retaliate by saying something cutting.
"Very disappointed," he admitted quietly.
A treacherous heat was seeping through Lauren's nervous system as she gazed into those mesmerizing gray eyes, and as Nick put the wrench down and slowly stood up, she cautiously backed away a step.
"Lauren?"
She swallowed. "Yes?"
"Would you like to eat first?"
"First," she whispered hoarsely. "Before what?"
"Before we go sailing," he replied, studying her with puzzlement.
"Oh,
sailing
!" Her breath came out in a laugh. "Yes, t hank you, I would like to eat first. And I'd love to go sailing."
7
« ^ »
L auren had never known a more glorious day than this. In the two hours since they sailed away from the Cove, a warm comradery had sprung up between them—a companionship that was made up of spontaneous comments and shared laughter, punctuated with long relaxed silences.
The brilliant blue sky was decorated with puffy white clouds, and the wind caught the sail, sending the boat shooting soundlessly through the water. She watched a sea gull screeching overhead, then glanced at Nick, who was seated at the tiller, facing her. He smiled and Lauren smiled back, then she lifted her face to the sky again, basking in the sun's golden warmth and in the knowledge that Nick's lazy, admiring gaze was on her.
"We could drop anchor here and do some sunbathing and some fishing. Would you like that?" Nick said.
"I'd love it." Lauren watched him roll to his feet and begin taking in the sail.
"We should get some bass and blue gill for our dinner," he said a few minutes later as he rigged two fishing poles. "There's great salmon fishing here, but we'd need downriggers, and we'd have to troll."
Lauren had fished with her father many times from the banks of
Missouri
's verdant creeks and rivers, but she'd never fished from a boat. She didn't have the faintest idea what a downrigger was or what trolling was either, but intended to find out. If the man she loved liked to fish from boats, she would learn to like it too.
"I've got one," Nick called a half hour later as his line played out with a whir.
Lauren dropped her rod and went racing toward his end of the boat, unthinkingly shouting directions: "Set the hook! Keep your rod tip up. Don't let the line go slack. He's running— loosen the drag."
"Lord, are you bossy!" Nick grinned, and she realized with a rueful smile that he was handling the fish with expertise. A few minutes later he leaned over the side of the boat and scooped the big perch into a long-handled net. Like a proud little boy who was showing off his trophy to someone special, Nick held up his flapping fish for Lauren to properly admire. "Well, what do you think?"
One look at that boyish expression on his ruggedly chiseled features, and the love that had budded inside Lauren burst into full bloom.
You're wonderful
, she thought. "He's wonderful," she said.
And in that outwardly casual moment, Lauren made the most momentous decision of her life. Nick already owned her heart; tonight it was right that he have her body too.
The sun was setting in a blaze of crimson when Nick let out the sail and they started back to the Cove. Lauren again felt his gaze on her as he sat at the tiller, facing her in the waning light. It was getting chilly, and she drew her legs up against her chest, wrapping her arms around them. The question of how they were going to spend the night had been completely resolved in her mind, but it bothered her that she was about to take such an irrevocable step with a man whom she adored, but about whom she knew so very little.
"What are you thinking about?" Nick asked quietly.
"I was thinking that I know very little about you."
"What would you like to know?"
It was the opening Lauren desperately wanted. "Well, for a start, how do you happen to know Tracy Middleton and the crowd at her party?"
As if he was delaying his answer, Nick took a cigarette from the package in his pocket and put it between his lips.
"Very disappointed," he admitted quietly.
A treacherous heat was seeping through Lauren's nervous system as she gazed into those mesmerizing gray eyes, and as Nick put the wrench down and slowly stood up, she cautiously backed away a step.
"Lauren?"
She swallowed. "Yes?"
"Would you like to eat first?"
"First," she whispered hoarsely. "Before what?"
"Before we go sailing," he replied, studying her with puzzlement.
"Oh,
sailing
!" Her breath came out in a laugh. "Yes, t hank you, I would like to eat first. And I'd love to go sailing."
7
« ^ »
L auren had never known a more glorious day than this. In the two hours since they sailed away from the Cove, a warm comradery had sprung up between them—a companionship that was made up of spontaneous comments and shared laughter, punctuated with long relaxed silences.
The brilliant blue sky was decorated with puffy white clouds, and the wind caught the sail, sending the boat shooting soundlessly through the water. She watched a sea gull screeching overhead, then glanced at Nick, who was seated at the tiller, facing her. He smiled and Lauren smiled back, then she lifted her face to the sky again, basking in the sun's golden warmth and in the knowledge that Nick's lazy, admiring gaze was on her.
"We could drop anchor here and do some sunbathing and some fishing. Would you like that?" Nick said.
"I'd love it." Lauren watched him roll to his feet and begin taking in the sail.
"We should get some bass and blue gill for our dinner," he said a few minutes later as he rigged two fishing poles. "There's great salmon fishing here, but we'd need downriggers, and we'd have to troll."
Lauren had fished with her father many times from the banks of
Missouri
's verdant creeks and rivers, but she'd never fished from a boat. She didn't have the faintest idea what a downrigger was or what trolling was either, but intended to find out. If the man she loved liked to fish from boats, she would learn to like it too.
"I've got one," Nick called a half hour later as his line played out with a whir.
Lauren dropped her rod and went racing toward his end of the boat, unthinkingly shouting directions: "Set the hook! Keep your rod tip up. Don't let the line go slack. He's running— loosen the drag."
"Lord, are you bossy!" Nick grinned, and she realized with a rueful smile that he was handling the fish with expertise. A few minutes later he leaned over the side of the boat and scooped the big perch into a long-handled net. Like a proud little boy who was showing off his trophy to someone special, Nick held up his flapping fish for Lauren to properly admire. "Well, what do you think?"
One look at that boyish expression on his ruggedly chiseled features, and the love that had budded inside Lauren burst into full bloom.
You're wonderful
, she thought. "He's wonderful," she said.
And in that outwardly casual moment, Lauren made the most momentous decision of her life. Nick already owned her heart; tonight it was right that he have her body too.
The sun was setting in a blaze of crimson when Nick let out the sail and they started back to the Cove. Lauren again felt his gaze on her as he sat at the tiller, facing her in the waning light. It was getting chilly, and she drew her legs up against her chest, wrapping her arms around them. The question of how they were going to spend the night had been completely resolved in her mind, but it bothered her that she was about to take such an irrevocable step with a man whom she adored, but about whom she knew so very little.
"What are you thinking about?" Nick asked quietly.
"I was thinking that I know very little about you."
"What would you like to know?"
It was the opening Lauren desperately wanted. "Well, for a start, how do you happen to know Tracy Middleton and the crowd at her party?"
As if he was delaying his answer, Nick took a cigarette from the package in his pocket and put it between his lips.
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