Her heart took a leap. “I won’t play games with you, Sam.” She swallowed hard, forcing the words out, afraid of the consequences. “I was lonely in Houston by myself.”
He tilted his head. “The prettiest woman in Houston lonely? Come on. How many single millionaires have come to your door since you got back from the Sahara?”
“I turned them all down.”
“Oh?”
“Yes.” Her green eyes became more serious as she met his stare.
“Why did you come down here?” he repeated, running his callused hands lightly over her back.
“You know why.”
Sam feigned innocence. “Was it to see if Blanchard Pipe was standing up to the rigors of the job?”
Kelly clenched her teeth. “You haven’t changed one bit, Sam Tyler! And get that self-satisfied look off your face! Oh!” She spun on her heel, walking at a fast pace back toward the camp.
Sam’s laughter was soft, disturbing. In an instant, he had captured her arm and swung her around. “And you haven’t changed one iota either. Now come here and quit fighting me.”
Kelly struggled as he placed both arms around her, drawing her against the hard planes of his body. His blue eyes were alive with laughter as he watched her settle down. “That’s better,” he praised, kissing her flaming red hair. “I can see that two months without me around hasn’t improved your mood any. I wonder why that is?” he whispered. He kissed her earlobe and then her temple. “I’ve missed you,” he growled softly.
“Sam,” she protested weakly, “I didn’t come down here just to…”
“No man in his right mind would think of you as just a bedwarmer,” he murmured.
Kelly wanted to erase that maddening smile that lingered on his wonderful mouth. Her intuition told her Sam knew why she had flown down here and it galled her to think he wasn’t taking her seriously. Weakly, she placed her hands against his chest, trying to push him away.
“Sam, quit making this tougher than it already is!”
He sobered. “I’m sorry, Kelly.” He offered her a slight smile and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. “I know why you came down,” he provided softly.
Kelly gave him a startled glance. “You do?” Her voice sounded high, off-key.
“My postcard.”
She blinked. “Postcard?” she echoed.
“Yes, the postcard.”
She blinked once. “I—”
“I sighed it ‘love.’ Remember?”
“Oh…of course…”
He placed his hand beneath her chin. “Come on, we’ve got to talk.”
She followed him wordlessly down the narrow path until it widened onto a small stretch of beach. As they sat down, Kelly suddenly felt very afraid. She had been such a fool to come down here!
“I’m glad you came,” Sam said, holding her hands.
“Now I’m not so sure,” she muttered, unable to meet his gaze.
“What’s the matter, getting cold feet?” he baited gently.
Kelly grimaced. “I’ve made a complete fool out of myself…”
“I don’t think so.” His grip was warm and strong. “Matter of fact, I admire your courage, Kelly. I want to know that the woman I marry isn’t afraid of life. I want her to be brave and adventurous, with a dash of recklessness thrown in just for spice.”
“You do…?”
He nodded. “I made a promise to myself after my first marriage, Kelly. I made a mistake in marrying a woman who saw me as her sole emotional support. And after the divorce, I knew I needed just the opposite. I need a woman who is in charge of herself. Who is strong like me. That way, when I have a weak moment, I can lean on her. I’m not always strong. And I don’t expect my wife to always be either. What about you? What do you expect of the man you want to marry?”
She lowered her gaze. “I…I learned from Todd that I didn’t need a man who was going to try to destroy me.” She frowned, the words coming slowly. “I want a man who will love me for exactly what I am instead of what I’m not. Does that make sense?”
“Perfect sense. What took you so long to get down here, Kelly Blanchard?”
Kelly gave him a startled look. “What?”
Sam forced himself to remain serious. “I expected you to come down here sooner and propose to me.”
Her lips parted, her eyes widened in shock. “Why…you…” She jerked her hands out of his and scrambled to her feet. “You’re such a—”
Sam was on his feet as quickly as a cat. Before she could say another word he growled, “Marry me.”
“What—”
“I said, marry me,” Sam reiterated.
Her anger abated as she stared up at him. “You meant to ask me all along, Sam Tyler!” she accused.
His smile widened. “Yes, I did.”
“You’re impossible!” she protested.
“And I love you,” he murmured near her ear. “Do you love me enough to be known as Kelly Blanchard Tyler?”
Her emerald eyes sparkled. “At least you were wise enough to leave the Blanchard in. It proves you’re not a total male chauvinist, Sam Tyler. And it also shows your sensitivity.”
He nodded. “Guilty on all counts.” He imprisoned her face between his hands. “Now,” he breathed, “will you be my wife, my best friend and my lover for the rest of our lives?”
Tears welled in her eyes and she touched his cheek.
“Yes…yes, I will. Oh, Sam! I love you so much!” she exclaimed, throwing herself against him.
* * *
It was as if they were back on the Rub al Khali Desert when it came to sleeping arrangements. The porta-camp had been set up just inside the jungle treeline to afford some protection from the blazing tropic sun during the day. Sam kept his arm around her waist as they walked silently back toward the camp.
“There’s even less room to sleep in the shack this time,” Sam warned.
“I’m getting used to this kind of lifestyle, Sam Tyler.”
He managed a wry grin. “As much as I want to make love to you, it’s out of the question.”
Kelly looked up at his shadowed face. “I know. And it’s all right. I’m not marrying you just because you make wonderful love with me.”
His hand tightened around her momentarily. “You aren’t so bad yourself, my redheaded witch,” he said huskily, dropping a kiss on her hair. “We’ve got one cot left. Let me rearrange things and I’ll put you in the room we use for storing our supplies.”
The exhausted men were already sleeping, so Kelly made sure she moved silently through the sleeping quarters. Sam set up the cot, found a lightweight blanket and turned off the light. He came over and pulled Kelly back into his arms.
“I love you,” he whispered.
She made a small, throaty sound as she sought his mouth. The kiss was gentle and exploring. Hungrily, Kelly drank of his strength, pressing her lips more firmly to his mouth. She felt Sam tremble, felt his arms tighten around her in powerful reaction. Her heartbeat rose as his tongue masterfully invaded her with delectable ease. Her breasts grew taught, the nipples hardening against the material of her coveralls.
Slowly, Sam pulled her away from him. She was quivering, her eyes burning with an unquenchable desire. He took a deep breath.
“Get some sleep,” he said thickly.
Kelly grimaced. “That’s a laugh,” she whispered breathlessly.
Amusement lingered in his eyes. “For both of us,” Sam agreed. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, honey. Dream of us.”
* * *
Kelly awoke at dawn when Coots and the team began moving around. She dressed quickly and met them out in the makeshift kitchen. The smell of freshly perked coffee filled the cramped space and it smelled like heaven to her. Coots offered her a dented aluminum mug.
She took a chair and sat at Coots’s elbow. “What will you do today?”
“We’re gonna put the explosives in a fifty-gallon drum and wrap it in a fire retardant material. Then we’ll get a crane positioned on the lip of the platform to place the explosives in the fire. Tomorrow we’ll actually place the drum in the fire and detonate it.” Frowning, Coots took another swallow of coffee. “The explosion will deprive the fire of oxygen long enough for it to extinguish itself.”
Colly rubbed his lean, Texan face wearily. “Providing those damn winds don’t change on us again.”
Kelly looked at the mechanic. “What will happen if they do?”
Colly drew out a pencil and drew a quick sketch on a piece of paper. “We got five water monitors set up on three barges anchored around the platform. Every time the wind changes direction or blows too hard the barges are torn from their positions and then we have to reposition them on the leeward side of the platform and set everything back up again.” He tapped the scribbled drawing. “It’s critical that we have enough water pouring on that fire when we use the explosives. The metal on that pipe at the core of the blowout is superheated. The explosion will momentarily deprive the fire of oxygen and it’ll extinguish itself. But it can reignite seconds after that if the water isn’t there to keep the metal pipe cool enough to prevent it from firing up again.”
Sam wandered in and glanced over at the table. “Those winds will remain the same, Colly,” he said, reaching for a cup and pouring himself coffee.
Colly gave him a questioning look. “Oh yeah? Did the good fairy tell you that last night?”
Sam sat opposite Kelly and gave her a warm look. She looked absolutely ravishing this morning, he thought. Her red hair was slightly curled from the humidity and her eyes sparkled. He wanted to lose himself in them. Colly was still staring at him and Sam roused himself from those pleasant thoughts to answer his question.
“No. Our luck’s changed,” he said. “We’ve got our Irish luck now. We won’t have to move those barges around as we’ve been having to do every third day or so.”
Colly grinned over at Kelly. “You realize Sam’s making you the scapegoat in all this?”
Kelly tore her gaze from Sam’s face. Despite his exhaustion he looked incredibly virile and masculine. There was a flame of happiness glimmering in the depths of his azure eyes. She was responsible for that joy and Kelly felt an undeniable thrill. A smile crossed her lips. “There’s only one thing better than Texas luck, Colly, and that’s Irish luck. Didn’t everything go smoothly over in Saudi Arabia when I was there?”
Colly grinned. “Oh sure. You got kidnapped and almost raped. And then we didn’t think you were going to pull through for a couple days in the hospital.”
She shrugged. “I mean at the blowout. Don’t worry about me.”
“Yeah, the blowout went smooth. Real smooth.”
Kelly tilted her head, laughing. “And things will go smoothly from here on out.”
Sam slowly rose to get a second cup of coffee. “Lady luck’s on our side, men.”
Eleven
K
elly stood at the end of the dock with a pair of binoculars raised to her eyes. Because of the dangers involved, Coots didn’t want her on the barge assembly. They had spent all morning on the dock lining a fifty-gallon drum with shock-absorbent material and asbestos. Then they placed the dynamite inside and sealed it securely. Afterward, the drum had been wrapped in more asbestos and then a foillike material to reflect the extreme heat of the flames. If the dynamite inside the drum got too hot, it would explode before they were able to use the crane hook to position it properly. And if that happened, the men who were perched on that platform crane could be killed outright or severely injured by the untimely blast.
The hot sun bore down on her and the humidity was high. The coveralls clung to her damp skin. Lowering the binoculars, Kelly walked back toward the camp. She didn’t need to invite another case of heat exhaustion and end up in the hospital again. It looked as though the men had almost completed the positioning of the crane hook.
Kelly looked longingly at the small cove a quarter of a mile from the dock. Luckily, there was no oil spill from the damaged platform and the water was clear and inviting. It was a lot better than the desert, Kelly thought. Making up her mind, she walked quickly back to the camp.
After changing into a pale lime-colored bathing suit, Kelly wasted little time grabbing a towel she had unpacked from her suitcase and walking down to the secluded cove. In the distance, only the orange and yellow flame broke the beauty of the horizon. All around her birds in brilliant colors sang melodically. The verdant green of the jungle trees added to the loveliness of the setting.
After making sure the sandy shelf of the cove did not suddenly drop off into deep water, Kelly sank into the welcoming depths. The water slid over her, warm, salty and refreshing. Her hair became a darkened mass, flowing like a copper sheet across her shoulders as she swam. Kelly lost track of time, immersed in the soothing water that shielded her from the overpowering tropical heat.
She had rolled onto her back, simply floating with her eyes closed. The lapping of water on the shore was suddenly punctuated by a splashing noise. Concerned, Kelly opened her eyes and rolled onto her stomach. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw Sam swimming toward her.
He moved cleanly through the water, the muscles of his arms and shoulders glistening. Her lips parted in unconscious reaction as he neared and she swam forward to meet him. He drew her daringly against him, pressing his mouth to her lips.
She tasted salt in his kiss as she responded to his invitation. The lapping of the water, the sliding friction of their bodies against one another increased her pleasure. Hungrily, she returned the ardor of his lips, eager to take advantage of this stolen, unexpected moment.
Sam broke away, his blue eyes disturbingly dark with desire. He smoothed the hair from her cheek.
“You look like a beautiful mermaid,” he said huskily.
Kelly smiled. “Thank you. You look kind of delicious yourself,” she replied, running her fingers down his shoulders and across the powerful breadth of his chest.
“Watch it,” he growled, gripping her by the waist. “That could be dangerous….”
Her lilting laughter heightened the swirling tension between them as they treaded water. “I’m used to living with danger, Sam Tyler,” she challenged.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He grinned, curving his arm around her waist and then swimming toward shore. “Okay, let’s live dangerously, then,” he said.
She gave him a startled look. “But…what about the others?”