A Merrily Matched Christmas

by Virginia Nelson

  “Do you have decent shoes? Something that won’t put a hole in my boat?

  “Yep.”

  “Get up and open the door. Since it’s just you and me, you’re co-captaining.”

  Chapter 5

  Katie swung the door open. “I thought this was going to be a full cruise. I’m not spending two weeks at sea with a stranger. And I couldn’t co-captain if I wanted to, because I know nothing about boats.”

  His grin set her on fire. “It’s too late. I pulled the anchor last night, and we’ve been speeding along. Unless you’re a very good swimmer you’re stuck at sea with me.”

  If she had to be stuck at sea with someone….Enough of those thoughts! She bit her lip and tried not to blush. It didn’t work. Her face burned as much as the rest of her. “You dock this boat right now, or I’ll have you arrested for kidnapping.”

  Eledon laughed. “But you have your ticket. I’m sure no one would believe I stole you away.”

  “What happened to the couple you mentioned?”

  “I called Ryan to make sure he was okay before I pulled the anchor. Pete told him they were flying down to meet us and would sail back with us. Ryan might be able to fly in to.”

  “Why would you pull the anchor without even asking me?”

  He held her gaze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I needed permission to pull my anchor back up to my boat. You were sleeping and since you seemed a bit…” He paused as if considering his words. “Tightly wound, I thought you could use the sleep.”

  “The whole night, though?”

  He held her gaze. “That generally is what people do at night.”

  She shook her head. “You need permission to cart me off to Jamaica with you.”

  “I kind of thought I had your permission when you came aboard and then sent my friend home.”

  “Your friend is very lucky I happened to be here. If he had waited much longer, his illness would be a whole lot worse.”

  “All the same, you seemed to be in complete control of the situation. If you didn’t want to be here, you should have left.”

  She folded her hands in front of her, inhaled, and exhaled, the way Eliam taught Elizabeth to do. Finding enough calm to settle herself, she lifted her head and met his gaze. “I will pay you to dock and let me off.”

  His grin grew wider.

  She noticed a dimple. That dimple made it harder not to stare. This man was gorgeous.

  “If you give me money, I’ll throw it overboard.”

  She bit her lip. “Well, then just let me off.”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  He laughed. “I have no idea why, but I enjoy seeing Dr. Fake Nails in a situation she can’t control.”

  Her cheeks heated, and she bit the inside of her lips to keep from smiling. His confession both infuriated and elated her. “That’s horrible. You don’t even know me and you enjoy seeing me upset. What kind of monster are you?”

  He leaned in and whispered, “The kind that makes you blush.”

  Heat spread through her neck and face. She dropped her arms to her sides and balled her fists. “No, you don’t.”

  He leaned back and spoke at a normal volume. “You’re redder than a lobster.”

  Katie gazed across the horizon, catching a glimpse of the sun then met his eyes again. “Sunburn. White people problems. Duh.”

  “You haven’t been in the sun long enough for that.”

  “I have rosacea.”

  “Liar.”

  “Why would I lie?”

  “Why would you start out with a sunburn?”

  “Why are you a jerkberry?”

  His laughed so hard he wiped a tear from his eye.

  Katie found nothing funny.

  “What is a jerkberry?”

  She blew a raspberry. “I don’t know. It’s my best friend’s equivalent to jackass, and I don’t talk to enough people to realize it’s not a widely accepted term.”

  “As entertaining as this has been, Dr. Jerkberry, it’s time to catch breakfast, and if you don’t help fish, you don’t eat.”

  “One, I don’t fish. Two, even if I did, it’s not safe to eat the fish until you’re at least fifty miles out.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  She cocked her head. “I don’t know the exact mileage but I know you can’t eat the fish off the coast. They’re poisoned from oil waste.”

  He rubbed the bottom of his thumb and the knuckle of his forefinger over the bottom of his chin. “Hmm. Then I guess we’re going to be hungry.”

  “You would seriously make me stay on this boat with a man I don’t know and a food shortage?”

  He shrugged. “We’ve already determined that I’m the kind of monster who makes you blush and a wild jerkberry. Don’t act so surprised. I may or may not have a stocked food supply. Either way, you don’t help fish you don’t eat. And to ease your precious little mind, we’re more than fifty miles out.”

  “If you have food, why force me to fish?”

  “I’m stuck in the ocean for at least a week, and you’re my only companion.”

  “You could have docked when your friends all canceled.”

  “I said I would be in Jamaica for New Year’s, and I will be. You are too, and we’re going to have fun.”

  “Yes, because nothing says fun like getting a bite of mercury-poisoned fish.”

  He turned away from her and walked toward the deck. “I know when a fish is safe to eat.”

  She followed him. “Because you’re a marine biologist?”

  “No, because only certain species are poisoned. The way they are affected has to do with their food supply.”

  “Fine. Hang on.” She retreated into her room and grabbed her Kindle.

  Chapter 6

  Katie sat her rod on the floor. “Eliam would never set a lady out to sea without her expressed permission.” And probably a chaperone.

  “Too bad, Eliam isn’t here and I am.” Eledon glanced at her.

  That glance was enough to set her on fire, but Katie rolled her eyes and picked up her kindle.

  “Eliam, please don’t leave me.”

  He gave a slight shake of his head. “Elizabeth, you won’t agree to marry me. You’re upset and I’m—” He stepped away and turned his back to her, pressing his hand into the stiff lounge chair. “I find it incredibly hard to stay away from you, and you do not discourage me. Sweetheart, if I stay—”

  “You’ll make love to me again. We’ll both enjoy it. I’ll fall asleep in your arms and wake up feeling safe.” Warm tears slid down her cheeks.

  Even with his back to her, he sensed her tears. In a moment, he was at the settee with her again. Her in his lap, his finger softly stroking tears away. His lips muzzled in the side of her neck. “Christ, Elizabeth. I can’t handle your tears, and you know it. But you forget the part where I have to be out before the maid awakens, lest you be ruined. You forget the sneaking around and the risk of a child.”

  “You’ll marry me, if ever there is a child.”

  He shook his head. She could put a knife through him like no person he had ever known. “Lizzy, I have no desire to force you to marry me. Unless you choose me, we won’t wed.”

  Her tears had stopped now. She threaded her fingers through his and brought his hand to her mouth where she placed a feather-light kiss. “My Gypsy has to be the only one in the world worried about propriety.”

  His arms tightened around her. “I am not concerned about propriety. I am concerned about what people say about you, and how you are treated. And as for refusing to compromise, so you would have to marry me, for God’s sake Elizabeth. I have some pride.”

  She snuggled into his hold. “My refusal to marry you has nothing to do with anything that should wound your pride. You’re very marriage worthy. Had you asked for the hand of one of my sisters, I would have granted your request. But I have no desire to marry anyone. And you, you are fun, adventurous, and all the things I am not. I cannot marry y
ou, because we don’t suit.”

  “Sweetheart.” His lips pressed against her ear. His teeth caught the lobe just for a second and released it. “We suit in all the ways that matter.”

  Elizabeth wanted to give in. Relax into him. Let him melt her problems away. “I would drive you crazy. You would be bound to the estate. I would expect you home for dinner every night. I would turn you blasted English.”

  “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Most ladies in the ton cannot say their husband wishes to be home for dinner every night.”

  “I’m not common for the ton.”

  “I know.”

  “You’ll stay with me tonight.” It wasn’t a question. He should drag her to Gretna Green to elope.

  Blood pumped under Katie’s cheek. Stay, Eliam. Please stay. And she knew he would, because it was the sixteenth time she’d read this book.

  “What are you reading?” Eledon asked

  A shake rolled through Katie’s spine and she gasped. Frick. She was so drawn into Elizabeth’s Heart, she’d forgotten she wasn’t alone.

  Eledon laughed at her reaction. “I didn’t mean to scare you, Dr. Plastic Nails.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Uh. It’s just a French manicure. They aren’t plastic, and I seldom have time for manicures. I just thought if I was going on vacation—”

  “You might as well be hot for Eliam, but your nails aren’t what any man with a pulse would care about.”

  She stared at the low hanging clouds in the sky to avoid looking at Eledon. Thank God for the strong breeze. The gushing wind cooled the rushing heat under her face. “And what does that mean?”

  He shrugged. “Sorry, I mean it as a compliment. What are you reading over there? It’s got your blood pressure up.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “You’re all red again.”

  “Ugh. I’m the doctor. I don’t need blood pressure advice from you.”

  “I gave no advice. Just made a friendly observation. Why won’t you tell me what you’re reading?”

  She sighed. “Case studies.”

  “That must be a damn interesting case study. Normal people don’t read case studies on vacation.”

  She sighed. “Fine. It’s Eliam.”

  “You need a Kindle to read a love letter? What kind of name is Eliam anyway?”

  “Romany.”

  Eledon laughed.

  “Why is that funny?”

  He shrugged. “Sorry. They piss me off.”

  She pursed her lips. “What did a Gypsy ever do to you?”

  “They want to be recognized as people of Indian origin. They want PIO cards. The government should issue me dual citizenship first. My people didn’t leave five hundred years ago.”

  Katie frowned. She didn’t realize Gypsies still existed, and she had no clue they originated in India. She probably shouldn’t have called him Captain Fake Accent earlier. But then again, he couldn’t stop poking fun at her French manicure.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult your Eliam.” He said the last word in a mocking tone, his voice going up an octave.

  “No offense taken.”

  He smiled at her, and her stomach dipped. “Good. Now pick up your rod. You have a bite.”

  Katie picked up her rod and began to reel the fish in. Eledon came up behind her, placed one hand over hers on the rod, and the other higher up the rod. He leaned this way and that with her, lending his strength to her. She didn’t need the help, but the caress of his hand over hers, the strength of him supporting her from behind stopped her from protesting. Katie took a risk. She leaned into him. He said nothing but the hold of his over hers became firmer.

  Katie followed the weight pulling on her fishing pole, Eledon followed Katie’s lead, until she’d pulled in a fish that weighed at least twice as much as her Prada bag and medical kit combined.

  She wanted to stay put, leaning into Eledon, but the fish flopped around trying to free itself from the hook in its mouth. No time to linger. Katie stepped forward. “Stop fighting me, or I’ll knock you in the head, you freak.” Katie looked to Eledon. “Aladdin, where are you keeping the fish?”

  “It’s Eledon.”

  “That’s what I said. Where are you keeping the fish?”

  He pointed to the other side of the deck. “There is an ice chest under the bench. Do you want me to—”

  Katie gripped the fish with one hand and yanked the hook with the other. She let the bloody piece of metal drop to the wooden floor of the deck, gripped the fish with both hands now that the reel was gone, swung him around, and bashed his head into the boat.

  Eledon’s eyes grew wide. “Remove the hook for you?” He finished, his words falling flat.

  “What’s wrong?” Katie followed his gaze to the battered fish. “Ah. He would have suffered. It’s best to put him out of his misery.”

  “I’ve never seen a girl mercilessly kill a fish before.”

  Katie grinned and scooped the fish off of the floor. She walked to the ice chest and tossed it in. “I’m a doctor, not a girl.”

  “Dr. Fish Killer, where did you learn that?”

  “I grew up an hour north of Houston, and in the 90s it wasn’t concrete.”

  Eledon nodded. “So what kind of farm girl wears red-soled shoes that cost enough to feed an entire village in India?”

  “The kind that left the farm knowing she’d never return. The Indian villagers are going to have to fend for themselves. Besides, what kind of freakin’ villager owns a boat in the U.S.?”

  He laughed. “I grew up outside the village in a refurbished mansion the English abandoned when they were kind enough to leave. Even my servants lived better than the villagers, and since my tutor came to the estate, I never visited the village. Until college. And I couldn’t handle it. Ryan went to college in India, because he couldn’t get into a decent engineering program in the U.S. His dad helped me get a visa, and when my parents died, I opened the estate up to the villagers, told them to pilfer anything they could use, and I walked away. I’d make my own life here and not be held down by parents’ money.”

  She scoffed. “And if you ate the same meal every day with the addition of random items to stretch it, you’d probably feel less burdened by the wealth.”

  “That’s the point. I never had to, so I let the villagers use it. I don’t care about money. It’s just an invention to divide people and spread war. Most of the world’s problems start and end with money, who has it, and who doesn’t.”

  “It was very kind of you to give your entire estate to a poor village. But they probably have no idea how to take care of it.”

  Eldon shrugged. “It’s a gift. What they do with it is not my concern. But if it helped feed someone’s kid or grandma, it was worth it.”

  “As nice as this philosophical chat has been, I have to go wash my hands before we die of smelly fish bacteria. Otherwise, we’re both going to die of smelly fish bacteria.”

  He veered his head. “There is a washroom in the back. There is a jug of fresh water. And I have plenty in a storeroom.”

  Katie trotted off to the bathroom. She had to do something to distance herself from this guy. He was beautiful. He couldn’t have been more beautiful if he was Eliam. But for the first time, she understood what Lady Elizabeth meant all the times she told Eliam they didn’t suit. Katie was faced with a gorgeous, care-free guy so kind he left his entire inheritance to strangers. But her father was a man who didn’t care about money either and saw life as a game. She knew by thirteen she’d never tie herself to another man like him. She’d never live on a farm. Her kids wouldn’t worry about doing homework in the dark, and her family would never wonder if they would have food for dinner.

  She enjoyed the verbal sparring with Eledon, and his gaze made her think more than once he was a little bit interested in her, but they didn’t suit.

  Chapter 7

  Eledon hated Eliam with a passion. What kind of man let his woman travel alone at Christmas? He
didn’t even know if she was safe. Eledon would protect her. From anything but himself. He didn’t want to break up Katie’s relationship for a fling, but something about the way that woman didn’t back down did drove him insane. If he had to be on a boat alone with her for two weeks, he damn sure wasn’t waiting two weeks to kiss her.

  He wondered if she got motion sickness. It should not take anyone—even a red-soled heel wearing fish killer—so long to wash her hands. He used the time though. Eledon went to the captain’s quarters and grabbed a pair of Christmas socks. He cut and folded the red and green fabric until he fashioned mistletoe held together by staples. He pulled a long, loose string of yarn from the mangled sock, stapled it to the makeshift mistletoe, grabbed a tack from the corkboard above the desk and tacked it to the eave over the deck.

  When Katie returned to the deck, Eledon leaned against the wooden arch. She tried to walk past him like she didn’t notice the mistletoe. But he noticed—he noticed the hint of color in her cheeks that deepened with her proximity to him. And he grinned. Dr. Plastic Nails might be too far removed from the farm girl in her to admit what she wanted, but Eledon had never conformed to things like playing it cool. He cupped his arm around her wrist and pulled her closer.

  “What are you doing?”

  He pointed up to the ball of red and green hanging from the arch.

  “I have no idea what that is, but it’s hideous.”

  “Mistletoe,” he whispered, pulling her to him.

  “You smell like peppermint and sea salt,” she mused, her voice barely audible.

  Eledon chuckled.

  “Since when do Indian villagers care about mistletoe?”

  He gazed down into her blue eyes. “Since they’re trapped on a boat with a woman who beats fish to death and wears Louis Button.” He leaned in closer to her mouth. Close enough to kiss her. But he didn’t kiss her. “A woman who only wants to talk about another man,” he mumbled. He brought his lips to hers and pushed against her mouth until it parted. When her lips opened, he took her bottom lip between his teeth, sucking gently. He licked the inside of her lips and let his tongue explore. He kissed her the way she ought to be kissed. The way she’d be kissed if she were with a man who didn’t let her traipse the globe alone.