Course of the Heart Read Online Free Page A

up his sleeves and the arm muscles flexed as he chipped ice from a block and mixed the drink. He reached into a plastic bag, retrieved and threw a slice of lime into the cup, handed it to her and sat back silently in his chair. She cautiously sipped the drink.
    “The rum should do the trick, to dull the feeling, that is. Drink up while I go on deck and check the heading. That should give that sedative time to work. I’m guessing you’re not up for the week it will take to get to the Keys, so I’ll need to take a bearing more to the east. Should help us pick up the speed a little also. In about seventy-two hours, I can drop you off around Tampa. Sorry, that’s the best I can do, given the winds.”
    Sam nodded in agreement and forced herself to look away as he turned and moved his nice posterior up the ladder. Feeling uncomfortable about even three days on the boat with him, she tipped the large plastic cup and drained half of the strong drink. By the time he returned the cup was empty and she was beginning to relax.
    “Whoa.” He looked at the cup and frowned. “That was a little fast.”
    “Could I have another one?” For the first time in weeks she was relaxed, and she suspected it was because with every minute that passed, she was farther from Brad.
    He mixed another drink, sat it in front of her, and continued the treatment. The rum indeed helped and her eyelids grew heavy, as his right hand worked gently on her cuts. The fingers of his left hand were weaved into her hair at the back and base of her skull. The strength of his hold was comforting. The waves picked up and he had to scoot closer to keep his hand from moving too much with the motion of the boat.
    He removed his hand from her hair and began tending to her cuts. He was close enough for her to feel his breath on her face, as he steadily went about the task of applying medicine and bandages. With the rum in full effect, Samantha found herself strangely attracted to this man, the light smell of cola on his breath, the distinct not too unpleasant smell of a man who had been out in the sun all day, the heat from his hand on the back of her neck. When he completed the task and withdrew his hands, she swayed toward him, in an effort to steady herself. She couldn’t seem to open her eyes.
    “Easy there. We’re all done here. You might need to lie down for a while and let that sedative wear off. That was quite a slug of rum you downed.”
    She would have to agree. As she stood, the room began to spin and she tipped forward. Those big, warm hands steadied her shoulders. He spun her slowly around toward the guest stateroom, and walked her toward the berth. For a fleeting moment she thought about what it would be like with someone like him, given his reputation. She had heard all the rumors about his sexual prowess. A chill passed over her with the thought. Feeling quite content, she smiled and sat hard on the edge of the cushion and promptly fell over. She couldn’t seem to lose the smile, as he lifted her legs onto the bed, placed a pillow under her head, and covered her with a light blanket.
    All that was missing was a goodnight kiss. This thought made her giggle as she opened her eyes and looked at him. He didn’t seem amused.
    She looked again, and he was gone.
    She woke to dim light in the stateroom with the realization that the boat was still in motion. Surprisingly, she felt refreshed with little after-effects from the rum. The throb in her face was gone, and the swelling was subsiding. How could that happen so fast? She lay in the coolness of the stateroom and began to feel the guilt, as she remembered that she had been too relaxed, too trustful of the man who held her trapped on his boat. She knew little about him, only what she had heard. However, so far, his actions did little to support his reputation. He had conducted himself like a gentleman, a man not self-centered at all. Was that part of his act? Treat the girl like a lady and then pounce on