“You’re darned tooting I am. The best.”
Ysabel burst into laughter at the grimness of her tone. She found she genuinely liked her. Ronnie was refreshingly honest and blunt to the point of impudence, but beneath the bravado Ysabel caught nuances of vulnerability that touched her. “Would you like to come with me? I don’t know anything about the shops in San Juan.” She laughed joyously. “Correction, I don’t know anything about shopping, period. It’s a new experience for me.”
Ronnie’s skeptical gaze traveled over the elegance of Ysabel’s dress. “Yeah, sure.”
“No, really. I’ve always had my clothes made for me. Well, not on San Miguel but …” She shrugged. “I got them out of the welfare barrel at the mission there.”
“Welfare? You?”
“My father was a missionary.”
Ronnie’s chin lifted defiantly. “And mine was a gunrunner.”
She obviously expected the statement to shock Ysabel. “I see.” Ysabel walked toward the taxi that had drawn up at the curb. “How interesting. I’ve never met a gunrunner. Was he good at his job?”
Ronnie blinked. “Not very.”
“Well, are you coming?”
Ronnie hesitated and then hurried after her. “This town is into either tropical cruise wear or sophisticated chic. You won’t find anything like that number you’re wearing.”
“Good. Will I be able to find what you’re wearing?”
“Me?” Ronnie suddenly grinned. “Nope. I bought the jeans in a Goodwill store in Kansas City and won the jacket in a poker game in Tel Aviv.”
“I don’t know if they have Goodwill stores in San Juan and I’ve never learned how to play poker. Is there a place here I can find a reasonable facsimile?”
Ronnie thought for a moment and then turned to the doorman. “Send those bags sitting just inside the door up to room two thirteen.” She opened the door of the cab. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” Ysabel asked as she got into the taxi.
“To see if we can find a Banana Republic store in this burg.”
Six
Jed was waiting in the lobby with a distinctly displeased expression when they walked in four hours later. “Where the hell have you been? Didn’t it ever occur to you it would be courteous to—good God.” His gaze wandered over Ysabel, starting from her white tennis shoes and moving to her fitted acid-washed jeans and crisp white chambray shirt. “You don’t look like the same woman.”
“I’m not the same woman.” She put down the two shopping bags she carried. “That woman on Winter Island wasn’t real. This is me. Ysabel.”
He turned to Ronnie. “I suppose this is your doing?”
She shook her head. “I just went along for the ride, but I like the change. No more whip cream.”
“I’m sorry if you don’t approve,” Ysabel said quietly.
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. I haven’t made up my mind. The metamorphosis just came as a shock.” His gaze went to the long thick single braid nestling against her breast. “At least you didn’t cut your hair.”
“I was tempted, but I didn’t know how manageable my hair would be short. I decided it would be easier to care for in a braid.” Ysabel turned to Ronnie. “May I use your room to pack all these things?”
“Sure,” Ronnie said. “I won’t be using it. I’m going down to the beach for a while.”
“I thought you said beaches were boring,” Jed said.
“Maybe I’m getting used to them.” She met his gaze. “I don’t suppose you’ve changed your mind about me going with you?”
“I have not.”
“See you.” She turned and started toward the door.
“We’ll be leaving for the boat in about an hour. Will I see you before we leave?”
“Maybe,” she answered over her shoulder.
“Ronnie, blast it, it’s for the best.”
“Sure.”
“Wait a minute. You know—” He broke off as the glass door swung shut behind her. “What the devil is wrong with her?”
“Perhaps she’s disappointed.”
“Ronnie digs in and slugs it out, she doesn’t sulk.”
“She doesn’t appear to be sulking to me.” Ysabel’s gaze followed Ronnie as she strolled down the street. “I like her very much.” Her eyes shifted to Jed. “And I think you do too.”
“If you can like a hair shirt.” Jed picked up Ysabel’s two shopping bags. “I guess I’m used to the scamp.”
She followed him into an elevator. “You’ve been together a long time?”
“Six years. We met in Nicaragua. She had just shot some footage of a rebel attack and came to my hotel to offer it to me in exchange for a job.” He pushed the button, the doors slid closed and the cubicle started upward. “I said no. She was only an eighteen-year-old kid and some of the places my team goes aren’t exactly safe.”
That was an understatement, Ysabel thought with a shiver. But this time Jed would be safe in San Miguel. She would make sure nothing happened to him. “But you changed your mind?”
“She went out and managed to get to the frontlines and shot some dynamite footage. She also got herself shot in the arm while doing it. She came staggering into the hotel dining room, dripping blood, and put the tape on the table in front of me.” He grimaced. “And promptly fainted dead away.”
“And you gave her the job.”
“No, not until she swore she’d follow me around the world and do the same thing until she had a story I couldn’t refuse.” He shrugged. “What could I do? It was better having her where I could keep an eye on her.”
She chuckled. “Oh dear.”
He frowned. “You seem to be enjoying this.”
“I’m seeing another side of you. I never dreamed you could be this soft.” The elevator door opened and she preceded him out into the hall. “Since I met you, I’ve always been the vulnerable one.”
His lips tightened. “And I’ve always been cast as the cruel, heartless villain.”
“I didn’t say that. You were never cruel to me. I don’t think you could be cruel.”
“Don’t be too sure.”
His voice sounded oddly thick and she glanced at him over her shoulder. “I’m sure. You’re hard and you can be ruthless, but you’re fair and without malice. I know about—” She stopped as she saw his expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He tore his gaze from her lower body. “I’ve made up my mind about the jeans. I think I like the new Ysabel.”
She felt heat flood her cheeks. “How … nice.” He unlocked the door to her room and followed her inside. She nodded at the suitcase on the floor. “Will you put that on the bed for me? It won’t take me long to pack and then we can get going.”
He did as she asked. “There’s no hurry.”
She quickly reached into the shopping bag and pulled out two pairs of trousers and a blouse and bent over to place them in the suitcase. “You told Ronnie you wanted to be—” She inhaled sharply as she felt his hands cup her bottom from behind.
“We’re not on any deadline. An hour or so won’t matter,” he said hoarsely. His hands moved up and down, squeezing, stroking. “This is the only thing I want right now, what I’ve been wanting since we left the cottage yesterday.” His warm tongue darted in her ear. “And those tight jeans didn’t help. I wanted to take you in that elevator. Take them off.”
Her hands were trembling so much, she wasn’t sure she could unfasten her jeans. In the exhilaration of leaving the island she had been only subliminally aware of the sexual magnetism pulling her toward Jed, but he’d merely had to touch her for it to come to the forefront. “They’re not that tight. They just fit me well. It’s not as if—” She broke off as he gently pinched her buttock. Her stomach clenched as she felt a liquid tingling in her womanhood. “You’re sure we have time?”
“We’ll make time.” His hands slid around her belly to rub gently between her thighs. “How else am I going to get you out of my system i
f I—”
The phone shrilled on the table beside the bed.
“Damn!”
The phone rang again.
“I can’t believe this,” he muttered. “It’s like an old movie cliché.”
“Do we have to answer it?” she asked.
“Yes, blast it, it might be Ronnie. She manages to get in trouble at the drop of a hat. I can’t risk not being accessible.” His hands dropped away from her and he moved toward the telephone. “But she’d better have a damn good reason for calling.” He picked up the receiver and bit out, “Corbin.”
He listened a moment. “Can’t he stay later?”
He listened again. “Okay, we’ll be there.”
He crashed down the receiver. “Finish packing. We have to get out of here.”
“I thought you said—”
“I did. We’ll have to wait until we’re on the boat. That was James Garcia, the official I called at the State Department. He said if we can get to the embassy by five o’clock, he’ll detain the clerk who can renew your passport. We’ll stop there on the way to the harbor.” He moved toward the door. “I’ll send up a bellboy for your suitcase in ten minutes.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll wait in the lobby. I have to get out of here.” He slanted her a searing glance over his shoulder. “Or I’ll say to hell with the damn passport and we’ll end up in bed. I can’t take much more of this.”
The door slammed behind him.
Four hours later they were over a hundred miles out at sea, cutting through the waves in a forty-foot cabin cruiser named Lucky Venture.
“It is going to be lucky,” Ysabel said dreamily.
“What is?” Jed’s hands tightly gripped the wheel.
“The name of the boat’s a good omen. I know it.”
“I doubt if Ronnie was paying much attention to omens when she leased the cruiser. She’s one to pay more attention to the practicalities of speed and structure than to whimsies.”
“I’m not so sure. She struck me as being a strange mixture.…” She was suddenly aware the engine had stopped. “Is something wrong?”
“No more than since we left the hotel.” He grasped her wrist and pulled her out of the wheelhouse and down the short flight of steps to the cabin level. “I’m sorry to disturb your euphoric mood, but I can’t wait any longer.”
She felt her breath leave her lungs and familiar heat suffuse her body. It was going to happen.
“The only reason I waited until we were underway is that I didn’t want to be interrupted again.” He threw open a door to reveal a teak-paneled postage stamp-size cabin. Her gaze went immediately to the narrow bunk across the room.
Jed’s gaze followed hers. “Not very wide but we won’t need much room. Undress.”
The order was succinct, made harsh by his need and a tension as erotic as an aphrodisiac.
Ysabel’s hands flew to the buttons of her shirt.
“I see you’re as obedient as usual,” he said with a bittersweet smile. “And I thought you were a new woman.”
“Why shouldn’t I obey you? I made you a promise and besides I liked making love with you very much.”
His hands clenched into fists. “It wasn’t love,” he said hoarsely.
She felt a stirring of pain but tried to smile. “I know but I couldn’t think of what else to call it.” She slipped out of her shirt and tossed it on the bed. “Why do you always make—”
“Achoo!”
The sneeze had not come from either of them but from somewhere across the cabin!
Ysabel’s gaze flew to Jed, but he was already gliding silently toward a door across the cabin. He put a cautionary finger on his lips as he stood to the left of the door and reached for the knob.
“Oh rats! I’ve blown it, right?”
Ronnie’s voice, Ysabel realized, relief surging through her.
Jed didn’t share her reaction. He muttered a curse and threw open the door. “Get in here!”
Ronnie swaggered toward them but edged warily around Jed. “Isn’t it weird how you always need to sneeze when it’s least convenient? It must be something psychological that has to do with—”
“Explanation,” Jed rapped.
“I wanted to come and I was bored out of my mind,” Ronnie stated quickly. “And you might need me. Who’s going to stay with the boat when you go ashore?”
“So you stowed away?”
“Well, I did decide it was better to not let you know I was on board until after you left San Juan. Actually, I thought we’d be a couple hundred miles out before you came down to go to bed.” She made a face as her gaze met Ysabel’s. “Sorry about the interruption. I really did think the trip was only business. You’re not his usual type and he yells at you just like he does me.”
“I don’t yell at either one of you,” Jed said frigidly.
“Well, you growl.” Ronnie picked up Ysabel’s shirt from the bunk and handed it to her. “You’d better put this on. It’s getting cool in here.”
“Thank you.” Ysabel slipped on the shirt, fighting an absurd desire to giggle. “But I don’t think it’s the temperature.”
“It was a fake sneeze, you know,” Ronnie confided. “The wall between the cabins is so thin, I could practically hear you breathe, and I didn’t know what else to do besides clearing my throat. I thought about dropping something but then Jed might have bolted in here and given me a karate chop before he realized I wasn’t a threat. He’s not exactly popular with the underworld element these days and gets a little edgy—”
“I almost did anyway,” Jed interrupted grimly.
Ronnie ignored him as she told Ysabel earnestly, “I would have kept still if you’d only been doing it.”
“Doing it?”
“Ronnie doesn’t believe in euphemisms any more than I do,” Jed said.
Ronnie nodded. “But you were talking, too, and eavesdropping is pretty low.”
“Thank you,” Ysabel said solemnly. “I appreciate the distinction.”
“I guess we’ll have to work out something.” Ronnie’s brow wrinkled in thought. “How about whenever you want to do it, you just tell me and I’ll go for a walk on the deck?”
“I have a better idea,” Jed said. “Why don’t I just simplify matters and toss you overboard?”
She grinned. “I’d only swim after you. You’re stuck with me.”
He gazed at her for a moment and then turned on his heel and strode out of the cabin.
Ronnie flinched as the door slammed. “Maybe I’d better put on a life preserver.” She glanced at Ysabel. “You mad at me too?”
“Surprised is more the word.”
“Like I said, he didn’t treat you like the others. He was all uptight and protective and didn’t even glance at you and I thought …” she trailed off. “I promise I won’t get in the way.”
Her expression was suddenly so woebegone, Ysabel felt a surge of sympathy. “I know you won’t. Once we get accustomed to the idea, I’m sure we’ll both be very glad you’re along.”
“Really?” Ronnie brightened. “You’re not just being polite to me?”
“I believe this situation goes slightly beyond the bounds of courtesy.”
Ronnie’s wistful gaze went to the doorway through which Jed had disappeared. “He’s really mad at me this time. Maybe I’d better go up and try to cool him down.”
“Let me do it.” Ysabel turned and moved toward the door. “I think you’d better stay out of sight for awhile.”
“Oh.” Ronnie thought for a minute. “I know, I’ll go fix supper.”
“Are you a good cook?”
“Rotten,” she admitted cheerfully. “But I figure anyone can make an omelet and Jed knows me well enough to recognize it as a peace gesture.”
But indigestion might not improve his temper. Ysabel resisted the impulse to vocalize the thought as she hurried up the steps to the deck.
She saw Jed standing at the rail, looking out over the
sea, the line of his spine rigid, his demeanor forbidding.
“She really is upset that you’re angry with her,” Ysabel said quietly as she joined him at the rail.
“That won’t stop her from doing the same thing again if it suits her,” Jed said curtly. “And it won’t help the present situation one iota.”
“She seems to be willing to make any adjustments to—”
“A great choice. I’m supposed to either announce my intentions to ‘do it’ to all and sundry or subject you to a silent witness in the next cabin.”
“I made no objection.”
“Well, I do.” He turned on her, his eyes blazing. “I know you’ll take anything I hand out to you, but it’s shoddy and I won’t have you put— Why the devil are you grinning at me?”
“Because you’re funny.” And because happiness had surged through her in a golden tide at his words. “I believe beneath that tough exterior lies a Galahad.”
“Bull.”
“Then why are you trying to guard my delicate sensibilities?”
He scowled at her. “How the hell do I know? It’s just not— I’ll get over it.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think you will and I believe you know it and that’s why you’re so angry.”
He wearily rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve been angry since the moment I met you.”
“Since you met the Winter Bride,” she corrected. “But I’m not that woman and I never was. How can I convince you?”
“It seems we’re going to have a long time to explore the subject,” he said dryly. “It may be the longest four days of my life.”
“But perhaps this has happened for the best,” she said eagerly. “We can get to know each other and you can see I’m not—”
“For Lord’s sake, don’t you understand? That’s the whole point. I don’t want to get to know you.” The words exploded with barely contained violence. “As long as you’re just a woman in my bed I’ll be able to—”
“I’m sorry,” she rushed in, trying to stop him and the fierce pain from igniting within her. “If that’s what you want, perhaps you should reconsider Ronnie’s suggestion to—”
“Stop saying you’re sorry!” His hands tightened on the rail. “Why should you be sorry? None of this is your fault.”