the first outrageous thing that came into her mind. “I was watching you be all manly and stuff.”
He stopped moving, that blue eye catching her gaze and holding it as a deep, unwanted surge of awareness flooded her. Oh, she was such an idiot.
“We should get back up to the lighthouse,” he said in a gruff voice as he hopped down into the cockpit. “You run ahead. I’ll be along in a minute with supplies.”
He headed down the ship’s ladder.
“Supplies?” she called down to him. She could just see him moving around in the galley.
“That storm looks like it might take a while to pass. Now get your ass back up to the light.”
He looked up at her with that single cobalt eye. She’d just been commanded, and as always that tone of voice brought out her inner rebel.
Daddy had done his best to slay that rebel, but she still lived. It was that rebellious girl inside her that insisted she befriend Colton a second time despite the never-ending gossip, who had walked away from a steady job to risk everything on her own business, who still showed up weekly for tea with Granny in hopes of, one day, getting an apology.
So she didn’t hop to Topher’s command. She held her ground even though the rain was doing its best to soak through her jacket and an icy trickle was inching down her back.
He was pulling stuff out of the small refrigerator and off a pantry shelf. He turned, seeing her at the top of the ladder. “What the hell? Go get out of the rain.”
“But I can help. I’m not some weak female, you know. I’ve had trouble in my life, but I have survived.”
“Me too.”
“What?”
“I’m fine, dammit. I don’t need your help, either.”
She blinked. Maybe this wasn’t about her following orders. Maybe this was about him feeling competent.
Whoa. She needed to get out of her own way. And his too, evidently.
“Okay. But—”
“What?” He glared.
She refrained from telling him to be careful. But deep inside, she earnestly hoped that he would be. Because she was worried about him.
She cared about him.
And that’s why she turned and headed up the path to the lighthouse. The rain was coming down horizontally by the time she made it back. The interior was dark now that the storm had closed in.
She was drenched. Completely soaked from the thighs down and definitely damp even where the jacket was supposed to protect her. A chill crept over her, but she stood by the door waiting for him.
It was a good ten minutes before a gray shape loomed out of the rain, moving with an uneven gait. He was carrying a bright-orange duffel bag over his shoulder, and he looked like a sailor coming home from a long voyage.
“I brought stuff,” he said in a breathless voice that telegraphed how hard the climb had been from the dock. He dropped the big bag to the slate floor, and then he pulled off his dripping-wet jacket and limped to the first of the stairs, where he sat down hard.
She didn’t say a word. Instead, she tackled the duffel, which turned out to be one of those waterproof bags with a fold-over top and a buckle.
She clawed her way into it with icy fingers and found a couple of blankets on the top and a collection of Clif Bars and soda cans on the bottom.
She pulled a blanket from the bag and wrapped it around her shoulders, then carried the second one over to Topher.
He was soaked, despite his jacket. Water slicked his hair and spiked the lashes of his eye. He stood up as she approached.
His high-performance sailing shirt accentuated the planes and angles of his chest. Maybe he was just getting back to an exercise regimen, but there wasn’t an ounce of fat on the man. He had a sinewy, wiry look to him.
The sudden desire to cook him a steak dinner came over her, along with other desires she didn’t want to acknowledge. What the heck was wrong with her?
She studied his scars and eye patch while emotions tugged at her. A moment ago, he’d proven that he was strong enough to withstand a storm. Strong enough to hold her up while she poured out every toxic memory and emotion that dwelled behind her protective barriers.
He could seduce her. He could confuse her. He could see through her, and that was frightening.
And yet, when he took a step toward her, bringing much-needed body heat with