You know that.”
She sighed more heavily. “Yes, I do.” When she met his gaze again, she couldn’t keep the wistful note out of her voice. “So, can we run away from home, Patrick?”
He blinked at that. “You want to run away from Widow’s Cove with me?”
“And Kendra,” she said, as if that would make a positive difference, rather than complicating things.
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” she asked, even though she could count at least a dozen solid, rational reasons against it all on her own.
“There’s my wife, for one thing. There’s my brother for another. And the long arm of the law. It’s a bad idea all around, Molly.”
“I figured you’d say that,” she admitted.
“So you don’t intend to tie me up and hijack my boat?” he asked, only partially in jest.
“If I thought I could get away with it, I’d consider it, believe me,” she said. “But no. I’ll go back quietly.” She met his gaze. “Just not too soon, okay?”
“Good decision,” Patrick said, looking past her. “Especially since the boat that’s heading our way seems to be piloted by my brother, and he’s looking none too pleased with either one of us.”
Molly whirled around just as Daniel pulled alongside. The scowl on his face spoke volumes. Patrick was right. He was definitely not pleased. Even so, he looked incredibly handsome, with his cheeks colored by the wind and his hair mussed. She did love it when he was all rumpled. It reminded her that no one was as perfect as Daniel usually tried to be.
“Hello,” Molly called cheerfully, standing her ground even though her heart was pounding.
Still scowling at her, Daniel took a rope and tossed it to Patrick. “Tie me up,” he commanded.
Patrick complied without a word, then headed for the stern, where he spoke quietly to a wide-eyed Kendra, then led her below.
“You seem upset,” Molly said to Daniel.
“Upset?” His voice climbed in a very un-Daniel-like way. “You don’t have a clue. Retta’s upset. I’ve moved on to livid. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that a day on the water would be good for me and good for Kendra.”
“That’s it?” he asked incredulously. “This is some little feel-good outing?”
“That’s it,” she said.
“You intended all along to come back?”
“Of course.”
His gaze narrowed. “Really?”
“Okay, there was a fleeting moment when I tried to persuade Patrick to sail us away to the ends of the earth, but he had all sorts of pesky objections.”
“Such as?”
“His wife. You. The cops.” She looked into Daniel’s stormy eyes and added again, “You. That one bothered me, too.”
He took a step closer until she could feel the heat radiating off him. “Then you did, at least for a moment, consider my feelings?”
She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, with him so close. He was deliberately crowding her, deliberately reminding her of the kiss the night before. All she could do was nod.
He reached out, traced the curve of her jaw and set off goose bumps. “How did you think I’d react when I discovered you were gone?”
She swallowed hard. “Furious,” she muttered, then cleared her throat and faced him squarely. “I thought you’d be furious.”
“But you left, anyway,” he said flatly.
“I had to.”
“Why? To protect Kendra?”
Now, she thought, now was the time to say it, to get it out and deal with it. “No,” she said softly. “To protect myself.”
She hadn’t realized it, but he’d apparently been holding his breath, because he released it now, and for the first time since he’d climbed aboard the Katie G., there was a smile on his lips. It was so like Patrick’s, yet different. Charming. Compelling. Devastating.
“Ah,” he said, cupping her chin. “Is this what you were afraid of, Molly?”
He lowered his head until his mouth was a tantalizing breath away from hers. He made her wait, and then wait some more, before finally closing that infinitesimal gap and touching his lips to hers. Gently, then more persuasively, coaxing her to accept the kiss, to open her mouth to the sweep of his tongue.
Oh, hell, she thought as she felt the kiss right down to the tips of her toes. She clung to him, trying not to sigh with the sheer pleasure of it.
She’d kept him from saying the words the night before, but there was love in that kiss and maybe just a hint of desperation. She knew how that felt, that neediness, combined with a fear that what she wanted most in the world was something she could never have.
When he finally pulled