Donovans 01 - Amber Beach

coffee.” She finished the last drop in the mug and smiled winningly at him. “Do we really have to go fishing?”
    “We really do. But nice try. I especially liked the bit about taking off my shoes and socks before you chained me up.”
    Honor laughed and let the last of her grouchiness slide away. Dawn with Jake wasn’t all that bad.
    “Truce?” he asked dryly.
    She shrugged. “Yeah. I’m awake, now.”
    “So am I,” he said, turning back to the chart plotter he had been working over when Honor appeared. “Sorry for that crack about staring.”
    “Sorry for staring,” she muttered. “I’m not used to mostly naked men in the morning.”
    “Whatever happened to women’s liberation?”
    “AIDS, among other things,” she said, reaching for the coffeepot on the stove. “Celibacy is back.”
    “Sounds boring.”
    “So is sex.” She yawned. “You want some?”
    Jake’s head snapped up. He saw her pouring coffee into her mug and told himself he was relieved rather than disappointed that she was offering him coffee, not sex.
    “Yeah, thanks.”
    She creamed the coffee and handed it to him.
    “You do that like you’re used to fixing coffee for . . . someone,” Jake said.
    “Faith. She likes loads of cream and sugar. Actually, cinnamon lattes are her favorite.” Honor shuddered delicately. “What a breakfast.”
    “That reminds me. Did you eat something before you left the cottage?”
    “My alarm clock.”
    Jake’s head snapped around toward her.
    She burst out laughing. “You should see the look on your face.”
    “I’d like to. I’m trying to imagine how you’ll sound at dawn tomorrow morning.”
    “We aren’t going to be up then.”
    “Of course we are. Would you like an omelet to go with your alarm clock?”
    Honor gave him a look of wide-eyed awe. “Can you actually cook?”
    “Do I look like I’m starving?”
    “There are restaurants.”
    “Local restaurants are the number one reason I learned how to cook.”
    She wanted to ask if he had ever been married but couldn’t think of a subtle way to do it. “Have you ever been married?”
    “Yeah. Have you?”
    “Nope. I never found a man brave enough to take on the Donovan clan. How long were you married?”
    “What makes you think I’m not married now?”
    It was Honor’s turn to be caught with her jaw hanging open.
    “It was twelve years ago and it lasted less than a year,” he said, smiling slowly. “I was in the navy and she was a party girl who didn’t like being alone. No kids and no regrets. Any other questions?”
    Honor winced. “Sorry. I was just curious and it’s too early in the morning to be clever about asking.”
    He tugged lightly on a flyaway piece of her hair. “I’m the direct sort myself. No kids for you either?”
    “I told you I wasn’t married.”
    “Honey, if you think it takes marriage to get a woman pregnant, you should watch daytime television.” Shaking his head, he turned away from her. “Can you cook?”
    “Sure. Do you want me to peel the eggs for the omelet?”
    His head turned swiftly toward her before he realized that he had been suckered again. Smiling, he turned toward the stove. Kyle had been like that—quick-minded, quick to tease, quick to laugh at himself. Good company.
    “What would you do if I said yes to peeling the eggs?” Jake asked.
    “Make a mess.”
    “That’s what I figured.”
    He started cracking eggs into a bowl. While he made an omelet, Honor looked at the computer screens.
    “What’s on the screen?” she asked.
    “I found a batch of stored routes.”
    “Where do they lead?”
    “Out in the islands.”
    “Fishing holes?”
    “Seem to be.”
    She made an impatient gesture. “The fishing can wait. I want to learn how to run the boat.”
    “You can do both at once.”
    Honor grimaced. “Whatever. Let’s get to it.”
    “Eat breakfast first. You learn better when your stomach isn’t empty.”
    What Jake didn’t say was that he wanted to be certain that the elusive fourth boat, the Olympic, had time to get into the predawn parade. He would really like to get a look at whoever was aboard. It made him edgy not to know the names of all the players.
    He poured the egg mixture into a hot pan. As the eggs set, he started adding ingredients.
    “Did Kyle ever say anything to you about diving?” Jake asked casually, watching the eggs.
    “Here?”
    “Yes.”
    “Not really. He dove off of Australia some years back, when Archer was