Rendezvous by Sami Lee Page A

Cassie disliked this Sherwood character more with each second. She hoped the liberties he’d taken so far didn’t set the tone for the rest of the trip.
    “Mr Sherwood?” she called again as she went below deck. “Are you on boar—?”
    The rest of her question was lost on an oomph as she collided with someone coming up the stairs. The sun had been bright outside, and for a few seconds the contrasting darkness in the cabin played havoc with her vision. As her balance wavered, she reached blindly for purchase. She found herself gripping a hard biceps with one hand, a trim waist with the other. Her face came to rest in the curve of a man’s neck and he curled an arm around her. His face was clean shaven and Cassie could feel the smooth skin caressing her temple. He smelled good, like woodsy aftershave and plain soap.
    A whirlwind of realizations hit her at once. She was clutching the man like she’d drown if she let go, enjoying the way his solid body made her feel steady and safe. Safe? She shouldn’t feel safe in the embrace of a strange man. She shouldn’t be inhaling his scent, especially as he was married. Married and her guest for the week. It was so inappropriate. Yet, she couldn’t prevent herself from breathing in again.
    There was something odd about Robin Sherwood, and by odd Cassie meant familiar. That aftershave, those arms… With a shocked gasp, she yanked herself out of his embrace and clutched at the railing for support. Although the marina waters were calm this morning, Cassie felt as though she’d been tossed into a stormy sea without warning.
    She was staring into the face of a married man, all right. Only this one was married to her .
    “Hi, Cass,” Reed Dalton greeted with an air of casualness that didn’t fit the situation at all. His lips eased into the ready grin she hadn’t seen since she’d fled Sydney. “Miss me?”
    Miss him? Was that meant to be a joke? His navy-blue eyes held hers, the audacious sparkle in them so familiar it made her heart actually ache with yearning, with an unwelcome regret for the year they’d spent apart. The word miss didn’t cover the emptiness she’d had to live with since she’d left him, left their marriage.
    Your choice, Cass. The smart choice. The only choice. Logically, she knew she’d done what she had to. Emotionally, seeing him again was a brutal reopening of a wound she’d spent months trying to heal.
    Cassie simply stared at him, at his dark-brown hair cut into a no-nonsense style, those sparkling blue eyes, the strong shoulders and the toned physique he maintained at the gym. He was gorgeous, this man who was her husband—in name only, anyway.
    Unless he’d come here to tell her he’d signed the papers she’d had her lawyer send. That thought made her stomach roil. What if he’d signed them? What if he wasn’t her husband anymore?
    Instead of the relief she’d hoped to feel when this moment arrived, numbness took over. She’d wanted out of the marriage, hadn’t she? She had to assume Reed felt the same way, seeing as he’d never come to see her, never even tried to work on their issues. Yet maybe some part of her had held out hope that sending the papers would finally get his attention, force him to act.
    He is acting, Cassie. He’s here to tell you it’s over.
    The son-of-a-bitch.
    Reed opened his mouth to say something. Before he could utter a word, Cassie swung her hardest right hook at his face.

Chapter Two
    Reed saw the punch coming in time to stop it with his open palm—just. She’d almost got the better of him, which would have ruined his track record entirely. He’d been attacked by a long line of junkies, dealers, pimps, gang bangers and other assorted lowlife grubs without ever having received a blow to his face in the line of duty. Other parts of his person hadn’t fared so well. Lately, he’d noticed his thirty-two-year-old body was telling him with ever-increasing aches and pains that he’d spent over ten