money or food or kindness.” He paused, his eyes searching her face. “I know you and me are light years apart in some ways, but in others I feel like I’ve never been closer to another soul in my whole life.”
Thena took a ragged breath. “You can be very eloquent when you want to be,” she murmured. “Would you like a shave? Then I’ll turn on the attic fan and you can go upstairs and take a nap.”
“Are you tryin’ to get me outta your hair?”
“Yes.”
“Is it because of what I just told you about myself?”
“No. My parents taught me to judge a person by his actions and his nature, not by his past. I meant it last week when I said that I see the beauty in you. But … you want something from me that …”
“I wasn’t hintin’ that I wanted to spoon with you again,” he teased softly. She cut her eyes at him in rebuke. “Well, okay, maybe I do want to spoon a little—”
“Please don’t talk like that.” Her voice broke on the last word. “Are you trying to ruin our friendship?”
“Are we friends, Thena?”
She nodded and sighed. “I’m afraid I can’t help myself. We’re friends. At least temporarily.”
“Could it ever be more?”
She shook her head. “Not with you. Not with anyone.” A tear slid down her cheek and she hurriedly brushed it away. She looked at him in despair. “Can we please just not discuss this subject again? Please?”
His mouth opened in protest, but he caught himself in time to hold his bewilderment and frustration inside. She must have loved that professor like life itself, Jed thought dully. And she’s not over him yet. Patience, he told himself. She can be gentled. She can be won.
“You got it, wildflower.” His voice was sincere. “I know you’ve been hurt. I can pretend to be a gentleman, when I have to. And I will. Relax.”
“You are very much a gentleman, in all the ways that are important. You don’t have to pretend.”
“So I’m Jedidiah, not Jed, and a gentleman, not a rich saddle tramp. You’re good for my ego, gal.”
“You’re good for me … because you’re a challenge.I have so much to teach you about this island. You have to give me a chance.”
The look in her eyes beseeched him in a way that made him feel he held the key to her happiness. A sense of protectiveness swelled up inside him, and at that moment he would have cheerfully fought dragons with his bare hands on her behalf. He figured this magical place probably had a few, puffing around somewhere.
“All right, gal. You keep feedin’ me, and I swear I’ll listen with an open mind.”
Her face brightened. “I’ll raise your consciousness yet.”
He smiled at her wickedly. “Give it a chance to get over bein’ sunburned, first.”
Six
He slept all day. At dusk, Thena gave into an odd, restless impulse to see him and hear his voice. She tiptoed upstairs, found the door to the bedroom open, and peeked in furtively. It was too hot to keep the door closed. She expected that. She didn’t expect to see his shorts and white briefs lying on the old plank floor or his lying naked on his stomach with his head burrowed in a pillow.
Stunned, Thena studied his relaxed body with an awe she usually reserved for magnificent sunrises. The sheets curled around him like a milky river, their pale softness a startling contrast to his hard angles and sun-baked skin. Of course he’s not sunburned everywhere, she thought blankly, staring at the smooth white skin on his rump.
Thena tilted her head to one side and looked at it with an artist’s eye. How lovely and symmetrical it was. Her academic nature noted the well-toned appearance of the muscles. Yes, the gluteals—maximus, medius, and minimus—were in excellent shape. Quite excellent. Quite appealing and vulnerable. Quite touchable, really, and her fingertips were very interested in proving it.
Aghast, Thena tiptoed away, went downstairs, and curled up in an overstuffed chair with comfortably sprung springs.
Thena took a ragged breath. “You can be very eloquent when you want to be,” she murmured. “Would you like a shave? Then I’ll turn on the attic fan and you can go upstairs and take a nap.”
“Are you tryin’ to get me outta your hair?”
“Yes.”
“Is it because of what I just told you about myself?”
“No. My parents taught me to judge a person by his actions and his nature, not by his past. I meant it last week when I said that I see the beauty in you. But … you want something from me that …”
“I wasn’t hintin’ that I wanted to spoon with you again,” he teased softly. She cut her eyes at him in rebuke. “Well, okay, maybe I do want to spoon a little—”
“Please don’t talk like that.” Her voice broke on the last word. “Are you trying to ruin our friendship?”
“Are we friends, Thena?”
She nodded and sighed. “I’m afraid I can’t help myself. We’re friends. At least temporarily.”
“Could it ever be more?”
She shook her head. “Not with you. Not with anyone.” A tear slid down her cheek and she hurriedly brushed it away. She looked at him in despair. “Can we please just not discuss this subject again? Please?”
His mouth opened in protest, but he caught himself in time to hold his bewilderment and frustration inside. She must have loved that professor like life itself, Jed thought dully. And she’s not over him yet. Patience, he told himself. She can be gentled. She can be won.
“You got it, wildflower.” His voice was sincere. “I know you’ve been hurt. I can pretend to be a gentleman, when I have to. And I will. Relax.”
“You are very much a gentleman, in all the ways that are important. You don’t have to pretend.”
“So I’m Jedidiah, not Jed, and a gentleman, not a rich saddle tramp. You’re good for my ego, gal.”
“You’re good for me … because you’re a challenge.I have so much to teach you about this island. You have to give me a chance.”
The look in her eyes beseeched him in a way that made him feel he held the key to her happiness. A sense of protectiveness swelled up inside him, and at that moment he would have cheerfully fought dragons with his bare hands on her behalf. He figured this magical place probably had a few, puffing around somewhere.
“All right, gal. You keep feedin’ me, and I swear I’ll listen with an open mind.”
Her face brightened. “I’ll raise your consciousness yet.”
He smiled at her wickedly. “Give it a chance to get over bein’ sunburned, first.”
Six
He slept all day. At dusk, Thena gave into an odd, restless impulse to see him and hear his voice. She tiptoed upstairs, found the door to the bedroom open, and peeked in furtively. It was too hot to keep the door closed. She expected that. She didn’t expect to see his shorts and white briefs lying on the old plank floor or his lying naked on his stomach with his head burrowed in a pillow.
Stunned, Thena studied his relaxed body with an awe she usually reserved for magnificent sunrises. The sheets curled around him like a milky river, their pale softness a startling contrast to his hard angles and sun-baked skin. Of course he’s not sunburned everywhere, she thought blankly, staring at the smooth white skin on his rump.
Thena tilted her head to one side and looked at it with an artist’s eye. How lovely and symmetrical it was. Her academic nature noted the well-toned appearance of the muscles. Yes, the gluteals—maximus, medius, and minimus—were in excellent shape. Quite excellent. Quite appealing and vulnerable. Quite touchable, really, and her fingertips were very interested in proving it.
Aghast, Thena tiptoed away, went downstairs, and curled up in an overstuffed chair with comfortably sprung springs.
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