Shipwrecked with Mr. Wrong (15 page)

She refused to admit to herself just how much she had needed the contact on the beach. Not the kissing necessarily, but the intimacy,
the shared goal. Breathing in someone else’s air. A man’s touch. It had been too, too long since she’d experienced that. More than four years.

Not just any man.
Rob’s touch. That was what made it so unacceptable.

If it were just a physical connection she craved, everything would be so much simpler. The scientist in her knew that attraction was explainable in chemical terms. She twisted her head to line her eye up with the split in the now slack tent entry flap to spy the long length of strong brown leg he’d exposed by flipping over. With material like that, it was no wonder she was attracted. He was, without question, the best-looking man she had ever met. And the best built.

Acknowledging his physical superiority didn’t feel disloyal to her husband. It was a bit like eyeing off a red Porsche in the showroom window and then driving home in your sturdy sedan. But harbouring those
other
feelings certainly did. She had no business being attracted to Rob’s personality, his lust for life or his smile. Or feeling the way she did when he looked at her sideways, when he thought she wouldn’t see. Or wondering about his childhood and what made him tick. What made him so sad.

Those
sorts of thoughts had no place in her neatly ordered new existence.

Fortunately, she was half made of will, as experience had proven. If Honor Brier told herself that she wasn’t attracted to someone, well, that was just how it would be. It was how she’d survived the past four years.

But she’d also done it by not prioritising anyone ahead of herself. Letting him sleep in meant she’d go tired. And that meant she’d be sleepy tonight. She surveyed the darkened little bubble and made her choice.

She made no effort to be silent as she whipped the entry zip open and threw it back to let her torchlight stream in. She nudged him with her foot, not particularly gently. ‘Rise and shine, Goldilocks. My turn to sleep.’

It was such a stirling impersonation of him she stifled a giggle. Rob rolled half on his side and flung one muscular arm up to shield his eyes as though his vampire half would implode with light’s touch. Her giggle amplified.

‘Am I entertaining you?’ he murmured up at her, thick and gritty. Morning voice. God, how long had it been since she’d heard one of those?

‘You’re in my bed. Time to get up.’

He squinted at his chunky watch, pressing its side to throw extra light on the numbers in the dark. ‘It’s four-thirty in the morning.’

‘I’m aware of that. I’ve been up all night while you’ve been in here getting your beauty sleep.’

He blinked up at her in disbelief. She fought hard not to find it irresistible. ‘Four-thirty, Honor.’

‘This is
my
bed.’

His massive body scooted over and turned on its side away from her before wriggling back down under the sleeping bag. ‘There’s plenty of room. Squeeze right in.’

‘I am not sleeping with you, Rob Dalton.’

He looked back at her over a smooth, rounded shoulder. ‘Yeah, I got that back on the beach.’

‘In here,’ she insisted. ‘I’m not sleeping with you in here.’

‘Fine. Boat’s not locked.’

Silent seconds ticked by. ‘Rob. Get out.’ He didn’t answer but he couldn’t possibly have fallen back to sleep that fast. Even at four-thirty in the morning. ‘Rob?’

He groaned and rolled back over. ‘Climb in, Honor. Your virtue is assured and I’m whacked. I’ll sleep on top of the covers if it helps.’ He started to fling the sleeping bag back and she got a flash of long, muscular,
naked
thigh.

She tore her eyes away but dived at the sleeping bag to hold it in place. The last thing
she needed was more mental pictures in her already crowded and confused mind. ‘No. You stay covered. I’ll go on top.’

A dirty grin spread across his gorgeous face.

‘Of the
covers,
you pervert.’ If he’d noticed how fast she capitulated he didn’t comment. But Honor didn’t miss it. She thinned her lips at her body’s own betrayal. ‘But you make one wrong move and you’re out on your overly-gymned butt.’

He rolled back over and snuggled down into the air mattress, mumbling, ‘Got it.’

Seconds later, he was asleep. His pulse beat slow and steady through the air mattress, reaching out to her. Lulling her. Seducing her without even trying.

Fantastic.

Honor yawned and crawled down on top of the mattress and the sleeping bag, making sure her body weight would hold the fabric discreetly in place. It wasn’t cool enough to need a covering and at least she had a bed to sleep in.

With any luck, when she woke up he’d be gone.

If she slept at all, which was feeling pretty unlikely given the solid mass of man just inches from her own body. But he radiated a thick, soothing heat and in no time his warmth
swirled around and through her exhaustion and helped nudge her into a deep sleep.

Her last conscious thought in the early hours of the morning was to wonder how long it had been since she’d fallen asleep next to someone else.

Her first thought on waking was to wonder how long it had been since she’d slept so dreamlessly. But the happy glow of dreamlessness faded quickly and warning tingled in the very cells of her body. The weight of dread pressed down on her chest.

No, not dread.
Rob!
His arm draped casually over her and his face was too close on their shared pillow. She’d forsaken it in favour of distance when she’d fallen asleep, so she must have moved her head onto it whilst asleep. And, unconscious, Rob had been only too happy to share. His scent carried the slight muskiness of a man who needed a freshwater shower but, instead of being off-putting, it only served to make her muscles tighten.
Pheromones.
He was as hot as a furnace, even with her sleeping bag shrugged half off, and his skin scorched hers where it touched.

Her heart should have been pounding with mortification at finding herself so intimately snuggled. But curling into his side didn’t feel wrong. In fact, it felt strangely right to slip out
from under his hold and let his arm carefully slide down to the place she’d vacated. As if they’d been doing it all their lives.

Not that there was necessarily a correlation between
feeling
right and
being
right. There couldn’t be.

As she crawled backwards out of the tent into daylight, her wristwatch told her she’d only had four hours’ sleep, but there was no way she was going back into—

‘G’morning.’

The sleepy voice reached her just as Rob’s hand locked carefully around hers. She was powerless to resist his muscled pull and she sank forward onto her knees as the tent flap dropped uselessly into place behind her. Even in the dim light, she could see that he was relaxed and sleepy.

For some reason, that made her more nervous.

‘What time is it?’ He made the question redundant by glancing at his own watch. His eyebrows rose and then moved closer in a frown. ‘I’ve been asleep for nearly twelve hours!’

‘Lucky you. I’ve only had four.’

Her voice was cautious, measured. It didn’t sound as breathless as she felt now that chest was displayed for all to see. Despite the dimness
in the tent, her eyes remained acute when it came to his body.

‘It seems your island agrees with me.’ His surprise seemed genuine. He flopped back on the bed.

‘What are you doing?’

One eye opened. His hand stayed curled around hers. ‘Lying in. It’s Sunday.’

Honor couldn’t have told him what colour the sky was, much less what day of the week it was. Must be lack of sleep. Tiredness made her unreasonable. ‘No. It’s my turn to sleep now. You get out.’

‘Charming! Are you always this friendly in the morning?’

Her shoulders straightened. ‘I don’t usually need to be friendly. I’m usually alone.’ For the first time, when she said the word
alone
the word she heard was
lonely.

Damn.

He slid his powerful forearms up behind his head and regarded her from under shuttered lids, giving nothing away. ‘Is that any excuse for poor manners?’

Honor hissed.
Okay.
He wanted to do this …

‘Look. About yesterday …’ ‘What happened yesterday?’ ‘Ha ha.’ She didn’t buy his bemused frown for one second. Or was that just her feminine
pride stinging? No way could he have forgotten the … dolphin foreplay … in the lagoon yesterday. That had to stick in the mind, even for a man like him. ‘Look, I’m sorry I was a bit abrupt about leaving the beach. I probably could have handled that better.’

He sat partly up, which only served to slide the sleeping bag further down. Her breath caught just as it did on his hip.

‘You’re
apologising to me?’ His confusion seemed genuine this time.

‘Well, yes. I was rude.’

‘So was I. And presumptuous.’

Honor thought about it. ‘I’m not going to say I wasn’t hurt by what you said. But it wasn’t presumptuous.’ Or wrong, truth be told. She would much rather spend the rest of eternity in the muted silence of the fishes’ realm than deal with the world up here. Now that Rob had shown it to her.

He sat fully up and tentatively tugged the sleeping bag higher to increase its cover, as if he’d suddenly wearied of the sensual game. One part of Honor mourned the loss.

‘I made some comments that … I regret,’ he said. ‘I’ve only known you six days.’

Honor lifted her eyes and spoke from the heart. ‘You know more about me than some people I’ve known my whole life. You’ve
earned the right to speak your mind.’ She swallowed. ‘Doesn’t mean I have to like it.’

‘I’m sorry I didn’t say it more gently.’

Sincerity stained his eyes as deep a blue as the lower parts of the reef. She’d gladly spend eternity lost in those, too. She shrugged. ‘It’s not fatal. I’m sorry I walked away.’

His eyes narrowed.
‘How
you did it, or
that
you did it at all?’

She took a breath. ‘I panicked. I should have explained better. I hurt you.’

‘No.’

‘Rob, I saw your face before you went back in the water.’

‘That was irritation.’

‘That was hurt.’ The question burned. ‘Why did it hurt you so much? I’m sure I’m not the first person ever to—’ she struggled for words that were kinder than
reject you
‘—turn you down.’

He laughed loud and hard. ‘No. I had my share of that in the early years. Before I learned to refine my aim.’

Honor frowned. ‘Refine it to what?’

He shrugged. ‘Likely success.’

She stared, waiting for him to continue. He shifted awkwardly in the brightening tent. Honor realised she’d all but forgotten to feel uncomfortable about him still being here.

‘There’s a certain type of woman I do
particularly well with, and another type I do spectacularly badly with.’

Honor choked and spoke before thinking. ‘Women without pulses?’

Heat roared up her skin as he smiled gently. ‘Women without agendas.’ His big toe wriggled out from under the covers to gently touch her thigh where she sat cross-legged next to him. It was a comfortable, undemanding touch. It just kept them connected.

‘Understand that I live two lives back home,’ he went on. ‘By morning I’m this mild-mannered archaeologist surrounded by some of the finest minds in our field. Then I hit Dalton Industries and everything changes. I’m expected to be one hundred per cent charisma. I wine and dine, I schmooze and charm. I’m good at what I do there.’

‘I’m sure you’re good at what you do in the lab, too.’

‘Yeah, I’m good. But I’m not the best. There are some serious players in that team. The women there aren’t the slightest bit affected by the things I’m good at.’

Honor doubted that entirely. ‘Maybe they’re just being professional.’

‘Some of them barely take me seriously.’

She frowned. ‘Because you’re good-looking?’

‘Because I’m lightweight. Compared to my colleagues.’

‘That is not true.’ Defensiveness surged out of her from somewhere. She swallowed it down and his toe stroked his thanks on her leg. That was it. Just one tiny point of contact and electric current surged out from it. ‘Why do you stay if it makes you feel bad about yourself?’

He shrugged. ‘Because I love it. I want to be one of those legends.’

‘Why? What is it you love so much about it?’

‘Shipwrecks are …’ He frowned. ‘They have so much potential. They lie so quietly on the sea floor, waiting for us to find them.’

‘There are lots of discoveries waiting to be made. Why sunken ships?’

‘Because they’re eternal. Finding them ensures they endure in history. There’s so little in this world that lasts.’

‘Like?’

He shrugged. ‘Friends. Women.’

‘Love?’

‘Definitely love.’

His parents had so much to answer for. How early in life was Rob looking for things that might last? ‘There’s more. More than that.’

‘I want to make a difference and discover mysteries and have rookie lab-rats look at
me
like the sun shines from my research.’ His fists tightened. ‘I’m great at what I do for my
father’s firm but I
feel
great in the lab. In the water. Diving for wrecks.’

‘Then that’s where you’ll find the right kind of woman.’

Rob laughed. ‘Underwater?’

‘Where your passion lies.’

His eyes darkened and Honor’s breath came faster.

‘What makes you think I’m looking for Ms Right?’ he said.

‘We all search for our perfect fit.’

‘Are you, Honor?’

Her eyes widened. ‘I was. Once.’

‘But not now?’ She shook her head. Rob’s gaze grew intense. ‘He must have been some man.’

Honor’s blinking eyes felt heavy. It had to be her weariness. It had nothing to do with the hypnotic stroke of Rob’s toe against her leg. A deep pain bubbled up and spilled over in the tightness of her voice. ‘They were my family. It’s hard to imagine anything more perfect.’

Honor frowned at her own words. Perfect? No. Her marriage had been far from that.

‘That’s a big call. What if another Mr Right comes along? Or do you believe there can only be one?’