Don't Tempt Me (15 page)

All amusement fled as her stomach dropped to her feet. "And ..."

"He got the results back on the letter."

She braced a hand against the vanity as her knees started to buckle.

"Everything checked out!" Adrian announced. "He's going to apply for all the permits, which means we're one step closer to an actual excavation."

The air left her lungs in a rush. "Just like that? He doesn't want another meeting? He's taking the job?"

"He's taking the job!" He scooped her up against him and twirled her about three times before dropping her back on her feet. When she teetered, he steadied her by grabbing her shoulders. "Celebration. Tonight. We'll talk more then. I need to start dinner. Chill some champagne." His hands swept up to cup her face and he fit his mouth over hers. Time stopped as sensation filled her: the sweet, moist taste of his mouth. She felt suspended by that single contact, heat sizzling through her as her arms hung limp at her sides.

He stepped away so abruptly, she nearly crumbled to the floor. "Come down whenever you want. You can keep me company while I cook."

The second he strode out the door and closed it behind him, she braced a hand against the nearest piece of furniture, stunned. Had he really aroused her that quickly with a single kiss? An urge to call him back and demand he finish what he'd started nearly undid her. As if she hadn't been stirred up enough by that dream.

The dream!
Her mind zipped back to Jack and Marguerite. Looking about, she spotted the diary lying on the floor. Thoughts of the excavation and cruises and everything else could wait. She needed to know what had really happened that night in the past. Scooping up the diary, she climbed back on the bed and flipped through the pages to find the right one.

~ ~ ~

Adrian stopped halfway down the stairs as realization hit him. He'd just kissed Jackie! What had he been thinking? Clearly he hadn't been thinking at all, which was why the kiss had ended so quickly. Talk about a missed opportunity! If he were going to do something that stupid, he should have at least been paying attention enough to enjoy it.

He glanced over his shoulder, wondering what her reaction had been. She hadn't punched him, which boded well. In fact, she hadn't reacted at all. Maybe she'd taken the kiss as he'd intended: platonic enthusiasm.

Platonic?
Yeah, right,
he snorted. He didn't have a platonic thought in his head when it came to Jackie. Even though that's how he should think about her. And since it looked like they really were going to do the cruises, he needed to get a lot more serious about behaving himself.

With that admonishment firmly in mind, he headed downstairs to change clothes and start dinner ---after he took a cold shower.

~ ~ ~

An hour later, Jackie closed the diary with shaky hands and set it far away from her. What she'd read matched her dream too closely for comfort. Her mind searched for a logical explanation. Maybe she'd read more than she remembered before falling asleep, then dreamed about what she'd read. That had to be it.

Except, the diary entry didn't stop with Jack swooping Marguerite into his arms. He'd carried her to the bed and they'd made love with a passion that left them both breathless. Afterward, as they lay in each other's arms, he'd asked her to come away with him. Telling him no had nearly killed her. When he pushed her for a reason, she couldn't tell him the whole truth, that she knew Henri would hunt them down and drag her home to beat her. Instead, she'd reminded him of everything he'd just said, about wanting to clear his name. Her running away with him would tarnish his reputation further when word spread that Captain Kingsley had stolen a man's wife. And when people learned whose wife, the scandal would be even worse.

As a respected and powerful icon in the shipping world, Henri would use his power to destroy Jack Kingsley. She loved Jack too deeply to ask him to sacrifice so much for her.

Added to that was a tiny seed of doubt. Henri had been very convincing about his devotion before they had married. What if Jack were no different and was wooing her for his own gain? After all the times she'd been used, she couldn't bear it if someone she cared for so desperately used her as well. She'd rather live in her current misery with the possibility that he did truly love her as he claimed, than risk everything and learn it was a lie. Such a devastation would destroy her.

So she held firm to her refusal to leave Henri, begging Jack to please not waste the night fighting with her. He'd been angry at first, but she'd drawn him back into her arms, kissing him until they once again were making love.

Afterward, he'd asked her about the necklace she always wore. She told him the story of her birth and how the necklace had once belonged to Jean Lafitte. Then she asked him if the rumors about him were true, that he'd inherited Lafitte's missing treasure from his grandfather.

He'd laughed and told her yes, he had the treasure and he kept it in his cabin to remind him of all the things he didn't want to be. His words confirmed in her mind that she'd made the right choice. Clearing his name meant too much to him for her to ruin his opportunity.

She had taken off the necklace she'd worn every day of her life and given it to him. For luck, she'd told him, and to keep him safe. He'd nearly wept at her words. Clutching the necklace, he had vowed that he'd keep it with Lafitte's treasure as a further reminder to be a better man. Perhaps then, when he'd proved himself worthy, she'd leave Henri to be with him.

Reading the words, Jackie reached up and found a tear trailing down her cheek. The moisture on her fingertips startled her. She never cried. But the weight pressing against her chest made every breath a struggle.

Marguerite had poured out her own grief and doubt, but through her words Jackie saw Jack's side with such blinding clarity, she wanted to scream at the woman. Marguerite clearly hadn't realize the depth of Jack's insecurity. He thought her rejection came from her not thinking he was good enough. The diaries showed Jackie that nothing could have been further from the truth, but she knew too keenly how Jack felt, swaggering through life pretending the scorn of others didn't matter when inside he withered with shame. Yes, he'd revealed some of that to Marguerite, but until a person walked in those shoes ---or jackboots in this case ---they couldn't truly understand.

Jackie did, though, and understanding made her see their relationship had been doomed from the beginning.

She started to turn back to the diary, wanting to read further, but noticed the time. Her mood lifted abruptly as she remembered Adrian's news. The excavation was actually going to happen! Which meant she didn't have to leave Pearl Island with her tail between her legs. She could do the cruises, keep seeing the St. Claires, even be part of the wonderful, almost magical energy that surround them. Even if she could only be a peripheral part of their world, it was cause for celebration indeed.

Scrambling out of bed, she washed her face and dressed for dinner. She was already at the bottom of the stairs to the apartment before she remembered the kiss. The second Adrian looked up and his gaze collided with hers, it all came flooding back.

"Hi." She fidgeted.

"Hi." He looked equally uncertain as he stood in the kitchen, a place he normally commanded with ease.

Before she could make a fool of herself by saying "About that kiss, can we hit rewind, then forward in slow motion so I can really enjoy it?" she noticed Rory sitting at a computer desk in the corner of the living area.

"Jackie, great, you're here." Rory waved for her to come closer. "I've been working up ideas for cruise packages and want to run them by you before the others get here."

"Hang on," Adrian said, drawing her attention back to him. "Care for some wine?"

His steady gaze told her his offer was about more than wine. "I, uh ..."

"Let me get you a glass."

Wary, she moved around the bar into the kitchen, not knowing what to expect Surely he wouldn't try to kiss her again with his sister sitting right there. A quick glance told her Rory's full attention was on the computer screen.

"About upstairs ..." he said in a hushed voice.

She looked up into his eyes and realized how close he stood. If he wanted to kiss her again, he wouldn't have to lean forward very far. A delicious shiver through her.

"You know, the um ..." He visibly struggled for the right words.

Just act normal,
she told herself, fighting the memory of how hot and moist his lips had tasted. "Are you by chance referring to that brotherly peck?"

He relaxed. "Exactly. Brotherly peck. I just wanted to be sure you didn't think ..."

"That you want my body?" She cocked a brow, fighting the desire to grab his head and pull his mouth down to hers. "We already know that you do. But we also know you ain't gettin' it, so the kiss didn't mean a thing. Right?" She nearly kicked herself for the tiny note of hope that had crept into her voice at the end.

"Right." He nodded. Then a frown line formed between his brows, as if he didn't know whether to be mad or relieved. "I was just checking."

"Well, it's not a problem." She smiled. "Although if you try it again, be prepared for a knee to the groin."

"I'll keep that in mind." He handed her a glass of wine. "Friends? For real this time. I mean it."

"Friends." She toasted him, wondering how long he'd last this time.

Chapter 12

To Jackie's amazement, Adrian behaved himself completely for the next two days. Even as she met with him and the others to make plans for the cruises, he didn't let one suggestive phrase slip ---not even when he walked her out to her truck the morning she left. He just reminded her to save him a cabin on the first half of the first cruise.

What a rip
, she thought as she drove down the coast to Corpus Christi. She knew she should be relieved, but at some point she'd started to enjoy the game. Wasn't that just like a man, to change the rules right when she was learning how to play?

In the weeks that followed, she alternated between disappointment and frustration every time she talked to him on the phone, which she did quite a bit since their plans were going full speed ahead.

They'd settled on the week of Valentine's Day for the first cruise, which would give them time to promote it. The package would include a romantic dinner at the inn followed by live music and dancing in the ballroom on the third floor. For March they'd do a Mardi Gras cruise, then a luau on the beach in April.

The extravagance of the ideas left Jackie a bit dazed, but excited. She started to let herself believe, albeit cautiously, that teaming up with the Pearl Island Inn would lead her to that ever-elusive dream of financial stability.

Throughout the holiday season, she worked closely with Rory and Chance as they put together promotional packets for travel agents and prepared for an advertising campaign, all of which was going to cost a small fortune. Every time Rory blithely tossed out expense figures, Jackie struggled not to gasp and sputter.

Did the woman even know the word "caution?"

Fortunately, halfway through January, in the midst of sanding and varnishing the woodwork in the passenger cabins, surrounded by her hardworking, sweaty crew, Jackie's mobile phone rang with their first booking for the Valentine's cruise. She exchanged a high five with Ti, then headed for the officers' lounge near the stern of the ship for enough privacy and quiet to call the inn.

Rory answered, but passed her on to Adrian so she could share the good news. Pots and pans banged in the background and she pictured him moving around the kitchen with the phone between his shoulder and ear. After she told him about the booking, he brought her up to date on the plans for the excavation. The permits had been approved and a tentative starting date of mid-February had been set.

"So, with luck," he said, "you'll be here for the big event."

And so would Carl Ryder. "Oh. That will be ... great."

"Okay," he sighed. "Now what are you worrying about?"

"Who says I'm worrying?" She circled between the battered wooden trunk strewn with sailing magazines and the L-shaped, padded benches that served as a sofa.

"I can hear it in your voice. Besides, you worry about everything."

"A habit formed by past experience."

"You forget," Adrian said. "We have Marguerite's good luck on our side. Everything is going to be fine. So, stop it, okay?"

"I'll try." Her stomach relaxed a bit at his admonishment. "And Adrian ... thanks. You're a good friend."

"Yeah, that's what all the women say."

Laughing, she turned off the phone. Maybe this platonic thing would work after all. And why not? She was used to being friends with men. Lord knew she spent enough time around them. And Adrian struck her as one of those men who had lots of female friends.

Yes, the man was amazingly sexy, but during the last two months, with only his voice on the phone and no visuals to distract her, she'd realized his most attractive qualities were his intelligence, humor, and generosity. He had a way of making a woman feel good about herself and life in general. What woman wouldn't forgo the temporary thrill of sex for a chance to have a long-term friend like that? Especially since her choices seemed to be one or the other. Adrian had given her no indication that he wanted to try for a permanent romantic relationship, so giving in to temptation would be foolhardy. Right?