The Man Must Marry(26)

       
           



       

What was wrong? "I'm coming!" she called back, pulling on jeans and   slipping a baggy sweatshirt over her head as she ran to the stairs,   barefoot.

"What does that look like to you?" he asked the moment she stepped on deck and looked at where he was pointing.

"It's a water spout." She pointed to the east of it. "And there's   another one." She studied them for several seconds to discern their   direction of travel, a bit surprised to see the natural phenomenon this   far north this early in the season. She smiled at the ocean's version  of  a tornado, then headed below to find her socks and shoes.

"Wait!" Sam said. "What are we supposed to do?"

She held on to the sides of the hatchway and stared at him. "I thought you and your brothers sailed with Abram all the time."

"In the sound," he growled, glancing over his shoulder at the spouts,   which were a good fifteen miles away. "And only in fair weather. The   RoseWind was Bram's and Grammy's passion, not ours."

She nodded. "Then I suggest you keep a close eye on them. That   thunderstorm is traveling faster than we are, and if it suddenly decides   to turn north, we just might find ourselves on some yellow brick road   inKansas ."

His eyes narrowed, but at the sound of distant thunder, he turned to face the squall heading out to sea to their south.

Willa backed down the steps and went hunting for her shoes with a   giggle. Man, oh, man, was this going to be a fun four days or what?

Chapter Twelve

As impromptu voyages went,Willa supposed this one had no more problems   than could be expected; the nights were absolutely heaven, and her   hormones definitely were getting plenty of exercise. But during

the daylight hours … Well, for her sailing-challenged stowaway, this was   probably the voyage from hell. To begin with, Sam was always either   eating or looking for something to eat. He was burning an awful lot of   calories-both during the day and well into the night. But he'd already   gone through the small supply of food she'd brought, as well as what   little food he'd packed in his dry sack. They were still at least a day   from home, and Willa figured she would have to start fishing. When he   wasn't eating, Sam was tripping over the rigging, slamming into the   boom, or nearly falling overboard. He just couldn't seem to find his sea   legs. He had a small cut on his left cheek and a knot the size of an   egg on his temple, and three of his fingers were taped together because   he'd caught them in the mainsail winch yesterday.

If this trip ended up killing Sam, Ben and Jesse would be forced to draw   straws to see which of them would have to marry her, and then she'd   have to find a way to ditch each of them. Though she could claim it   wasn't her fault that Sam couldn't sail his way out of a wet paper bag,   she didn't think she could explain three unexplained deaths. Four if  she  included Abram. After all, the old man had died while in her  employ.

They'd all be buried in really nice caskets, though.

"How did you find that can of sardines?" she asked when Sam plopped down   with a groan beside the wheel. "I hid it in the oven because I knew   you'd already checked there. Did you think the food fairy had paid a   visit since the last time you looked?"

He popped the top off the can and held it up with a smile. "She obviously did."

"I was saving those sardines to use for bait."

He snorted. "You can use the dead flesh hanging off me instead. I   haven't been this sore since Andy Simmons beat me up in kindergarten."

"I hope you've noticed that I've refrained from laughing at your   klutziness," she said, working hard not to smile. He looked positively   pathetic.

When he finally finished draining the last drop of oil from the can, he   eyed her speculatively. "I just figured out why you're always tripping   over yourself. If the floor's not moving, you can't function. You grew   up on a swaying deck."

"The floor of my factory doesn't move, and I'm not a klutz at work. I've never met anyone with such a huge appetite."

"For food or … " His gaze dropped to her chest.

Willa immediately reached for her jacket. "We're definitely in theGulfofMaine . It's getting downright cold."

"We could put the RoseWind on autopilot and go below," he suggested, his   deep blue eyes snagging her gaze. "And share our body heat."

"The deal is we sail by day and share our body heat only at night." Not   that she wouldn't love to see him naked in daylight. But that would  mean  Sam could also see her, and her mama always told Willa that a                       
       
           



       

smart woman kept the mystery alive in a relationship.

Not that she and Sam had a relationship.

He sighed and actually started licking the empty sardine can clean, a   drop of oil glistening on his four-day growth of beard. "How far are we   from Keelstone Cove?" he asked, eyeing the tin forlornly.

"We'll be there this time tomorrow, if the wind holds."

"Who were you talking to on the radio a few minutes ago?"

"ClarkKent."

Sam blinked. "As in Superman?"

"He's my cousin." Willa smiled. "And when he's not out saving the world,   you'll find him on his boat, the Lois Lane , hauling lobster traps."   She nodded at the expanse of ocean off their starboard side. "He's   fishing about seventy miles northeast of us."

"What sort of twisted parents name their kid Clark with the last   nameKent ? Your cousin must have spent his childhood having to live up   to his namesake."

"Not many people challengeClark . He was always big for his age and   didn't stop growing until his mid-twenties. He finally topped out at   six-foot-three and two hundred and fifty pounds." She shot Sam a smile.   "He was a year ahead of me in school, and I had to go to his senior  prom  with him because the girls wouldn't date him."

"I thought high school girls liked big, strong boys."

"They like jocks.Clark was like the fictionalClark Kent, only more so. He was shy, geeky, and, um … a bit of a klutz."

"It runs in the family?" Sam drawled.

Willa shot him a glare. "Clarkfinally grew into his size his junior year   of college and came home that summer a completely new man. That was   also the summer his father died. He was forced to quit school when he   inherited his dad's federal lobster license and had to support his three   younger sisters and his mother."

"Did he ever finish college?"

"No. He decided he actually prefers fishing to veterinary work. He says   lobster bites aren't nearly as painful as getting kicked by a horse."

"I'm looking forward to meeting your cousin."

Willa shrugged. "You probably won't get the chance. He heads out before   dawn and doesn't get back until real late. He's busy this week moving   his traps to deeper water, and you'll be heading back toNew York once we   drop anchor."

Sam shook his head, eyeing her speculatively. "This little trip has shown me that I'm long overdue for a

vacation. I thought I'd take over Bram's remaining two weeks of rent on   your cottage. From what I saw of it on the video tape, the place looks   downright peaceful."

Willa's hormones immediately started doing a happy dance. He was   planning on hanging around two more weeks? How in heck was she going to   stop herself from walking over to that cottage in the middle of the   night and crawling into bed with him?

"Oh, no you don't. There's only a few days of rent left, and the lease is nontransferable."

"Then I'll find another place in Keelstone Cove to stay. Maybe a bed and breakfast-that way I won't have to do my own cooking."

Dammit dammit dammit. "You will not! We had a deal. Five days of fun, then we both get on with our separate lives."

"We didn't have a deal, Willa. You set the rules for this trip, and I   followed your orders. But once we dock, you're no longer the captain."   He shrugged. "I was just hoping to see why Bram thought Keelstone Cove   was a good place to die." His gaze locked on hers again. "I don't   understand why my staying for a couple of weeks would be a problem for   you."

"You don't understa-" She took a calming breath. No need to get excited;   she just had to explain the situation to him. "We just spent the last   four nights making love like monkeys, and you expect to live next door   for two weeks and … and … " She threw up her hands when he gave her a blank   look. "Dammit,"