All right, Nathan, consider yourself kidnapped. You might as well go peacefully.'
As he wrapped a towel around his waist, Nathan glanced up. Without bothering to knock, Jackie pushed open the door to the bathroom and strode in. He should be used to it by now, he thought as he secured the towel. She could pop up anytime and anywhere.
'Mind if I put my shoes on?'
'You've got ten minutes.'
Before she could turn to go, he had her by the arm. 'Where have you been?'
He was becoming too attached to her, Nathan told himself even as the words came out. When he'd woken up alone that morning it had taken all of his control not to dash around the house looking for her. They'd been lovers three days, and already he felt bereft if she wasn't beside him when he opened his eyes in the morning.
'Some of us have work to do, even on Saturdays.' She let her gaze roam down, then up. He was damp, tanned and mostly naked. She thought it a pity she'd made plans. 'Downstairs in ten minutes, or I'll make you suffer.'
'What's going on, Jack?'
'You're not in a position to ask questions.' With a last smile, she left him. He heard her run lightly downstairs.
What did she have in store for him now? Nathan wondered as he reached for his razor. With Jackie there were never any guarantees, and there was rarely any rhyme or reason. It should have annoyed him, he thought as he lathered his face. It was supposed to annoy him. He'd already planned his day.
A few hours in his office dealing with the preliminaries on the Sydney project and snipping any loose ends from Denver would take care of the morning. After that he'd thought it might be nice to treat Jackie, and himself, to lunch and tennis at the country club. Being kidnapped hadn't been in his plans.
But he wasn't annoyed. Nathan brought the razor over lather and beard in short, smooth strokes. Because he'd left the window open, the mirror was only lightly steamed at the edges. He could see himself clearly. What had changed?
He was still Nathan Powell, a man with certain responsibilities and priorities. It wasn't a stranger looking back at him in the mirror, but a man he knew very well. The eyes were the same, as was the shape of the face, the hairline. If he looked the same, why didn't he feel the same? More, why couldn't he, a man who knew himself so well, put his finger on exactly what his feelings were?
Shaking the thought aside, he rinsed off the traces of lather. It was absurd. He was exactly who he had always been. The only change in his life was Jackie.
And what the hell was he going to do about her?
It wasn't a question he could avoid much longer. The more involved he became with her, the more certain he was that he was going to hurt her. That was something he would regret the rest of his life. In a matter of weeks he would have to leave her to go to Denver. He couldn't leave her with promises and vows, nor could he expect her to stay when he couldn't tell her what she needed to hear.
He wanted to believe she was nothing more than a few colorful pages in the very straightforward book of his life. But he knew, he already knew, that as his life went on he would keep turning back to look over those few pages again and again.
They should talk. He slapped on after-shave that left his skin cool and stinging. It was up to him to see that they did, quietly, seriously and as soon as possible. The world, as much as he might now wish it could be, was not composed of two people. And neither of them had begun to live the moment they'd met.
'You're running out of time, Nathan.'
Jackie's voice came rushing up the stairs and caught him daydreaming. Daydreams were also something new in his life. Swearing at himself, Nathan whipped off the towel and began to dress.
He found her in the kitchen, securing the lid on a cooler, while on the radio some group from the fifties harmonized about love and devotion.
'You're lucky I decided to be generous and give you another five minutes.' She turned to study him. He wore black shorts with a white shirt, and his hair was still slightly damp. 'I guess it was worth it.'
He was almost but not quite used to her frank and unabashed appraisals. 'What's going on, Jack?'
'I told you. You're kidnapped.' She stepped forward to slip her arms around his waist. 'If you try to escape, it'll go hard on you.' Pressing her face in his throat, she began to sniff. 'I love your after-shave.'
'What's in the cooler?'
'Surprises. Sit down, you can have some cereal.'
'Cereal?'
'Man doesn't live by hotcakes alone, Nathan.' She kissed him quick. 'And some bananas.' She moved away to get one, changed her mind and took two. As she peeled her own, she began to explain. 'You might as well consider yourself my hostage for the day and make this simple.'
'Make what simple?'
'We've both been working hard the last few days- well, except for one very memorable day.' She smiled as she took the first bite. 'And that was exhausting in its own way. So…' She slapped a palm on the cooler. 'I'm taking you for a ride.'
'I see.' Nathan sliced the banana over a bowl of cornflakes. 'Anywhere in particular?'
'No. Anywhere at all. You eat, I'll put this in the boat.'
'Boat?' He paused, the banana peel in his hand. 'My boat?'
'Of course.' Hefting the cooler, she turned back with an easy smile. 'As much as I love you, Nathan, I know even you can't walk on water. Coffee's hot, by the way, but make it quick, will you?'
He did, because he was more interested in what she had up her sleeve than in a bowl of cold cereal. She'd left the radio on, he supposed for his benefit. After he'd rinsed his bowl, Nathan switched it off. As a matter of course he went to check the front door. Jackie had left it open. He shut it, locked it, then went to join her.
Outside, he found her competently storing supplies in the hatch. She wore a visor in a blazing orange that matched her shorts and the frames of a pair of mirrored wraparound sunglasses.
'All set?' she asked him. 'Cast off, will you?'
'You're driving?'
'Sure. I was practically born on a boat.' She slipped behind the wheel and tossed a look over her shoulder as Nathan hesitated, his hands on the line. 'Trust me. I looked at a map.'
'Well, then.' Wondering if he was taking his life in his hands, he cast off and came aboard.
'Sun block,' she said, handing him a tube. With that she pulled smoothly away from the dock. 'How do you feel about St. Thomas?'
'Jack…'
'Only kidding. I've thought what a kick it would be to travel the whole Intracoastal. Take a whole summer and just cruise.'
He'd thought of it, too, as something he might find time for-someday. After retirement, perhaps. When Jackie said it, it seemed possible it could happen tomorrow. And it made him wish it would happen tomorrow. He only murmured as he watched her handle the boat.
He should have known she'd be fine. Maybe she couldn't remember to close doors behind her, but it seemed to him that whatever she did she did with careless skill. Her hand was light on the wheel as she negotiated the channel. Even when she picked up speed, he relaxed.
'You picked a good day for a kidnapping.'
'I thought so.' She threw him a grin, then settled more comfortably in her seat.
The boat handled like a dream. Of course, she'd known that Nathan would keep it in tip-top shape. That was one of the things she admired about him. He didn't take his possessions for granted. If it belonged to him, it deserved his attention. Too many people she knew, herself included, could develop a casual disregard for what was theirs. She'd learned something from him about pride of possession and the responsibility that went along with it.
She belonged to him now. Jackie hoped he'd begin to care for her with the same kind of devotion.
You're moving too fast, as usual, she cautioned herself. Caution was something else she'd learned from
