Follow Your Heart (Catalina Cove #4) - Brenda Jackson Page 0,19

smile caused desire to throb deep within him. When she threw up her hand in a wave, he waved back. He knew that somehow, today he had to focus his attention on fishing and not on her. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to invite her. But then he had a feeling he would have spent the entire day thinking about her if he hadn’t.

“Good morning, Roman,” she greeted when she reached his boat.

He quickly moved to help her board. Extending his hand out to her, something happened the moment their hands touched. A charge sliced through him and he almost snatched his hand back. He quickly glanced at her at the same moment she drew in a sharp breath, which meant she had felt it, as well.

Trying to downplay what had just happened, he said, “Good morning, Victoria. Welcome aboard.” The moment her feet stepped on the deck, he swiftly removed his hand from hers.

“Thanks. I hope I’m not too early for you.”

“No, you’re right on time. The sun hasn’t quite come up.”

“Good. I get to see the sunrise on the ocean this morning,” she said excitedly. “Usually, I just see it peeking through the apple trees.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Apple trees?”

She smiled up at him. “Yes, the house I’m leasing backs up to an apple grove. I don’t wake up to the smell of the ocean but of apples.”

“Apples are delicious.”

“Yes, and I love them. And what’s really nice is the owner of the grove has given his permission for me to pick as many as I want. So now I have apples each day. I brought you a few,” she said, taking off her backpack and pulling out two beautiful red apples.

“Thanks. And I got you something, as well,” he said.

“What?”

“These,” he said, grabbing a bag off the table.

She peeked inside and then flashed what he thought was one dazzling smile. “Blueberry muffins? From the Witherspoon Café?”

“Yes. I checked out the place on my laptop last night and saw they opened as early as five in the morning.”

“And you went and got them?”

“Yes, I went and got them, along with coffee.”

“Now aren’t you a sweetheart,” she said as he handed her a cup of coffee.

He chuckled. “I do my best. Come on. We can eat below before we take off. The Witherspoons were also kind enough to prepare us a box lunch.”

“Hey, you thought of everything,” she said, following him down the stairs. “So you got to meet the Witherspoons?”

“Yes, even with my less-than-polished look, the owner recognized me but promised not to make a big deal of my presence in the cove.”

“That was nice of him, but since moving to town I’ve discovered the Witherspoons are nice people. Their daughter, Bryce, got married earlier this year. She’s the local Realtor and the one who found the rental property for me.”

When they reached the main cabin, she glanced around. He could tell from the look on her face that she was impressed. “Nice yacht, Roman. I love the setup.”

“Thanks. I think I’ll keep Mint around after all.”

“Your political manager?”

“Yes.”

“You were actually thinking of firing the guy?”

Seeing her serious expression, he wanted to assure her that wasn’t the case. “Not hardly. Mint Stover and I have been a team since our college days at Harvard. He always said if I ever ran for public office that he would be my campaign manager. Mint does a great job, although sometimes he does get carried away with how he wants to direct my future.”

She nodded as she followed him to the table. Glancing over his shoulder at her, their gazes met. He couldn’t stop the electrical current that passed through him. He figured she had to have felt it, too. They could either ignore it or address it. It seemed she planned to ignore it, so he thought it would be best to follow her lead.

The last thing he needed was to become involved with a woman, no matter what advice the senate majority leader had given him. When he’d met with Senator Lansing, he’d pretty much agreed with Roman. When and if he ever decided to marry it should be for love and not politics. Roman was glad his mentor felt that way because he wasn’t in a hurry to make any woman the future Mrs. Roman Malone.

However, he would admit there was something going on with him and Victoria. There was an attraction—he knew that, but he wasn’t sure that was all there was. But then what