control in trying to put him in his place and she didn’t like it. No, she didn’t like it one bit. He was tempted to have a wild fling with her and put to rest this sexual tension that crackled between them brewing like a tropical storm. But, he could also sense her resistance. She was worried about something, or somebody, and he doubted she would tell him about it.
“You should have woken me.” A soft voice reproached him and he turned to see her, silhouetted against the sun’s rays, standing at the open door. She looked ethereal in a white flared beach skirt and matching top, her slender legs and body outlined through the thin material. On her feet she wore his chunky black socks, which should have looked incongruous and yet on her were as sexy as hell.
He grabbed the coffee mug as it was about to fall from his fingers. Jeez. He was acting like a lovesick teenager but she knocked him out. He wanted her.
“You were too sound asleep for me to dare to disturb you,” he joked, turning to take the kettle from the stove to give him time to recover his equilibrium.
“Can I help?”
“Yep. Get a can opener and open these peaches, will you?”
“Are you going to work on Jezebel after breakfast?”
He nodded. “But you needn’t come. I’ll have to strip the engine down and see what the problem is. You can stay here and relax.” He poured two coffees and placed them on the table. “And don’t go swimming on your own,” he warned with a frown.
“I need a shower.” Lara wiped two dusty fruit bowls with the tea towel and then served the peaches, pouring some of the sweet juice over the top of them.
He sat at the table, his chair scraping on the wooden floor. “I’ll be out of the way soon so you can have your shower in peace without bothering to hide your blushes.”
She laughed as she sat next to him and lifted a spoonful of peach nectar to her mouth, running her tongue over her lips as she swallowed. He watched as her tongue caught and held a tiny droplet of juice. His heart slammed in his chest like a thousand drums beating out a tune. Was she teasing him? He didn’t think so. There was too much of an air of innocence about her, although she appeared a lot more relaxed this morning. Perhaps she’d got the message that he wouldn’t harm her.
Finishing his fruit, he stood and pushing back his chair, took a great gulp of scalding coffee. “I’d better get started,” he said gruffly. “It could take me a while.”
“Perhaps you should try and fix the radio first then we could send for a rescue boat.” Her green eyes were wide and beguiling as she looked up at him.
“That’s what I intend to do,” he snapped. “But I’m no electrician and if I get it going, it will be a bloody miracle.”
“Won’t your wife and family be worried about you?”
He hesitated, placing his half-drunk mug of coffee on the table. “I don’t have a family. I’m divorced.”
“Oh.”
“The locals are used to me disappearing for days on end—after all I am a fisherman. But there could be concerns over you, which is why we need to get you to civilization.”
“I told my mother I would contact her in a couple of days so she won’t be worried.”
“Are your cuts healing?” He glanced at her small feet.
“I’ll bathe them later. They’ll be fine.” She lowered her eyes and swift color rose in her cheeks. He wondered if she was thinking of the zinging, unbearable tension between them when he had smoothed ointment into her skin. She had trembled beneath his touch and for all her haughtiness, he sensed a vulnerability and shyness about her.
He cleared his throat. “Right. I’ll get going. I’ll be back at lunchtime so perhaps you can have a look through the larder and rustle up something. If it’s not too much effort.”
“I think I can manage to open another can of something. What if I want you? Shall I swim out to the boat?”
Jack studied her apprehensive expression and stopped himself reaching for her. Does she bring out this protective instinct in every man? Or just idiots like me?
He lifted a large ship’s bell from the dresser and gave it to her. “If you are worried about anything, go to the edge of the beach and ring that. But I’m sure you’ll manage