Happily Ever After

by Tanya Anne Crosby

  “Did your boyfriend put you up to this?” he asked again, and Sophie blinked at the question.

  She clutched the bucket in her hand. “Put me up to what? I don’t understand.”

  What did Harlan have to do with this?

  “The bloody hell you don’t!” he snapped, and his eyes flashed with anger.

  She felt Kell’s hand on her shoulder and was thankful for it.

  “Your boyfriend is a thief, Mizz Vanderwahl—and you’re no better if you think you can just come in here and help yourself to my research!”

  Sophie’s eyes widened in surprise as understanding dawned. “You think I am here to steal your research?”

  One brow shot up. “Yes, I do!” His gaze bore into her accusingly.

  Sophie couldn’t believe what he was thinking. She couldn’t even fathom that someone would think her a thief! And Harlan was many things but she hardly thought he would stoop to taking another man’s work. And more, that he would employ Sophie to do his dirty work, was simply unthinkable!

  However contrite she had felt about starting the fire, she was no longer.

  In fact, she was becoming quite angry.

  The more she thought about it, the more she felt like shouting back. Except that she had not been raised to engage in shouting matches with any man!

  Her grip tightened on the bucket in her hands.

  “Let me get this straight,” she said as calmly as she was able.

  His eyes glittered ferociously, but he said nothing, merely stared at her.

  “You think that Harlan engaged me to spy for him?”

  “Damned right, I do,” he admitted, and his glare dared her to deny it. The wretch!

  “And you think that is why I obtained passage aboard your ship? To spy for Harlan?”

  He smiled a merciless smile. “Bright girl we have here!”

  Sophie bristled, ready to do battle for her honor, but there was nothing she could say to defend herself if he chose to believe it. There was no proof she could give him to make him see the truth.

  She clenched her teeth, fury seeping into her every nerve. She didn’t think then, just reacted. She heaved the bucket at him, tossing cold water into his face.

  It was the very least he deserved and she didn’t bother to feel contrite. It served him right.

  He yelped in surprise, and she spun on her heels and left him wiping the salt water from his eyes.

  She was gone by the time Jack opened his eyes.

  Only Kell remained. The few others who had come to his rescue had slunk away when he’d begun to shout.

  “You’re not going to like my saying so,” Kell told him. “But you deserved that, Jack.”

  And then he left too, leaving Jack to deal with piecing together the charred remains of his research, and thinking that his entire crew had defected to the enemy’s camp.

  They’d been blinded by that damnable smile of hers, he decided, and was determined not to succumb to it as well.

  The problem was... he was afraid he already had.

  The night sky was nearly starless over an endless mantle of marbled blue. The moon itself was invisible but for a sliver behind dark ominous clouds. It was almost impossible to distinguish between ocean and sky.

  The breeze lifted, cooling her temper as well as her body. Sophie was no expert on the weather but instinctively she sensed the brewing storm. They had been spared the last few days and nights, had merely been teased with a light drizzle late each afternoon.

  Tonight would be different, and the electric feel in the air left her agitated.

  Jack MacAuley was an impossible man!

  She couldn’t believe he thought her a spy and a thief! Nor could she believe he would think it of Harlan and was piqued that she should feel the need to defend that rat even now. And yet she felt terrible for having destroyed his work, unintentional though it had been.

  “He’s really not so bad a guy,” Kell said, coming up behind her.

  Sophie turned to face him, crossing her arms to keep the chill at bay. It was cool, and getting colder with the increasing wind.

  She believed Kell, and had seen glimpses of a different man, but wasn’t feeling the least bit charitable at the instant. “I don’t believe you,” she said irascibly.

  Kell laughed softly.

  Sophie turned again to face the ocean, turning her face up into the breeze. It was peaceful out here, almost as though nothing existed in the Universe but them.

  “You kind of like him anyway, don’t you?”

  He came to stand beside her, and Sophie peered up at him through her lashes. “He doesn’t like me,” she countered. “That much is evident.”

  He stared at her, and she averted her gaze.

  “You don’t believe I’ve come to spy, do you?”

  “No, I don’t, but if you’ll forgive my frankness, Sophie, I don’t think you’re telling us the whole truth, either.”

  Sophie refused to look at him. It wasn’t any of their concern why she chose to visit her fiancé. And she hadn’t lied about that—she was going to see Harlan. Her reason for doing so was her affair alone.

  “Jack’s not stupid, and he’s sensing something,” he persisted. “He’s a good man, a fair man.”

  “I didn’t lie,” she assured Kell. “But I am not a spy!” She turned to meet his gaze. “Why would he think so?”

  He hesitated a moment. Sophie could tell he was weighing his words.

  “Honestly, I’m not sure it’s my place to say so, but he has good reason not to trust your fiancé, I can tell you that much.”

  Sophie tilted her gaze, questioning him, “Why?” she wanted to know. “What has Harlan done to him? I thought they were friends!”

  Kell seemed completely shocked by her declaration. “Why would you think a thing like that?”

  Sophie turned back to stare out over the ocean. “Because... Harlan mentioned him in his letter to a mutual friend of ours... I thought perhaps...”

  “You thought wrong!” Kell disclosed without reservation, and his harsh tone caught her attention. She looked up at him then, gauging his expression. “I can safely say there is no love lost between Jack and your fiancé.”

  “Oh,” Sophie said, realizing Kell had no reason to lie to her. The look on his face was contemptuous, though it was obvious he tried to shield her from it. Curiosity made her ask, “Please tell me, what did Harlan do?” It wasn’t as though Sophie thought his integrity impeccable. He had already fallen from her grace.

  “That,” Kell replied, “you’ll have to ask Jack. It’s just not my place to say, Sophie. I’m sorry.”

  “I see,” Sophie replied, but she really didn’t see at all. Kell’s loyalty was unwavering, and commendable, but she wasn’t about to ask Jack MacAuley for anything at all.

  “You say you found Jack’s name in a letter?” Kell asked, and she could tell by his tone that he was curious.

  Sophie decided she had nothing to hide from him. She trusted him. She somehow understood that whatever was said between them would go no further. And she needed someone to confide in. She decided it wouldn’t hurt to at least tell Kell the truth.

  “I am going to see Harlan,” she assured him, “but it’s not what I’ve led you to believe. I don’t really miss him at all,” she confessed.

  “That much is obvious, Sophie.”

  Sophie peered up at him.

  Was it?

  She wanted to ask why, but wasn’t really certain she wished to know the reason he had come to that conclusion. She was heartily afraid the truth was in her eyes. She told him about the letter then, finishing the story with tears in her eyes.

  “You deserve far better,” Kell assured her, and drew her into his embrace, consoling her in a brotherly fashion.

  Sophie was grateful for his support. Her heart squeezed her just a little at the memory of Jack’s baleful glare. “Please don’t tell Jack?” she begged him. She was angered that he had chosen to believe the worst of her, but she could
n’t bear it if he were to pity her.

  “It’s not my place to,” he reassured.

  Sophie nodded, grateful for his answer. The

  last thing she wanted was Jack’s pity.

  Anyway, it would be far safer if he continued to loathe her. Judging by the weight she felt in her heart over his obvious disgust of her, she had allowed him to come too close already, and without even knowing it.

  Why should she care if he didn’t trust her, or didn’t like her? After these two weeks at sea he would be of no consequence to her at all. She didn’t intend to bother asking about return passage. It would suit her best if she got off this wretched ship and never set eyes on him again.

  One heartache in a lifetime was more than enough.

  CHAPTER 18

  The impact sent her into shock.

  Sophie awoke, surrounded by darkness, her body quivering with remembered terror. She’d been dreaming, and the dream had seemed so real that she could still hear the wailing of ghosts in her ears. She whimpered softly.

  “It was just a dream,” a voice soothed her.

  Sophie blinked, trying to orient herself.

  “A bad dream,” the voice cooed.

  “Jack?”

  Thunder roared, shaking her to the bone and rattling the ship’s shutters. A distant bolt of lightning lit the room for the briefest instant—long enough that she saw Jack’s look of concern as he stared down at her.

  “I’m here,” he replied softly.

  “I was locked in a tomb!” she cried out, her body continuing to quiver and her heart pounding until she had trouble catching her breath.

  “You fell out of the hammock,” he explained, his voice soft and comforting. “Are you all right?”

  “I fell?”

  “Yes, you did.”

  She hadn’t even realized she was on the floor.

  “Are you all right?” he repeated.

  “Yes... I... I think so,” she replied a little dazed, and continued to shiver as the wind howled in her ears.

  She sensed, more than saw, that he reached up and pulled the blanket from her hammock. It fluttered down atop her, and he spread it around her, tucking her in like a parent would a cherished child.

  Another bolt of lightning lit the room.

  He was shirtless. The realization came to her at once.

  The ship rolled a bit, sending him sprawling over her. “Sorry,” he offered, and retreated from atop her.

  Sophie swallowed. “It’s all right,” she said, stuffing her arms beneath the blankets. “Thank you for the blanket.” She didn’t know why she suddenly felt so cold. Her teeth chattered, and he slipped an arm around her. Sophie couldn’t care less about propriety at the moment; she was grateful for the reassuring embrace.

  “It’s cold,” she complained.

  “It’s the storm,” he said, and added as the ship listed sharply to the stem, “I’d put you back in the hammock, but I think it’d be a wasted effort.”

  Sophie was inclined to agree.

  “I dreamt that I was locked in a tomb with ghosts and skeletons everywhere!” Her heart was still racing, her body tingly and numb.

  He chuckled softly. “No skeletons here,” he swore. “But you hit the deck so hard it woke me from a dead sleep. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  Sophie felt guilty for waking him.

  The ship listed once more, and she slid a bit in the opposite direction. Were it not that Jack caught her, she thought she would have slipped away. “I think I’d prefer the floor just now anyway,” she confessed as her stomach rolled in protest to the motion. “I suddenly don’t feel so well.”

  Jack laughed. “Would it make you feel any better if I told you I didn’t, either?”

  Sophie didn’t think so. She shook her head and tried to steady her stomach, taking deep breaths.

  “It feels worse than it is,” he disclosed.

  How comforting, though at the moment, her stomach wasn’t much appeased by his reassurances. She groaned, grateful that the room was dark, because she thought it would be spinning otherwise.

  “Kell has everything in hand,” he told her. “He says it’ll pass before morning.”

  “That long?”

  “Afraid so.” He shifted beside her and Sophie thought he meant to get up.

  She panicked. “No! Stay!” she begged him.

  She knew she was being silly, but she couldn’t help it. She’d never liked storms anyway, but it was far worse, she realized, to be caught in a squall at sea than to wait out a gale in her cozy little bed at home.

  He squeezed her arm. “I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. “Just getting another blanket.”

  “You can share mine!” she offered at once, and lifted the blanket for him to climb beneath.

  He hesitated. “Uhhh... maybe that’s not such a good idea, Sophia.”

  “Don’t be silly,” she scolded him. “It’s perfectly all right!” Her chest hurt a bit as though someone were sitting on her, and she couldn’t quite catch her breath. The nightmare was with her still, and the ship’s rolling was making her anxiety worse. “Please, don’t go!”

  He didn’t sound the least bit assured. “Well ... all right,” he relented, and slipped beneath the covers.

  Sophie stiffened at the feel of his bare chest against her arm, and he noted it at once. “I did warn you,” he told her, his voice low.

  Sophie swallowed convulsively.

  “It’s all right,” she assured him, and hoped it didn’t seem so terrible a thing that she didn’t want him to leave her.

  “Should I get my own blanket?” He lifted up the covers to remove himself.

  “No…” Her objection sounded weak even to her own ears, and he lifted the covers higher. “No!” she said a bit more resolutely, and he dropped the covers and settled in beside her.

  Her anxiety eased the instant he put his arms around her. Outside, the storm raged on, but inside the cabin it suddenly didn’t seem so frightening.

  For a long time, there was silence between them. Sophie lay still in his arms, listening to the rumble of thunder and the waves slapping at wood. It wasn’t long before her stomach felt better. He was a solid barrier and kept her steady.

  “When I was a kid,” he began, and seemed to understand that his voice would soothe her, “I used to climb out of my window and ride out the storm in the tree outside my bedroom.”

  Sophie’s heartbeat began to slow.

  She imagined him straddling a branch, while the tree swayed under the onslaught of wind... like a bucking horse... and was amused by the image.

  “That wasn’t the safest place to be!” she scolded him, but there was a smile in her tone. “Although I’m certain your mother would have told you so.”

  He held her a little tighter and laid his head down beside her. Sophie could feel the heat of his breath against her cheek. It sent a shiver through her.

  “My mother died when I was four,” he revealed. “It was just me and my da.”

  “Oh no!” Sophie exclaimed. “I’m sorry!”

  “Don’t be,” he reassured her, and Sophie heard no self-pity in his tone. “I never really knew her, and my father was the best da a kid could want.”

  Sophie smiled. “Especially since he let you ride out storms in a tree?”

  He chuckled low at her ear. “No, even better. Because he sometimes rode out the storm in the tree with me.”

  “Oh my!” she exclaimed, and couldn’t imagine her own father or mother sitting out on the limb of a tree in the middle of some raging storm. She laughed and tried to imagine Harlan out on a tree limb, even as a lad, and couldn’t picture it. He was far too proper.

  For that matter, she tried to picture him out in some field, digging up fossils ... and ruining his manicure. She couldn’t picture that either and frowned.

  Unlike Harlan, she could easily picture Jack there, and she wondered what it was that Harlan did in the Yucatan... besides raise women’s skirts.

&nbs
p; She couldn’t begin to fathom.

  She was still trying to figure it out when Jack whispered against her ear. “I really love the smell of your hair, Sophia.”

  She thought she misheard him. “Wh-what?” she asked, trying to see him through the darkness.

  “I love the smell of your hair,” he murmured, and seemed to be nuzzling it softly.

  A quiver sped through her at the realization, and her heart began to beat a little faster. She couldn’t speak, and he mistook her silence.

  “Forgive me,” he begged her, but Sophie wasn’t the least offended by his compliment ... or by his actions.

  She tried to speak past the knot that formed in her throat, to reassure him that he hadn’t offended her at all, but she couldn’t form a coherent sound.

  No man had ever titillated her so with mere words.

  No man had ever made her yearn for things she shouldn’t even think about.

  Never with Harlan had her thoughts turned physical in nature... never had her body responded so wantonly to his nearness.

  Her mouth tingled at the memory of her stolen kiss, and she longed to savor just one more from his soft, full mouth. Only she wasn’t about to make the first move this time.

  She wanted so much for him to want her.

  She wanted him to look at her not with disgust or disappointment, but as he had that first day on the docks, she realized... before all the unpleasantness had come between them.

  “Sophia,” he whispered.

  His voice seemed rife with as much confusion as Sophie was feeling ... confusion about everything ... save one thing ...

  She closed her eyes, feeling heat flow through her ... so that she no longer shivered at all.

  “Yes?” she replied, breathless now.

  Silence met her reply.

  The scent of him drew her nearer, and her breath became more labored as she tempted him in the darkness, tilting her head back for his kiss, if only he would take it.

  She willed him to...

  Jack wanted to kiss her.

  The scent of her skin intoxicated him.

  The air around them grew charged with far more than just the electricity from the storm, and Jack held her closer against his better judgment. He was wearing only his pants and they were already becoming too snug.