formulating a plan.
With her skills, surely she could figure out something. She wouldn’t fail Tiny in her time of need. Whatever it took to change Dalton’s mind, she’d get it done.
8
Dalton used both hands to grab Rosa by her upper arms. At first he’d been nervous about holding her too tightl
y in case he hurt her. But after she’d twisted out of his grip a few times, wrenching herself free and striking back, he’d stopped treating her so gingerly.
Rosa was wearing the same distracting shorts as yesterday, but her T-shirt had a high neck. At first glance, it seemed less tantalizing than yesterday’s scooped neck. So, in theory, practicing throws and punches shouldn’t make him want to have sex with her.
So far, he’d been able to think of little else.
He kept being distracted from the moves he was demonstrating by the trickle of perspiration inching temptingly down the back of Rosa’s neck, and the dusting of sand clinging to her legs.
He was in front of her now, on the beach, with his back to the bures and the rising sun angling into his eyes. Rosa’s chest went up and down with each breath, and her high-necked T-shirt was molded to her breasts. They’d been working hard enough that they were both perspiring, and her arms were a little slippery under his hands.
She smelled of coconut sun-tan lotion and coconut shampoo. The smell of Lantana Island. All through his teenaged years, any whiff of coconut had caused his throat to close and the hollow place inside him to ache. He’d avoided coconuts for years, and when he’d arrived in Lantana a couple of weeks ago, the ubiquitous scent had been one of the hardest things to face. But the smell didn’t hurt anymore. In fact, after training with Rosa, his bad memories were rapidly being overridden.
“Ready?” she asked.
He nodded. “You can break my grip by lifting your arms.”
“I was going to kick you in the nuts.”
Dalton fought a grin, keeping his expression serious with an effort. “Okay. But try lifting your arms first. Link your hands to make the lift stronger. That’s it. You can probably get me under the chin.”
“Or in the nose.”
“Once you’ve broken my grip, I’m off balance. So, what are you going to do next?”
“Um…”
He leaned forward, hands raised as though attacking in slow motion. “You don’t have time to think about it. I’m still in front of you, and in an instant I’ll have recovered my balance and be coming back at you, even angrier than before.”