Happily Ever After (16 page)

Aside
from that, they’d all thrown her to the proverbial wolf!

A
pall had been cast over all their moods for the remainder of the day, while the
damage had been assessed and repaired. Their chores had been attended to in a
sort of contemplative silence—and Sophie doubted they were all having
life-altering revelations triggered by the simple fact that she’d very nearly
killed them all today. No, everyone’s mood was a reflection of
Jack’s—including her own.

He
hadn’t bothered to fix her roof, however, and Sophie thought he wanted to see
her suffer just a little.

What
on Earth had she done to deserve his animosity

She
frowned as she considered that.

Because
she had yelled at him on the dock for his lack of dress ... accused him of
thievery... broke his stove... burned his breakfast... and nearly sunk his ship.

She
sighed.

Her
demerits were really adding up.

She
heard voices above and tried to ignore them, wholly grateful they had chosen to
do the same. Out of consideration, they seemed to be avoiding the gaping hole
in their deck.

Which
was more than she could say for Jack.

Her
attention caught by their conversation, she strained to hear him. His voice was
unmistakable. He was talking to Kell, she surmised—mostly because Kell
seemed the only one willing to question His Holiness, for he clearly believed
he had never done anything wrong in his entire life! No, Jack MacAuley was
untouchable, never culpable, perfect! She gritted her teeth as she listened to
them.

“Maybe
we should throw a tarp over it,” Kell suggested, and Sophie knew they were
discussing the gaping masterpiece in her ceiling.

“Hell
no!” he answered. “Let her sleep with it tonight.”

Silence
a moment.

She
heard the shuffling of feet, and Sophie wondered if he’d intended for her to
hear this particular conversation. Probably so. He didn’t strike her as the
sort of man to leave anything to chance.

“Jack,”
Kell protested. “It feels like rain tonight.”

“Good,”
Jack retorted, without the least pause.

Sophie
bristled.

She
had paid good money—ten thousand dollars to be precise—for the
dubious privilege of boarding this blasted vessel! Why should she be forced to
sleep under the stars? It wasn’t as though she hadn’t suffered already. She had
no clothes to wear!

“If
she wants a tarp over it, she can damned well put one over it herself,” Jack
continued, his tone adamant. “She has two legs and two hands, Kell, and this
isn’t a cruise expressly for her pleasure. I told her that to begin with, and
we aren’t here to do her damned bidding!”

“I
really don’t mind,” Kell countered.

“I
do.” Jack’s tone brooked no argument.

Silence
again.

Then
Jack exclaimed, “My God, man, have you forgotten what we’re dealing with here?”

Kell’s
answer was softly spoken, almost reluctant. “No.”

“Good,
because they’re both in cahoots, and the last thing I intend to do is to make
her job easier!”

Sophie’s
brow furrowed.

Their
conversation was no longer making sense.

What
were they dealing with? Who was in cahoots? Whose job? Was he talking about her?

Her
mind raced, searching for possibilities, but none seemed to manifest itself.

In
that moment, thunder rumbled overhead, distant but the sound of it fraught with
menace.

“Jack,”
Kell said, and it sounded much like a plea in her behalf. Sophie wanted to hug
him for his concern.

Jack,
on the other hand, was unmoved, the cur. “If she wants out of the deuced rain
badly enough, she’ll figure out how to do it for herself.”

She
heard his footfall ebb, leaving Sophie to gnash her teeth in helpless
frustration over his uncharitable behavior.

Only
she wasn’t helpless! He was goading the wrong woman! She certainly wasn’t going
to take insult from Jack MacAuley any more than she intended to suffer it from
Harlan Penn! They could both go to the devil!

Another
rumble of thunder rolled overhead, and Sophie sat up in her cot and looked
about the tiny cabin with disgust. She was cramped and uncomfortable in a room
she could scarcely share with her luggage! Not that she had to worry about that
particular inconvenience any longer!

So
he wanted her to figure it out, did he? Well, she intended to do just that!
Only if he meant to make her suffer, then two could certainly play at this game.

If
he wanted a battle waged between them, then a battle he would get! And her
volley this morning would be nothing compared to what she had in store. She had
learned something from her mother.

This
was all-out war.

CHAPTER 14

Jack tried to make sense of his anger.

He knew the afternoon’s
accident wasn’t entirely her fault. It was his own—and Kell’s, as well,
for showing off. They had purchased the powder for the canon out of sheer
curiosity—a toy of sorts for them to explore together. It damned well annoyed
him that his friend had spent the entire day showing off to his woman.

But she wasn’t really his woman.

Kell’s defense of her had only provoked him all
the more. The man had never defended anyone against him—even when his
anger had been unreasonable! Jack had once damned the entire faculty of the
university, taking a stand against capitalistic exclusionary academics, putting
his career on the line for something that had been of minuscule importance in
the grand scheme of things. His fury had been tangible. Kell had backed him the
entire way, only injecting the voice of reason when it was appropriate... to
keep him from cutting off his nose to spite his face.

The fact was that Kell had every right to spend
the day with Sophie. She wasn’t Jack’s woman!

He still didn’t like it.

Her door was open, he noticed, when he passed her
cabin on the way to his own, but she wasn’t inside. Where the hell could she
be? She wasn’t above deck, of that he was certain. It wasn’t a big enough ship
that he would have missed her. Anyway, she would have had to pick her way
through the mess hall where at least half his crew was fast asleep in their
hammocks, and he doubted she would have braved the course. If their snores
weren’t enough to keep her at bay, their half-naked torsos would have sent her
scurrying back to her room.

It didn’t take him long to figure out where she
had gone. He heard a ruckus in his own cabin, and his hackles rose. What the
hell was she doing? Snooping again? This time he was bloody well going to catch
her red-handed!

He threw the door open, expecting to find her
going through his papers, and froze in shock at what she was doing instead.

She was dividing the room with sheets, setting up
house in her half of the room. She’d already found and strung a hammock on the
second set of hooks and stood there looking like a beautiful vixen in her white
nightgown. The hem of the otherwise pristine gown was shorn and stained, but
the gauzy material lifted and fluttered behind her when she spun to face him.
Bathed in the lantern light, she looked a little like a banshee—ethereal
in her beauty and fierce ... seductive ... like the breeze on a hot sultry
night.

“What the devil do you think you’re doing?”

Jack had never seen such fiery determination in a
woman’s eyes. Beautiful eyes, despite their furor.

“What does it appear I am doing?”

He stood in the doorway with his hands on the
knob, his jaw slack. “Aside from making a mess of my cabin?”

“I am
not
making a mess!” she said, splitting hairs as far as Jack was concerned. “I am
making myself comfortable!”

“I see that,” Jack countered, raising a brow.
“What I want to know is why? Who the hell gave you permission to set up house
here?”

She let her sheet fall from her grasp and advanced
upon him suddenly, thrusting her finger into his chest. “I did!” she declared.

Jack blinked down at her.

Her eyes sparkled, flashing with ire. “I paid good
money for passage aboard this ship and I will not be crammed into a wretched
little cabin to suffer a perpetual shower!”

Her finger rested between his ribs, jabbing him
lightly, and her determination was more than evident in her stance. He almost
admired what she was doing... except that it was bound to make his life utterly
miserable.

“How about I just give you your money back and
send you home on a raft,” he offered, without any real intent.

For just an instant, she was taken aback by his
suggestion, seeming to take him seriously. Jack nearly smiled at the look of
shock on her face. But she only stood straighter at his threat, and faced him
squarely.

“Put me out on a raft, Mr. MacAuley, and I will...
I will...” She frowned, unable to come up with a suitable retribution.

He arched a brow. “Tell your daddy?”

“No!” she exploded, and jabbed her finger a little
harder. Jack winced. “I would see you suffer the greatest indignity for it!”

Christ, she was beautiful.

“The greatest indignity, huh?”

Her cheeks were flushed with color and her eyes
fairly glowed with indignation. They reminded him just now of fine whiskey, the
rich amber clarity of the liquid against crystal. Her hair was a rich, silky
auburn that turned to flame under the soft, warm light of the lanterns, and he
resisted the urge to pull it back out of her face... to touch her.

He wanted to taste her just now, silence her with
a brutal lover’s kiss. His body tightened with the realization that she would
be alone in his cabin.

Fair game.

But she must come to him.

He came in the door, forcing her backward as he
advanced on her. She retreated as he kicked the door closed behind him. And yet
still she stood her ground, crossing her arms, glaring at him as fiercely as a
wild mustang refusing to be broken.

By God, he wanted to ride her: The very thought
aroused him painfully.

Would she wrap her legs around his waist and cling
to him as desperately as she challenged him, urging him deeper with soft little
cries of desire?

Or would she make love to him with as much passion
as she fought, digging her hands into his buttocks and drawing him deeper.

“Can’t bear the thought of suffering great
indignities.” he said, his voice taut, though not with fury, but with barely
restrained desire. “Stay, then.”

She didn’t seem to sense the difference. She
smiled in victory, and Jack very nearly smiled back at her, but he didn’t.

Let her think she’d won.

He took her by the shoulders to move her gently
aside, and his body experienced an instant shock at the touch. It startled him.
She felt it as well; he saw it in her eyes, heard it in her gasp of surprise.

Sophie’s breath left her in a rush.

For the briefest instant, she stood stupefied,
staring into eyes that seemed to see far too deeply into her soul. Her
heartbeat quickened painfully, and she swallowed convulsively.

The shock of his touch left her dazed.

He felt it, too; she could see it in his eyes.

She’d never felt so affected by a simple touch.

Without another word, he set her aside and walked
around her. Like an addle-pated ninny, she merely stood there, staring at the
door a bit stupidly. His touch had startled her far more than his capitulation.

She’d expected a battle from him, and had been
more than prepared to wage it. Now that she had her way—and worse, the
door was closed—and she was alone with him, there seemed a far different
battle raging inside her.

He sat down at his desk and she went back to
hanging the sheets. Determined to give herself some privacy at least, she tried
to ignore him as best she could.

She’d strung the blankets over ropes she had tied
to each wall, forming a curtain of sorts. In the mornings, they could push them
aside, so the room would be accessible to both. At night, they would simply
close them. Sophie claimed the side of the room with the washbasin and no door.
She gave him the door, just in case someone needed him in the middle of the
night for some emergency, such as if the boat decided suddenly to fall apart
and they were all going to die and needed Jack to stand around and yell at
everyone to die with dignity.

“I really hope you don’t snore,” she told him
petulantly, feeling querulous still, although he hadn’t said a word since his
initial protest.

He didn’t bother looking up from his work to
answer her. “I hope you don’t, either.”

Sophie had started this particular altercation;
still she took offense. “Of course I don’t!”