Course of the Heart Read Online Free

the first aid kit he’d bought the day before. He pointed to her face again. “Let’s go below out of this wind and see to those . . . see to that.”
    “Thank you.” She turned toward the locker. “May I have one of those bottled waters?”
    “Sure, of course. You grab it, and I’ll get the first-aid kit. There are extra clothes in the guest stateroom aft. Feel free to get out of that . . . whatever it is you’re wearing.”
    “Thanks.” She reached into the locker and retrieved her backpack.
    “You’re welcome.” He set the autopilot and alarm, and did a double take when he saw she had brought a carry-on.
    “Mr. Richey?”
    “Please, call me Drew.”
    “Mr. Richey?”
    “Or Mr. Richey, if you like.”
    “Thank you for showing up when you did last night.”
    Drew couldn’t think of a response, and instead, turned and made his way below.
    She locked the door to the guest stateroom and stripped the jumpsuit from her body.
    How convenient.
    He just happened to have shorts and smaller tees onboard, even though they were a bit too big for her. There was probably an entire wardrobe of women’s clothes aboard for all she knew. She had heard the rumors about the many women who had been on his boat. While in high school, she had even been invited a few times, through her best friend, to go for a sail with him. Knowing his reputation, she had always refused. She picked through the clothes and made her selection, holding the items cautiously to her nose. At least the clothes smelled clean.
    She unlocked and opened the door slightly, looked down the short hall and out into the main cabin. He was nowhere to be seen. Holding one hand over her breasts and the other between her legs, she slipped out the stateroom door and into the bathroom, a bag of personal items under her arm. She took the spray nozzle and quickly washed her body and hair, and dried off with a clean over size towel she found in a cabinet. After brushing her teeth, applying deodorant, and dressing, she toweled her hair as dry as possible, and tiptoed barefoot through the main cabin and into the galley.
    She found him rummaging through a cabinet. At least he had the decency to put sleeves over those muscular arms. Either way, she wasn’t buying anything he was selling. She would be nice to him, but that was it. After all, she didn’t want to end up in the water. No amount of manly charm was going to lure her into his web of love ‘em and leave ‘em. No sir.
    She smiled benignly and sat across the table from him. He frowned as he surveyed her face again, and moved around the settee and sat next to her.
    “I promise I won’t bite.” He moved closer and opened the first aid kit. “But I can’t deal with those wounds from across the table.”
    With his hand he gently moved a damp strand of hair from her face. He wore a solemn, concerned look, as he took a closer look at her injuries.
    “Man, this guy did a number on you. Should’ve let him drown.” He stood, walked over to a cabinet and unlatched it, revealing several bottles of liquor. “You’re going to need some anesthetics. What’s your pleasure?”
    “Oh, I see. Get the girl a little drunk, is that how you do it?” She could see right through that earnest handsome expression. “I’ll have you know I don’t drink . . . that much.”
    “Well, too bad . . . Lady, I wasn’t offering you a cocktail. I was offering something to numb you a bit, for medicinal purposes only.”
    She lifted her nose again and shook her head.
    He shrugged, closed and latched the cabinet. “Suit yourself.”
    He folded gauze over the top of an alcohol bottle and upended it quickly. He began gently dabbing the gauze to a cut.
    “Ouch,” she said, flinching. She ignored the ‘I told you so’ look on his face, and backed away. “Do you have any rum?”
    “With Coke?”
    “Do you have Diet?”
    “Lady, this isn’t a bar.”
    “Okay, okay. Regular Coke is fine.”
    “Coming right up.”
    He had rolled