Caught by Surprise (23 page)

“And I love you, m’lady.”

They smiled at each other, and she told him, “You kidnapped me, but I captured you.”

“Granny Melisande said the same thing about her and Jacques.”

Millie nodded. “A very smart lady.” A sheepish expression came over her face. “And Brig?”

He touched his lips to her forehead. “Hmmm?”

“You were right. I’ve always wanted to be carried off by a pirate.” She paused. “Though I never expected him to be
an Australian
pirate.”

Brig smiled blithely. “Surprise.”

“Where are you taking me?” The devotion in her eyes told him that she didn’t much care.

And he gave his answer without hesitating. “Wherever I go, m’lady, for the rest of my life.”

Dinah and Rucker watched from the upstairs bedroom as the schooner moved gracefully toward the horizon. Slanting afternoon sun illuminated the sails and gave the ship a golden outline.

Dinah sighed with delight. “Since they’re leaving, I assume that everything went well.”

“I expected it. Brig can talk the ears off a snake. Millie didn’t have a chance.”

Dinah turned to him and lifted a dark brown brow in mock reproach. “I’ll tell Millie that you compared her to a snake.”

Smiling, he put his arms around her and kissed the tip of her nose. “I just meant that no woman can resist a smart, sincere, good-lookin’ man.”

“When I find such a creature, I won’t resist him, I assure you.”

“Hah. Mean woman.”

He drew her close and kissed her hard. She smiled against his mouth and nuzzled his mustache. “I suppose you qualify as irresistible,” she whispered. “I love you dearly.”

His deep voice was soft with pleasure. “You know, I liked the way you squealed when I licked your ear a while ago.”

“I liked the way you licked my ear.”

They were still wearing the lightweight robes they’d donned before the “pirates” came to capture Millie. Dinah snuggled her lower body tightly to him. Her eyes gleamed with new desire. “Vacations agree with you, sweetheart.”

He laughed throatily. “
You
agree with me.”

She hugged him, and he led her back to bed.

Dinah woke up an hour later, giving in to the knot of worry that had lain in her stomach all day. Now that Millie’s predicament was solved, she couldn’t put the errand off any longer. Rucker held her spoon-style, his back and hips cupping her body while one hand curved possessively over her hip.

Dinah moved away from him carefully then turned over. He had a rough-cut, masculine face that reminded some people of Tom Selleck’s, and she smiled at his rumpled, relaxed expression.

She’d never grow tired of looking at him, and she hated the fact that she was about to tell him a small white lie. Her errand was such a ridiculous, innocent thing, a favor to a friend, but technically it was smuggling.

Dinah sighed. Butterfly cocoons. No one cared whether people smuggled butterfly cocoons. She’d just leave the small package at the appointed place and come right back.

She ducked her head and kissed her husband lightly. “Sweetheart, I’m going to run into town. I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.”

“Hmmm?” His dark auburn lashes fluttered slightly. “Why?”

Dinah winced. “I’m going to buy some milk.” And she would too, just to make herself feel less guilty about deceiving him.

“Be careful. Hurry back.” He opened his eyes halfway, draped an arm around her neck, and pulled her to him for a sleepy kiss. “Love you.”

“Love you too, big guy,”

His eyes shut. She moved his arm away and held his
hand for a moment, wishing that she didn’t have to leave him even for a short amount of time. All six-feet-three inches of him was sprawled naked amid the rumpled sheets, and she wanted nothing more than to sit there and admire him.

“Bye,” she whispered, and forced herself to get up. Dinah pulled a sheet over him, patted his rump, then quickly dressed in a white shorts set. She picked up her purse and slipped sandals onto her feet, then went to the door and stood for a moment in the fading summer light. She watched him sleep, then blew him a kiss and tiptoed away.

Something was wrong. Rucker knew it instantly when he jerked awake. After a second he realized that the room was dark, far darker than the dusk of early evening, and he was alone.

He sat up in bed, jammed a hand through his hair, and tried to think. He was relatively certain that the room had been full of sunlight when Dinah left. Rucker switched on a lamp and grabbed his watch off the nightstand. Nine-thirty. The house was so silent that the ocean sounded eerily close by.

“Dee!” No answer.

She must be downstairs, though the hallway outside the bedroom was completely dark too. Rucker leaped out of bed and reached for the nearest clothing, which happened to be his blue swimtrunks. “Dee!”

He hurriedly pulled the trunks on and ran to the top of the stairs. Dread filled the pit of his stomach. The whole house was dark. “Dee!” he called again louder.

There was an explanation—car trouble, maybe. But the house had a phone, and Dinah would have called him if she’d been delayed. As he ran downstairs, Rucker started telling himself that he was worried over nothing. He went through the house, turning on lights.

He walked out on the front porch to make certain that the car wasn’t back. She might have taken a stroll on the beach. But the car was still gone.

The phone rang, and he vaulted back inside. Rucker ran to the old rotary set on the kitchen wall and grabbed the receiver. The police in Key West had found a black Cadillac Seville abandoned on a deserted road. A receipt for the house rent contained Rucker’s name. Was the car his?

Rucker braced one elbow against the kitchen wall and held his stomach with his free hand. Fighting nausea, he said that his wife had been driving the car.

The police would send an officer to the house immediately. He heard those words through a haze of sick fear. Rucker hung the phone up and walked outside, off the porch, beyond the light, until at last he stood staring at the dark ocean.

For some reason, he felt compelled to search the black horizon. “Dee where are you?” he whispered.

The distant night wind was all that answered.