by Lori Wilde
“And you were just six or seven?” She wrung her hands. “Where were your parents?”
He shrugged. “They were pretty lax.”
She shook her head. No child of hers would ever be given such a free rein at such a young age.
“I dropped anchor. I was convinced that I was going to find a school of dolphins and swim away with them. I totally believed it deep down in my bones.”
What an imaginative and adventuresome kid he’d been. Haley was hooked on the horns of his narrative. He had a way of spinning a story that reeled her in. He’d make a great salesman.
“I held my breath and dived in headfirst. Everything around me was dark and cold.”
But of course. Jeb would never just dip his toe into something and ease into it.
“And I was really shocked when I couldn’t stay under. I tried, but the water pushed against me and I just had to breathe. I tried to breathe underwater, but of course, I got a mouthful of ocean. Then it occurred to me that the reason I couldn’t do it, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t find my dolphin family was because I’d anchored that pedal boat and if I hadn’t had a fallback plan, then I would have been able to swim away underwater. I’d ruined my chances by casting a safety net, by not trusting in the magic.”
“Did you try it without anchoring the boat?”
He shook his head. “My dad found me and I got a good bawling out. Not long after that, he sold the beach house, but honestly, I believed it was because my lack of belief had blown my chances forever.”
“And yet you named your boat Second Chance.”
A smile played at his lips. “I did, at that.”
“You need to get some rest.” She picked up the tray, moved to the door with it.
“You’re not going to leave me here alone, are you?”
“That’s the idea.”
“I’m bored.”
Honestly, so was she. She’d spent the past day reading ebooks on her cell phone in between checking in on him. She was more than ready for conversation.
“I’ve got some board games underneath the bench seating of the dining room table,” he said. “Pick your favorite.”
She was tempted. “If you promise to be good.”
“Define good.” He grinned impishly.
“Not getting up until I say you can.”
“Not sure I can keep that promise.” The sexy look on his face told her he was thinking of an alternate meaning for the word up.
Her cheeks burned. She sat down the tray, opened a drawer, pulled out underwear, cargo shorts and a T-shirt for him and tossed them at him. “Put these on and I’ll think about playing a game with you.”
“Don’t think too hard, angel. That’s your problem—you think too much.”
“And your problem is that you don’t think enough.”
“Makes us a perfect match,” he teased. “Two halves of a whole.”
She picked up the tray again. “I wonder what your friend Jackie would have to say about that.” Then she turned and walked out the door, blood pumping hot and fast through her veins.
*
JEB GOT DRESSED in the clothes that Haley had thrown at him and he waited for her return.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
An hour later, when he assumed she was just going to leave him hanging, a sharp knock sounded on the door, but she didn’t wait for him to invite her in. Instead, she entered, carrying an armful of board games.
“I’ve never heard of any of these games before. Don’t you have Monopoly or Scrabble or Parcheesi?”
“Nope.”
She set the board games on the bed. “You pick one.”
“Ah,” he said, slipping the bottom game from the stack. “This one.”
“‘I’ve Never,’” she said, reading the name of the game, “‘The Outrageous Game of Truth.’ Hmm. Sounds interesting. I’m in.”
“Actually, it’s a drinking game. You need hooch.”
“Well, I’m not going to let you drink. You’re just recovering from a fever.”
“Think of it as medicinal, Scotch and water, with lots of water so I don’t dehydrate? Besides, I never lose at this game. You’ll be the one doing all the drinking.”
“Oh, ho, that sounds like a challenge to me. Consider the gauntlet thrown,” she said. “I’m very competitive.”
“So I’ve noticed. The liquor is underneath the bar.”
She left and came back a few minutes later with a bottle of peach brandy and two tumblers. She poured an inch into each glass. “Sip when you lose.”
“I’m not going to lose.”
“We’ll see,” she said, giving him a knowing look that was so adorable he almost laughed. “How do you play this thing?”
“It’s pretty simple. You roll the dice, move to that numbered square on the board and if the question written on the square is true, then you move forward a space. If it’s not true, you have to take a drink, then roll the dice again for your next move.”
“What’s to keep someone from lying?”
“I don’t lie. Do you?”
“No. This is a hypothetical question.”
“If you’re caught in a lie and you’re called on it, you have to drink twice.”
“Hmm, so this game turns you into a drunken liar.”
“Only if you don’t tell the truth.”
“I’m ready to whip your butt,” she said, rolling the dice between her palms as he opened the board up on the bed between them. She rolled a three, moved her game piece forward three spaces and leaned over to read what was written there.
“Hey,” she said. “These questions are all of an adult nature.”
“That’s the game.” He gave her a knowing wink. “Too much for you? We could always play Old Maid.”
“Are you saying I’m a prude?”
“You are blushing.”
“Fine.” She ran a hand through her hair and pressed her lips into a prim line and then read the question on the game board. “‘I’ve never been spanked in foreplay.’”
Jeb chuckled. He’d bet a thousand dollars that Haley had never done anything that outside-the-box. Not that a little spanking was very kinky. “True or false, angel? If it’s true, you get to move forward one square. If it’s false, you have to take a drink.”
Hesitantly, she took a sip of brandy.
“Look at you,” Jeb hooted. “Haley likes having her butt spanked. No wonder you wanted to whip mine.”
“I didn’t say I liked it.” She tossed her head, but her cheeks reddened considerably. “Go on. It’s your turn.”
Jeb rolled. Landed on six. “‘I’ve never had a threesome,’” he read.
“True or false?”
He moved ahead one square.
Haley snapped her fingers. “I challenge that. I say you’re lying.”
His eyes met hers. “I might have been something of a player before this past year, but I’ve never been to bed with more than one woman at a time.” He purposefully held her gaze longer than he should have. Was it bad of him to tease her? “When I’m with a woman, she gets my full, undivided attention.”
Haley gulped visibly, dropped his gaze as if it was plutonium.
“Take a drink,” he said.
“Why?”
“If you challenge someone and they’re not lying, then you have to take a drink.”
“You didn’t explain that in the beginning.”
“I’m explaining it now.”
She rolled the dice with a shaky hand. “‘I’ve never been arrested.’” With a disgruntled look, she took another sip of brandy. “At this rate I’ll be blitzed before we’re halfway through the game.”
Wow, he would never have expected this. “Quite the little jailbird, are we?”
She held back her shoulders in a cocky gesture. “What? It was a protest rally.”
He read the square he’d landed on. “‘I’ve never had sex on a water bed.’ Nope, never done that, ei
ther.”
“But you’ve had sex on a bed on the water,” she pointed out.
“That’s not what the question asked.”
“I challenge that one, too.”
“Haley, Haley, Haley. How old do you think I am? I wasn’t born in the seventies at the height of the water bed craze.”
“Well, neither was I, and I’ve slept on a water bed.”
“But did you have sex on it?”
“No, but it’s not my question.”
“Touché. Take a drink.”
“Why?”
“I wasn’t lying and you challenged me.”
She chuffed out a breath and took a sip so small she barely got her lips wet. “Fine. Happy now?”
He nodded. “Very.”
“My turn.” She tossed the dice again. Moved up two spaces. She was ahead of him on the board and on drinking. “‘I’ve never drunk-texted an ex.’ Ha! At last something I haven’t done.”
Jeb took his turn. “‘I’ve never streaked.’ Okay, I have done that.” He took a swallow of brandy.
“You streaked?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Where?”
“College graduation.”
“Seriously?” She squealed.
“Not one of my finest moments, but yeah. It was a dare.”
“And if the person had dared you to jump off a building, would you have done it?”
“Now you sound like my mother.”
“I can’t believe you streaked. How embarrassing.”
“Hey, I didn’t get caught. No arrests on my record, Miss Jailbird.”
Haley read her next question. “‘I’ve never slept with a married person.’”
A strange look came over her face and she peeked over at him.
It hit Jeb like a punch to the gut and he just knew she was going to lie.
“Nope, never did that.” She moved her marker up one space.
He should let it go. No matter that his gut was telling him that she was lying, it was none of his business. It was a stupid game.
“Challenge,” he said in a voice so steely it surprised him.
She startled. “Pardon?”
“I challenge. I think you have slept with a married man.” Why did he care? Why was he suddenly so pissed off?
Her color instantly paled. “I don’t want to play this game anymore.” She hopped off the bed.
Jeb wasn’t going to let her get away with that. He grabbed her by the elbow. “Haley?”
She yanked against his grip, but he didn’t let go.
“Talk to me.”
Tears brimmed in her eyes and it just about undid him. Immediately, he let go of her. What had happened?
She ducked her head, turned away and gave him her back.
“Never mind. I shouldn’t have pressed. It’s none of my business.” He swept the game board and pieces back into the box. Why had he ruined a perfectly nice evening?
“I lied because I’m so ashamed of myself,” she mumbled. “I didn’t know he was married when we began the affair.”
“Was it the rich guy? The one that prejudiced you against people with money?”
Mutely, she nodded.
Jeb had an impulse to hunt the guy down and punch his lights out for hurting Haley.
“That’s why it gets all over me when you call me baby. He called me baby. Like I was a child, an infant. Of course, I really was as naive as a baby. I took people at face value. I thought if someone treated you nicely that it meant they were a nice person.”
“Looks can be deceiving.” Seriously, he was dishing up trite adages for her? Jeb clenched his teeth. He didn’t know what else to say.
“It’s the one thing in my life I regret most. I let myself down.” She cried quietly, her shoulders trembling.
“Shh,” he murmured and reached for her.
With her back still to him, she wilted onto the mattress. “Don’t be so nice to me. I don’t deserve it.”
“You broke up with him when you found out he was married, right?”
She stiffened and a sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. She hadn’t left the relationship when she’d learned he was married. Wow. So his idol had feet of clay after all. It was like finding out that the America’s Cup trophy was made out of aluminum instead of sterling silver. How long had he had her up on a pedestal?
“I tried to break up with him,” she whispered, “but that night…” She put a hand to her mouth, shook her head.
“Haley.” He rubbed her back. “You don’t have to tell me anything. You owe me no explanations.”
She dropped her forehead to his shoulder and sobbed helplessly.
He wrapped his arm around her waist, drew her against him. Oh, damn…oh, hell. Don’t cry, angel, don’t cry. What had he started? “You loved him a lot, huh?”
She shook her head. “No, no, that’s not it at all.”
He hooked his thumb underneath her chin and
gently guided it up until she was forced to meet his gaze. It killed him to see her looking so wrecked.
“It’s okay. Whatever happened, it’s okay now. You’re here with me and you’re safe.” He pressed his lips against her forehead, but that only made her cry harder.
“He…” She swallowed. “He said we weren’t done until he said we were done. That’s when he…forced me into bed. I said no, but he was bigger and stronger, and in the end, I just stopped fighting. I wanted the whole thing over with.”
“Are you saying he raped you?”
Silently, she nodded.
“You didn’t report it to the police?”
“I did, but the D.A. said there wasn’t evidence to bring the case to trial. Ultimately, it would have been my word against the word of a wealthy, prominent businessman, and I had been having an adulterous affair with him. I could tell the authorities didn’t really believe my story.” She buried her face in her hands.
Adrenaline shot through Jeb. His impulse to punch the guy turned dark and deadly. He wanted to strangle the son of a bitch with his bare hands. Flat-out kill him for hurting Haley. He had no idea he could feel so murderous. He was an easygoing guy. He didn’t get enraged. But this…this was unforgivable behavior. Stringing the man up was too good for him.
Haley’s tears dampened his shirt. He ran his hand through her hair, held her close, kissed her forehead again and again, softly and sweetly. Nothing sexual. Total comfort. The last thing she needed was some horny guy pawing at her. He reached for a tissue on the shelf above the headboard and handed it to her.
She dabbed her eyes. “I don’t know why I’m crying about this. It was years ago. I was a freshman in college. Young and dumb, as they say.”
“No, not dumb. Don’t put this on yourself.”
“Honestly, I sort of felt like I deserved the punishment. I should have suspected he was married.”
“Haley!” How could she think that?
“I felt guilty and ashamed for having such poor judgment.”
“You did not deserve that!”
“If I’d been smarter—”
“Shh, shh.” He cradled her in his arms.
“I went to counseling,” she said. “I thought I’d put it all behind me, but apparently there’s still some lingering issues.”
“Ah, damn, angel, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything, but in a way you remind me of him. In the beginning anyway, before I got to really know you.”
Jeb gritted his teeth. “I hate that I remind you of him. No wonder you disliked me.”
“It’s not you.” She shook her head. “It’s me. I’m
gun-shy—”
“Understandably.”
“And I was terrified of getting involved with that kind of man again.”
“I’m not like that. I would never, ever hurt you, Haley.” He tipped her chin up, and she met his eyes.
“I know, I know, but there’s Jackie. I know you’re not married to her, but you want
to be.”
Yeah. Jackie. Jeb blew out his breath. He wasn’t going to think about that for now. For now, he just wanted to comfort Haley. He rubbed a palm against her upper back. “If you want to keep talking, I’m all ears, but if you’d rather not say any more, I understand.”
Haley let out a small sigh. “Honestly, I’m glad I told you. I feel better already. You’re a great listener, Jeb.”
“Anything else I can do?”
“Listening is enough. Thank you for that.”
“I wish I could do more.”
“The past is the past, and I’ve put it behind me,” she said, sounding determined. “Let’s focus on something else.”
“What would you like to talk about?” he asked.
“Sailing,” she replied staunchly. “The sailing bug has bitten me and I’m fascinated.”
Now, that was a topic he could handle. “Anything specific you’d like to discuss?”
“Could you show me how to use navigation charts to plot a sea voyage?”
“Love to. We need to do a dead reckoning anyway.”
“Dead reckoning? What’s that?”
“It’s how we figure out where we are and where we’re going from here.”
“Sounds very purposeful.” She smiled. The dark emotions that had earlier clouded her eyes had vanished completely. “Let’s do it.”
That plucky, hopeful smile tugged his heartstrings. He admired her so much. Admired the way she was able to deal with such adversity and not let it cripple her. She was amazing.
You’re in trouble now, Whitcomb. She’s gotcha wrapped around her sweet little finger like a telltale.
10
Dead reckoning—Plotting your course based on the distance from a previously known position
ON THURSDAY MORNING, they set sail at dawn. With Jeb’s dead reckoning and the happy discovery that the wind was still at their backs, he predicted that if everything went smoothly, even with factoring in the delay, they could still make Key West by Saturday morning. It still gave them plenty of time to get through customs before Jackie’s 4:00 p.m. wedding.
For her part, Haley tried not to think about how good it had felt to tell Jeb her secret. He’d been so kind, so understanding, so comforting, and he’d made her feel— Well, she wasn’t going to analyze that.
The day had passed companionably. Jeb recovered so quickly it was almost as if he’d never been stricken with a fever, and Haley took him up on his offer to teach her more sailing tips, tricks and techniques. He guided her in taking the helm and she learned how to make the boat go faster through steering. Jeb’s lesson there was “steer straight to steer fast.” She learned about weather helm, which was a sailboat’s tendency to turn toward the wind, and about all the forces pushing and pulling on it.